A Lovely Summer

by John Riggio

Most of us have seen those ads on TV that attempt to sweep us away to a vacation hot spot. The beach. The sun. Crystal blue water. The sound of seagulls and surf. Even if you're not a fan of tropical locales, the advertisers make you wish you were there. It's the same place this peaceful, lovely song wants to take you.

The piece has a songo groove to it, and features some very nice alto sax noodling played on the recording by Jim Farrelly, with jazz electric guitar played by Sandy Williams. The unison melody is syncopated at times, but repetitive enough to where it shouldn't be too difficult to suss out. It's also played on jazz electric guitar to help reinforce the line.

This is one of those tunes where the feel is more important than rigid timing. Tell your singers to relax, and enjoy the imagery of a great summer vacation. (And by the way, even if you can't be somewhere warm and laid-back this summer, try to take some time and be refreshed somewhere. Autumn and a new school year will be here before you know it.)

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.