Solo & Ensemble

8th Grade Songs

Use these videos to complete your worksheet.

"American Lullaby" solo (for 1 singer @ Solo & Ensemble but up to 8 singers in class)

This has a jazzy feel. You're singing a lullaby to a baby.

PRO: It's verse, chorus, verse, chorus...easy to learn!

CON: The piano accompaniment does not play your part.

"The Water is Wide" solo (for 1 singer @ Solo & Ensemble but up to 8 singers in class)

This is a very calm song about how love kind of sucks sometimes.

PRO: It's very repetitive and the lyrics are really cool.

CON: The piano accompaniment does not play your part!

"How Can I Keep from Singing" duet (for 2-6 singers @ Solo & Ensemble or up to 14 in class)

This could be any combination of high voices and low voices. The message of the song is that music is powerful.

PRO: It's all unison except the last two pages, so it's a quick learn!

CON: Part 2 gets the melody while Part 1 has a descant, so it's kind of backwards from the way we're used to.

"J'entends Le Moulin" duet (for 2 singers @ Solo & Ensemble or up to 14 in class)

This is has both English and French lyrics.

PRO: It's often a round, so there's less harmonies.

CON: You have to learn French lyrics.

"Skye Boat Song" solo (for 1 singer @ Solo & Ensemble and up to 8 in class)

This is a traditional Scottish song. Note: this video is a duet version, but our version is a solo version. It will give you an idea of the melody, though.

PRO: The song is pretty repetitive: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus.

CON: The piano accompaniment doesn't really play your part, so you need to know what you're doing!

"Scarborough Fair" solo (for 1 singer @ Solo & Ensemble and up to 8 in class)

This is an English folk song with some lower notes.

PRO: The piano accompaniment plays some of your notes and it's repetitive (verse, chorus form).

CON: There are some unknown words, which can be tricky.

"Poor Wayfaring Stranger" duet (for 2 singers @ Solo & Ensemble and up to 14 in class)

This duet has a lot of call and response, so there are fewer harmonies to learn.

PRO: It's pretty repetitive, so once you know your part, it's not very hard.

CON: There are some tricky harmonies, so both parts have to be strong!

"Come Sa" duet (for 2 singers @ Solo & Ensemble and up to 14 in class)

FOR BARITONES AND ALTOS

PRO: It's very repetitive so it's pretty easy to learn.

CON: There are lots of harmonies so you have to be up for the challenge.

"What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor" duet (for 2 singers @ Solo & Ensemble and up to 14 in class)

FOR BARITONES AND ALTOS. SKIP to 4:48 IN THE VIDEO.

PRO: It's a lot of fun!

CON: You have to have the right ranges to sing the melody, because it's goes quite high and quite low.