Brent Talbot

HOW TO TEACH A ROTE SONG

Considerations when selecting materials:
1. Is the text age-appropriate?
2. Is the range of the melody age-appropriate?
a. Range for pre-schoolers and primary grades may be small (middle C to C
above middle C)
b. Range for older elementary students may be extended to A below middle C
to G
3. Is the material worth spending time with? Is it quality music?
a. Folk music from our country or from around the world is generally
speaking, appropriate for elementary music class.
b. Be selective with composed music, considering text, vocal style, difficulty,
etc.
c. Include music you have composed.
d. Include music the children have composed
4. Where does it fit in with the music curriculum? The classroom curriculum? What
concepts can be explored, ie. syncopation, rhythmic values, pick-ups, duple/triple
meter, introduction to Sol, Fa, Ti, etc.
5. What additional teaching aids will be included?
a. Movement, full body, or body percussion
b. Solfege tone syllables and hand signs
c. Actual note names and notational systems
6. How will it be accompanied, if at all?
a. Unaccompanied singing can help students develop a stronger sense of
pitch.
b. Have students create the accompaniment themselves.

Process:
1. “Warm-up” student voices first, singing glissandi, echoing short tonal patterns with
or without solfege; or echo-speak first, then sing, depending on the complexity of
the piece.
2. Let students hear the song.
a. Create listening tasks
i. They may just listen, or you can ask them to count the number of
times you sing a particular word or some other listening suggestion.
They might find the highest pitch in the song.
b. Have students keep the beat on their body or walk in a circle while you
sing.
3. Echo sing a phrase at a time using “my turn your turn” gestural cues, echo sing
longer sections, ie 2 phrases. Continue this process until the entire song can be
performed at once.
4. Vary dynamics and tempo
5. If pitch problems are occurring, then sing and hum the melody without the text
using insteadl me, may, ma, mo moo, or use other starting consonants (n,z,d) or
imitate animal sounds.
6. Decide where to breathe