Call and response is a form of musical dialogue: Someone sings or plays a musical phrase, and someone else (or a group of people) responds, either echoing the phrase back or providing a musical answer.

Call and response stems from a variety of musical traditions, including African, Cuban, folk, and early church music (think cantor and congregation). (source)

Call and response can be a useful teaching tool, as it gives young children an opportunity to listen, imitate, explore the voice, and gain confidence in their singing.

Games and musical activities are a fun and engaging way to introduce and reinforce new musical concepts and develop musical skills like listening, singing, expression, coordination, and internalizing a sense of steady beat.

Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite musical games and activities for elementary music classes, children's choirs, and elementary group classes.

In the book, How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and How It Happens, Benedict Carey stated, “Games are the best learning tool.”

It’s true, isn’t it? Games often have a way of teaching us something new without us realizing we are learning. We’re concentrating on the rules, listening, observing, interacting, and in the end, playing.

Learning is simply embedded in the process.

Do you remember those songs we used to sing as kids that went on and on and on? That had what felt like a hundred verses, each one longer and sillier than the one before it?

This is the joy of a cumulative song.

From music class to road trips, playgrounds to choir rehearsal, cumulative songs are fun to sing, engaging for children of all ages, and an effective teaching tool.

For those of you who may not know what I’m talking about, a cumulative song is a song that adds a new phrase of text with each repetition.

Usually, the lyrics are a list of some kind, getting progressively longer as the song goes on.

If you go to the grocery store or the park or Target, you’re likely to hear it - the sound of a small child singing a song they know by heart (often looping through a favorite section over and over). “The impulse to move, speak, sing, and play rhythmically is a natural and vital part of being human” (source). But, if it’s not encouraged and nurtured from an early age, children can “forget how to sing.” 

How do you help them rediscover their singing voices? 
How do you develop it and teach them to sing in a choir? 
Where do you start?

In today’s post, I’m walking you through the ins and outs of developing children’s singing voices in a choir setting - from vocal exploration to developing choral musicianship. Let’s get started!

Exploring the Voice

This is a vital step in the process. Give children numerous opportunities in rehearsals to explore what their voices can do. This helps them build coordination and gain control of their voice, develop an understanding of the voice and what it means to sing, and build confidence.

Singing games are a great way to teach musical concepts, incorporate movement, and give children an opportunity to sing alone and with others. They're perfect as gathering activities, ice-breakers, or a quick change-of-pace in the middle of rehearsal. 

A few months ago, I shared seven fun musical games for children's choir. As a follow-up to that post, I'm rounding up fifteen singing games - some, more suitable for younger singers; others for older elementary; and even a few that your youth choir would love. Most of these are sung in unison, without accompaniment. Also, since movement activities are difficult to describe in writing, I've included video demonstrations for most of these. 

Enjoy!

It's a rainy evening and the 1st graders in your children's choir are extra wiggly. You need a quick change-of-pace to keep their attention and get through rehearsal. 

Been there? I think we all have. 

There are lots of games you could play, but I like choosing games and activities that keep the focus on music (and maybe get the children up and moving for a few minutes). Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite (musical) games and activities for children's choir.

Enjoy!