Nature Starts A Song

by Teresa Jennings

This simple, lovely song is a celebration of nature and the music we hear within it. It can be used for spring celebrations or Earth Day celebrations or any occasion that is connected to nature and/or music.

A peaceful and acoustic tune, it could be performed live using only piano, or piano and guitars, mandolin, bells, etc., depending on what you have. On the recording, we begin with just guitar and a few birds happily singing along. As the song progresses, more sounds and textures are added: drums, bass, piano, mandolin, harp, and bells. The overall sound is consistently light and airy. It compliments the vocal lines, but does not get in the way.

The lyrics are so simple and repetitious that we did not feel the need to include a lyric page for the song. In fact, after the initial verse, the lyrics really are just the syllable, "na." The melody is also easily learned and after one time through, your singers may be ready to break into a round already. The circled numerals over measures 9 and 10 indicate the entrances. For ease of learning and reference, let your students hear the singers' performance on the recording.

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.