Grateful For The Little Things

This song was a lot of fun to do. Set in an old-fashioned laid-back swing, it's easy to listen to and sing along with, but it looks a little tough on paper. You will probably want your older students to tackle this one, though we never say never! We've been surprised by younger students doing more sophisticated songs many times.

The gist of the tune is (of course) the little things that we're grateful for actually not being so little. Many favorite things are named in the lyrics, which you are free to alter as you like. For example, maybe add the name of your town or school.

Musically, the tune will keep singers on their toes. Reading the triplet based rhythms is one challenge, while interpreting style and nuance, such as dynamics, will be another challenge. We think our singers did a great job of this on the CD.

Also on the CD, you will be treated to Paul Jennings' wonderful big band arrangement of this song. As always, if you are studying jazz or big bands, we suggest using tunes like this as listening examples. Can your students identify the instruments? What makes it a big band? What makes it jazz? What makes it swing?

To make it even more enjoyable, we created a second version of this song. This time, it features a jazz rhythm section (piano, acoustic bass, guitar, and drums) and a soloist (Katy Hoyt). Unfortunately, our very full recording could not hold these extras, so we have added them to our free downloads section on our web site (MusicK8.com). You or your students - or anyone for that matter - may legally download these tracks for your own listening pleasure. We also included the instrumental tracks as a free download in case you have your own budding singer who wants to perform it with just rhythm section. (Yes, you have our permission to use it this way.) We hope you enjoy this tune as much as we have.