Current Musicians for Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. As someone who did not grow up in North America and does not have any Native American heritage in my family, I have been on a constant learning journey for the last two decades since moving to the United States to learn more about North American Indigenous music, and appropriate ways for me, as an outsider, to share it with my students. One way to do so is by sharing current musicians with my students- here are a few contemporary Native American musicians to explore.

First it's important to note that there is a lot of variation in language preferences within the Indigenous people of the North American continent. I refer to the heritage month by the official name, and try to use a mix of the preferred language I have heard from various culture bearers in my descriptions. When you are referring to specific people or musicians, it's important to do the research to see how they refer to themselves before describing them to your students. For each of the musicians I've compiled here I've listed their name and their tribe if they identify with a specific one(s), and included an example of a song you may want to share with your students.

Elisapie (Inuk)

Quinn Christopherson (Athabascan/ Inupiaq)

Martha Redbone 

Mumu Fresh (Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee)

Raye Zaragoza (O'odham)

Rhiannon Giddens

Supaman (Apsáalooke)

*song below contains heavy themes- prayer loop song could be an alternative

This list only begins to scratch the surface of amazing, multifaceted musicians actively making excellent music in a broad range of genres with North American Indigenous heritage! Please share other artists and/or songs you've found in the comments below.

Sharing songs and musicians is just one piece of giving students the opportunity to interact with and learn from Native American music, and it's important for us to do so in appropriate, respectful, and authentic ways, especially as non-native music teachers. I've compiled in this post some of my favorite resources for learning from culture bearers:

To find more strategies, resources, and ideas for incorporating other heritage months in elementary music, check out these posts:

 

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Echo Songs

One of the first concepts I teach in Kindergarten is echo singing. There are lots of great ones out there but over the years I have definitely found my favorites that kids love year after year and are easy to use in my lessons! Here are my top 4 favorite echo songs to use in Kindergarten, and also how I teach echo singing.

To introduce the concept of an echo song, I just tell students to copy after me and start singing. I point to myself when it's my turn, and point out to the students when it's their turn to copy. Most students catch on immediately, but I always stop and remind students to wait if they try to sing along with me on my turn instead of waiting!

After we have done a few echo songs I ask students to tell me what they did, and we discuss that they sang the same thing I did right after me. I introduce the word "echo song" and I always do a motion to go with it (which is helpful for language learners but also a good memory hook and a way to have students silently vote later on when I ask them to identify what type of song something was): I put my hands in front of my chest, palms facing in, and move my hands back and forth.

The concept of an echo song is pretty straight-forward by itself, but it's important for students to consciously recognize and identify it so they can distinguish it from other types of songs, like call and response, later on.

Now on to my favorite echo songs! 

1. The Moose Song

This is probably my favorite echo song of all time. The lyrics are funny, the jazzy parts are cool, and we always love belting out, "on the looooooooose" at the end! 

2. I Know a Chicken

I don't know what it is about this song that is so magical but every year my students sing with such great gusto with huge grins on their faces the first time they sing it. It's amazing. I use this song to review echo singing and also introduce and practice musical contrasts like quiet/ loud and fast/ slow by having them shake their egg shakers different ways.

3. Echo Gecko

I actually discovered this one fairly recently but my students love it! And it's the perfect way to have students practice echoing other things like rhythm patterns, vocal explorations, and anything else to introduce other musical concepts at the same time.

4. Boom Chicka Boom

Even though there's technically no singing it's hard not to include this one on the list because it's such a classic. There are so many ways to create variations for new verses as well! This video has more examples, and so does this one. I love asking students to come up with their own versions too!

What are your favorite echo songs to use in Kindergarten? I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments! You can find all of my lessons on echo singing and more in my Kindergarten curriculum set here.

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Favorite Fall Songs

I've always loved using songs about fall in my music lessons, so I've been thrilled to discover some new ones my students and I have absolutely loved this year to add to my collection! Today I'm sharing my top three favorites that I've found this year.

I've been using these songs so far with my self-contained class, which has a wide span of ages and abilities, and they have been perfect, but they would be fun to use with almost any grade, especially on those weird schedule days before a holiday or something when you just want to do something fun. With younger grades they can be used as originally intended, but with older grades these would also be great to have students create a full performance with instrumentation because they are short and have simple chord structures!

For each song, I've linked where you can get the sheet music and audio recordings, and included a video that shows the lyrics as well. 

1. "Falling Leaf" by Stephanie Leavell

If you don't know Stephanie Leavell (aka "Music for Kiddos"), you need to. Especially if you teach early childhood or self-contained music. I don't know why I didn't find this song until this year but it is the perfect energy level and perfect to use as a movement activity! I had students hold scarves one time, and also did it with students holding leaves, and it was a hit every time.

