Folk song study for homeschool: how to start with one song a month

Folk song study means learning one traditional song at a time, by ear, until the whole family can sing it from memory. One song a month is a common pace. It takes about five minutes a day and needs no instrument and no music reading. Over a few years, a child builds a store of songs to sing from memory.

What a folk song is

A folk song is a song passed from singer to singer over many years. In most cases, no one knows who wrote it. The words and the tune change a little from place to place, so one song may have several versions. Folk songs tell of work, love, travel, the sea, and daily life.

Why families study folk songs

The tunes suit young voices. Many folk songs use a small range of notes and repeat their phrases.

They need nothing but a voice. A family can sing in the kitchen or the car.

They link to history and geography. A sea shanty goes with a study of sailing ships. A voyageur song goes with the fur trade.

Composers built on them. Many classical pieces use folk tunes, so a child who knows the songs hears them inside the larger works.

Music teaching methods start here. The Kodály method builds its teaching on the folk songs of a child’s own country.

Many Charlotte Mason homeschools study folk songs beside composer study. See Charlotte Mason composer study.

A plan for one song a month

Week 1: listen. Play a recording once a day. Do not ask anyone to sing yet.

Week 2: join in. Sing the chorus, or the lines that repeat. Hum the rest.

Week 3: learn the verses. Add one verse every day or two. Tell the story of the song in your own words.

Week 4: sing it alone. Turn off the recording. Sing the song from memory at dinner or for a grandparent.

Once a week, sing an old favorite from earlier months so the songs stay fresh.

Songs to start with

Titles only are listed here. Words and tunes are in library songbooks and in free online collections of traditional songs.

From Canada

• “I’s the B’y”
• “Alouette”
• “Farewell to Nova Scotia”
• “Donkey Riding”

From the United States

• “Shenandoah”
• “Simple Gifts,” a Shaker song from 1848
• “Skip to My Lou”
• “Down in the Valley”
• “She’ll Be Coming ’Round the Mountain”

From England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales

• “Scarborough Fair”
• “Greensleeves”
• “Loch Lomond”
• “The Ash Grove”
• “The Rattlin’ Bog”

From France

• “Frère Jacques”
• “Sur le pont d’Avignon”
• “Au clair de la lune”

Spirituals

Spirituals are songs created by enslaved African Americans. They are a tradition of their own, with a history to teach alongside the singing.

• “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
• “Wade in the Water”
• “Go Down, Moses”

Read the words of any old song before you teach it. Some have verses that do not suit children, and you may want to skip or explain them.

Folk songs inside classical music

Song or tune	Where to hear it
“Simple Gifts”	Appalachian Spring, by Copland. See the Copland guide.
“Greensleeves”	Fantasia on Greensleeves, by Vaughan Williams
“Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman,” the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle”	Twelve Variations, by Mozart
A Russian song about a birch tree	Symphony No. 4, last movement, by Tchaikovsky
English folk songs	English Folk Song Suite, by Vaughan Williams

Learn the song first. Then play the piece and ask your child to raise a hand when the tune appears.

Things to do with each song

Find it on a map. Mark the place the song comes from.

Draw the story. One picture for each verse makes a small book.

Clap the beat. Tap the steady beat on your knees while you sing. Then clap the rhythm of the words.

Sing the first line in solfege. See solfege explained for parents.

Compare two versions. Play two singers’ recordings. Ask what is the same and what is different.

Add a round. “Frère Jacques” works as a round. One group starts, and the second group starts two bars later.

Keep a family songbook

Put the words of each song in a binder, one song to a page. Add the country, the date you learned it, and a drawing. After three years, the binder holds about 30 songs your family can sing with no recording.

If you do not sing well

Sing along with the recording and let it carry the tune. Choose recordings with a clear, plain voice and few instruments. A child learns the song from hearing it many times, so the recording does most of the teaching. See how to teach music at home when you are not musical.

Common questions

How old should a child be? Any age. A three-year-old joins the chorus. A twelve-year-old learns every verse and reads about the history.

Do we need the written music? No. Folk songs are learned by ear.

How do I pick the next song? Match it to your history or geography, to the season, or to a composer you are studying.

Next steps

Pair each month’s song with a composer from the 36-week composer study schedule. For the whole music plan, see homeschool music curriculum: what to cover each year and composer study for homeschool.