Folksongs

Ambleside Online has a new website! Come visit us at www.amblesideonline.org!

This page will remain up for a few weeks; its new location is
http://www.amblesideonline.org/Folksongs.shtml

Folksong Rotation

Folksong resources Online (midi tune files)

Ambleside Online member Elizabeth Watkins started a project to get a professional group to put these songs on a CD You can purchase this 2-CD set from The Homestead Pickers at
http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/pickers/Folksongs.html

There are others, and we'd welcome any additions of the same caliber. I just happen to be most familiar with these.

Catalogs: Music for Little People (very new age)

Resources: American Folk Songs for Children, by Mike and Peggy Seeger

(this one has been a long time favorite at our house- there are, as I recall, two

bloodthirsty ones which we skip).

Any one of the tapes in the Wee Sing tape series

"Give Me Elbow Room," by Bonnie Rideout

Michael Card's Star Kindlers album utilizes very old Celtic tunes.

Again, there are others, and we'd welcome any suggestions of the same caliber. These are just what I have in my house.

Ambleside Online Term Schedule

Term 1: September - November

Term 2: January - March

Term 3: April - June

Ambleside Online schedules these terms as a group to facilitate our

Artist, Composer, Plutarch, Shakespeare, Folksongs and Hymns studies

through sharing resources and experiences on the list.

12 year rotation of folk songs: Purchase all 36 of these songs on CD

term 1: The Three Ravens We suggest you learn the tune here and print the lyrics here

term 2: Battle of Otterburn

term 3: Scarbourough Fair website with information about the song

term 1: Barbara Allen

term 2: I'm Seventeen Sunday

term 1: Turkey in the Straw

term 2: My Grandfather's Clock

term 3; I've Been Working On the Railroad (you'll need to use the search on Contemplator's at http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html and, if you plan to play the midi more than once, save it to your own computer since their site has very limited bandwidth and can't handle many users on their site. The easiest way to download files with Windows is to right click on the link and Save the Link As - to save the file locally.

term 1: Blow the Man Down: This is track #10 on the Homestead Pickers cd set of the Ambleside Online folk song selections.

term 2: The Fish of the Sea:

term 3: Rhyme of the Chivalrous Shark

term 1: The Outlandish Knight

term 2: English Country Garden

term 3: The riddle Song

term 1: Cockles and Mussels

term 2: Minstrel Boy

term 3: Star of the County Down

term 1: Go Get the Ax

term 2: Arkansas Traveler

term 3: An Emmigrant's Daughter

term 1: The Drinking Gourd

term 2: The Cruel War

term 3: The Old Oaken Bucket

term 1 The Jam on Gerry's Rocks

Term 3: Farewell to Nova Scotia

term 1 Waltzing Mathilda

term 2: Tall Men Riding:

term 3: Botany Bay, version 2:

term 2: Carrigfergus

term 3: A Man's a Man for A' That

term 2: All Through the Night

term 3: The Wild Colonial Boy

These are suggestions. You may find something that works better for your family. We hope you will want to share your ideas with the list so that we all may benefit as we continue to improve the curriculum.

You can go to the websites listed, gather your family around the computer and have an old-fashioned family sing, 21st century style. This is surprisingly enjoyable.

You can copy the lyrics onto a word processing file and print them out, creating your own family song book. You could put these in peechee folders (cardboard folders with three prongs in the center). This makes the activity more portable. You could have sing alongs in the car, on camping trips, and cuddled up on Mom's bed. Of course, you'd have to first gain some familiarity with the tunes to do this, but folksongs generally have pretty memorable melodies.

You can save the midi files to disk. There are instructions on the Contemplator's website for doing this with some computers. If you have a Mac then you would need to find somebody else to help you, or you may be able to be the helper.

Try to sing the tune for each term at least three times a week. Daily is ideal, but we cannot all be ideal.

The above tunes are chosen as a service to you, our users. They are not meant to be definitive. We chose them as we did so that each family could be on the same page in music, no matter how widespread the ages of the children. In choosing songs, we strove to include folk songs of America, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Australia, songs that would be of general interest, and tunes that were not too difficult to sing.

This list falls short of a Charlotte Mason Education. Miss Mason used more than one folk song per term. She also coordinated the folk songs with history and geography study. There are many wonderful songs that would enhance our history studies. It would be a shame, for example, to study Bonnie Prince Charlie and his fight for the throne without also learning songs like "Speed Bonnie Boat..."

