The Robin Sings So Merrily
by Teresa Jennings
With very little difficulty, you could produce your own version of this simple, very "classroom-able" round. Again, the tune is unison, so even your youngest singers will be able to learn it easily. The first time through, the singers and recorders play part I together. On the repeat, they break into a round, as indicated on the music. If you can divisi your recorders with the singers, so much the better.
On the P/A cassette we used hand drum, tom, tambourine, recorders, antique cymbals, guitar, and, of course, sackbuts. Well, actually our "sackbuts" were two trombones: an alto and a tenor. (See page 50 for our special focus on trombones.) If you do decide to create your own orchestration, you could use kazoos in lieu of sackbuts...or trombones. You could also use autoharp for the chord strumming since C is the only chord used in the entire piece.
Though we have given cues in the music for various rhythmic options for the percussion instruments, you can adapt them however you wish. Keep in mind that instruments with similar sounds or timbres should play contrasting rhythms, as they might be lost in the "mix" if they are too much alike.
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.