MISM 3 Music and Topics

Music and Topics

I am often asked for advice and suggestions about music activities that have to fit with given themes or topics. While there is some advice for a more general approach to this given in MISM 2 ( Music and A Curriculum for Excellence) I am happy to give one example of the type of response I normally give to these requests.



The topic ‘Weather’ is commonly explored and music can play a big part in this.

Canon in the Snow – Track 1 (Frosty Fugue) by Maurice Chernick is a round (canon) for unpitched (spoken) voices and great fun. Use the CD that comes with the book to learn the performance yourself and then perform it to the class, perhaps using a prop like a toy Penguin, as I have done at the University, to add some character to the piece. Students have remembered the performance by ‘Waddles’ the Penguin months later and even grown up students will watched the penguin while I was ‘speaking’ for him. Try it, it really works.

Stannard, K. (2003) Junior Voiceworks 1: 33 Songs for Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
After the frost and snow, comes the sunshine. Any search for songs about the sun and sunshine will reveal a whole list of songs both old and new. The Beatles would provide ‘Good Day Sunshine’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Sun King’. Some of these might be appropriate for your purposes; you will have to decide. If you are searching for ‘weather’ or ‘sunshine’ then you will limit your search to songs with these words in the title. Think beyond the title, and ask what the song is about. Is there, for example, a song about it being a lovely day. I can think of three straight away.

Bill Withers’ ‘Lovely Day’ , ‘It’s a lovely day today’ by Irving Berlin and ‘Isn’t This a Lovely Day’ also by Berlin.

The following two songs about sunshine might be suitable but the web pages should be used only to learn the songs and not for playing in the classroom.

Mr Sun (Barney)
You are my sunshine

Be careful of simply finding a song with a weather related word in the title. Here is an example of a great song with the word ‘sunny’ in the title that has nothing to do with the weather. Paul Simon’s ‘Was a Sunny Day’ has many references to sunshine and clouds but the content is certainly not about the weather.

Its Raining, Its Pouring
The Four Seasons – A. Vivaldi provides a backdrop for stories or poetry about the weather.


Music and Rhyme

Some aspects of musical rhymes and links with learning have been explored earlier in Music and Learning (MISM 1) but the following web sites provide some further ideas and could also be useful when looking for songs and rhymes about some topics.

Jump rope rhymes
The Wheels on the Car
Musical Nursery Rhymes
Music & Rhyme Station