Tunes List

Here are the melodies we have worked on so far. Students should be working on these, maybe going through each tune a few times per practice session:

Ant Song— playing each string 4 times except the last. This tue is helping us memorize the order of open strings (E A D G). Then when the basic way is easy, they can play a note for each syllable so it is a mix of longer (quarter notes) and shorter (eighth notes). Also note that to switch strings quickly the pizzicato finger can be kept closer to the string after playing each note, which helps a lot!

Here are the lyrics. I got this from another teacher and I’m not sure the original source of this rhyme.

Each each each and every

Ant ant ant digs the

Dirt dirt dirt under the

Ground ground ground

Shake Little Tree— this introduces the first finger playing the A string to make a B. Students had played this tune on their flutes last year so they knew it. Fingers should be gently round shape when playing the string, avoiding being too curled (which forms an almost square shape and stresses the joints a bit too much) or too flat. We practiced making a teardrop shape between fingers and thumb to get the idea…too much tension and it becomes a circle, but a relaxed curve of the fingers when they touch the thumb gives a nice teardrop.

Below are the lyrics. It begins on first finger and I have bolded/italicized the A (which is open string) notes. The second half seems a bit more tricky for the students to know when to change notes. Many students are accidentally putting their fingers back on for the word “may.” That spot is the only time there are two consecutive open strings, so maybe that is why!

Shake shake little tree

Silver and gold may cover me

Lion Sleeps Tonight— we have played a simple ostinato and sung along with it (Wimoweh) and we have also sung the melody while playing the ostinato. The order of strings for this is as follows: D G D A (playing each stirng 4 times). We talked about the history of the song, that it was written in the 1920’s in Africa and later recorded in by a pop group and used in the Lion King but the original author did not receive any money! There may also be some interesting symbolism (according to Pete Seeger’s notes about it) because the last king of the Zulu’s was nicknamed The Lion.

Hot Cross Buns— the students knew the words already so this is a good way to introduce the 2nd finger. For now when 2nd finger is down we will practice having the 1st finger on the string with it (since it is behind it it doesn’t effect the sound but it is good practice for hand position and is convenient when moving to 1st finger notes from 2nd because the new note is already ready). We made variations on the lyrics and talked about the concept of variation, ie that it means changing the original version in some way. We sang about hot cocao, croissants, tofu and even kitties instead of hot cross buns. The fingering is as follows:

(On the D string but can be played on any string)

2 1 D

2 1 D

DDDD 1111

2 1 D

Major Scale— we played the first half of this (and connected it to the syllables Do Re Me Fa). Playing this introduces 3rd finger for the first time! I explained how you can do the same 4 note pattern on the next string to complete the scale. The fingering is:

D 1 2 3

And if continuing:

A 1 2 3

We also talked about the major scale is a pattern of notes and it is possible (when you are more advanced) to start that pattern on any note and have it sound the same. I pointed out that is why the solfege system of singing Do Re Mi was invented…to help keep track of what note of the scale you are on, regardless of which note is Do. This is a big concept but may be interesting for them to think about.

We have also sung two others so far:

The alphabet song backwards— It makes a fun little puzzle to try to learn to sing the letters beginning with Z. I know that somewhere around LKJ IHG it is especially hard…for me! As an added challenge I said you could even learn to sing “Me with time next sing you won’t” at the last phrase.

Step By Step— an old union song with a lot of the melody in scale order (useful for when we play it later).

Step by step the longest march

Can be won, can be won

Many stones can form an arch

Singly done singly done

And by union what we will

Can be accomplished still

Drops of water turn a mill

Singly done singly done

Here it is performed on hammered dulcimer:

Extra melodies to try.

Because it’s Christmas season students seem quite excited about playing tunes like Jingle Bells. Here are the fingerings:

(on the D string)

222 222 2 A D 1 2

333 3322 2221121 A

222 222 2 A D 1 2

333 3322 222 A A (back to D) 3 1 D

Joy to the World

(on A)

3 2 1 A (on D:) 3 2 1 D

A 1 1 2 2 3

3 3 2 1 A A (on D:) 3 2

3 3 2 1 A A (on D:) 3 2

2 2 2 2 23 A

(on D:) 3 2 1 1 1 12 3

2 1 D (on A:) 3 1 A (on D:) 3 2 3 2 1 D