I Know About Snow

Have you ever thought about how many words in the English language contain the word, "snow"? It's actually pretty amazing, as you can see – and hear – in this homage to the fluffy white stuff. Though we do not claim to have every such word in the song, we have a pretty good representation. We must admit, inspiration struck while watching the news about the extreme amounts of snow blanketing some parts of the country during the winter of 2014-15. Compared to places like Boston, we felt pretty lucky to be here in Wisconsin!

The song, "I Know About Snow" is pretty fun to sing. It's set in a retro rock 'n' roll style, complete with bari sax and electric guitar with classic effects. The first time through, it's sung in unison so that the impact of all that snow (so to speak) comes through on first impressions. Be sure your singers enunciate carefully so each word is clearly understood, which is kind of the point. You might be surprised how your eyes and mouth might trip up after a few of these! It actually requires a bit of concentration. Which makes us think it might also be a good cross curricular piece for general classroom reinforcement (English, speech, spelling – not to mention focusing).

At measure 18, now that we've acclimated to the whole snow vibe, we introduce part 2. This is optional as usual, but it's really cool (no pun intended). It's one of the elements that makes the song feel more retro, especially when it gets back to the verse at measure 5 on the D.S. And yes, we did isolate this part and put it up on our web site for you to use as a teaching tool if you wish. (See the Downloadables box on page 77 for quick info about accessing this.)

Even though we are publishing this in our January/February issue, which is smack in the middle of winter and therefore appropriate for a snow song, you might consider using this for a winter, Christmas, or holiday performance, too. You might even want to add a few jingle bells to enhance it accordingly.