El Día De San Valentín

Literally, the title means "the day of Saint Valentine," or "Valentine's day." This song is written with your primary choir in mind. It is based on a super easy to learn, three note melody. There are no complex rhythms. The constant "four on the floor" kick drum not only adds energy but also serves as a constant reminder of the count. Use it to reiterate how to read the time signature: Top number tells you how many beats per measure and the bottom number tells you what kind of note gets one beat. The driving beat makes it easy to count note values. In fact, it would be a good exercise to have the kids write the number of beats under each note.

The pronunciation is like this: "el (with no diphthong) dée-ah deh sahn bahl-en-téen." When forming the sound for the "d" and "t," place your tongue a little farther forward than an English "d" and "t" so your tongue is touching both the roof of your mouth and the back of your top front teeth at the same time. And a wide smile always seems to help the sound of the Spanish – as well as the musical presentation.