A Silly Winter Song

by Teresa Jennings

The main goal of this lighthearted winter tune is to give your beginning guitar students a chance to show off their skills with the 4-string chords C, G, and D7. At the top of the music, we write out the simple off-beat rhythm we suggest, then at measure 7, we indicate that guitars should continue similarly. This will give players a chance to just read the chord symbols and follow the musical road map. But if you want them to read the notes, the chord symbols, the diagrams, or the TAB, we've got that! A part with all of the above mentioned is available for free download on our web site.

Of course, if you don't have guitar students and just want to use the song for its own charm, why not? By mid-winter, a bit of levity is always welcome. The second vocal part is optional, but we have isolated it and put it online for ease of teaching. We've also created an alternate full version of the song that has all the student parts plus bass so you/they can hear well how everything goes.

There is an easy, optional recorder part you can add, if you like. It is featured the third time through the verse while singers hum. You could also add a little patsching (thigh slapping) here for spice. Something simple would work nicely.

Since the lyrics are all about silliness, your students might wish to alter them or even write their own. You could make the song about something else, like autumn, for example. Use it as a creative writing exercise to bring it across the curriculum. Or just sing it as is, and enjoy!

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.