Do Your Best!

by John Riggio

A great motivational piece, "Do Your Best!" encourages your singers to do their personal best in everything they do, splitting the difference between mediocre efforts and a competitive "win at all costs" mentality. The hope is that when we honestly do the best we can, favorable results (the future) will follow.

The song utilizes an energetic two-four emphasis rock beat with a syncopated right hand part for the piano, giving it a triple over duple meter feel. For this reason (lots of dots and ties across bar lines), as well as its range and optional four part harmony at the coda, we recommend this song for your middle to upper grades.

If you've purchased the optional P/A cassette with this issue, you can hear the kick drum (bass drum) on the verses playing quarter notes, making it easier for your students to count the rhythms. In addition, the winds double the four-part harmony at the coda, adding stability to each part. We remind you that the four-part divisi is optional, and the song will work beautifully with just the melody alone and/or any combination of the other 3 parts.

With its positive message and driving rhythm, this song would be at home in an academic setting or sports event alike. It lends itself well to any choreography you may want to create, and the 16 measure intro will give your students time to get to wherever they need to be. Plus it has a big finish coming out of the four-part harmony. Of course, the cassette arrangement lends quite a bit of richness to the piece (rhythm section, ten piece wind section and synthesizers). However you perform it, we hope you enjoy this song. -JR

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.