Eclipse

On August 21, 2017, a good chunk of The United States experienced a total solar eclipse. It was an amazing event for us because it happened in our own backyard, and a total solar eclipse doesn't happen every day! In point of fact, eclipses are visible every year in one place or another, in varying degrees. It's easier to experience a total lunar eclipse than a total solar eclipse, because the shadow cast by the earth onto the moon is much larger than the shadow cast by the moon onto the earth. To put some perspective on this, the next total lunar eclipse for North America will be on January 21, 2019, but the next total solar eclipse will be on April 8, 2024. (As of this writing, there will actually be four total lunar eclipses for the mainland United States before the next total solar eclipse in 2024.)

This song blends science with poetry, facts with beauty. It has a great-sounding progression to it, and our studio singers really enjoyed singing it. While part 2 vocals are optional, they add a lot to the song, so have your students sing it if they're able. Ditto for the optional divisi in part 2 on the penultimate bar of the song. You'll find rehearsal tracks for part 2 on our web site.

Be sure to check out the electric guitar solo over the second half of the tune. It's played by our very own Sandy Williams on an *EBow®, which is a handheld electronic bow for guitar. It's super cool.

As we like to point out, the song is cross curricular, so make sure to share this with your school science teacher or even the local planetarium.

(*EBow® is a brand name of Heet Sound Products, Los Angeles, CA)