Bees Are Buzzing

by Teresa Jennings

We hope you noticed our bright and cheery springtime cover for this issue (by artist Cathy Blaski). Its inspiration was this little ditty. After all, what is more spring-like than buzzing bees? Flowers are abundant, new growth is everywhere, and nature is just going wild. Ah, spring!

This cute song is a simple way to not only sing about bees, but also to help young students learn to sing in parts because it's a round, too. And not only is it a round for singing, it's also a round for kazooing. Of course, the kazoos are optional. But we think you'll like to add them for that extra dab of fun. Besides, kazoos are awfully reminiscent of bees.

The song is sung in unison the first time so everyone can learn it. Then it breaks into a round the second time. The third time, the round is played on kazoos. Try to divide your performers so that you have pretty equal parts.

After the kazoo round, the parts continue to the end. If the divisi is too difficult, just have them all play the same thing. If you are not using kazoos, have them sing the words in parentheses. Either way, for the last note, they should all sing the word, "Bzzz!" (Kazoo clue: Teach students to sing the syllable "doo" on every note. The exception to this is when the notes are actually slurred.)

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.