We encourage those of you who are able to use the websites given above to find folksongs that correspond with your history studies each term. Feel free to share these on the list, so the rest of us may benefit from your research as well. As we understand it, Miss Mason used three folk songs per term, so you could add two more folk songs to the above list each term. You could spend about four weeks on each song if you do this. You could even include folk songs in your exams.=)

In addition to using folksongs in history and geography studies, Miss Mason used them in language studies. While studying French, for example, her students would also learn a traditional folk song of France- in French, not an English translation.

http://ingeb.org/home.html is one resource you might use for adding foreign language folk songs to your studies. None of us have had time to give this a comprehensive look, but it does appear useful. We would like to hear of any other resources or materials.

Keep the above websites handy. There are some fascinating songs about various historical battles, and they would _so_ enrich the lessons. There's a very funny one about Lord Peter Parker getting his pants shot off in, iirc, one of the Revolutionary battles. Apparently, this is quite literal, he did. I can just picture hoards of little boys singing this one with glee and wanting to know more about that battle. As we go through each term, we hope that we can all work together to find folksongs that fit with each year's course of study (there are many songs about Robin Hood, for example, that would be fun for those reading Howard Pyle's Robin Hood). We'd like to have around three folksongs per term. These are, of course, optional. It's not our intent to burden homeschooling moms, but to add a little joy and life to their studies. We hope the songs are fun.

In response to the question, "What is the value of folksongs?" I offer the following ideas (sorry for the delay!)

The easy answer is that Ambleside's foremost goal is to be as representative of Charlotte Mason's ideas, philosophies, and practices as possible. This is what defines us. Note, please, that doesn't mean we've ever thought we arrived, or were somehow superior to everybody else, or were _the_ Charlotte Mason experts. Somebody will always know more than we do, and we hope never to stop learning.=) But that's our goal, to set forth a program that shows what a CM education might actually look like if it were as close as possible to what Cm did- not because we idolize her, but because we think that's the fairest test of her methods. Miss Mason used folksongs in her programs, so Ambleside, in an effort to give those methods the fullest and fairest demonstration, has folksongs as well.

But that's not all there is to say about folksongs. There is a wealth of rich material in folksongs. There are songs about historical and mythical characters, there are songs that go with the history we study in school, there are songs that, like the poetry of the day, give the feel and flavor of the time or culture- a very important goal in a CM education. Folksongs do this in a unique and special way.

I've mentioned before that when reading about CM, I find it helpful to take about three steps- the first one is simply to ascertain exactly what Cm said or did- just the facts, ma'am, just the facts. Only after I am quite sure I know the bare bones facts, I think about why_, the principles involved.

In this case, I think it's helpful to remember that we call a 'CM'education is really just a 'liberal education' (liberal meaning generous, wide, extensive, broad, bountiful, rich). It is not educating for utilitarian purposes (Utilitarian meaning limited to what we might need to know to perform a job for income). We are educating our children for themselves, for their entire lives, to enrich every area of their lives, to give them broad vistas, to enrich their lives as adults in many areas.

Folk songs are one part of a liberal education. Besides giving us some feel for the time and culture they represent, they are fun to sing. Developed by the people for the people, they are singable, useful for delight and enrichment in the bathtub, in teh shower, while rocking a baby to sleep, traveling in a car, washing dishes, cleaning out the car. They are accessable to all of us- no externals necessary (no instruments, no lessons, no accompaniment required). More of us should sing, and if we start this when our children are young, when they are grown, they will feel comfortable with their own voices.

Which brings me to the next step I find helpful- after figuring out the principle behind the fact, I can think about how I might follow that same principle today. IN this case, folksongs are folksongs. I don't think modern children's songs are a substitute, because then we'd miss the historical aspect. However, the folksongs listed in the curriculum are there as a service, not a requirement. Other folksongs may freely be substituted to accomplish the same thing.

I know I could say much more about the fun and joy and lasting personal benefits to singing folksongs, but that's all I have time for this morning. Hope this was helpful,



