Ride My Bicycle

Ah, the joys of riding a bicycle - especially when you're a kid! Since May is National Bike Month (and spring fever is probably hitting real hard about now), we wanted to "spring" this happy piece on our subscribers.

There's just something about that phase between riding a Big Wheel™ in the driveway and the first day of driver's ed that gives one a warm feeling inside. If you've ever woken up on Christmas morning to find a shiny new bicycle under the tree, you know what we mean. Not only did it look neat, but for most of us, it was the vehicle that made the world a smaller place, expanding our recreational territory from the area immediately in front of our home to (gasp) a several mile radius. Suddenly, we got to see the world on two wheels!

The first thing you'll notice about this song is the descriptive opening piano part (a two note arpeggiating G and F/G chord) - you can just see the pedals turning. If you've subscribed with the Performance/Accompaniment CD or cassette, you'll hear pizzicato strings accenting this line, as well as some ethereal guitar lines designed to emulate the euphoria of riding.

The vocal line is fairly easy to learn on the verses, a bit more complex on the chorus due to its syncopated nature. Still, we think you'll find its progression and hook very singable. Once your students get it, they should have a lot of fun with it. Repetition helps this process.

There is also a part two on the D.S. geared for folks who can sing a bit lower. As always, the part two is optional, but if you have the means to pull it off, it makes for a nice effect. It signifies that we're in the "bring it on home" part of the piece.

Being the diverse folks we are, we used two kinds of "pad" sounds on this song. First, some synthesized choir "ahs" at measure 13, and then a real string pad at measure 17. The two meld together very nicely, we think. And for you fans of the rock & roll genre, there's even a fun guitar solo at measure 33.

About the "roadmap" for this piece - please note that at the end of the guitar solo, the D.S. goes back to measure 5 as in previous verse/choruses, then goes straight to the coda after measure 32. The coda is brief, and your kids get to yell "Bicycle!" at the end.