Autumn Leaf

In our annual homage to the season, we have included this lovely Latin piece. The happy, upbeat rhythm and melody are easy to read and learn and help reinforce your study of syncopation.

The melody begins as a unison line during the verse. At the chorus, the line splits into an optional divisi. If you only wish to use one part there, the top line is the melody. It is our experience, however, that young singers enjoy simple moving divisions like this one. They are natural and fun to sing. Once your students hear the singers on the recording do it, they will want to do it as well. You can choose select singers to perform the moving second part, or let most students do the moving part while your select singers do the melodic sustained part.

The third time through the verse, there is a flute solo. We have suggested some movement ideas here as well. Each student should have a single colorful autumn leaf (real or created). The leaf is moved in a floating and light manner to the music for the approximate number of beats indicated per move on the music. Students simply transfer the leaf from one hand to the other as needed. At the end of the song, in the last measure, students should toss their leaves up into the air and let them float down to the ground.