We asked a few composers to share one of their favorite children’s pieces they had arranged and what made it special. We hope you enjoy reading these stories and the teaching activity included with each piece.
Mark Burrows
One children’s anthem that means a great deal to me is You Are Welcome Here. A big part of my work with children is helping them know deep down in their very bones that they are welcome, wanted, and worthy. What could this world look like if everyone knew they were loved and that they were never alone?
Teaching activity: The song has a lot of longer note values. Young singers will sometimes fade out at the ends of those longer notes. One activity I think helps with this is “bubble” singing – some call it lip trills.
- Rather than sing text, I ask the children to “bubble” the melody, really buzzing the lips. This helps bring the sound forward while also giving the children good physical feedback for how much breath they need to support the phrases.
- Then when we switch back to text, the sound tends to be more vibrant and supported all the way to the ends of phrases.
Katie Houts
Some of my most memorable worship experiences have been led by children. Hearing the voices of our youngest singers inspires me to lift my own! Come, Let Us Worship God is an accessible echo song that children, youth, or an intergenerational ensemble can lead at any time of year. Many children notice (and care deeply about) injustices they see, and this text – food for the hungry, rest for the weary – immediately connects.
Teaching activity: When introducing this melody to children, I add playful body percussion to the dotted half note at the end of the phrase: three toe taps followed by a snap.
- Model the opening phrase for the children (“Come, let us worship God”), asking them to count the toe taps.
- Sing the phrase for them again as they tap and snap with you.
- Ask: what happens when we snap?
- Model again for the children, affirming their guess that the snap is the cutoff.
After singers put this rhythm into their bodies, the children anticipate the dotted half note and we rarely need to rehearse the end of phrases, allowing more time for joyful discovery of how we can be God’s hands and feet in the world.
Becki Mayo
It is a challenge to select a favorite among all the children’s anthems that I have written through the years. Be a Candle of Hope is definitely one of my favorites and is fitting for a variety of concert programming. The text is suitable for a sacred or educational setting. The universal message of sharing and bringing hope to others is one that I long to convey to children and youth. I want them to know that their music makes a difference, and they make a difference! The anthem is very accessible to young singers, either unison or two-part.
Teaching activity: Begin teaching this anthem by identifying the ABA form.
- Preview the anthem, listening for the B section as well as the partner tune that happens in the repeat of section A.
- Prepare singers for two parts by doing a warm-up (see below) that features thirds, since this is the most difficult harmonic interval for young singers to master.
- Teach all singers part I and sing in unison to establish good phrasing.
- Introduce part II by singing the first phrase and holding the word “light” in measure 8.
- Once singers have mastered singing this third, part II should be easy to learn.
Jean Anne Shafferman
At the beginning of my career, I was a church children’s choir director and a high school choral director with an untrained treble choir. In both cases, independent part singing was a great challenge. I found partner songs to be indispensable tools and remember especially Natalie Sleeth’s Promised Land. Years later, as a music publisher and arranger, I had the opportunity to address this need and delighted in pairing traditional tunes in my choral arrangements. One of my favorites is Glory Bound, which partners the spirituals This Train; When the Saints Go Marchin’ In and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
Teaching Activity: To start the process, I keep them off the score, relying upon their aural memory. I teach all three tunes individually to the choir, beginning with the tune that is most familiar to the singers. When they’ve achieved confidence in each of them, I begin to partner them, two at a time. If text is a problem, they just sing a neutral syllable such as “doo.” They really love this, especially when someone yells “All aboard!” before the choir sings. Then I add the printed text that is in the choral arrangement. The arrangement is flexible enough that it can be performed by two-part voices with a treble instrument or soloist singing the optional descant (part 3).
