Hangin' Out

This short and very easy song is actually a guitar feature that happens to let players sing and whistle as well. Being able to sing or whistle and play at the same time is the ultimate objective, but if you need to split your class so that some sing and/or whistle while others play guitar – at least until they get the hang of it – that's a perfectly fine way to approach it. Even if some kids can't whistle very well, because it's unison group whistling, they can try without self-consciousness.

Before the song begins, you'll hear a pitch and a quiet count-off on the recording. That's because both the whistling (which the pitch is for) and the guitar begin right away in measure 1.

The simple guitar line includes three 4-string chords: D, G, and A7. The suggested strumming rhythm is indicated on the music, but you can alter it any way you like to make it harder or simpler. We've extracted a guitar part if you want your students to read the rhythms. It includes a reminder diagram of each of the chords, just in case. You can find it on our web site for free downloading. (See details in the box on page 78.)

Since this is a song about friends "hangin' out" together, you might find it an appropriate song to use on or around Valentine's Day, too. Though certainly, it is usable any other time as well.