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- Justin's Newsletter
for Summer 2008
-
Summer is a time to get outside
and reconnect with the land after being cooped up for the winter. I
love working in the garden and helping to start new plants growing.
Whether you are planting seeds in your garden, or in a paper cup,
this season's sing-along is a must. This is also a great song to sing
when starting any new project that you hope will grow strong and
beautiful. It could sung be during potty time, learning to swing a
bat, or practicing an instrument.
Dave Mallet originally wrote the
"Garden Song" but it has bee sung by many people including John
Denver, Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul and Mary. The chorus is the
easiest to remember: "Inch by Inch, Row by Row..." but the verses are
also very rich. Enjoy!
Garden_Song.mp3
- Garden Song
lyrics
- by David
Mallett
-
- CHORUS:
- Inch by inch, row by
row
- Gonna make this garden
grow
- All you need is a rake
and a hoe
- And a piece of fertile
ground
-
- Inch by inch, row by
row
- Someone bless these
seeds I sow
- Someone warm them from
below
- 'Till the rain comes
tumbling down
-
- Pullin' weeds, pickin'
stones
- We are made of dreams
and bones
- Need a place to call my
own
- 'Cause the time is
close at hand
-
- Grain for grain, sun
and rain
- Find my way in nature's
chain
- Tune my body and my
brain
- With the music of the
land
-
- CHORUS
-
- Plant your rows
straight and long
- Temper them with a
prayer and song
- Mother Earth will make
you strong
- If you give her loving
care
-
- An old crow watches
hungrily
- From his perch in
yonder tree
- In my garden I'm as
free
- As that feathered thief
up there.
-
- CHORUS
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- Justin's Newsletter
for Winter 2008
-
For those of you who are long
time subscribers to my seasonal newsletter I took a brief hiatus in
the fall to welcome the birth of our second child. For those of you
who are new please enjoy the seasonal sing-along song with your
family and I hope to see you at a program soon.
February has many opportunities
for celebration: Black History Month, Valentines Day and Lincoln's
birthday. This season's sing-along touches on all three. "There's A
Little Wheel A Turnin' In My Heart" was supposedly Abraham Lincoln's
favorite song. It is also a lovely lyric to sing to someone you love.
W.E.B. DuBois wrote "The things evidently borrowed from the
surrounding world undergo characteristic change when they enter the
mouth of the slave...the wheels of Ezekiel are turned every way in
the mystic dreaming of the slave, till he says: "There's a little
wheel a-turnin' in-a-my heart." (The Souls of Black Folks: Ch. 14,
1903)
There is also a little musical
challenge in this song. I've included a harmony part, or ostinado,
that repeats over and over (wheel's a turn-in'). If you have two or
more people singing then split the parts up between you. The first
note of the harmony is the same as the first note of the
song.
I only have one public performance
scheduled over the next few months:
All
That Jazz: February 2nd, Saturday,
2:00; Denver
Central Library 14th &
Broadway, Children's Library Pavilion
Winter
Sing-Along
Click
here for the MP3
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-
Justin's Newsletter for
Summer 2007
-
Summer is a great season for
outdoor parties or simply having a bunch of friends over to play.
Back before TV, radios, computer, video games and the like children
had to mostly entertain themselves. Some of the games they played
were called Play Parties. These games and dances ranged from simple
to complex. These self-entertaining games are often the best cure for
"I'm bored."
I've got nine
different programs this summer
to get everyone moving around. You might even learn a new game or
two.
Creepy
Crawlies:
June 9th, Saturday,
10:30; Eugene
Field Library, Denver, 810 S. University
Blvd. at E. Ohio Ave.
Brothers and
Sisters: June 12th, Tuesday, 10:00 &
2:00; Rialto
Theatre 228 E. Fourth Street Loveland,
Colorado (Tickets: $5 adult, $3 child)
Creepy
Crawlies: June 13th, Wednesday, 3:00;
Sheridan
Library 3201 West Oxford Avenue, Sheridan,
CO
Creepy
Crawlies: June 14th, Thursday, 4:15;
Smoky
Hill Library 5430 S. Biscay Circle,
Centennial, Colorado
A New
World: June 28th, Thursday, 2:00;
Denver
Central Library 14th &
Broadway, B2 Conference Room
Creepy
Crawlies: July 10th, Tuesday, 2:00;
Southglenn
Library 7500 South University Boulevard,
#101, Centennial, CO
Creepy
Crawlies: July 16th, Tuesday, 10:30;
Davies Library 303 Third Avenue, P.O. Box
288, Deer Trail, CO
Creepy
Crawlies: July 16th, Tuesday, 1:30;
Castlewood
Library 6739 South Uinta Street,
Centennial, CO
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- Summer
Sing-Along
This season's sing-along is a
play party called "Bluebird, Bluebird." A group of friends hold hands
to make a circle and raise their hands in the air. This creates a
"window" between each person. The person who is "IT" trys to weave in
between the windows. If you have a lot of people try to make it
around the circle before the verse is over. If you only have a few
people see how many times "IT" can make it around. On the chorus "IT"
chooses a new bluebird and the game begins again.
