Play That Music (All Day Long)

Who doesn't love a boogie woogie? Especially when the tempo is good and toe-tappin', it's almost impossible to hold still! Yet another installment in our ongoing musical offerings for the revue We're Making Music!, this very lively song is just the ticket to perk things up. It starts with a tight, jazzy big band intro and goes into an oh-so-familiar boogie woogie bass line played on piano. Practically guaranteed to get shoulders bouncing in the audience (if not on the stage!).

The lyrics are a real homage to our love of music. So much so, we want to "play it, play it, all day long." It won't take much for students to pick these phrases up, lyrically or musically. Even the scat singing is natural and simple. Kids get to do a call and response with the big band. Too fun. A few listenings to the kids on our Performance/Accompaniment recording, and your kids will be scatting along nicely, too. They will also get a firsthand taste of the energy and enthusiasm our singers had for the song. Encourage your singers to use their chest voices and belt it out, too. It's a lot more exciting that way! Our singers added a few scoops here and there to jazz it up. Our guess is that your singers will find this an easy (not to mention, hip) thing to do as well.

If your performers are inspired to move around, as we mentioned before, you might just want to let them. It could be as simple as the shoulder bouncing (added during sections you predetermine, or constant if you prefer). Or it could be adding a little bouncing at the knee, finger snapping, simple stepping right and left, and so on. If you have them all do it at certain times, it looks more choreographed. If you would rather let them just "feel the beat," that's okay, too. You might even have a few dancers in your midst who would just love to show off their moves during this tune. We could see it with contemporary action, or a more retro sort of style, maybe a la 1940 or so.

If your students are more inhibited, at the very least, they can add the movements that are indicated on the music starting at the section at measure 37. These are simple and non-threatening to even your shyest performers. You can also sneak a little musical reinforcement in during this section. The song drops down dynamically to mezzo piano at 37 and slowly crescendos back up to forte by measure 45. Be sure students practice this change and don't let them get too loud too fast.