Sixth grade  ·  General music

6th Grade Music
57 songs that still work at this age

Hand claps hard enough to be worth mastering, partner games, rounds, skill challenges and repertoire from eight countries. Each one taught on video, with the score and notes on how to run it.

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57
Songs for grade 6
8
Countries
1
Free to watch
Video
Every song

The sixth grade problem

Old enough to refuse, young enough to want to play

Sixth graders will not do anything that feels like it was meant for little kids, and they know the difference immediately. What they will do is something difficult. A clapping pattern that takes three tries to get right is not babyish, it is a challenge, and the room changes once someone lands it.

What works at this age

Hand claps with a pattern worth learning: Bobo Ski Watten Taten, Sevens, Old Mother Brown, I'm a Nut, Oh I'll Tell Mother. Partner and group formations: Four White Horses, Flow Gently Sweet Afton, Sarasponda. Skill games with a competitive edge: Name That Tune, Race to the Board, Ostinato Challenge, Cup Beats. And rounds, which give them real independence in parts.

Repertoire from beyond the United States

Sixth grade is where world repertoire lands well, because students are old enough to be curious about where a song comes from. This list includes songs from Japan, Brazil, the Caribbean, Pakistan, Croatia, France, Scotland and England, with notes on each song's origins and what is documented about it.

"Good music teaching is not about music. It's about creating joy, humor, and love in the classroom. Music is simply the way to get there."
Deborah Skydell
Founder · The Singing Classroom

The list

All 57 songs that reach sixth grade

Grades are Deborah's recommendations, so a song marked 3–6 was chosen to work across that whole span. Titles that link have a page you can read now.

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All 57, plus 100 more for the grades below

Questions

About sixth grade music

The ones built for their age will. Hand claps, partner games and skill challenges hold up because they are difficult enough to be worth doing. Bobo Ski Watten Taten, Sevens and Four White Horses are the clearest examples.
Start at the beginning of the pitch sequence but use age-appropriate songs. The solfège page lists, for each step, the songs that still work at grade 4 and up, so a class starting late is not singing kindergarten repertoire.
Yes, and it is free. The scope and sequence page covers pitch, rhythm, part singing and meter, and how many songs carry each one.
$22.95 a month, or $199.95 a year ($16.66 a month). The 7-day free trial gives you full access from day one, and you can cancel before it ends without being charged. Districts can pay by purchase order.

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hard enough to be worth it.

158 songs and singing games, each with a teaching video, the score and notes on how to run it. Free for seven days.

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