2. "Blowing in the Wind" by Stephanie Leavell

Another winner from Stephanie! This one could work in winter too, actually, but I love it for fall because of the minor tonality. This one is explicitly for scarves and is a great way to introduce students to different ways to move with scarves.

3. "Autumn is Here" by Rob DelGaudio

Rob DelGaudio is another fantastic elementary music resource and I'm not sure why it took me so long to discover this song! It is an additive song with suggestions for instruments you can use for each line that's added, as well as motions to go along with all the words.

I live in an area that is famously beautiful in autumn so when it comes to celebrating fall, we go pretty hard around here! If you're looking for more fall-themed songs and lessons to try, here some other tried and true favorites I've shared in previous years:

If you've used any of these songs I'd love to hear how you used them, and which grades you've used them with! And if you have more great songs for fall, please leave them in the comments.

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Favorite Songs for Elementary Choir

If you're looking for some song ideas to use with your elementary chorus, today I'm sharing some of my favorites! I've shared some of my favorite pop songs I've arranged for my elementary choirs in previous posts (look for that link below) so this post will focus on choral pieces.

I have taught elementary choir for many years in all different formats, age groups, schedules, and ability ranges, and I definitely have found some pieces that have been successful time and time again. Of course there are no magic songs that are perfect for every elementary choir, so you'll want to consider which ones of the list below are the best fit for the group you have from year to year, but these are all pieces I have done over the years and have worked well. 

I've split my list up into songs I've done for winter concerts and songs I've done for spring concerts, but keep in mind there are many songs on this list that would work any time of year and often, I have done them in multiple different times of year myself- in those cases I just added them to one or the other, so be sure to look through the whole list regardless of what time of year your program will be.

Winter Concert Songs

• "Winter Is Coming" from "Songs for the Winter" 
• "Here Comes the Snow" from "Songs for the Winter" 
• "Gong Xi" arr. Lily Lung Grant
• "A La Puerta del Cielo" arr. Ruth Elaine Schram (2-part)
• "Hot Chocolate" (from Polar Express) arr. Roger Emerson (2-part)
• "Sing" by Pinkzebra (2-part)
• "Catch a Falling Star" arr. Mac Huff
• "Hushabye, Nanita Nana" arr. Donnelly & Strid
• "Snow is Falling" by Ruth Elaine Schram (2-part)
• "Siyahamba" arr. Donald Moore (2-part)
• "Seasons of Love" (from Rent) arr. Mac Huff (2-part)
• "How Can I Keep from Singing?" by Greg Gilpin (2-part)
• "Artza Alinu" arr. Earlene Rentz (2-part)
• "Babethandaza" arr. Victor Johnson (SSA)
• "Whisper!" by Greg Gilpin (2-part)

Spring Concert Songs

• "I Bought Me a Cat" arr. Sally Albrecht (2-part)
• "Akatonbo" arr. Russell Robinson
• "Bonse Aba" arr. Victor Johnson (2-part)
• "I Love Chocolate!" by Mary Lynn Lightfoot
• "Get On Board" by Martin/ Williams
• "I Want to Rise" arr. Mark Weston (2-part)
• "J'entend le Moulin" arr. Dwyer/ Ellis (SA)
• "Salangadou" arr. Susan Brumfield
• "Cantar!" by Jay Althouse (2-part)
• "Sisi Ni Moja" by Jacob Narverud (SA)
• "Aya Ngena" arr. Ruth Morris Gray (SSA)
• "Kojo no Tsuki" arr. Audrey Snyder
• "Rhythm of Life" arr. John Leavitt (2-part)
• "Ukrainian River Song" by Roman Yakub

Keep in mind in many cases I make minor adjustments to the pieces to fit my needs, whether that's adjusting the lyrics, modifying the harmony parts, adjusting the arrangements, or making a section a solo. I've written more details about some specific ways I often modify songs in this post, and you're welcome to comment or email me if you have questions about any of the specific songs on this list.

I have been hesitant to share this list because I am not particularly thrilled with the identities represented in the list of arrangers and composers. I would love to hear suggestions from people who have found songs they love for elementary choirs by composers and arrangers that identify with underrepresented identities, particularly culture bearers from the global majority. I have, frankly, had an easier time finding representation in the modern songs I program for my elementary choirs and have admittedly put more energy into that effort than I have into the choral arrangements. To see my (ongoing) list of modern songs I've arranged for my elementary choirs, check out this post.

I also don't tend to program concerts with a specific theme most of the time, because I don't want to limit myself, but sometimes I stumble into a theme and when that happens it's pretty cool to see it come together! I've shared the songs I've programmed for 3 different themes (stars, rhythm, and self-identity) in this post.

Looking for more advice on teaching elementary chorus? You can search all of my posts on the topic, with everything from teaching strategies to warmups to rehearsal procedures, here.

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