Clap for Classics! – Details, episodes & analysis

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It is February, and it is Black History Month! Today we’re sharing music we love by black artists of the 20th century.

Hello, by Ella Jenkins

Hello hello hello and how are you

I’m fine I’m fine and I hope that you are too

Sing this song with any variation you can think of, soft, loud, humming, whistling, la la la-ing!

Ella Jenkins has been dubbed the “The First Lady of the Children's Folk Song.” Here is a playlist of some of our favorites, but be sure to check her out with your kids, we think you’ll love her music as much as we do.

To watch a mini class where Ms. Elizabeth and her 5 kids share 3 Ella Jenkins songs click here: https://www.clapforclassics.com/blog/ellajenkins

This Little Light of Mine

This little light of mine (tap knees),

I’m gonna let it shine, (arms: up down up down)

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. (dance in a circle)

This iconic American gospel song has been energizing and uniting diverse groups of people for nearly a century. It’s impossible to sing this song without moving your body and feeling a spark of excitement and purpose. It is a great song to sing with kids because the words are so repetitive, and the message is so positive! We’ve added some simple actions to each verse, and suggested a flashlight activity for the second time through -- kids and flashlights always seem to be drawn to each other, right?

Don’t miss these incredible renditions of this song by these famous black artists.

Aretha Franklin

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Fannie Lou Hamer

Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin Performed by Stefano Ligoratti. Recording used with permission. https://musopen.org/music/43164-maple-leaf-rag/#recordings

You don’t want to miss this recording of Scott Joplin performing this piece himself!

Join our All Access Membership for access to activities like the ones found on this podcast.

The membership includes:

• Over 250 engaging and educational music lesson videos.
• Comprehensive music courses organized by theme, for example:
  • "Carnival of the Animals",
  • "Peter and the Wolf,"
  • "Rhymes and Games," etc.
• Printable resources, including lesson plan ideas, parent programs, instrument and animal puppet printables, coloring pages, and more!
• Extensive "Notes to the Grown-ups" for each lesson, so that you can see exactly what your child is learning, with ideas on how to adapt and extend the lessons.
• Downloadable audio tracks of the classical music as well as the activities, so that you can listen off screen.

Get signed up at: www.clapforclassics.com/join

Use the code “LION” for 50% off your first month!

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics.  We love to feature our listeners on the podcast! 

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

🎁 Enjoying the podcast? Take our quick 2-minute survey and get a free month of All Access as a thank-you gift! Click here to share your thoughts. www.clapforclassics.com/survey

This is an episode with love songs for our little ones. We include one folk song, one Clap for Classics! original song, and the beautiful Waltz from Tchaikovsky's ballet, Sleeping Beauty.

Love Somebody

This is an Appalachian folk song, originally a fiddle tune.

Love somebody yes I do,

Love somebody yes I do,

Love somebody yes I do,

Love somebody but I won’t say who.

Love my mommy yes I do,

Love my mommy yes I do,

Love my mommy yes I do,

Love my mommy and she loves me too!

This song is a fun and easy one to adapt for multiple ages.

• For babies: rock your baby and make eye contact with them as you sing this song.
• Insert the names of your family members and loved ones.
• Look at a map and find the Appalachian Mountains

What your child is learning:

• Steady beat
• Movement to music
• The repetition in the words, and simple melody makes this a great song for little ones to develop verbal skills

The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66- Valse Allegro, Tchaikovsky.

Watch a video of Elizabeth and Charlotte teaching and dancing to the sleeping beauty waltz: https://www.clapforclassics.com/blog/sleeping-beauty-waltz

If you’d like to purchase our Fairy Tale Course where we tell even more of the story of Sleeping Beauty as well as incorporate other fairy tales and wonderful music, you can find it in our Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes bundle, or inside our All Access Membership.

Will you waltz with me,

Will you be my partner please?

If you will, I’ll spin you around

And round, then give you a squeeze

Pretty please will you waltz with me

Will you be my partner please?

Waltzing is my favorite thing in the world!

Many thanks to Classical.com for licensing the classical music for us to use in the podcast and in our courses.

Let’s Sing a Song About Hugs. Written by Kathryn Lieppman, it is a Clap for Classics! original and features Kathryn Lieppman and Elizabeth Nixon on ukulele and vocals, and Imogene Lieppman (age 4) on vocals and desk bells.

You can watch this video on our youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmKolRJchIg

Let’s sing a song about hugs!

Chorus: Some are tight

And some are gentle

Some are short

And some are long and sentimental

A hug can help you feel okay

If you get a little boo boo

Or you’re having a rough tough day

Try and hug it all away

Chorus

A hug can help you share some love

With a very special grownup

Taking care of you

So hug ‘em all day through

Chorus

A hug can help you cheer a friend

When she seems a little sad

You can bend her frown back to a smile

Just hug her for a while

Chorus

A hug can help you feel so great

But sometimes we just need some personal space (And that’s ok, too!)

To join the membership for all the musical content we’ve ever created, and start making music with us today, go to www.clapforclassics.com/join.

Use the code “LION” for 50% off your first month!

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics. We love to feature our listeners on the podcast!

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

For this activity you can grab some rhythm sticks, a scarf, and a pillow! We’ll be enjoying Vivaldi’s “Autumn” the whole first movement. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much fun you and your kids will have while engaging with this beautiful music.

Get your hands on the free printable now at www.clapforclassics.com/episode56. It is a PDF with a listening map for this classical music activity. It’s a great way to extend the learning with a visual representation of what is happening in the music. We are teaching musical form in this episode, and your child will experience the form through movement and then the listening map will help solidify the concept.

Check out the blog post where we share this activity in video form. https://www.clapforclassics.com/blog/vivaldiautumnparty

This activity comes from our “Autumn All Around” course that can be found both inside our Four Seasons Music and More Curriculum, as well as inside our All Access Membership.

For another engaging musical activity to accompany Vivaldi’s “Autumn” check out this video: https://www.clapforclassics.com/blog/autumn In this activity we enjoy the 3rd movement of the Autumn Concerto.

Do you have kids hungry for more and more!! Extend the learning even further by watching this video that will give you some great information about who Vivaldi was and about his Four Seasons violin concertos. https://www.clapforclassics.com/blog/vivaldi4seasons

To get information about our Four Seasons Course go to www.clapforclassics.com/fourseasons To learn all about our All Access Membership go to www.clapforclassics.com/join. And don’t forget that as a podcast listener you can get 50% off your first month of the membership by using the coupon code “LION.”

Please help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review, telling your friends, or sharing our social media content! Leave Forte a joke and be featured on an upcoming podcast! www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics

Classical music for this podcast is licensed to us for our use by Classical.com

Today we’re sharing a sneak-peek inside our Four Seasons Curriculum. Check out all the details and snag the year-long course at www.clapforclassics.com/fourseasons

We start with a song and a poem, and then our art and STEM teacher share a little introduction of what they will be teaching in the autumn unit. You do not want to miss all the wonderful nature-inspired learning that you and your little one will be doing as you explore the outdoors, use your imagination, sing, and create together.

Music: Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree,

Two little apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could.

DOWN came the apples

Mm-mmm were they good!

Poetry: Autumn Woods by James S. Tippett

I like the woods In autumn

When dry leaves hide the ground,

When the trees are bare

And the wind sweeps by

With a lonesome rushing sound.

I can rustle the leaves

In autumn

And I can make a bed

In the thick dry leaves

That have fallen

From the bare trees

Overhead.

Art: To see photos of the Andy Goldsworthy’s pieces that Ms. Krisanne referenced in this video check do a google search for Andy Goldsworthy’s land art examples.

Poetry lesson by Leslie Thomas

Art lesson by Krisanne Knudsen

STEM lesson by Eugenia Rojas

Go to www.clapforclassics.com/about for more information on our guest educators.

We have a Four Seasons curriculum sale coming up on September 11th. To make sure you are the first to know about the sale, you can get on our email list at www.clapforclassics.com/email

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics. We love to feature our listeners on the podcast!

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

Join us in our All Access Membership for a library of activities like the ones on this podcast. Check out the details at www.clapforclassics.com/join.

We’re so happy to feature Georgie from the Tambourine Social on today’s episode. She gets us moving our body while she shares a really fun song about Australian animals: “Move Like the Animals Do.”

Find her podcast, “Toddler Tunes”, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Stream her music on spotify or any other streaming service. Search for “The Tambourine Social.”

Find her on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmDhQvHGDcqc8EUapdDPgMg

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics.

We love to feature our listeners on the podcast! Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

Come to the Carnival with Ms. Elizabeth and friends and get a glimpse inside our All Access Membership with 5 days of classical music inspired activities for your and your little ones!

Sign up for this free event at www.clapforclassics.com/carnival23

On today’s episode we share 2 activities from our "Carnival of the Animals" course.

First, you get to meet one of our beloved musical puppet friends, Presto the Donkey, inspired by the Wild Donkey of Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. We listen to the Wild Donkey movement and play freeze dance.

