Andrew is having a birthday party. He is gathering with his friends and family. They are singing because they love Andrew and they celebrate with music on his special day.
The children are wearing school uniforms. A group of students are playing a singing game. The children are all different ages. The music game includes everyone and they are all having fun.
Two different groups are making music in a concert. One group named, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is made up of all men. Their songs include traditional sounds from South African music styles. The other group is called, The Mint Juleps. This women's group is from London England and sings more modern music.
Notice there are no guitars, or piano with the performance. They focus on just their singing voices and ears to listen carefully to each other.
Children's Choirs are popular all over the world. How many children do you think are in this choir? Why are they all wearing the same kind of shirt? I see two adults helping this group. Do you?
Kathleen Battle is one of the best opera singers ever. She is very good at making her voice sing in a lot of different ways: high and low, loud and soft, fast and slow. She also does a great job of using her voice and her body to telling the story of the song.
Kristen Chenoweth is one of the best musical theater singers that is living today. That type of singer can also be called a "Broadway singer". In this song, she uses three different singing styles,: music theater, jazz and opera. Talk to an adult about the story she is telling.
Louis Armstrong was one of the most famous jazz musician. He was a composer, trumpeter, actor and singer. He was famous for his specific sounding voice. This song has been used all over the world to encourage people when things are hard.
Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite singers. I love to hear how she never forgets that she is telling you a story. She makes me feel like she is singing right to me.
Scat singing is one of her biggest talents. She makes up the notes and the rhythms while she is singing the song. Scat singing also doesn't use any words, but uses non-sense sounds to use the voice more like an instrument.