Click
here for the MP3
-
- Lyrics:
-
- Verse:
- Bluebird, bluebird through my window,
- Bluebird, bluebird through my window,
- Bluebird, bluebird through my window,
- Oh, Johnny aren't you tired?
-
- Chorus:
- Choose a little friend and tap 'em on the
shoulder,
- Choose a little friend and tap 'em on the
shoulder,
- Choose a little friend and tap 'em on the
shoulder,
- Oh, Johnny aren't you tired?
-
- Verse...etc.
|
-
- Justin's Newsletter
for Spring 2007
-
Spring has been celebrated by
different societies for thousands of years as the opportunity for new
life and new growth. In many European countries May Day was the
ultimate spring party. It was a recognition of the first spring
planting and a hope for fertile fields. People would stay up late
into the night, dance around May poles and even dress in costumes.
There are several different music
parties that I will be holding this spring. They won't be late at
night, they won't have May Poles...I suppose you could wear a costume
if you like. There will be dancing, instruments, stories and
fun.
- Animals All
Around: Saturday, April 14th, 2:00; Denver
Central Library
(Children's Pavilion), 14th & Broadway
- Creepy
Crawlies: Saturday, May 5th, 10:30; Denver
Decker Library, 1501 S.
Logan
- Animals All
Around: Saturday, May 12th, 2:00; Denver
Athmar Library, 1055 S.
Tejon
- A New World:
Sunday, May 20th, 2:00; Denver
Schlessman Library, 1st
& Quebec
-
-
- Spring
Sing-Along
This season's sing-along is
an old English May Day song called Hal-An-Toe. The title probably
refers to dancing "heel-and-toe." The fun part of this song is the
chorus and playing a drum or other instrument on beat 4: "Hal-an-toe
(BOOM)..." There are several different verses but I only sang the one
about Robin Hood.
Click
here for the MP3
-
- Lyrics:
-
- Chorus:
-
- Hal-an-toe,
- Jolly rumbalo,
- We were up,
- Long before the day-o,
- To welcome in the summer
- To welcome in the May-o,
- 'Cause summer is a comin' and the winter's gone
away-O!
-
- Verse:
- Robin Hood and Little John they went off to
fair-o,
- And we shall to the merry green to play with buck
and hare-O!
-
- Chorus:
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-
- Justin's Newsletter
for Winter 2007
-
- There are three
concerts Justin will be performing during the next couple weeks.
January 15th was Martin
Luther King Jr. Day and February is African-American history
month.
- This is a great time
of year to reflect on the music and history of the United States
through
- Justin's
program
and CD called "All That Jazz."
-
- Winter
Sing-Along
One of our native genres of
music in the USA is the spiritual. Some spirituals have religious
connotations and most speak to the strength of the human spirit.
"This
Little Light" is one of
the most uplifting and easy to sing spirituals. The object is
to share our inner Light, so every verse describes a different way or
place that we can Shine. The refrain is always "...I'm gonna let it
shine."
Click
here for the MP3
-
- Lyrics:
-
- 1. This little light of
mine, I'm gonna let it shine (3x)
-
2. All around the world,
I'm gonna let it shine (3x)
-
3. Everywhere I go, I'm
gonna let it shine (3x)
-
- Other verses can find their way from daily
activities:
-
- Singing with my friends...
- Put it under a towel - NO!...
- Cooking up our dinner...
|
-
- Justin's Newsletter
for Early Autumn 2006
-
- There are two concerts
Justin will be performing during the next month.
-
- First, Justin will be
presenting his "Creepy
Crawlies" program at
the Valdez-Perry Branch Library on Saturday, November 4th at 2:00
pm. Creepy Crawlies has songs, games and dances about insects,
bugs and tiny slimy things.
-
- Second, come see
Justin perform at the Children's
Museum of Denver on
Saturday, November 18th at 11:30 am. The show will be
"Apples
and Bananas," a very
appropriate theme for Thanksgiving the next
week.
-
-
- Autumn
Sing-Along
-
- This season's
sing-along is "There
Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a
Fly." This is one of
the songs that will be performed at the Children's Museum "Creepy
Crawlies" show in October.
- Click to hear the
first three verses on the MP3
file.
-
- Lyrics:
-
- 1. There was an old woman
who swallowed a fly,
- I don't know why she
swalloed a fly, perhaps she'll die.
-
- 2. There was an old woman
who swallowed a spider,
- It wiggled and jiggled and
tickled inside her,
- She swalled the spider to
catch the fly,
- I don't know why she
swalloed a fly, perhaps she'll die.
