Americans We

Every few years we publish a new patriotic revue. In between the revues, we publish a lot of patriotic music in general. You could say we take our citizenship very seriously around here. We think that all Americans should. So this time around, our patriotic revue is called Americans We, and its focus is on us, the people of America, and our roles as Americans.

As with most of our revues, this one will include music and a narrative script that is flexible and variable in difficulty level. That way, you can use it with more than one class (some young and some older), or even the whole school. You can choose which students or classes will sing or read which parts of the revue. (The first part of the revue is in this issue of MusicK8.com. The rest of it will be in the next two issues.)

The opening song, "Americans We" shares the title of the revue. It is a very majestic, uplifting, iconically American-sounding orchestral piece. While it is the opener of this revue, it can certainly be used in any other venue you like. It also makes a grand closing piece. While the melody is not particularly challenging, you will no doubt find it much easier to teach once your students have heard our singers on the Performance/Accompaniment recording that goes with this song. Also noteworthy about that recording, besides its outstanding quality, is the powerful symphonic arrangement. Right out of the gate, it lifts you with beautifully singing violas and celli punctuated by low brass, piano, and percussion. The motif is handed off to soaring trumpets and horns, and well, you know you're in for something good. Crank up the volume, and your students will feel like a part of a large orchestra!

You will see that there is an optional second part that begins at measure 11 on the D.S. This can be sung by older students, or even teachers, parents, etc. It does add a nice boldness to the song if you can use it. To help you teach it, we have isolated it and put it on our web site. (See details in the box below with the computer picture.)

Frequently in the piece, there is a notation that includes a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note tied to another eighth note, followed by another eighth note. An example of this is measure 27 (beats 3 and 4). We took a bit of liberty (no pun intended) with the interpretation of that rhythm, reading it more like it's a quarter note triplet. We think it flows better this way. Listen to the recording to hear what we mean.

If you're interested in knowing more about our other patriotic revues and songs, see our Programming Guide on pages 64-65 of this issue, visit our web site at MusicK8.com or check out our brand new (color!) Index included with the flyers in this issue.

Online extras - The free, downloadable extras mentioned can be found under the Graphics and Extras for Volume 19, No. 1 at MusicK8.com