Part singing · PreK–Grade 6

Rounds, Call and Response
The first time a class hears two lines at once

Q: When can children start singing in parts?

Call and response comes first, and it works from PreK, because one group only has to answer. Rounds ask a class to hold its own line against another, which is a different skill. In this library rounds are recommended from kindergarten upward, with most sitting in the middle and upper grades.

29 songs for singing in parts: 17 rounds, call and response, simple harmony and partner songs. Each one demonstrated on video, with the score and notes on how to run it.

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Rounds

Call and response

Simple harmony

Video

Every song

Where harmony starts

Answering comes before holding your own line

Call and response is the first kind of part singing a class can do, because one group only has to answer. It works from PreK. A round is a bigger step: each group has to hold its line while hearing a different one, which is the skill that eventually makes choir possible.

Call and response, first

Seven songs here are built on it, including Catching Polar Bears, Miss Sally's Goodbye Song, Who is Next To?, My Dog Treed a Rabbit and How Many Miles To London Town?. The teacher or a solo child leads and the class answers, so nobody has to remember more than one phrase.

Then rounds

Seventeen rounds, from Come Through the Sawmill and Hop Up and Jump Up in the lower grades to Scotland's Burning, Thankfulness and Step, Clap, and Shuffle higher up. Start with two groups, get it stable, then add the third.

And then real harmony

Six songs carry simple harmony, including Parlez-vous Français, Paw Paw Patch and the two-part arrangements of Hannukah, Oh Hannukah and Noel Nouvelet. You're a Grand Old Flag is the library's partner song, where two different melodies fit together.

"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 29 part-singing songs

Grades are Deborah's recommendations. Songs marked free are open to everyone with no account. Titles that link have a page you can read now.

Black SocksPreK–4 · Rounds · United States
Catching Polar BearsK–5 · free · Call and Response · United States
Come Through the SawmillPreK–1 · Rounds · United States
Donkeys and CarrotsPreK–4 · Rounds
Hannukah, Oh Hannukah (2-part)K–6 · Simple Harmony · Jewish
Hop Up and Jump UpK–4 · Rounds · United States
How Many Miles To London Town?K–3 · Call and Response · England
I Know a Washer WomanPreK–4 · Rounds · England
K.W.A.N.Z.A.A.2–6 · Rounds · African-American
Let Every Sleeper WakenK–6 · Rounds
Miss Sally's Goodbye SongPreK–4 · Call and Response · United States
Mouse Drawing SongPreK–6 · Rounds
My Dog Treed a Rabbit2–5 · Call and Response · African-American
Ni Chan Ga: Duck Drawing SongPreK–6 · Rounds · Japan
Noel Nouvelet5–6 · Simple Harmony · French
Parlez-vous Français4–6 · Simple Harmony · French
Paw Paw PatchK–3 · Simple Harmony · United States
Pizza, Pizza1–4 · Call and Response · United States
Ring Out the Old2–6 · Rounds · England
San Chan Ga (Monkey Drawing Song)1–6 · Rounds · Japan
Scotland's Burning3–6 · Rounds · England
Shalom Chaverim2–6 · Rounds · Jewish
Step, Clap, and Shuffle5–6 · Rounds · United States
Thankfulness4–6 · Rounds
The Turkey is a Funny BirdPreK–2 · Call and Response · United States
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Pakistani Version)2–6 · Rounds · Pakistan
Who is Next To?PreK–4 · Call and Response
Xiao Fei JiK–3 · Rounds · China
You're a Grand Old FlagK–6 · Partner Song · United States

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All 29 here, plus the rest of the 150+ song library

Questions

About part singing

Call and response comes first and works from PreK, because one group only has to answer. Rounds ask a class to hold its own line against another, which is a different skill. In this library rounds are recommended from kindergarten upward, with most sitting in the middle and upper grades.

A round is one melody started at different times by different groups. A partner song is two different melodies that fit together when sung at once. Rounds are the more common starting point, and there are 17 of them here.

Part singing runs alongside pitch and rhythm rather than after them. The scope and sequence page shows how it sits with everything else a year has to cover.

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