Forget the Three Rs: Remember Summer, Singing and School

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Anyone who talks to me for any length of time discovers I am passionate about music. I love to listen to music, create it, share it and provide opportunities for others to share in the experience I find so enjoyable. As a music teacher in the public school system, one of my jobs is to teach basic music concepts to create the foundation my students need to continue being music makers later in their lives. In addition, I am a strong advocate of teaching music to instill the love of music in a child, so he or she will want to continue keeping music a part of everyday life.

Teaching music is not just the academic focus on music history, theory, or performance—although all have their merits and educational position to fill. In mid-summer, when the cool evening air begins to bring relief from the heat of the day, and a crackling fire is beckoning on the beach, I truly believe that the mind is not inclined to thoughts of the composition of a major scale, nor what year Bach was born. I strongly encourage everyone who teaches children to spend some time cultivating in them the love of singing and giving them the repertoire that reflects their culture, singing heritage and folk traditions.

I am going to suggest something that some educators may consider to be fairly radical. I encourage every teacher to spend some time singing camp songs with their students. This is not to say that a music program should provide a steady diet of such songs. This is not a six-week unit, nor in any way a replacement for good quality songs and teaching concepts that are the foundation of good educational music programs. However, they do have their place. These songs are often rowdy, outrageous, and pleasantly gory by a child’s standard—and what fun they are to sing.

What a shame to deny children the opportunity to create their own verses to The Corner Master’s Store when the exercise in thinking of something funny and also making it rhyme (if you can) are, without question, improvisation and composition at their most fundamental level. Indulge in the silly, the imaginative, and the mischievous. Use songs that encourage audience participation (reaching your kinesthetic learners) action songs (adding dramatic elements to your Fine Arts offerings) and create new verses and rhymes in songs (improvisation, composition, Language Arts!). Allow the “gory” songs like Tom the Toad and I’m Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor to become part of the children’s repertoire as they use their imaginations and react with delicious delight at such flights of fancy. If we provide our children with the building blocks, i.e. the song repertoire, they will take those songs and sing with gusto out in the dark, by the fire and create music and memories that will last them a lifetime.

Children deserve to create memories that are liberally laced with music. If they attend summer camp their days are punctuated by songs: Get Your Elbows Off The Table, Announcements, Fire’s Burning or any myriad of camp sing-along songs. How do they learn these songs? Each camper remembers at least the better part of their favourite songs, with others filling in the blanks. In turn, they pass on the songs they learn to the next generation of campers. Camp counselors draw on their own camp memories and pass on songs, skits and stories. The oral/aural tradition of passing on stories and music is alive and well in such settings. It is interesting to note which songs survive this process, a natural evolutionary cycle by which the best (or the most bizarre) survive and the banal do not.

In previous generations, songs and stories would be passed on as the family gathered with friends for an evening of music, stories and socializing. In today’s culture, this does not happen as often, if at all, and the oral tradition of passing song repertoire from generation to generation is slowly being lost. Teaching students some of the traditional songs, folk songs, and camp songs of our North American culture is something they probably will not get from any other source. In a way, teachers are the keepers of a bit of the history and culture of our continent. Now that is a heavy responsibility! Children may seem too sophisticated in their listening preferences for The Ants Go Marching, but they will probably not launch into the latest song from the billboard charts when it comes time to sing around a campfire, or during that three-hour bus ride, or in a rain-drenched tent. A few classes spent learning “sing-along” repertoire will go a long way to creating musical experiences that will be long remembered.

If a teacher is not comfortable singing raucous “boa constrictor” songs or multiple gory verses of Tom the Toad, one can still reach back into the North American singing tradition and find many old songs from decades gone by that are considered to be standards. The list will reflect a real melting pot of cultures: English, German, Spanish, French, African Spirituals, etc. mixing together in a collection of songs considered to be our North American singing heritage. Music has always had the ability to cross borders and teaching these songs to our children as their common musical heritage reflects the results of that process.

Create a list of songs from your own childhood memories. Brainstorm with your colleagues and amaze yourself at the response you receive from people who will inevitably begin reminiscing, telling stories about the events they remember associated with the songs you are discussing. I will be so bold as to suggest a few songs to put on your list to get you started, but once you begin, you will surprise yourself with the number of songs you know. My suggestions are: She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain, Bill Grogan’s Goat, This Old Man, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night, The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, There’s a Hole in the Bucket, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, Do Your Ears Hang Low?, Poor Little Bug on the Wall, Waddly Atchee, An Old Austrian, Going on a Bear Hunt, and ….so on. Girl Guide and Scout Internet sites provide lyrics to many camp standards and may give you additional ideas for your list. Ask your students to help you create a list. You may be so enthused you won’t want to stop at camp songs. The possibilities are endless and the list may be, too.

Take courage in hand, delve into your childhood memories and create your own list of camp favourites. It is not too late to share this music with the children of today and give them something to pass on to their own children in years to come. Have fun, sing all you can, share the music. Your children will be better for it and so will you!

Donna Rhodenizer is a composer, professional performer, recording artist, publisher and music educator in a public school in Kentville, NS. www.redcastlepublishing.com