Music Is Always There

The most exciting thing about this great concert closer is the energetic fiddle part right off the top! Okay, we admit it. Our string players are mostly "legitimate," classical players and we get a wee bit nervous whenever we ask them to play rock, rap, country, swing - anything that's not classical. But by golly, they never disappoint! They really burned this fiddle line, as you will hear when you play the CD for this song. Frankly, you really will need the recording to perform this piece successfully. It totally makes it, despite the high energy of the song itself.

And speaking of the song itself, our singers really enjoyed this one, and we think yours will, too. It starts out seemingly simply - the melody is mostly just a bunch of G's with a little variation here and there. But watch out! By the time you plug in the lyrics, it gets a little tricky. This is one you will want to practice slowly a cappella (which is exactly how we learned it) to catch the nuances. For example, really lay for the "o" in "radio" to remember that that is when the pitch changes from the B to the G again. Isolate the phrase and practice it by itself a few times. They'll get it.

At measure 21, the style abruptly changes from country pop to light rock. It's more natural than you might think, but listening and singing along with our performers will help yours catch on more quickly.

When the tune repeats, there is an optional second part, which we think really adds a lot to the tune if you can swing it. As always with multiple parts, we recommend you teach the core tune to everyone in general, then have a few select singers or even another, maybe older, class do the other part or parts. They can usually learn it faster and sing it more solidly. Plus, once they have done so, they might be able to help teach some of your other singers the same part(s) for reinforcement. (We have found that older students love to be teachers and mentors to younger students. And younger students usually respond pretty well to them.) To help with this second part, we have included a free rehearsal version of part 2 on our web site. See note below.

At the coda, a really neat thing happens. After the singers restate the chorus, they go back into the A section melody, but with new lyrics ("Sunday, Monday,..." etc.) When this happens, the fiddle soli from the beginning of the song is added right on top of it. Talk about high energy!

To really add some pizzazz to your performance, we have included a lively and definitely fun-to-do clapping part. It's not all off-beats, so your students will have to pay attention! This is, of course, optional. But if they master it, they will be very proud of themselves, and it will add an element of action and excitement to the music.

Online extras - You will find a free, downloadable MP3 of part 2 of this song under the "Graphics and Extras" for Volume 16, No. 3 at MusicK8.com