Let's Go!

High energy is the name of this game. Hit the gas and don't let up! (So to speak.) "Let's Go!," a song about summer vacations is a country rock chart with a challenging unison or two part melody. What makes it challenging is the syncopated approach, which gives the song more drive.

We've written the melody as a unison part, but you might choose to split the group or select a smaller group for the "Let's go!" shouted lines in the chorus. Though there is technically time for a good breath between the shouted "Let's go!" and its sung answer, it might be easier to keep the energy up if one group focuses on the shout and the other on the answer.

You'll notice, too, as you listen to the vocal demo, that the earlier choruses have a little more sung melody on the "Let's go!" As the song progresses, the pitch (a C) becomes more of a shout, ultimately ending in a final shout. Each iteration also has a small fall off that feels very natural. Bet it won't be difficult to find volunteers for the shouting parts.

Every class, it seems, ends up writing a paper: What I did on summer vacation. This will give you the opportunity to discuss ideas before summer break. There is so much to see and do. You may want to explain some of the lyrical references, like "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," or laying "tracks" (tire tracks or music tracks) in Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital of the world. And you'll get some eyes rolling with the "see what Arkansas" line.

Follow the road map for hand claps, too. It really keeps the energy up. Just make sure they clap on beats two and four when the time comes.