For our second activity we learn a folk song about a donkey named Tingalayo that originated from the Caribbean. We use our egg shakers to practice beat and rhythm.

We hope you enjoy the episode.

For more Carnival of the Animals content sign up for our “Come to the Carnival” event at www.clapforclassics.com/carnival23

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics.

We love to feature our listeners on the podcast! Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

Grab the free download that accompanies this activity at www.clapforclassics.com/episode52 it’s a printable play packet with an elevator cut out, animal puppets, traceable numbers, and more! It is a great way to extend the learning and fun on this episode.

We are thrilled to have well-known children’s artist Laurie Berkner on the podcast today sharing her energetic song, “Waiting for the Elevator.” We’ll be moving our bodies, dancing, making animal noises, working on memory and sequencing, but most of all just having fun!

Want to hear more of Laurie’s music? Find her on any streaming platform, on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaurieBerknerBand, on Instagram and TikTok or at her website: https://laurieberkner.com.

To get access to a library of music courses with themes like Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, the Four Seasons, Music from Around the World, Nursery Rhymes, Space, Farm, and more, join our All Access music membership and start making music with us today, go to www.clapforclassics.com/join.  Use the code “LION” for 50% off your first month!

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics. We love to feature our listeners on the podcast!

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

For today's episode we are re-airing one of our favorite episodes from last year. You won't want to miss this one, even if you've already heard it! Join Ms. Elizabeth, Wilder, and Riff the Pig as we share a wonderful piece of music from american composer George Gershwin.

Grab some rhythm sticks and our free printable to extend this activity. The printable includes images of the instruments that we’ll identify as we listen to this piece. Print them on cardstock and mount on popsicle sticks for puppets, or print two sets and use them to play memory with while you listen! Grab it at www.clapforclassics.com/episode22

This activity comes right out of our American Classics course that can be found inside our All Access Membership. Use the code LION to get 50% off your first month!

We teach the theme to Rhapsody in Blue with a silly phrase, and we don’t think you’ll ever hear this piece again without thinking these words!

Fries……… Ketchup and mustard

And don’t forget cheese

On my hamburger dinner today!

Want to extend the fun and learning even more?

• Join our All Access Membership for a library of activities just like the one in this podcast.
• Watch the animation from Fantasia 2000, accompanied by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
• Listen to the entire piece of music during bathtime, or mealtime. Continue listening for the “ketchup and mustard” theme, and listening for the clarinet, trumpet, and piano.
• Play a game of musical memory with the free printable from this episode. Just print out two pages of the cards.

Learn more about our American Classics course found inside our All Access Membership.

What your child is learning:

• Active engagement with a piece of classical music
• Active listening for a repeated theme Instrument identification: clarinet, trumpet, piano

Music credit: Special thanks to Classical.com for licensing the music on this podcast. “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Christopher O’Riley on piano and Barry Wordsworth conducting

Lyrics to the theme written and performed as "Riff the Pig" by Co-founder Kathryn Lieppman.

Celebrate our 50th episode, and the 4th of July with Forte and Charlotte! They take over the podcast and share a bunch of 4th of July jokes you won't want to miss. 

We finish out the episode with our Patriotic medley, 3 of our favorite patriotic tunes with simple ukulele chords. Grab the free PDF with the arrangement of the medley, ukulele chords and lyrics at www.clapforclassics.com/episode50.

We also have a special coupon for you that is good for 20% on either our membership or our American Classics course. Use the code “PATRIOTIC23” until midnight on July 4th, 2023.

Listen to Episode 22. "Gershwin’s Rhapsody on a Burger and Fries" for a peek into our American Classics! Course and a very fun activity with Gershwin’s wonderful "Rhapsody in Blue". And don’t miss the freebie that goes with this episode as well: www.clapforclassics.com/episode22

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen.

To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here: http://www.speakpipe.com/clapforclassics.  We love to feature our listeners on the podcast!

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com

We are thrilled to welcome Stephanie Leavell from Music for Kiddos as a guest teacher on our podcast today. She shares a very fun summery song with us about the juicy summer fruit: Watermelon.

To find out more about Stephanie and what she does check out her website at www.musicforkiddos.com You can find her music on Spotify, or Youtube, or any other music platform that you use.

Get access to all of our musical content for kids ages 2-8 inside our All Access Membership. Use the code “LION” at checkout to get 50% off the first month of your membership.

Help more families find out about this podcast by leaving us a review wherever you listen. To leave Forte and I a message or a joke please record it here. We love to feature our listeners on the podcast!

Classical music tracks are licensed for our use by Classical.com