SING FOR PLEASURE SHARE TEN OF THEIR TOP TIPS FOR TEACHING A SUCCESSFUL SONG
- Ghosts! is a fun song that children will love. The nature of the material allows you to be inventive in performance too – with screams and great dynamic contrasts.
- Know the song inside out before you start.
- Make yourself familiar with the individual chunks or phrases of the song.
- Make musical decision about these chunks. Where will you breathe so the musical phrase and text continue to make sense? What dynamic variation could there be to make the song really spooky? How many times will you sing through? Will you sing it through once altogether, then once as a round? Could body movements and actions support the teaching and performance of the song? The ‘do, do, dos’ for example might benefit from ‘poking’ actions. Emphasise some of the important words, like ‘howling’ by stressing on the first part of the word. Could these words become part of a fun warm-up for the group?
- Practice these chunks when alone in the bath, shower or car! Familiarity breeds contentment and you will feel more confident to teach the children with your own voice.
- Decide on a starting pitch that is comfortable for you and not too low for the children. Check this by singing the ‘I hear one howling’ phrase as this includes the highest note. Stick to this pitch by using a chime bar or other tuned instrument. Practice starting from the chosen note and try to use your hands to indicate the upward or downward direction of the melody.
- Avoid talking too much when you are teaching, and use a ‘my go’ ‘your go’ question and answer style of teaching. Gradually, increase the lengths of the chunk you ask the children to sing back by building phrases together. Try to predict which bits the children will find difficult – keeping the pitch on
the ‘do, do dos’, for example. Be prepared to rehearse tricky
bits like this.
- When you start to teach the song, begin by singing it
through complete, so the children have an overview of what is it
they are learning. Model the dynamics and word-emphasis you
intend to use. Explain the context and the lyrics of the song to
the children.
- You may find it useful to use call and response to speak
through the text. This may help young children process words
more quickly than if accompanied by the melody.
- Listen carefully to what the children sing to you. If you sing when the children are singing you will find it difficult to hear the sound they are actually making. Use the call and response technique to rehearse diffi cult passages and remember to have fun!