Summertime, Please Come Soon!

by John Riggio

The title says it all. The lyrics are lighthearted, and they convey the not-a-care-in-the-world attitude that the summer months bring to students (and most of the rest of us)! If you have the recording, this is a good one to use our tracks on, as piano alone is not really adequate, and our studio rhythm guys really make it rock.

Take a minute to look at the road map of the piano/vocal score while listening. The use of the repeats, D.S., etc., will be much clearer then.

Most of this song should be sung in chest voice. The exception to this is the section at measure 22, which gets lighter and prettier, especially in parts 1 and 4. This section is also the most challenging of the tune, as it slowly stacks four parts, adding one with each repeat. Your older singers will enjoy pulling this off, and it will sound way cool. If you are using younger singers, consider using fewer parts, maybe just two. And they don't have to be the first two. You decide. (Also worth mentioning - if you need to have some singers double up on the F natural in the measure before the 2/4 bar, do what sounds good. Three out of four parts are singing an A there, so listen for balance.)

You will hear that our singers connected the melody (no breaths) starting at the section at measure 14 and going back into the repeat (measure 6). We had them stagger breathe during this part, so you don't hear the breaths (lest you think our studio singers don't need air). Have your singers do the same if they can, only breathing when they must, and doing so discreetly. It's excellent practice for breath support.

We imagine that around a month or two before the end of the school year is a good time to share this song with your kids. They'll want to sing it again and again - and you might, too!

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.