Spring 2008: Something New

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The SFK Club Newsletter is switching to a quarterly schedule. We'll publish an issue in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Here’s what’s in this quarter's newsletter (click a chapter title to go straight to that chapter):

SUMMER PROGRAMS ARE HERE!
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
Spring Songwriting Challenge
Poll: Quote of the Day


SUMMER PROGRAMS ARE HERE!

I hope you'll join us for a Songwriting for Kids or Fiction Writing for Kids workshop this year. We'll learn how songs and stories are put together and have lots of fun creating our own! Sessions will be held the week of July 14th, 2008. For more information, please visit the Songwriting for Kids website or download the 2008 brochure (.pdf).


I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations to Oksana, age 6...Oksana wrote a hit song!

Oksana, from Great Falls, Virginia, wrote a song called "Since My Friend Moved Away" and you can view the lyrics at the I Wrote a Hit Song! webpage. I think it's great! Please stop by and leave a comment for Oksana to let her know how much you enjoyed her song.


Songwriting Challenge: Something New

Spring, at least for those of us in cold climates, means all kinds of new things: flowers, green grass, sunshine, birds coming back from the South, t-shirts (maybe even shorts for those of us who are *really* brave!)

Spring '08 Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write a song about something NEW in your life?

Here are some things to think about:

1. It could be absolutely true. It could be a song about a new friend, new sister or brother, new house, new shoes, new school.
   
2. It could be totally fake. How about a new planet, new country, new monster, new invention, new flying saucer?
   
3. How does the *new* thing make you feel? Happy, excited, sad, scared? Make sure those emotions are reflected in the song.
   
4. What's the *best* part about the new thing?

Here's a great example of a song about something new. It's called "New Blue Star" by Gustafer Yellowgold. (Sadly, I can't post the whole song here. The whole thing...& lots of other cool songs & videos...can be found on Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World.)




Poll: Quote of the Day

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

January/February 2008: You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth!

Do you know a friend who would like Songwriting for Kids?
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Here’s what’s in this month’s newsletter (click a chapter title to go straight to that chapter):
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
January/February Songwriting Challenge
January/February Poll: Name That Tune!


I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations to Joshua, age 10...Joshua wrote a hit song!

Joshua, from Plymouth, Minnesota, wrote a song called "Love of the Land" and you can view the lyrics at the I Wrote a Hit Song! webpage. I think you'll like it! Please stop by and leave a comment for Joshua to let him know how much you enjoyed his song!


January/February Songwriting Challenge: You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth!

It's always fun to write your own words for your songs, but sometimes it's fun to take the word's from someone else's mouth!

For instance, my friends Carter, Anthony, and I all love the poems of Sterling A. Brown, a poet from the early 1900s who wrote about jazz, blues, work songs, and old spirituals. We decided to put some music to his poem "Long Track Blues" and turn it into a song. We liked it so much that we recorded the song Long Track Blues and put it on my new CD!

January/February Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write music to someone else's poem?

Here are some things to think about:

1. Is there a poem that you particularly like? If not, try one of the poems below.
2. What is the mood of the poem? Is it sad? Happy? Silly? Scary? Try to match the mood of the music to the poem. Make it slow if the words are dreamy, fast if they are excited.
3. Are there any parts of the poem that you'd like to repeat? For instance, in the Edgar Allan Poe poem below, you could repeat the "tinkle, tinkle, tinkle" or "bells, bells, bells" in other parts of the song.
   
4. Always give credit where credit is due. I would never say "Long Track Blues" is MY song. I always say that Sterling A. Brown wrote the words and I helped write the music. That way Mr. Brown gets credit for the words he wrote, not me.
   

Here are some poems you can use if you don't have a favorite of your own. These are all from a book called Winter Poems.

I Heard a Bird Sing by Oliver Herford
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember:
"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.


from The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe
Hear the sledges with the bells--
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells--
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.


