Elementary Unit

Ms. Rose Bentley

Song Analysis Table:

Tone Set Do, Re, Mi, Sol

Range P5 (Do-Sol)
Rhythm Set

Form Question and Answer

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: Re
Rhythm Review: Eighth notes and half notes
Other Song Background

Other info:

Bye, Bye, Baby

Informant/Performer: Source:
Mrs. Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas Cecil J. Sharp
Dooley, VA 1918 English Folk Songs from
the Southern Appalachians
London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1932

2
4
Bye, bye, ba by, ba by, bye;

My lit tle ba by, ba by, bye.

Background Information
Mrs. Thomas, the singer, who was 85 years old, lived by herself in a small log cabin in the woods.
When we came upon her she was singing to sleep her grand-niece, a little baby of 2 months old.
It made a lovely picture, and the crooning song, though very simple, sounded very beautiful.
Song Analysis Table:
Tone Set M, L, DRM, L
Range P11
Rhythm Set

Form Question and Answer

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: Mi
Rhythm Review: Syncopation
Other Can be sung in a 4-part canon

My Paddle
Words and music: Source:
Margaret Embers McGee, 1918 Edward Bolkovac and Judith Johnson
150 Rounds for Singing and Teaching
New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1996

2
4
My pad dle's keen and bright, flash ing with sil ver,

Fol low the wild goose flight, dip, dip, and swing.

2. Dip, dip, and swing her back, flashing with silver,

Follow the wild goose track, dip, dip, and swing.

Verse 2 from Peter Blood, Rise Up Singing

Can be sung as a canon after 2 measures.

Song Analysis Table:
Tone Set La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi
Range P5
Rhythm Set

Form Call and Response

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: D – T – L
Rhythm Review: Sixteenth note with eighth note
Other Spiritual

I Got a Letter
Source:
Nicholas G.J. Ballanta-Taylor
St. Helena Island Spirituals
Boston, Mass.: G. Schirmer, 1925
Solo
2
Group
4
I got a let ter this morn in', Oh, yes,

Solo
Group

I got a let ter this morn in', Oh, yes.

Song Analysis Table:
Tone Set Sol, La, Do, Mi
Range M6 (Do-La)
Rhythm Set

Form Call and Response

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: La
Rhythm Review: Rests
Other Can be performed as a game

Won't You Let the Birdie Out?

Informant/Performer: Source:
Bessie Jones Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes
Step It Down
New York: Harper & Row, 1972
q = 176

4
Solo Group Solo Group (etc.)

4
Is this door locked?_ No, child, no! Is this door locked?_ No, child, no.

Won't you let the bird ie out? No, child, no. Won't you let your bird ie out?_ No, child, no.

I'll give you a piece of sweet bread, No, child, no. I'll give you a piece of bis cuit, No, child, no.

Won't you let the bird ie out? No, child, no. Won't you let your bird ie out?_ No, child, no.

Game Directions
Formation: A ring of children stand holding hands tightly, with one (the "birdie") in the center

Action: The Birdie sings the call while going around the circle, testing the grip of each pair of hands, then
trying to break through the hands on the downbeat of each question.
All in the circle sing response.
The lead should be sung vigorously and ad lib, with any phrases or questions that come to mind,
throughout the whole game; the answering chant is crisp.
When the birdie finds a weak spot, he just breaks out.
Song Analysis Table:
Tone Set Do (Pentatonic Scale)
Range M6 (Do-La)
Rhythm Set

Form Question and Answer

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: Re
Rhythm Review: Half notes and dotted-eighth sixteenth notes
Other Can be performed as a game

Wall Flowers
Informant/Performer: Source:
The Clancy children So Early In the Morning
Carrick-on-Sur, Tipperary, Ireland, 1980s Tradition Records TR 1034
Collected by Diane Hamilton

2
4
Wall flo wers, wall flo wers, grow ing up so high,

May had the mea sles and ne ver, ne ver died.

3
4
Call to Jean nie But ler's house, she has no re la tions,
[student's name] [he]

2
4
She may tick and tack and turn her back and kiss the con gre ga tion.
[He] [wave to]

Game Directions
Children move in a circle, holding hands. Each player is "named" in succession. The named player drops
hands and turns outward in circle and takes hands again, and so on until all are turned outward.
Song Analysis Table:
Tone Set Do (Major Scale)
Range P8 (Do-Do)
Rhythm Set

Form Question and Answer

A Song’s Pedagogical Use Table:

Melody Review: Ti
Rhythm Review: Sixteenth note rhythms
Other Background: Folk Song from Puerto Rico

Other info:

El Gato y el Ratón
Source:
Monserrate Deliz.
Renadío del Cantar Folklórico
de Puerto Rico
San Juan, P.R.: Instituto de
Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1985
Andante q = 76
2
4
Ahí vie nen el ga to y_el ra tón, a dar le com ba te_al ti bu rón.

If the cat catches the mouse:

Ra tón, que te co jo, que te co gí, de trás de la ma ta de_a jon jo lí.

* If the cat doesn't catch the mouse:

Po bre ci to, mi ga ti to, ya no co me rá.

* Created by Arwen Lawrence with children of Melrose Leadership Academy (dual immersion school), Oakland, CA

Spanish Text English Translation

Ahí vienen el gato y el ratón, Here come the cat and the mouse
a darle combate a un tiburón. to give battle to the shark.

If the cat catches the mouse

Ratón que te cojo que te cogí, Mouse, I will catch you, and I caught you
detrás de la mata de ajonjolí. behind the sesame plant.

If the cat doesn't catch the mouse

Pobrecito, mi gatito, ya no comerá. Poor cat of mine, he shall not eat.

Game Instructions
The cat chases the mouse, entering and exiting the circle. The circle contracts and expands,
favoring the mouse, keeping the cat from catching the mouse.

Alternate game instructions:

Form a circle, holding hands, with the mouse inside the "house" and the cat outside.
At the end of the verse, the hands lift up, the mouse exits one "window," which remains open as the others are
lowered. The cat chases the mouse around the circle; the mouse must enter through the open "window."

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