Ode To Orange

This is a fun little soft-shoe for the autumn. For the uninitiated, soft-shoe is a style of dance (and by association, music) that is related to tap dancing. In the case of the soft-shoe no special shoes are required, and rhythms are generated by tapping and sliding the feet. In music, this tapping and sliding is mimicked with the use of sand blocks (or Noodle Blocks*). No dancing is actually required in this tune, however. Unless, of course, you want to add it yourself. In which case, go for it!

This time of year, the landscape changes and takes on an orange-ish hue to it. Oh sure, it also has brown and gold and yellow and red – but in this song we're focusing on orange! There are a couple of facts in the lyrics your kiddos may not be aware of. First, oranges (the fruit) are members of the genus citrus, along with lemons, limes and grapefruit. Second, orange (the color) is the second color of the rainbow, or color spectrum. Remember Roy G. Biv from your school days – Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet? So there's a bit of cross curricular learning in there, too!

The lyrics are lighthearted, so singers should reflect that with a similar feel. You could even give it a more "vaudeville" sound by having your students sing with noses slightly pinched and faces cupped with their hands. There's even a moment for a spoken solo a la Shirley Temple. (Who? Look her up!) And what song about orange would be complete without the classic orange joke at the end? (Orange you glad I shared this song...)

In a rare move by the composer, this song is through-composed. No repeats! No D.S.! Not even a coda! So the road map is super easy. There is one musical moment to be aware of, and that's the ritard/a tempo in bars 20 and 21. It's quite natural though, so just listen along to the recording a couple of times, and it will click.

How does one perform a song about orange? By wearing orange, of course! Students could wear orange T-shirts, orange pants, orange dresses, orange shoes, orange hats, orange accessories, etc. You could even use orange colored props, or just oranges (the fruit). You could also spell O-R-A-N-G-E with orange paint on a backdrop or projected behind your performers.

And just in case you hadn't noticed, this song, or rather its main theme, was the inspiration for the cover of this issue! (Painting by Stephanie Rodriguez.)

*Editor's Note – Noodle Blocks are unpitched percussion instruments similar to sand blocks in sound. But they are made out of pool noodles cut down to small playable chunks. No, really. We carry them at MusicK8.com if you're interested. We even have a number of pieces to go with them (and other instruments) called Noodle Toonz™.