Submitted by Becky Lucia, New Hampshire
Idea posted June 5, 2002
I have had early success with kids singing in two parts by using partner songs. Since everyone learns two melodies, it seems easy for them to hold on to their melody when I do split it in two.
At school, I teach the same way I handle the rounds. But in my after-school community choruses, I skip the "adding kids to my team" part and move directly from learning the two melodies to singing in two groups. I also challenge the kids to be able to sing in smaller groups, i.e. two kids on a part, etc. When they are VERY solid on being able to sing either part, I start encouraging them to listen to the other part while they sing... That can have rather interesting results at first!