Spicy Hot!

"Spicy Hot!" is a novelty song that just might make you smile merely from listening to it. You can use it for classroom fun or even in a performance, if you like. The lyrics extol the virtues of spicy hot food, particularly peppers and the foods they go into. It's the lines between the lyrics that offer humorous commentary and the opportunity for some comedy.

Students should have no difficulty learning the melody and lyrics, even the chorus. If you have any questions about the interpretation of "spi-yi-yi-cy," listen to the singers on the recording. Students will pick up the nuances quickly. We had our singers add a bit of a nasal quality to the long i's as they occurred.

The instrumental background on the recording is appropriately spicy, set in a Latin style. It includes rhythm section (listen for those great drum fills), winds, and lots of auxiliary percussion. You can add your own unpitched percussion to the groove, too. Cowbell, tambourine, shakers, guiro, samba whistle, agogo bells - anything that feels properly, well, spicy would work. Let each player set up their own pattern. Add instruments one at a time, all at once, or mix and match.

When it comes to the comments, you may have to do the song more than once to give everyone a chance to speak! Our kids were eager to participate, as you can hear by their enthusiastic performances. Again, letting your students hear the recording will give them a good idea of how to interpret and deliver the lines. However, don't let it limit them either. The idea is to have fun with it and to inspire comedy. Let them overdo, exaggerate, and ham it up!

There are claps indicated on the music. These are optional, and are also performed electronically on the tracks. Select a few students to do the claps if you find them a bit challenging for the entire group.