Skiing by Marchette Chute
I'm very good at skiing.
I have a kind of knack
For I can do it frontways
And also on my back.
And when I reach the bottom
I give a sudden flop
And dig myself in sideways
And that's the way I stop.

Here's a great place to visit if you're looking for poems. You can even look for poems by subject (for instance: poems about animals, or poems about feathers, or poems about family).

January/February Poll: Name That Tune!

(Click for the answer)

If you can't see the poll, just click here. (Once you vote, you'll be able to view the results.)

December 2007: In the Tradition of...

Do you know a friend who would like Songwriting for Kids?
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Here’s what’s in this month’s newsletter (click a chapter title to go straight to that chapter):
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
December Songwriting Challenge
December Poll: How Much Snow?


I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations to Katie, age 10...Katie wrote a hit song!

Katie, all the way from Cheshire, England, wrote a song called "Don't Need" and you can view the lyrics at the I Wrote a Hit Song! webpage. I think you'll like it! Please stop by and leave a comment for Katie to let her know how much you enjoyed her song!


December Songwriting Challenge: It's a Tradition!

There are lots of songs that are written about holiday traditions. I bet you can think of a lot of songs about Christmas trees, snowmen, dreidels, and putting up decorations.

What are your favorite traditions in December? Do you light candles, make snow angels, decorate cookies, or spend time with your grandparents? Think about whatever it is that you look forward to doing every year...it could make a great song!

December Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write a song about a favorite tradition?

Here are some things to think about:

1. What do you do that is special to this time of year?
2. What makes it so special? WHY do you like doing it?
3. Try to sing about the tradition in the CHORUS
   
4. Then tell the story in the VERSES

Here's an example:

CHORUS (the tradition is hearing the bells while riding on a sleigh):
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

VERSE (the story of how and why they ride in the sleigh):
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight

VERSE 2 (more story...with a funny ending, the sleigh tipping over into a snowbank!):
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot!

Who knows, maybe writing a song about your traditions will become a tradition! As always, if you'd like to enter your song in the I Wrote a Hit Song! contest, you can read the rules here.

December Poll: How Much Snow?

If you can't see the poll, just click here. (Once you vote, you'll be able to view the results.)

November 2007: Tell Me a Story

Do you know a friend who would like Songwriting for Kids?
Click here to send them a link to this newsletter!

Here’s what’s in this month’s newsletter (click a chapter title to go straight to that chapter):
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
November Songwriting Challenge
November Poll: Storytime


I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations to Sophie, age 6...Sophie wrote a hit song!

It's called "The Storm" and you can view the lyrics at the I Wrote a Hit Song! webpage. I think you'll like it! Please stop by and leave a comment for Sophie to let her know how much you enjoyed her song!


November Songwriting Challenge: Tell Me a Story

In a way, all songs tell a story. They describe a feeling, or a scene, or something that happened. Some songs, however, tell you a story straight from the beginning all the way through to the end.

Like the song "Gum Tree Canoe." This song was written by S. S. Steele in 1847 (160 years ago!) It tells the story of two slaves, Joseph and Julia, who were forced to pick cotton all day long but found a way to escape from slavery.

The song tells us the whole story.

First, it introduces the CHARACTERS and the PLACE.

Then, it tells us the STORY of how they met, how they worked in the cotton fields all day, and how their favorite thing to do was row in the Gum Tree Canoe. Then, the song tells us how they finally escaped by hooking their canoe onto a tall ship that was sailing by!

