Whenever we think of people getting together, in family groups for birthdays and weddings or at larger gatherings like football matches and festivals, we imagine music as part of the scene.
We talk about being 'in step' with each other and 'in tune' with somebody. If things are going well, we are 'singing from the same hymn sheet' and 'in harmony'.
When we talk to each other it is the musical elements in our speech that communicate how we are feeling or whether we are asking a question.
Within ourselves, too, music makes a connection between our separate parts. It wakens and expresses our emotions, it makes us move and co-ordinates those movements. It stimulates our ability to use language expressively and uses our natural mathematical abilities to keep time and perceive patterns.
When children arrive at an early years setting, music is often the first thing they respond to. They will smile, move in time or do the actions to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', for example. This is particularly true of children whose first language is not English.
For good singing sessions we need, first of all, a good repertoire of the classic songs, and then the occasional new one to keep us all interested.
Some settings pin a list of their repertoire on a wall along with a set of picture cues, both to serve as a reminder to adults and to encourage children in choosing their favourites.
It helps us with our planning to have some categories to organise our thinking. These might include:
- hello songs - 'Hello Jason, how are you?' to the tune of 'Skip to my
Lou'
- name songs - 'Hickety Tickety Bumble Bee' and 'Jumping Bean'
- action songs - 'The Wheels on the Bus'
- finger rhymes - 'Open Shut Them, Tommy Thumb'
- counting songs - 'Ten in the Bed', 'Five Fat Sausages'
- circle dances - 'Ring a Ring a Roses', 'The Hokey Cokey'
- marching songs - 'The Grand Old Duke of York'
- songs from TV - 'Bob the Builder', 'Spider Man'
- songs with noises - 'Old MacDonald'
- lullabies and quiet songs - 'Rock-a- bye Baby'.
The internet has hundreds of sites with the words of songs. Just type 'children's songs' into your search engine. Even though the recordings are often truly awful, these are good for reminding us of songs we already know. There are always more of them than you would expect.
For some good new songs and ideas on how to use them, try:
- Playsongs by Sheena Roberts - an excellent collection of songs for very young children and babies. See www.playsongs.co.uk.
- A&C Black has a range of books for slightly older children. I particularly like Okki-Tokki-Unga - Action Songs for Children. See www.acblack.com/music
- My CD/book, Bright Sparks, is a collections of winter songs and rhymes that you may not already know.
Musician Steve Grocott works as an artist-in-residence in early years settings and provides music training for non-specialist practitioners. For more information and excerpts from Bright Sparks, visit www.dronesmusic.net - Steve Grocott's Pages.
