If there's a human race still here in the 22nd Century, I believe we'll learn the fun of singing again. To take a lung full of air and push it out with some kind of song is an act of survival, whether you're singing in a shower, a car, a bar, in a chorus, at a birthday party, at a church, or whatever. Try it - you'll live longer.

Of course, it'll be much harder to find songs all folks want to sing together, but that's alright. Little by little, we're learning to like each other's songs and getting less enthusiastic about killing each other. And if there's still a human race here in 100 years, it won't be because of any one big organization, whether a big church or big political party, a big corporation or country, or even a big UN. It will be because of millions upon millions of small organizaqtions: Save This. Stop That. We'll disagree on so many things it'll be funny. But we'll agree on a few main points, like:

• it's better to talk than shoot.
• bombs always kill innocent people.
• when words fail (and they will), try sports, arts, and food.

-Pete Seeger
Honorary National Chair
Get America Singing...Again! Campaign

Rachel Carson's landmark book, Silent Spring, raised the specter of a spring where birds, killed off by pesticides, did not sing anymore. Well, today many of us are starting to worry whether people are singing anymore. We meet increasing numbers of adults who call themselves "non-singers," children who enter kindergarten without having experienced family singing,and teenagers who would rather slap on earphones than sing. What is at stake here is not just singing, but the very spirit of co mmunity in our towns, our cities, and our nation. But ... something can be done about it, and this book is a response to that need.

In April, 1995, MENC invited representatives of other organizations - The Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing in America, Sween Adelines International, and Chorus America to meet with us to discuss singing in America. After considerable discussion, we decided to launch a campaign to Get America Singing...Again!

The campaign has two main objectives: the first of which is to establish a common song repertoire that "Americans, of all ages, know and can sing." We need some songs that everyone can sing, not just the good old traditional songs, but copyrighted songs also. This book is a result of a year-long process of sifting through lots of great songs. Some of your favorite songs may not be included, but we had to start somewhere, and this is the result. Keith Mardak, president of the Hal Leonard Corporation, then volunteered to help with this project by publishing the books and returning a portion of the cost of each book to the Get America Singing...Again! campaign.

The campaign's second objective is to promote community singing. This includes encouraging audience singing at concerts and recitals, opening or closing public gatherings with a song, and encouraging singing at clubs, private meetings, and in homes. We need singing leadership from Americans in all walks of life...school and church leaders, club presidents, elected civic leaders, radio and TV personalities, camp and scout leaders, and people who get together socially.

So, why not make your own plans to build up the common life of singing in your community? Plan now to include some audience participation at a concert or other public event. Throw in a song or two at the beginning of a meeting to melt the ice and get communication going. Restore the fun of camp singing next time you gather a group around the fire. Get out the guitar, sit down at the piano, tune up the Autoharp, add a bass, drums, or any other instruments you can lay your hands on, and have a sing-along. Think how you can be a positive agent for change; see how singing can add so much to life together on this planet. People will bless you for including them in the power of active music making through singing.

Standard 1 - Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

• Lift Every Voice and Sing is a song that every shild in my learns and sings. We start it in first grade, and by 5th everyone knows it very well. We usually take our 4th grade to Albany to sing for Music In Our Schools Month. We always do Lift Every Voice, and also a New York Set which includes Give My Regards to Broadway, Erie Canal, Theme form NY NY and New York State of Mind. -Elaine Philhower
• Make a large chart of the songs (the simplest way is to just "blow up" a copy of the table of contents of the songbook). Then, as the class learns each song, check it off. The kids will enjoy seeing the number of checks grow.
• As you learn the songs with your class, encourage the students to teach their parents the new repertoire. Then, after a month or two, invite the parents in for a class-wide sing-along.
• Print the words to one of the songs in your concert programs. Have a student introduce the "Get America Singing...Again" campaign, lead the chorus in singing it once, then ask the audience to join in.

Standard 2 - Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

• I use My Country Tis of Thee as a recorder piece at the end of th ethird grade, and review it during fourth. The children play it in G Major, and we play it a little slower than we usually sing it. -Elaine Philhower
• I've prepared De Colores for this September as a fifth grade recorder song, in the key of C. -Elaine Philhower
• I teach Do-Re-Mi with the harmony part from the original score...it's an excellent way to teach harmony...Iintroduce it in Kindergarten, with the children pointing to the Sol-Feg notes on the wall chart I have. -Elaine Philhower
• Play the songs on classroom or ensemble instruments. You will find that many of the songs already appear as arrangements for student groups in orchestra or band method books or in basal series textbooks.
• Have the students use whatever instruments are available to play the four-part round, "Frere Jaques."
• My spring concert this year is "Widewater's All American Side Show". From the title, you can guess we are doing a potpourri of dance, playing, and singing. My kids are wearing their usual costumes (white turtlenecks, black bottoms) with red bandanas. I am going to choreograph one number with a scarf dance using the bandanas. We are using the Music K-8 "She'll Be Comin" Around the Mountain", incorporating kazoos on one verse. We are also playing Music K-8's "Eine Keine Kazoomusik". From this springboard, our entire county is doing a joint performance of five of the "Get America Singing" songs at our county-wide arts show this spring. We are starting with 20 students from 11 elementary schools for a joint concert, using kazoos and Orff arrangements on two numbers.

Standard 3 - Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

• Using "Rock-a-My-Soul" to begin with (because it has a good "swing feel" and because the progression is very easy), have the students take turn improvising melodies on a limited number of notes, starting with D and E, then adding A and B, and finally F# for a pentatonic that encompasses most of the notes of the song.

Standard 4 - Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.

• Study "This Land is Your Land," with attention to the simple phrase structure and strongly accentuated 4/4 meter. Then ask the students to come up with their own lyrics, matching the basic outlines of Woody Guthrie's text and thinking of a melody as they work. Then, as you play the chord progression on the piano or other accompaniment instrument, have them sing their songs. (Keep it light, even try singin g along with them to get them over any nerves this may call up.)

Standard 5 - Reading and notating music.

• Teach the students to sing "Do Re Mi." Point out the scalar structure outlined in the song. Then, always singing as you work, help the students look for scales in other songs, including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," and "America."

Standard 6 - Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.

• Lead the students in singing "America" and "America the Beautiful." After leading them in a discussion about some of the basic differences in the pieces (meter, range, etc.), ask each student to write a short summary of the ways that the songs are similar.

Standard 7 - Evaluating music and music performances.

• Get recordings of one or more of the songs. Then, teach the students to sing the song first; then lead a class discussion on criteria for deciding how the song should be sung. [Possible criteria are the nature of the text, the contour of the melody, and the basic rhythmic "groove."] Then, let the students listen to the recording , and them to work in groups of four or five to discuss whether they think that the performers on the recording meet the criteria for a "good" performance.

Standard 8 - Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

• After teaching the class "Over My Head," ask for suggestions of artworks in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts that show "joy." (Accept all reasonable answers from the students' experience, including pop songs, dances from music videos, drama on television shows, and commercial art.) Lead the class in a discussion to see if you can find any threads linking the examples from the various arts.

Standard 9 - Understanding music in relation to history and culture

• Teach the students "Sakura." Work with the Social Studies teacher to help the students investigate the meaning of the cherry blossom in Japanese art and culture (it is a symbol of transience).

How to purchase a copy of Get America Singing...Again!