2022-2023 Folk Songs and Hymns
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My favorite part of planning the next year of school is choosing our folk songs and hymns. Searching for the recordings I want to use are also a fun process for me and I love sharing them in case others would like to use them as well! To see past year plans of the songs we chose check out 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018. 2017
To download a lyric sheet of all the folk songs and hymns, CLICK HERE!
Hymns
I'm continuing to use the resource Hymns for a Kids Heart in our co-op. I love the stories about the writers of the hymns and their life. In addition to these hymns we will sing at the co-op, I'm choosing folk-hymns for the rest of our rotation from the resources found in the book "Spiritual Folk Songs of Early America" by George Pullen Jackson. I enjoyed learning that the Puritan hymns published in the 1600s did not include all solemn music, but also lively "horn-pipe" tunes. These tunes are even referenced in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale! “Three-man song-men, all, and very good ones...; but one Puritan amongst them, and he sings Psalms to hornepipes.”
Later, in the 1700s Primitive Methodists, both in Great Britain and in America gathered folk tunes and wrote hymn lyrics to them...‘Why should the devil have all the pretty tunes?’ This eventually led to the shape-note hymnals in the south. The hymns were based on folk-tunes, ballads, country-dances, and morris-dances.
"Shape notes, as is explained in White Spirituals, indicate their pitch by their shapes, independently of the lines and spaces of the staff. They were invented to simplify the reading of music. There are two principal systems, the Four Shape and the Seven Shape. In the Four Shape, the first and fourth degrees of the scale are called fa and are represented by a right triangle; the second and fifth are called sol, represented by a round shape; the third and sixth, la, by a square head and the seventh, mi, by a diamond. The Seven Shape system has a different form of note for each degree of the scale and the nomenclature accords with our general practice. The nomenclature of the Four Shape system is of especial interest because it was known and practised by Shakespeare. Numerous references to it occur in his plays. In King Lear this system is employed in an almost Wagnerian manner to characterize the archvillain, Edmund, who in soliloquy says: “My cue is villanous melancholy” and then sings: “Fa, sol, la, mi.” These four tones measure the extent of a tritone, the forbidden interval called the diabolus or the devil and supposed to be filled with sinister, ominous and evil potency.
As shape notes increased in popularity, bitter controversy arose between their supporters and those of the ordinary staff notes. This was most fortunate, for it gave the fa-sol-la folk a coherence and a sturdier determination to abide by their principles and practices, which enabled them to resist the erosion of modern life and so preserve their beautiful heritage."
I've wanted to add shape-note hymns to our rotation but after listening to many different recordings I've decided we will just do one in the fall and one in the spring. To learn how to read the notes you can download a beginners guide here. To see a list of Sacred Harp hymns using shape-note click here.
Folk Songs
We are back in "Cycle 1" for history so we'll be spending a lot of time on early American history. I chose a lot of songs that will fit with the cycle and added some just for fun!
I hope you enjoy the selections for the 2022-2023 school year!
August
Waltzing Matilda - YouTube
This is the Australia National Anthem and our co-op will be singing it all through Term 1. It's on the list for Ambleside Online which is the curriculum a lot of our co-op members use. I love bringing picture books to our co-op gathering to sing along with the illustrations. Here's the book I use!
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - YouTube
September
Sarasponda - YouTube
I've actually never taught this old Dutch spinning song to my children! I think they may have heard it on folk song CDs I've had through the years, but when I was going through my book From Sea to Shining Sea and read about this tune that was popular in New Amsterdam, I knew we should add it to our monthly rotation!
This is the shape-note hymn we will study for the fall. To see the PDF and music click here
October
Man of Constant Sorrows - YouTube
I know this seems like a really odd choice for Cycle 1, but it has a purpose! We are reading the Odyssey by Homer this year and my husband promised my kids that after we finish the book we will watch the movie O Brother Where Art Thou because it is based on the ancient story! We will be reading it all through the month of October and then will watch the movie around the 1st week of November! My kids will know the song well!
At the Cross - YouTube
A hymn by Isaac Watts from 1707
November
Three Little Birds - YouTube
We begin Term 2 in November and will be using this picture book for our folk song with our co-op. I'm looking forward to singing this happy song through all of Term 2 (when the weather starts to get gloomy!)
Come, Ye Thankful People Come - YouTube
This is a wonderful hymn for November and is attributed to the puritans in the 1600s
December
Boars Head Carol - YouTube
This is a carol that fits well within our Cycle 1 history. It has its beginnings in Medieval times and first published in 1521. I like this website with information on the Old English translations.
Good Christian Men Rejoice - YouTube (Latin)
This is also an old hymn dating to 1582 in Latin "In Dulci Jubilo" - we'll sing in English and Latin this year!
January
The Water is Wide - YouTube
This is a classic folk song that we haven't added to our rotation yet. It's history is from 18th Century Scotland called "Oh Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny." I enjoyed going down some rabbit holes with this website and the complete history of the song!
Tis So Sweet - YouTube
February
Derby Ram - YouTube
Beginning our Term 3 with the co-op we will enjoy this picture book with a fun folk song! There are some other variations out there so be careful what recording you choose if you pick this song! I love all of John Feierabend's songtale books!
To God Be the Glory - Youtube
This is our co-op hymn for the term
March
Cherokee Morning Song - YouTube
Our school studies will include some Native American culture and it is always very tricky when choosing a song to accompany culture studies. I don't want to choose something out of an outdated book that may have appropriated the culture. I found this beautiful composed song and this website with information about the lyrics. I'm hoping maybe we can visit Cherokee, NC during our spring break!
Crown Him with Many Crowns - YouTube
April
Braes of Balquidder - YouTube
Another folk song from Scotland that was brought to the New World by early European settlers! Jean Ritchie is one of my folk music heroes and grew up learning music passed down from her immigrant family in the rural Kentucky mountains. This article is a wonderful representation of some of her music and life! Another version of this song is "Wild Mountain Thyme." This recording has Jean Ritchie and Tommy Makem singing. Balquidder is in Scotland and where Rob Roy is burried. My goal for this school year is to read 2 Waverly Novels by Sir Walter Scott and Rob Roy is one of them. I'll enjoy making these connections with the literature and folk songs.
Our spring shape-note hymn! To view the PDF and listen to the music click here!
May
Barbara Allen - YouTube
I wanted to continue with the old English folk songs that became popular in America as settlers populated the land. This article traces the history of the song from the 1600s to the Americana recordings of the 1900s.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - YouTube
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