The Bill Of Rights

The Bill Of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. It exists because some of the founding fathers believed that the Constitution originally gave too much power to the federal government. It spells out specific rights that Americans have in relation to their government, like freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to legal counsel. It helps to protect our individual liberties.

The Bill Of Rights is a weighty topic, so we thought it deserved the royal treatment! And that is just what you will hear on the Performance/Accompaniment recording – full orchestration, chimes that remind us of The Liberty Bell, and a majestic recurring motif. The vocal melody is simple enough for most children to sing, but it is always covered by something in the orchestra or the piano itself. The melody only occurs the first and third times at the pick-ups to measure 9, then continues to the end after the third time through.

The tricky part of this song is the narration which paraphrases the Bill Of Rights. This will require practice for sure. It is broken into one amendment per person (optionally). You will note on the recording that we began these around measure 35 the first time concluding just before the pick-ups in the vocals back into measure 9 the third time. That's because there are a lot of words to get in. If you have ten students who can pull it off with succinct, purposeful reading, go for it. If you feel you need to reduce the number of readers so that it flows a bit more rapidly in order to fit well, that's okay, too. Even one reader would be just fine. If you do use multiple readers, we highly suggest they each already have a microphone (if you use them) that they do not have to move to. There won't be time for moving! Though challenging, the effect overall will be very strong and worth the effort.

Also on the recording, you will hear that we have reduced the volume of the accompaniment once the narration begins. This happens on both the full performance and accompaniment tracks. However, we recognize that you might prefer to have control over the volume yourself, so we have an alternate accompaniment track that stays at full volume throughout. You will find this alternate track at our web site, free to subscribers, of course.

This song is the second piece in the revue, Our Constitution. As with all of the revue music, it is a great cross curricular tune. If your school has a history or civics teacher who is teaching the Constitution, be sure to let them know that this song would be an excellent reinforcement of students' learning.