Es Bueno Ser Educado

The message of this song is very clear. "Manners matter. Kindness matters. It's good to be polite." What a difference we can make in our own sphere, and beyond, if we choose to be polite.

This is an upbeat, happy song. Any song with this recognizable clapping pattern is happy, right? I mean, when's the last time you heard it in a sad song? You get a conga fill to bring you into the groove, and the clapping starts at bar 1 continuing through the intro. We jump right into Spanish expressions of politeness. "Please," "thank you," "excuse me," and "I'm sorry" are common expressions that could get a lot more use these days. We've included a pronunciation guide on our web site for your convenience. However, if you have Hispanic children in your choir, allow them to teach the proper pronunciation.

This song includes an optional second part that hits at the pick-up to the chorus (bar 13), and a brief optional (and easy) third part that comes in at bar 22. Just remember to keep it energetic, especially when the clapping starts back up at the chorus… and the teachers in the back of the room are dancing! After you've sung through the piece once, whatta ya know, it happens again. But now you add some soloists chiming in with the English translation of each Spanish expression.

Polite guitars, too

Now about those guitar chords. We're in the key of E, which is a great key for guitar but not the easiest to play for beginners. We have illustrated easy, four-string fingerings for the chords on the music. The B can be problematic for small hands but do the best you can. You could opt to simply pluck the B string (the second string open) if the full chord fingering proves too difficult.

You will find a PDF of the guitar part as well as a rehearsal track for parts 2 and 3, and a pronunciation guide at our web site.