-
- 3.There was an old woman who
swallowed a bird,
- How absurd to swallow a
bird,
- She swalled the bird to
catch the spider, It wiggled...
-
- 4. There was an old woman
who swallowed a cat, imagine that she swallowed a
cat...
-
- 5. There was an old woman
who swallowed a dog, she was a hog to swallow a
dog...
-
- 6. There was an old woman
who swallowed a cow, I don't know how she swallowed a
cow...
-
- 7. There was an old woman
who swallowed a horse - she died of
course.
|
-
- New To The
JustinMiera.com Website
-
- First, there are now listening samples
from the CDs "Brothers
and Sisters," and "All
That Jazz." Check 'em out and order a
disk!
-
- Second, there is a list of private
music teachers in the Denver area for piano, strings, woodwinds,
Orff and percussion. Click
here for the PDF.
Summer 2006
This newsletter is to let you know
about Justin's many performances of his program
Animals All
Around
- (ages 3-9)
- This is a musical story about an
Arctic tern named Flit who is blown off her 12,000 mile migration
journey. To find her way back she travels across the continents
meeting other migratory and sedentary animals. She also learns
about the unique nature of each new friend, their uncertain
relationships with the environment and the importance of her
missing family. Children love animals and they will easily
identify with them through these geographic, scientific and social
themes. Come sing, dance and even play instruments with Justin
Miera.
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- Summer
Sing-Along
- Click for the MP3 file link:
- Alouettemix.mp3
-
- Alouette, gentile Alouette.
Alouette je t'embrasse.
- Je t'embrasse la tete, je
t'embrasse la tete (head). Et la tete, et la tete, Alouette,
Alouette Oh...
- Et la nez...
(nose)
- Et la bec...
(beak)
- Et la cou...
(neck)
- Et la dos...
(back)
- Et la pattes...
(feet)
- - - -
- The context of this song is two birds introducing
themselves to each other. One speaks French and is teaching the
other bird different words.
- Traditionally, the lyrics read "Je te plumeraie." (I
will pluck your head, nose, beak, etc.)
- Since this is a friendly song I replaced plumerai with
embrasse: to hug or embrace. (with the help of Rocio Zeiler and
Monique Lathrop)
-
- Spring
2006
-
- This newsletter is to let
you know about several new events in Justin's
World.
- First, the music book
"Shake
the Papaya Down" has been
re-released with a companion CD.
- Second, there is a new webpage
with an easy to remember address: www.justinmiera.com
- Third, there are several Denver
area businesses that now carry Justin's CDs and
books:
- Tattered
Cover, The
Children's Museum of Denver,
- and The Bookies (4315 E
Mississippi Ave, Denver, 80246 - (303)
759-1117).
-
-
- Spring
Sing-Along
-
- Click for the MP3 file link:
- Papaya.mp3
-
- Shake The Papaya
Down
- (Traditional)
- Momma says no play,
This is a work day,
- Up with the bright
sun, Get all the work done,
- If you will help me
climb up the tall tree,
- Shake the papaya
down.
- (Sing different verses by
changing the word "shake" to "beat" and then
"scrape."
Play shake, beat and scrape instruments
on their corresponding verses.)
January 2006
January 16th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and February is
African-American history month.
This is a great time of year to reflect on the music and history
of the United States through one of our native genres, the spiritual.
Some spirituals have religious connotations and most speak to the
strength of the human spirit. For me, "Michael Row" speaks to how we
can over come difficulties by working and singing together.
You are invited to one of my upcoming performances of All
That Jazz over the next month... schedule.html
Here is our sing-along for this season
Click for the MP3 file link: Michael.mix.mp3.mp3
Michael Row
- Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah
(2xs)
- 1. Sister help to trim the sail, hallelujah
(2xs)
- 2. River Jordan is chilly and cold..., Chills the body
but not the soul...
- 3. Jordan's river is deep and wide..., Milk and honey
on the other side...
4. Michael's boat is a music boat..., If you stop singing it
can't float...
November 2005
Click for the MP3 file link:
Over_The_River.2.mp3
- OVER THE
RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS
- Traditional
-
- Over the river
and through the woods, To Gradmother's house we go.
- The horse know
the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifting
snow.
- Over the river
and through the woods, Oh how the wind does
blow,
- It stings the
toes and bites the nose as over the ground we
go.
- Over the river
and through the woods, and straight through the barnyard
gate,
- We seem to go
extreemely slow, It is so hard to wait.
- Over the river
and through the woods, Now Grandfather's cap I
spy,
- Hurray for the
fun is the pudding done, Hurray for the pumpkin
pie.
-
-
- Vistit http://www.justinmiera.com/products.html
- for information on Justin's CDs
Brothers and
Sisters, and
All That
Jazz
- and his book Music to
Shake the Papaya
Down
-
For More Information Call
1-800-218-6440
e-mail to
©2005 Circle of Friends Publishing.
All rights reserved