Music Matters

What better way to finish a musical than with a big finale? "Lively" is a very good descriptive term for this pop rock closer. Though we should also say that the tune is not specific to this musical, so you can plug it into any other show, musical, revue, etc., where singing the praises of music would be the perfect touch.

Except where it's marked as "legato," the melody should be sung with great joy and energy. Even the section at measure 17 where it's marked "with hushed intensity, building" should have an underlying energy pulsing it along to the big halftime chorus.

All of the vocal parts are doubled in the instrumentation on the recording so that you have reinforcement or substitution as needed. There is an optional part 2 which begins at measure 9 on the D.S. This adds a nice bit of punch and interest, so it's worth trying to include. Consider asking older students, teachers, parents, etc., to step in and help with this part if it needs it.

There is a key change just after the coda begins, which feels so appropriate for a big ending like this. The beauty of the change for vocalists is that it stays on the same pitch (E) as it crosses into the new key, so kids don't have to think about it too much.

At the end of the tune, measure 52, part 1 breaks into optional divisis. To help you teach these parts we have isolated the various notes of part 1 as well as part 2 and made them accessible on our web site. (See details in box following.) We also created a mini a cappella mix of all vocals from measure 52 to the end, just because we thought it was super neat and you might enjoy it.

Online extras - The free, downloadable extras mentioned can be found under the Graphics and Extras for Volume 20, No. 3 at MusicK8.com