Barefoot

Ahh, summer! Long, carefree days. Warm weather, beaches, water, sand, grass... It's definitely time to shed those shoes and go barefoot! That's the subject of this happy, smiley piece. And what's one of the first things you notice about this out of the gate? It swings! To help your students latch onto the concept of swing, try this: Remember "One potato, two potato, three potato, four, five potato, six potato, seven potato, more"? It's difficult to recite that without swinging it. So have your kids repeat it several times before learning "Barefoot." It might just help them get into that swing mode.

Now since this style has a laid-back feel, you might be tempted to be laid back with the vocals. We learned that doesn't work. You need to keep up the energy throughout or it just sounds lazy.

Notice the addition of snaps on beat three at m. 21, stopping at the bridge at m. 33, then in again at m. 49 to the end. You don't have to use these, but they sure feel right and they're an easy cool bit to add.

We broke into two parts for the last chorus at m. 49, but you don't really need to split the choir. There's room to breathe between the lyric "Barefoot" and the "whoa's." It's up to you.

One more thing. You might check the school dress and/or safety code before attempting to sing this song barefooted. Unless it's a Zoom choir, of course.