There are TONS of folk song collections out there. Of course, I want to analyze everything and catalog it in a spreadsheet (maybe someday). But I’ve been on a kick of trying to re-organize my folk song collection. Having completely my levels across different programs as well as all the things I’ve randomly collected, I’ve been feeling like it is a bit of a mess. While I’ve got BUNCHES to reorder, fix, notate, and make organized, these are some of the collections I’ll be focusing on.
Philippines Children’s Songs, Spoken Rhymes, and Games for Teaching
This is a big collection. Personally I want to spend time diving into Philippine culture so for me this one was a no brainer. If you are looking for a smaller collection, hold on.
Author: Dr. Miriam Factora
ISBN: 978-6218416109
Price: 38.95
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: This one has a 132 songs analyzed for you and game instructions. She tells you where the song was collected and how it is used. It also has translations, uses, and a short database of all of the songs in the book to quickly peruse if you are looking for specific teaching material.
Musical Folk Games of Manila, Philippines
I’ve included both of these because this one is a little less overwhelming if you want to include Philippine songs i your classroom. Personally I love smaller collections like this from different cultures because I don’t need to sift through a few hundred songs to find examples for my classroom. Smaller collections are also less expensive so they are really great to help you stay within your budget.
Author: Dr. Miriam Factora
ISBN: 978-6218416055
Price: 18.95
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: This is a smaller collection and does not contain analysis for you. It does have translations and game instructions!
Shadows in the Moonlight
Author: Joan Litman with Wassim Ibrahim
ISBN: 978-1622779437
Price: 28.95
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: First I have to say how well this book approaches collection from a culture you are not a member of, navigating some of the difficult relationships of the area, cultural information about music in the area, respectful approximations, instruments, and how to answer questions you may face in school. There are songs in Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Kurdish, and Hebrew. It includes introduction to each language as well as acknowledgements about the culture bearers.
El Patio de Mi Casa
Author: Gabriela Montoya-Stier
ISBN: 978-1579996109
Price: 16.95/17.95
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: This is a really accessible little book that has songs, grade level suggestions, pedagogical uses, teaching suggestions, game directions, translations, background info, and research notes.
100 Little Songs & Games
Author: Dr. Susan Brumfield
ISBN: 978-1540027108
Price: 44.99
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: If you’ve ever just wondered about a bunch of songs and games that everyone seems to know, it’s in here. It’s just the games, but the songs are easy enough to analyze.
101 Songs and Games
Author: Dr. Susan Brumfield
ISBN: 978-1705127506
Price: 39.99
Links: Amazon | West
What’s in it: Same but for intermediate grades (think 3-5/6). If you want to just have access to a bunch of commonly used songs, these are perfect for that.
120 Singing Games and Dances for Elementary School
Author: Lois Choksy, David Brummitt
ISBN: 978-0136350385
Price: On Amazon…upwards of $150 and I am NOT advocating you spend this kind of money unless you come across a used copy.
Links: Amazon This one is out of print and EXPENSIVE if you order online from Amazon. The best way to get your hands on it is look on Music Teachers Buy Sell Trade for a used copy.
What’s in it: The legendary book. It’s got a 120 games (cause the title says it does) in a sequence from moving in place, to line games and dances as well as a whole other variety. It also has some indices with terms and TEACHING order for the games (this one blew my mind because I definitely never noticed it before looking at it for this post).
Other Collections
There are SO many more collections to note. For me, these represent my culture, as well as books that represent two of the most commonly spoken languages in Michigan (Spanish and Arabic). There are a bunch of other wonderful collections that I’ve talked about before but I wanted to show you what I’m focusing on as I re-vamp my song collection.