Here are some of the lyrics (You can listen to the first two verses of this song on my new album by clicking here. Just scroll down to the list of songs, and hit the Play button next to Gum Tree Canoe):

On the Tombigbee River so bright I was born
In a hut made of husks of the tall yellow corn
It was there I first met with my Joseph so true
And he'd row me around in his gum tree canoe

CHORUS: Sing row away row o'er the water so blue
Like a feather we'll float in our gum tree canoe

All day in the field the soft cotton I'd hoe
I'd think of my Joseph and sing as I go
I'll catch him a bird with a wing of true blue
And at night we will row in our gum tree canoe

CHORUS: Sing row away row o'er the water so blue
Like a feather we'll float in our gum tree canoe

One day the old river took us so far away
That we couldn't get back, so we thought we'd just stay
We spied a tall ship with a flag of true blue
And she took us in tow in our gum tree canoe

CHORUS: Sing row away row o'er the water so blue
Like a feather we'll float in our gum tree canoe

November Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write a story song?

Here are some things to think about:

1. PLACE: Where does your story take place?
   
2. CHARACTERS: Who is the story about?
   
3. STORY: What happens to the characters in the beginning? How about the middle? And in the end?
4. CHORUS: This is where your story really shines...what is the MAIN IDEA? What is the main idea in Gum Tree Canoe? Row away, row o'er the water so blue/Like a feather we'll float in our gum tree canoe.

I hope you'll have fun writing a story song. If you'd like to enter your song in the I Wrote a Hit Song! contest, you can read the rules here.

November Poll: Storytime
If you can't see the poll, just click here.

October 2007: Now the Leaves are Falling

Do you know a friend who would like Songwriting for Kids?
Click here to send them a link to this newsletter!

Here’s what’s in this month’s newsletter (click a chapter title to go straight to that chapter):
All About American Songs Volume 2
October Songwriting Challenge
October Poll: Happy Halloween!



All About American Songs Volume 2

As you know, my new CD, American Songs volume 2 is finally out and it is available at Amazon.com and at Bull Moose Music stores in Maine! Woohoo!

Well, each week, I have been writing about the stories behind each of the songs. If you're interested in who wrote "Oh Susanna" or what happened to Evangeline and Gabriel in the original poem "Evangeline" or if you'd like to see the original sheet music for "Gum Tree Canoe", you can read all about the songs at Please Come Flying. I'll be writing about the last few songs during October, so stay tuned for the stories behind "This Land Is Your Land," "Goin' Home," and more! (While you're there, you can also watch a very funny video about a lady with a monkey on her head...)

Don't forget you can listen to these three songs for free:

• Oh Susanna
• Unclouded Day
• Oh Sister

If you like the free songs, please pass them on to your friends. And of course, feel free to send me a note to let me know what you think!


October Songwriting Challenge: Now the Leaves are Falling

If you live in the North like me, it is time for hot cider, apple picking, and falling leaves. I love to watch the leaves fall (and I love to kick them around once they're on the ground!)

In the spirit of Autumn, this month's songwriting challenge is:

Write a "falling" song

"What in the world is a falling song?"

Sometimes a song's melody can help to tell the story of the song. If a song is about climbing a mountain, the melody might go from LOW to HIGH to help paint the picture of what is happening in the song. Click here for a good example in Climb Every Mountain from the Sound of Music.

See if you can write a song where both the melody and the words are falling at the same time.

"Ring Around the Rosy" is a perfect example:

Ring around the rosy
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down

What happens in the last line? The words are about falling, but also the melody falls from HIGH to LOW.

Your falling song could be about anything: a cat falling from a tree, a sleeping boy falling out of bed, roses falling from someone's arms, or even falling in love. Just make sure that the melody also falls from HIGH to LOW.

Bonus: Add some actions. In "Ring Around the Rosy," the singers fall straight down. But if your song is about falling leaves, how would you fall? In a straight line, or slowly, drifting side to side? How about if you fell down a hill...would it be more of a tumbling action? Have fun!

If you are 12 or under, you can enter your song in the I Wrote a Hit Song! contest. Click here to learn how.

October Poll: Happy Halloween!

What is your favorite Halloween costume you ever wore? If you post a comment here to describe it, I'll pick one entry to win a free copy of American Songs volume 2!

This is me and some of my siblings on one of my favorite Halloweens (I'm the one with the crown):