Sounds All Around Us

This energetic song is our third offering for the musical revue, A World Of Music. (The first two songs, "A World of Music," and "Listen to the Children," can be found in Music K-8, Vol. 8, No. 1.)

Music is the universal language. Whatever your spoken language, you can listen to, understand, and appreciate music. But let's go a little deeper. What is music? Basically, music is sound. And who's to say what constitutes music? Truly it is a subjective thing. What is music to one may be noise to another and vice versa. This song examines the idea that music-in this case, sound-is all around us.

In our previous issue, our multicultural editor, Judith Cook Tucker, discussed STOMP! (See page 62 of Vol. 8, No. 1.) In a nutshell, this troupe of performers uses found objects to make music. Heavily percussive music, of course, as most of the objects are struck or used to strike other objects in one way or another. There is also a bit of shaking, rubbing, blowing, stepping, pouring, etc.- anything that produces sound by being acted upon in some way. Judith suggested that this would be a wonderful way to introduce your students to ways of making their own sounds. This song continues that idea.

Divide your students into two groups to perform the call and response sections. Position them opposite each other for a true "stereo" result. Be sure to let them really yell (within reason) for the best effect and the most fun. There are a couple of lines within the rapped verse at measure 17 that allow for division into groups again. They are indicated on the piano/vocal score. The inflections of the rap are critical to its energy and should be performed with exaggeration. For example, on the line, "really, really try...," have your rappers start with a high pitch and come down rapidly. The vocalists on the Performance/Accompaniment Compact Disc and Cassette offer a pretty decent example of style.

The chorus, too, is infectious, and your students shouldn't have any difficulty belting it out-yes, in their chest voices, with the exception of the higher notes. (What a good chance to practice moving from chest to head voice and back smoothly!) The melody is actually simple and since it repeats, they will definitely remember it quickly.

The instrumental arrangement behind the vocal lines on the recording is peppered with neat sounds. Listen to the instrumental version to let your students pick out the various textures and try to identify them. Besides rhythm section, brass and saxophones, we have added pitched cowbells, metal "crickets," and vibraslap. Consider letting your performers add their own sounds as well. This would be a great time to use those found objects we were discussing earlier. Suggest that they take turns adding sounds (maybe a couple at a time during various sections) so that it doesn't become overwhelming. Too many at once, and it could get cluttered fast. Besides, using only a few at a time makes each one feel special.

You will notice that there is an optional solo part which begins at the coda (or earlier, if you like). The written solo is merely a suggestion, which you can use or ignore. If you have a soloist who is adept at ad libbing, by all means let her (or him). As you will hear on the recording, we used a female soloist, Katy Gentry, who was definitely comfortable ad libbing her solo. We have been told by many subscribers that providing opportunities for talented students to shine in this manner is much appreciated. Please remember that this solo is optional and the song will work well without it.

The piano/vocal score is more of a guide to the instrumental performance on the recording than it is a piano part. If you want to play it on piano, you certainly can, providing you concentrate on the left hand during the rap sections. For the chorus, the whole note chords are easy enough (don't sweat the instrumental cues), but any percussive activity you have going live will be very important to keep it moving forward. Still, we recommend the recording.