Hey everyone! Today I’m sharing a folk song that I had a hard time titling–because I’ve never seen it written down, I’ve always just heard it sung to me by my mom! I asked her for the title and I got the same answer–she didn’t know, she’d always just heard it sung! That’s right, it’s a true folk song, handed down orally through the generations!
And before you say, “Yeah, yeah Lauren. We allll know the alphabet song!” It’s not that alphabet song! Maybe you have actually heard of this one, but it’s not the ABC song set to the Twinkle melody. This alphabet song is kind of a fun little competition to see who can think of the most nursery rhymes to fill in the verses, and then you sing the ABC chorus in between (as the next person is thinking up their next nursery rhyme). And if you wait to think on your turn, you’re out! It’s a fun, fast paced song. There’s also great opportunities for rhythm work in the song, with working in 6/8 and practicing tied notes and eighth note rests.
For some reason I started singing it at the end of the book “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” because the end papers have the alphabet all in a row, so we’d look at that page and I’d sing the song to them. Of course, because they are little it would just be a little competetion to myself to see how many I could think up. If I don’t sing enough verses, they make sure to let me know, haha! We also always end the song by singing a repeat of the refrain “V DOUBLE YOU X Y Z” with kind of an over the top ritardando, making for a big flashy finish. We always end in giggles! It’s so fun.
For other little friends, having picture cards to symbolize the nursery rhymes could be helpful so they can choose a rhyme to sing (Hm…maybe just maybe that resource is coming next week?), or they could sing the chorus while the adult sings the verses. Older children will love the competitive element, and you might find the song starts getting faster as the excitement builds. I also sometimes put a little fermata on the first note (the “oh”)–to give myself an extra second to think up a nursery rhyme. Maybe it’s cheating, maybe it’s flexing my musical skills. Who can say? 😉
I hope you enjoy this folk song like we do in my family. And please, let me know if you’ve heard it! It would be interesting to hear what other titles it goes by or if there are any differences between versions.
Download the free 4x6 song card here
Happy Singing! -Lauren