Blog Posts

Fun in a Minor Key

Denise Gagne

I loved Halloween when I was a kid - maybe even more than my birthday or Christmas. But the world has changed and with our diverse school communities, not all classes and not all schools celebrate Halloween. What I've tried to do in Musicplay is to provide songs that have the "flavor" and "sound" of Halloween without including lyrics about ghosts or witches. Alternate words are provided for other songs. Fun songs in a minor key are inclusive for those kids who celebrate Halloween and those who don't. The Bony Skeletons is a new song in Musicplay PreK (pt 1). It's online at http://musicplayonline.com/ and is available in the Book/CD as well. When I did this with my preK class, it was May, and they loved the song. One of the students suggested being zombies, so we added a zombie verse.

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Five Little Pumpkins is another favorite for PreK - Grade 1 classes. In Musicplay PreK, I wrote a pentatonic melody for the traditional poem, so that students could accompany with a simple bordun. I had a PreK teacher suggest a lyrics change from, "the second one said, There are witches in the air," to "the second one said, There are leaves in the air." I think it's a great suggestion, and a way to make the song more inclusive of all cultures. You'll find this arrangement in Musicplay PreK, and online at musicplayonline.com

Screen Shot 2023-05-30 at 5.20.28 PM In Musicplay for Kindergarten, one of the favorites is Halloween Looby Loo. It's suggested that in a class or school that doesn't celebrate Halloween, to change the word Halloween to October. This song is especially fun if you sing and move with a parachute.

Screen Shot 2023-05-30 at 5.20.28 PM-1 In Musicplay 1, the song "Bats and Cats" and in Musicplay 2 "Birds and Bats" have completely inclusive lyrics. The songs are in a minor key, and can be accompanied with a simple Orff arrangement or just a simple bordun. Students are invited to create sound effects and to create new verses. You could do a great primary lesson with either of these songs, creating sound effects, new verses, movement, and accompany with instruments.

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I still think my favorite ever Halloween performance was the year my Grade 4 students performed the Bats song, complete with balloons that were let go of at the end of the song. If you haven't every performed this piece, try it this October. It's completely inclusive - it's really a song just about bats - and is a song your students will really enjoy learning and creating a song your students will really enjoy learning and creating with. After you've taught the song, you find 4-5 students who've been participating well, and give them inflated balloons. (I blow them up for the kids) The students let the air out to make the ee ee ee sounds. At the end of the song, they let the balloons go - they fly away!

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