A few classical songs and chants

Before beginning blogging about my adventures in Kindergarten, I thought I'd post a few of the chants and songs I used in my classroom.  At a later point I will post more about what classical education is and the theory behind it, but just know that we use a lot of memorization techniques in our elementary methodology such as chants, songs, and soundoffs.  These techniques are used to help the students remember the material better, even if they don't fully understand it.  Then when they get to the middle school stage, they can take the facts learned and expound on it further.  These songs and chants were used in my 5th grade grammar class, 3rd grade history class, and K-2 music class. So without further ado....

HELPING VERBS SONG

This is a song about verbs

Am, is, are, was, were

Be, being, been,

Verbs are our friends,

These are the BE verbs

This is verse number two

Does and did are a form of do

May, might, must,

Don’t make a fuss,

Have, has and had too

This is the third verse,

It’s just as good as the first,

Could, can, would,

Will, shall, should,

This was our song about verbs.

GREEK GOD SONG

(Sung to the tune of Our God by Christ Tomlin)

Zeus was the king of the gods

Hera his jealous wife

Athena the goddess of wisdom and strength

Poseidon was god of the sea

Hades the god of the dead

Apollo and Artemis ruled the sun and moon

But Our God is greater

Those gods are false gods

Our God’s the only god of the universe

He is all-powerful, he is all-knowing

Our God, Our God

Ares the god of war

Hermes the messenger

Aphrodite goddess of beauty

Dionysus god of wine

Hephaestus did work with his hands

Demeter and Hestia ruled the earth and hearth

Chorus

Their gods were imperfect gods

They fought in wars and were flawed

Our God is holy and true

He died for me and for you (2x)

Chorus

Conductor Soundoff

A conductor is someone who leads the orchestra (Student 1)

He is also called the maestro (Student 2)

He directs with his right hand (Student 3)

And also holds a baton (Student 4)

With his left hand (Student 5)

He tells when to start (Student 6)

And when to stop (Student 7)

When to play fast (Student 8)

And when to play slow (Student 9)

When to play loud (Student 10)

And when to play soft (Student 11)

He beats in patterns of two, (Student 12)

Of three, or of four (Student 13)

A conductor is a very hard job. (Student 14)

Instruments of the Orchestra Chant

Violin, cello, bass, and harp

Viola, banjo, and guitar,

Put them all together and you will see,

They are all a part of the string family.

So let’s sing, sing about strings,

Sing just sing about strings.

Beat, rattle, strike and shake,

Percussion instruments are great.

Play them well to keep the beat,

Percussion instruments are neat.

Trumpet, tuba, horn, trombone,

Flugelhorn and sousaphone,

Buzz your lips to make the sound,

Brass instruments are all around.

Clarinet, flute, bassoon, and oboe,

Saxophone, English horn, and piccolo,

Some have one reed, some have two.

Woodwind instruments are cool.

Tempo Song

(Sung to the tune of Do-Re-Mi)

First you have largo, it is very, very slow

Then adagio is slow,

Andante’s a walking tempo,

Moderato is a medium tempo,

Allegro is fast,

And presto is very fast-fast-fast-fast

First you have largo, it is very, very slow,

Then adagio is slow,

Andante’s a walking tempo,

Moderato is a medium tempo,

Allegro is fast,

And presto is very fast!

Largo, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto!