Welcome to Primary Songs – how it all started!
As a primary teacher I’m always on the lookout for great songs that inspire children to sing and enhance their classroom learning. There is nothing better than seeing children’s faces light up with enjoyment and personalities come to life with the right song. It is also important knowing that learning in other curriculum areas is taking place at the same time.
Until relatively recently, finding suitable songs usually meant a visit to the local music shop (or 20 mile round trip in my case!) and browsing through various compilations, collections and musicals, or trawling through publisher’s weighty catalogues. Sometimes I would strike it lucky but most often than not I would end up buying a book of songs and only perhaps using one or two of them.
Throughout my teaching career I have always written my own songs ( I twice reached the finals of the HTV Carol Competition having just started teaching) and since then, many colleagues have told me over the years that I should get them published. However, with the demands of teaching I just didn’t get round to it.
With new technology together with the internet I really saw the potential for my songs to reach a wider audience and after collaborating with a colleague a few years ago to create ten successful songs in the Welsh language for primary teachers in Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire, I was inspired to explore this new exciting direction.
I had an enormous amount of fun composing new songs, re-energising some older ones and creating backing tracks as well as converting them into digital format using mp3s, PDFs and ppts etc – so that they could be instantly available to download 24 hours a day, wherever you are in the world. I wanted teachers to save valuable planning and preparation time by providing complete song packs with everything needed to get teaching and singing right away. I also wanted to help the environment by not creating unnecessary paper waste. And that is the essence of my Primary Songs website – fun songs for primary school children that support important areas of learning and are instantly accessible with everything a teacher needs to give a great lesson or performance!
You don’t even need to be a music or vocal specialist as all the songs come with a high quality backing track accompaniment if you don’t have a pianist, and instruments play the song melody to help you and your children sing at the right pitch. More songs now have vocal tracks to either sing along to or to help you really get to know them before you teach them.
So as this post comes to an end I look forward to providing you with an ever-growing selection of great songs written especially for primary school children. Please let me know your thoughts about them and, although I have lots of ideas buzzing around in my head, I always appreciate any suggestions for new material. If I develop your idea into a song then it will be yours for free!
