Friends All Around Us

As short and simple as this song is, it has a lot going on! First of all, it's a good tune for beginning guitars as it only has three chords, all of which have easy, four-string options. The challenge this time for guitarists is the A chord. As you can see by the chord diagram, three of the four strings need fingers right next to each other to play this chord. (Hint: Be sure players keep their fingernails cut very short on their left hand. This will help with tight positions like this.) On the music, we have suggested that guitars play a simple strum, but do what works. Second, this tune has a part for bells and/or Boomwhackers®. Really, it could be used for any C instrument, like xylos, recorders, tone chimes, etc. (We do carry a variety of these types of instruments in our Music K-8 MARKETPLACE catalog. Visit us at MusicK8.com to see what's there.) We have extracted these parts for ease of reading. You'll find them on page 52. There is also a TAB part for guitar which you can find online. See page 77 for details.

You will hear a count-off at the beginning of the song on the recording. This is because if you are using guitars, they start right in the first measure.

Another thing about this song is that it's very easy to sing. You could let students sing while they play guitar, if you wish. It's also a pleasant topic – friendship – which is not too seasonal, but could be used as a Valentine piece if you're so inclined.