Follow My Lead

by Karl Hitzemann

Perhaps one of the best qualities of a leader is leading by example. When others see you striving to do your best and trying to exceed expectations, they will naturally want to follow your lead. The song "Follow My Lead" is a great tool to get kids thinking about how they can work at doing their very best and setting a good example for those around them, and how they can then proudly say, "Do as I say and as I do."

Vocally, this song has three parts, which will make it a bit more challenging, but very rewarding once your group has learned it. And while we do say that parts 2 and 3 are optional, they really are necessary to get the full effect of the awesome cumulative section that begins at measure 26. Having said that, you could, of course, sing this song with just part one. When you get to measure 26, you could have part 1 repeated four times, letting the instruments on the recorded track do the building effect. Or, you could have your unison choir sing part 1 the first time through, part 2 the second time, and part 3 the third time. Then, back to part 1 for the fourth and final time through. (Isolated rehearsal parts are available online for free. However, please note that we did not do a unison version – part 1 only – for reasons mentioned above. See page 77 for details on accessing these parts.)

The recorded accompaniment tracks for this one are really nice, featuring piano, guitars, bass, drums, winds, and strings. We highly recommend using the recording for your performance. All of our studio musicians are really amazing, but pay particularly close attention to the fine performance of bass player-extraordinaire, Steve Dokken. He outdid himself on this one.

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.