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RECORDINGS FOR PRACTICE

CHILDREN'S CHOIR

00:00 / 01:46

What are We Singing About?

  • ​Kookaburra is an Australian nursery rhyme and round about the laughing kookaburra. It was written by Marion Sinclair in 1932.

  • Venimos: An invitational song of praise using Spanish words translated to English: Venimos: We come; Cantamos: We sing; Servimos: We serve You; Te queremos Dios: We love you. O God

  • Kye Kye Kule is sung in many countries in Africa and all over the world. It's a call-and-response song of mostly nonsense syllables with actions (Kum adende means bend down and then back up in a see-saw motion). The leader sings a line, the group repeats it. All lines are chanted, while performing actions to the beat. "Kye Kye Kule" is pronounced, "chay chay kool-lay."

CADET CHOIR

What are We Singing About?

  • ​Bwana Asifiwe (praise the Lord) is a traditional Swahili medley that incorporates the hymn: Praise to the Lord the Almighty.

  • Tongo (which means "mangrove") is a traditional canoe song from the Solomon Islands in Polynesia. Its echo format of mostly non-translatable vocables is meant to illustrate people communicating from canoe to canoe as they travel between islands.

  • El Coquí is a traditional Puerto Rican song, a whimsical tune about a small nocturnal tree frog. Students will sing in Spanish and English: "I love the coquí, The coquí's song is beautiful, At night when I go to bed, He puts me to sleep singing like this: coquí, coquí, coquí, quí quí quí"

CHORISTERS

What are We Singing About?

  • ​Siyahamba authentic arrangement of a traditional Zulu folk song, translated/paired with "We are marching in the light of God."

  • Fairest Lady: This gentle lullaby based on a British nursery rhyme uses London Bridge Is Falling Down as a descant over a soothing original melody and accompaniment. The peaceful moment is a loving lullaby for a fair little lady whose mother reassures her that London Bridge will not fall down, rather it will fly away.

  • Thula Klizeo  A Zulu chant written by Joseph Shabalala on trip to New York City in 1988. He missed his home in South Africa and did not know if he would ever be allowed to return. He said, “Be still my heart, even here I am at home.” 

  • Canto de Pilon  This multicultural piece hails from Venezuela, homeland to arranger Dr. Cristian Grases. It is a working song about women grinding corn that captures the cultural flavor of the region. Including eurhythmic motions and percussive sounds, the music celebrates the joyful nature and active life of the people. 

CONCERT CHOIR

What are We Singing About?​​

  • Bonse Aba: A Zambian folk song that translates: "All people who submit to His authority (receive Him) have the right to be called the children of God." 

  • Bella Ciao: The original version of Bella Ciao was sung by women who were migrant rice paddy workers in Italy's Po Valley. The song was then adapted during World War II to become a resistance anthem for the partigiani (Italian patriots). The lyrics tell of a soldier's wish to be buried in the mountains beneath a beautiful flower if he should have to die for liberty.

  • I'm Goin' There: Based on the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger," this piece has an original counterline which becomes a rhythmic ostinato beneath the traditional tune. The familiar melody and poignant words take on a new level of meaning as they soar above the soulful accompaniment.

TROUVÉRES

CHOIR WARM-UPS, ROUNDS, AND SILLINESS

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Children’s Choir

  • To Stop the Train

  • Bow Wow Wow

  • Hear the Lovely Sound (frog)

  • I am the Bear

  • Zinga Zinga Zoom

  • Hide the Pattern

  • Breathe in, hiss out, balloon POP!

  • My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

  • Ezekiel

  • Gilly Gilly Gilly Good Morning

  • One Bright and Early Morning

  • I’m Happy to See You

  • Goodbye to You All

  • Juicy Moose

  • Purple Lights

  • The Princess Pat/The Cutest Worm

  • Say Hello from Your Head to Your Toes

  • A Ram Sam Sam

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Tongue Twisters:

  • Mommy Made Me Mash My M&Ms

  • Many Miniature Mumbling Mice

  • Seven Sassy Sailors Sailed the Seven Salty Seas (5434 5434 5432 1)

  • Red Leather, Yellow Leather

  • Toy Boat

  • Irish Wristwatch

  • Diction is Done with the Tip of the Tongue and the Teeth

  • Zing-a-ma-ma (repeat on each note of descending 5-note scale)

 

Cadet Choir/Choristers

  • The Ball Goes Up

  • Bim Bom

  • Have you Ever Been Down the Waterspout?

  • 1358

  • Do, Do Re Do (1, 121)

  • A E I O U

  • Do Do, Do Re, Do Mi

  • What a Weird Bird the Frog Is

  • My Dame Had a Lame

  • Why Shouldn’t My Goose

  • Nee-Saw

  • I Sat Down With the Duchess to Tea

  • I am Slowly Going Crazy

  • ME balabba (YOU, HE, SHE, WE. THEY, ME)

  • Darlin'

  • To the Greenwood

  • One Bottle of Pop

  • Come and Follow Me

 

Concert Choir

  • Someday

  • By the Waters of Babylon

  • Yonder Come Day

  • Old Abram Brown

  • Amen

  • He Has Done Marvelous

  • Cantate Domino

  • Round and Round

  • Oh Lord, We Praise You

  • Ah Poor Bird

  • Rose Rose

  • Shalom Chaverim

  • Gaudeamus Hodie

  • The Woods are Lovely, Dark, and Deep

  • Wimoweh

  • Jubilate Deo

  • Milhabilou

  • DDDDSSDDD

  • drM2, dmM3, dfP4, dsP5 then rdM2, mdM3...Then together

  • Pass the Beat Around the Room (rest, tap the shoulders). Keep constant pulse. Replace beat with a stomp

  • Clapping Game (quarter note - same direction, 2 eighths - reverse, 2 sixteenths eighth skips)

  • Pentatonic Game (d, drd, drmrd, drmsmrd, drmslsmrd (then start on “la”) replace mi with a snap, then sol with a shoulder tap, then re with a patsch, then la with a head tap, then do with a stomp)

 

12345

1 2 3 4 5, 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3, 4 5 1 2 3...

