Spring/Summer 2011: Sounds Like a Rainbow

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June 1 Deadline: Summer Songwriting and Fiction Writing Programs
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
SFK Bookclub
Songwriting Challenge
Poll: Over the Rainbow


  June 1 Registration Deadline: 2011 Summer Programs


Hooray! Summer is almost here! That means there are only a few days left to sign up for  the July 18-22 session of Songwriting for Kids Vol. 1 (K-3) and Fiction Writing for Kids (3rd-5th grade). Please visit the Songwriting for Kids website to download the registration form and brochure. I can't wait!

I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations  to Eleanor, age 12...Eleanor wrote a hit song!

Eleanor, from St. Paul, Minnesota, wrote a song called "Perfect Shade of Blue" and it is fabulous! You can read the lyrics at the I Wrote a  Hit Song! webpage. Please stop by and leave a comment for Eleanor to let  her know how much you enjoyed her song.


 SFK  Bookclub

Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix
by Gary Golio

Jimi Hendrix is one of America's music legends. In the 1960's he brought new sounds and energy to rock 'n roll and revolutionized the way people heard and thought about music. Gary Golio's new picture book tells the story of Jimi's childhood and describes how he listened to the world around him and found a way to play the rainbow of sounds he heard in his head.

"With every sound, a color glowed in Jimi's mind.
Blue was the whoosh of cool water, splashing over rocks.
Orange and red, the crackling of a campfire.
Green, the rustle of a thousand leaves."
Read more about this book...

Songwriting Challenge: Sounds Like a Rainbow

I think colors and music have a lot in common. Colors, just like sounds, can make us feel things. What do you feel when you see a bright, vibrant red? How about a pale, light blue? Or a deep brown? What sorts of things do you think of? 

In Gary Golio's book about Jimi Hendrix, he writes that Jimi tried to "paint with sound." Each different sound was like a new color in a box of paints. A high pitched screech might make you feel one thing. A low rumbling note repeated over and over feels completely different,

Eleanor, this month's I Wrote a Hit Song! winner, uses color to bring out the emotion in her song. She writes "In the days I didn't notice you/ Were your eyes this perfect shade of blue?" Instead of simply saying, "Were you always so great?" she makes the song more interesting by giving us an important, colorful detail about the person she is singing to. "This perfect shade of blue" makes us feel something more deeply than if she only mentioned the person's eyes.

Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write a Colorful Song?

Here are  some things to think about:

1. What emotions do you want the listener to feel? Will it be a happy song? Sad? Lonely? Excited? Hopeful?
2. What colors make you feel those same emotions? Does green give you energy? Does yellow make you happy? Does pink make you tingly? Does blue make you feel calm?
3. Can you find ways to bring those colors into the song?
   
4. Have fun!

Poll: Over the Rainbow


If you can't see the  poll, just click here. (Once you vote, you'll be able to see other  people's answers, too.)