Reply To: Middle school 7-8 choir question

[nafmeadmin]

Partner songs!! I think on Pinterest I discovered a list of kiddie songs which go together (when sung together they create harmony).
Search up this idea for more advanced songs…. my 7th and 8th graders would’ve thrown tomatoes at me if I suggested singing two Kindergarten songs haha.

However, my elementary choir loved songs from these two books by Albrecht / Althouse – Grab A Partner and Grab Another Partner
http://www.jwpepper.com/3286762.item#.VqgtAllj7Z0 …. They took folk songs and wrote cute little ditties to go along with them. The second line / partner song is mostly harmony, but I taught it as another song to help the kids think of their parts independently. In about 2 years of using these books I used at least 3 songs for my concerts. All were huge hits!! I highlighted the two parts in different colors before I presented it to my choir. …. Both books come with a perf / accomp CD. Performance for each is supposed to sequence as follows: Part 1, Part 2, both parts together.
My only problem with the arrangements was that they’re each only about 2 minutes. One year –before finding a longer song to open my program– I almost gave the conductor’s score to my pianist and asked her to vamp after once through so that we could repeat it.

When all else fails, have the kids improvise a vocal ostinato to accompany a given melody!
🙂 Good luck.