pedagogical songs

any instrument or voice.

About as easy as you can get.

ca. 60'

2006-2009.

At some point, I decided there weren't enough easy songs.

I was trying to incorporate what (little) I knew about various music pedagogies, leaning heavily on Kodaly, into a beginner book on flute. I started going through every folk and children's song I could get my hands on, analyzing them for their melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ingredients. There were so few songs that just had do, re, and mi and only used the simplest of rhythms. "Merrily We Roll Along" — that was about it.

Who was going to fix this problem? I could either continue to scour the world for songs or start writing them myself. Option B seemed a lot easier, until I started mapping out a plan of what kinds of songs to write, what kinds of musical materials to use, and what order I should add new concepts and materials. Suddenly, I was looking at writing an ungodly amount of songs. Better to start and leave it unfinished, than to be overwhelmed by the task. The flute book was abandoned and the songwriting continued.

Here are the first 50 or so songs, written on and off over a period of 3 years. I hope you find them fun and even useful.

score, volume 1.

Do consider making a donation (of any amount, but let's say $7), if you choose to perform this piece, make copies of it, use it for educational purposes, if it has improved your life in any way. Otherwise, yes, it's yours for free. It is copyrighted, so give credit as necessary.