4 Steps for Planning a Year of Songs

Prospero Año!  Честита Нова Година!  Happy New Year!  I love looking at the coming year and perusing all the new Primary songs.  Sometimes it can feel daunting, though, to have such a large chunk of time to plan.  Here are 4 helpful steps I follow when planning my year overall.

1. Start with the Outline for Sharing Time

Primary music leaders have been called to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ, and our curriculum for this year is found in The 2016 Outline for Sharing Time, on lds.org here.  The outline has plans for weekly Sharing Times, and it shows which songs you should teach the children each month.  It also includes two months where individual wards are to choose additional songs from the Children's Songbook.  

The short lists of only the songs for this year and past years (including .mp3s) can be found here.  I type up the monthly themes and songs into a simple Word file, and I keep it on hand to copy and paste from all year long when planning my Singing Times.

2.  Work prayerfully with your Primary Presidency to select the additional songs

Every ward will handle the selecting/approving for the two additional songs a different way.  In some wards, the Primary Presidency chooses the songs.  My Primary presidency has me submit songs to them for approval.  “Let music reinforce what you’ve already taught,” counseled Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, General Primary President, in an introduction to the 2016 Primary theme, here.  I've tried to follow that advice by looking at the monthly Sharing Time themes and choosing songs to match. 

Additionally, though, about a month ago another Primary music leader mentioned how she prayed about her song choices, and I was embarrassed that I hadn't thought to do the same. I prayed over my choices this time, and I truly felt inspired. The songs I chose are "I Lived in Heaven" (p.4) and "This is My Beloved Son" (p.76), but the children in your ward may very well need a different song this year.  So I recommend that you pray on your end of things, too. :)

3.  Choose which verses to teach different groups

I find it much easier to approach a song with several verses if I have a plan in place with the Primary program in mind.  Before the year starts, I look at my list of songs and decide which verses I'll teach to different groups.  

For example, my Junior Primary is heavy on the young side.  I'm planning to only teach them the first verse of "If I Listen With My Heart," but I'll teach all three verses to Senior Primary.  When program time is close, I'll have the whole Primary sing verse one, with soloists from Senior singing the last two verses. With this plan in place, I won't stress about trying to teach Junior all three verses, and I can spend the extra time they'll need to learn just the first verse.

4.  Establish a pattern in your weekly planning

I normally sing three songs each week in Primary.  I've found that my children are more engaged when I offer a variety of songs and activities during a Singing Time, instead of focusing on one thing for 20 minutes.  I always include the song of the month in my weekly plan, and then I'll add in a couple more songs from one of these categories:

• a program song from either the month prior or the month following
• a song we're preparing to sing for a special occasion (such as Father's Day)
• a song that supports the weekly Sharing Time lesson

I use this opportunity to give more time to songs with multiple verses, or to review older songs throughout the year so they stay fresh. 


Having an outline for my year of songs helps me feel excited about all the children are going to learn.  I can focus on how best to present each song, rather than stressing about what I'm going to teach.  "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear," right? :)



Happy singing!

"The Shepherd's Carol"--a Pipe Chimes Activity

Pipe chimes in Primary Pipe chimes just sound like the perfect instrument to use during Christmas time, don't they? That's probably because there are so many carols about bells.  (By the way, if you didn't catch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's performance of "Carol of the Bells" earlier this month, watch it here!)  I borrowed a set of pipe chimes from a friend in the next ward, and I'm bringing them into Singing Time this Sunday. Fantastic Chimes and Where to Find Them My friend's pipe chimes set was homemade by a relative. The idea of cutting metal is daunting to me, but if you're braver than I, you can find detailed instructions for making them on Sugardoodle, here.  If you prefer to purchase them, check out the ones on my wish list, on Etsy, here.  These particular ones cost $30/set of 23 chimes.  Way better than the cost of hand bells! (See my post on hand bells here.  Their usage is very similar to chimes.) Different Ways to Play a Song Each chime plays one note when hit with a striker (a long, smooth piece of wood or metal, typically).  There are two basic ways to play a song with chimes: 1-play each note of the melody, or 2-play background chords while you sing the melody.   I prefer playing the chords, as I can have the song go faster, and then as we repeat with new chime players, more children get a turn.  (That's especially important in my large Primary!)  I specifically chose "The Shepherd's Carol" (Children's Songbook p.40) because it only uses two chords.  That makes it easier when I'm conducting the children. An Intro to Chords If you've never used the chord notation in the Children's Songbook before, open up to the song in another window and take a look. Above the piano music is written the abbreviated name of the chord. "The Shepherd's Carol" only uses Dm (D minor) and A7.  I'm not well enough versed in music theory to know what notes those are, so I look them up. :)  I like the site PianoChord.com, but there are lots of similar ones.  For this song, these are the only two chords you'll need: Dm=D, F, A.  A7=A, C#, E, G. When you look at the piano music, the placement of the chord name above the staff indicates when in the song you should switch to the listed chord. It does not mean that you can only play the chord at that moment. When I conduct chime players, I have them strike on the syllables "Mar-"(Dm), "hush" (A7), "child" (Dm), and then I repeat the Dm again on "Jo-," since I don't want to leave the silence that long, and there hasn't been a chord change yet.  I follow that pattern throughout the song. Presenting Chimes to the Children When I bring out pipe chimes in Singing Time, I dramatically play one note before giving any introduction. Wow, that's a surefire way to get the children's attention! :) Their eyes are on me, and they all immediately hope they'll get a turn.  With that attitude in place, I give the rules about treating the instruments gently and only playing when directed. I choose players to come up front, giving each child a chime and a striker.  I divide them into two groups, one for each chord.  I have them practice playing their chord when I point to their group, and then we launch immediately into the song.  Since the pattern of chords in this song is so simplistic (Dm-A7-Dm; Dm-A7-Dm; etc.), I don't use a chart at all. I just conduct the two groups, signalling each on their turn to play.  After one play-through, we trade out chime players and then repeat.  Since there is no chart, I find that this style of play is simple enough for my Junior Primary, unlike the more complicated way I use hand bells. Added Challenge for Older Children

If your children in Senior Primary know "The Shepherd's Carol" well enough, you can sing this song as a round. Helpfully, the chords follow the same pattern through each phrase, so you can play chimes with the round, and the chords will match both parts.  Enlist help from a confident singer or two (either child or adult) to lead a second group, and have fun with it!


Happy singing,