My Hanukkah Harmonica

Hanukkah is a wonderful time of year. So we put together a song that exudes much of the joy and wonder of the season. "My Hanukkah Harmonica" basically tells the story of a child receiving a harmonica as a gift on the first night of Hanukkah. The child subsequently plays the harmonica for the next seven nights. When the harmonica is playing, there is also a part for finger cymbals and a part for a tambourine. Of course, you always have the option of substituting with different instruments or adding even more instruments if you'd like. Rhythm sticks, triangles, sandblocks, and such, would all add to the joyousness. So you are aware, there is a separate part for the finger cymbals and tambourine available as a downloadable PDF on our web site.

The song itself is very easy and most students should be able to sing it. There is a very simple second vocal part as well, beginning at measure 13. And we mean simple. It only uses two notes. This would be a great way to introduce part singing, since it's very straightforward and easy to learn, but adds a nice bit of harmony.

A word about the harmonica... While we don't include this as a student part, you could very easily have one or more of your students play the harmonica for this piece. You would need a harmonica pitched in the key of C. It begins at measure 13 and uses the chords C, F, and G. Note that the accompaniment track on the recording for this issue does have harmonicas included. If you have students who want to play along, you could use this track, or, we also have an accompaniment version available online that does not have any harmonicas playing on the track. You'll find that MP3 included with the web extras for this issue.