Fun Tunes in 6/8 Time for Recorder
compiled by Brian Appleby
6/8 time is one of the most natural rhythms for children. Many nursery rhymes and familiar tunes have the rolling, skipping rhythms that make up the basic 6/8 patterns.
Sometimes we avoid teaching 6/8 because visually, it is quite different than music written in more familiar times such as 4/4.
The fact that 6/8 tunes come very naturally and easily when taught orally means that getting students to read them is, to a large extent, a matter of matching up notation with familiar sounds. Students will then gain the skill necessary to take the next step, which is being able to read new and unfamiliar material by drawing on the vocabulary of patterns they have learned to recognize from familiar material.
This collection is intended to provide a wealth of such familiar material in 6/8 time.
The songs range from very easy to fairly challenging, so there is material for students at a wide variety of levels. There are also several pages of 6/8 rhythm sheets.
The package includes an accompaniment CD, and a coil bound book which doubles as a teacher's manual and student photocopy masters.
click on the above link to download the table of contents and sample lessons in pdf format. You can view these on screen or print them out. On some computers the staff lines may be slightly distorted on screen, but the pages should print perfectly.
