Oh, How Lovely is the Evening

sb

oh.

how

love

is

ly

Traditionalround

sb

the

ev-

'ning,

is

the

ev-

'ning.

When
F

the

bells

sweet -

are

ly

ringF

Oh, How Lovely

(Accompanimentchords)

ing,
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sweet I

'

ly

ringF

ing.

STNGING
This is a beautiful round which requires breath support and careful listening. Becauseof the
sustainednotesand phrases.this song is best suited for upper elementary. When teachingthis
song,think aheadaboutthe desiredvowel soundbecauseyou want the studentsto sing a nice
uniform vowel. Another feature of this song that is important to highlight is the 3/qmeter. After
learning the melody, have the children move to the accentedfirst beat. This can be done by
swaying, swinging scarves,or walking aboutthe room and conductingin % time. Until children
have a good senseof this accentedbeat,it is difficult to sing this successfullyas a round. Once
the studentsare confident of the melody and beat, sing it as a three part round. Another singing
activity you can use is vocal chording. Some of the studentssing the two chords on a neutral
"loo'o soundwhile the remaining studentssing the melody. Seeexampleon previous page.
When the studentsknow the song and have an individual awarenessof the accentedbeat, teach
them a simple circle dance: l.Everyonejoins handsand circles to the right stepping6 strong
beats. 2.Circle left stepping6 beats. 3.Facinginto centercircle. placeright foot slightly aheadof
the left and sway forward and back swinging arms together for 6 beats. When studentshave
masteredsong and movement, divide them into three concentric circles. (These groups will not
be quite balancedin numbers, so it is advisable to have 2 or 3 very independentsingers in the
inner circle.) Sing and dancethis as a three part round.
PLAYING
Have selectedstudentsprovide an accompanimentwith tone bells using the samechord pattern
as outlined for vocal chording on the previouspage. If you have a bassOrff instrumentthe
following patternprovidesa nice rocking bass. Then add chord tonesin the metallophones.

BassXylo

CREATING
Let the studentsexperimentwith creatingtheir own movementto this melody. Studentsalso like
to play resonatorbells and xylophonesto figure out themselveshow to play the melody. This is
fairly easyto play if you set up the necessarysix consecutivebells. If you have studentswho
have masteredthis, you could have them play the song as a round. If the studentsare ready. have
them createa way to notatethe melodic direction of the song.
LISTENING
Have the studentsdescribethe melodic contour of this song. When does it go up? When doesit
repeat?Etc.
"Star-SpangledBanner''."Kum Ba Yah". "My Hat. It
Sing other songsin % meter... "America",
has Three Corners"... and compareand contrastthe song styles. Teachstudentshow to conduct
int/qtime. Then play music and have the studentsconduct. The Waltzesof Straussare a good
sourceof music tbr this.
CURRICULUM CONN ECTION (Vocabulary/Geometry)
When sung as a round.phrasesone and two travel in parallel thirds. Show this visually by
drawing parallel lines on the board representingthe melodic contour. Then show the two lines
written one on top of the other on music staff.
Oh, How Lovely is the Evening