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1358

1 3 5 8 7 6 5 4
3 5 2 3 4 #5
And the 8 is the same as the 1

But an octave apart
Try to learn it by heart


AH POOR BIRD

Ah poor bird, take thy flight
Far above the shadows of this dark night

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BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON

By the waters, the waters of Babylon

We laid down and wept, and wept for thee, Zion

We remember thee, remember thee, remember thee, Zion

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DARLIN’

Darlin’ won’t you wait, won’t you wait, won’t you wait,

for I must go far away.

Darlin’ won’t you wait, won’t you wait, won’t you wait

’Til I come back home to stay?
Should another love come along, come along

Simply say that you’re not free
Send him on his way, on his way, on his way

Darlin’ won’t you wait for me?

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O my love
Some of you they say are bound to die

O my love
How it breaks my heart to say goodbye

O my love
When you’re far away I’ll miss you so

Hold me close
Kiss me once again before you go

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EZEKIEL

Ezekiel saw 2 wheels a rollin’
Way in the middle of the air
A wheel within a wheel a rollin’
Way in the middle of the air
And one wheel ran by faith
And the other ran by the grace of God

A wheel within a wheel a rollin’

Way in the middle of the air


HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DOWN THE WATERSPOUT

Have you ever been down the waterspout
to the very bottom of the water system?
There you’ll find a little alligator who goes by the name of Alfred, if you see him, he’s mine.
I lost him.

I threw him down the water spout and now I’m feeling lonely, ‘cause he’s gone.
I miss him.

 

I AM SLOWLY GOING CRAZY

I am slowly going crazy, 123456 switch

Crazy going slowly am I, 654321 switch

 

I SAT DOWN WITH THE DUCHESS

I sat down with the Duchess to tea

It was just as I feared it would be

The rumblings abdominal
were simply phenomenal

And everyone thought it was me

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JUICY MOOSE

There was a great big moose
Who drank a lot of juice
(Singin’ whoa whoa whoa...)
The moose's name was Fred
And he drank his juice in bed (Singin’...)

He drank his juice with care

But he got some in his hair (Singin’...)

He was a sticky moose
Who drank a lot of juice (Singin’...)

His friends began to laugh

So he went to take a bath (Singin’...)

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MY DAME HAD A LAME TAME CRANE

My dame had a lame tame crane

My dame had a crane that was lame

Come Mistress Jane
to my dame’s lame tame crane

Feed it and return again

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NEE-SAW

Nee-saw Nee-saw,

Nee-saw Nee-saw

Nee-saw, Nee-saw

Gai-weh-ho___ (X X X)

Gai-weh-ho___ (X X X)

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O LORD, WE PRAISE YOU

(Verse) I was thinking the other day

About the joy that came my way
He took away my frown
And those things that had me bound

I thought about all those times

when I was walking around in a daze

But today I stand before you
with nothing but praise

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OLD ABRAM BROWN

Old Abram Brown is dead and gone

You’ll never see him more
He used to wear a long brown coat

That buttoned down before


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ROUND AND ROUND

Round and round the earth is turning

Turning always round to morning

And from morning round to night

 

ROSE ROSE

Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose

Will I ever see thee wed?

I will marry at thy will, sire,

At thy will.

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SHALOM CHAVERIM

Shalom chaverim, shalom chaverim

Shalom, shalom

L'hit-ra-ot, L'hit-ra-ot,

Shalom, shalom

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SOMEDAY

Someday (4x)

Peace and Joy and Happiness, No More Sorrow, Someday

Gotta be Ready When He Calls My Name (3x) Someday

You Know the Trumpet Shall Sound and the Dead Shall Rise, We'll Walk the Streets of Gold, Someday

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THE BALL GOES UP, THE BALL GOES DOWN

The ball goes up, the ball comes down

The ball keeps going round and round

I catch, You throw

Heads up, heads up follow

 

THE WOODS ARE LOVELY

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep

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TO THE GREENWOOD

Come follow, follow, follow
Follow, follow, follow me
Whither shall I follow, follow, follow

Whither shall I follow, follow thee?
To the greenwood, to the greenwood

To the greenwood, greenwood tree

 

WHAT A WEIRD BIRD

What a weird bird - - the frog is

When he sit, he stand almost

When he walk, he fly almost

When he talk, he cry almost

He ain’t got no sense, hardly
He ain’t got no tail, either, hardly

He sits on what he ain’t got hardly

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WHY SHOULDN’T MY GOOSE

Why shouldn’t my goose

Sing as well as thy goose

When I paid for my goose

Twice as much as thine


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