	License Agreement www.amblesideanline.org Ambleside Online has a new website! Come visit us at www.amblesideonline.org! This page will remain up for a few weeks; its new location is http://www.amblesideonline.org/Folksongs.shtml Folksong Rotation Folksong resources Online (midi tune files) http://www.contemplator.com/tunebook/irshmidi.htm http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html http://members.home.net/bntaylor/canmidi.htm Ambleside Online member Elizabeth Watkins started a project to get a professional group to put these songs on a CD You can purchase this 2-CD set from The Homestead Pickers at http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/pickers/Folksongs.html There are others, and we'd welcome any additions of the same caliber. I just happen to be most familiar with these. Catalogs: Music for Little People (very new age) Resources: American Folk Songs for Children, by Mike and Peggy Seeger (this one has been a long time favorite at our house- there are, as I recall, two bloodthirsty ones which we skip). Any one of the tapes in the Wee Sing tape series "Give Me Elbow Room," by Bonnie Rideout Michael Card's Star Kindlers album utilizes very old Celtic tunes. Again, there are others, and we'd welcome any suggestions of the same caliber. These are just what I have in my house. Ambleside Online Term Schedule Term 1: September - November Term 2: January - March Term 3: April - June Ambleside Online schedules these terms as a group to facilitate our Artist, Composer, Plutarch, Shakespeare, Folksongs and Hymns studies through sharing resources and experiences on the list. 12 year rotation of folk songs: Purchase all 36 of these songs on CD : 2001/2 school year term 1: The Three Ravens We suggest you learn the tune here and print the lyrics here term 2: Battle of Otterburn term 3: Scarbourough Fair website with information about the song 2002/3 school year term 1: Barbara Allen term 2: I'm Seventeen Sunday term 3: Cherry Ripe 2003/4 school year term 1: Turkey in the Straw term 2: My Grandfather's Clock term 3; I've Been Working On the Railroad (you'll need to use the search on Contemplator's at http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html and, if you plan to play the midi more than once, save it to your own computer since their site has very limited bandwidth and can't handle many users on their site. The easiest way to download files with Windows is to right click on the link and Save the Link As - to save the file locally. CURRENT YEAR 2004/5 school year term 1: Blow the Man Down: This is track #10 on the Homestead Pickers cd set of the Ambleside Online folk song selections. term 2: The Fish of the Sea: term 3: Rhyme of the Chivalrous Shark 2005/6 school year term 1: The Outlandish Knight term 2: English Country Garden term 3: The riddle Song 2006/7 school year term 1: Cockles and Mussels term 2: Minstrel Boy term 3: Star of the County Down 2007/8 school year term 1: Go Get the Ax term 2: Arkansas Traveler term 3: An Emmigrant's Daughter 2008/9 school year term 1: The Drinking Gourd term 2: The Cruel War term 3: The Old Oaken Bucket 2009/10 term 1 The Jam on Gerry's Rocks Term 2: Land of the Silver Birch Term 3: Farewell to Nova Scotia 2010/11 term 1 Waltzing Mathilda term 2: Tall Men Riding: term 3: Botany Bay, version 2: 2011/12 term 1: Aiken Drum term 2: Carrigfergus term 3: A Man's a Man for A' That 2012/2013 term 1: Gypsy Rover term 2: All Through the Night term 3: The Wild Colonial Boy How to use these: These are suggestions. You may find something that works better for your family. We hope you will want to share your ideas with the list so that we all may benefit as we continue to improve the curriculum. You can go to the websites listed, gather your family around the computer and have an old-fashioned family sing, 21st century style. This is surprisingly enjoyable. You can copy the lyrics onto a word processing file and print them out, creating your own family song book. You could put these in peechee folders (cardboard folders with three prongs in the center). This makes the activity more portable. You could have sing alongs in the car, on camping trips, and cuddled up on Mom's bed. Of course, you'd have to first gain some familiarity with the tunes to do this, but folksongs generally have pretty memorable melodies. You can save the midi files to disk. There are instructions on the Contemplator's website for doing this with some computers. If you have a Mac then you would need to find somebody else to help you, or you may be able to be the helper. Try to sing the tune for each term at least three times a week. Daily is ideal, but we cannot all be ideal. The above tunes are chosen as a service to you, our users. They are not meant to be definitive. We chose them as we did so that each family could be on the same page in music, no matter how widespread the ages of the children. In choosing songs, we strove to include folk songs of America, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Australia, songs that would be of general interest, and tunes that were not too difficult to sing. This list falls short of a Charlotte Mason Education. Miss Mason used more than one folk song per term. She also coordinated the folk songs with history and geography study. There are many wonderful songs that would enhance our history studies. It would be a shame, for example, to study Bonnie Prince Charlie and his fight for the throne without also learning songs like "Speed Bonnie Boat..." We encourage those of you who are able to use the websites given above to find folksongs that correspond with your history studies each term. Feel free to share these on the list, so the rest of us may benefit from your research as well. As we understand it, Miss Mason used three folk songs per term, so you could add two more folk songs to the above list each term. You could spend about four weeks on each song if you do this. You could even include folk songs in your exams.=) In addition to using folksongs in history and geography studies, Miss Mason used them in language studies. While studying French, for example, her students would also learn a traditional folk song of France- in French, not an English translation. http://ingeb.org/home.html is one resource you might use for adding foreign language folk songs to your studies. None of us have had time to give this a comprehensive look, but it does appear useful. We would like to hear of any other resources or materials. Keep the above websites handy. There are some fascinating songs about various historical battles, and they would _so_ enrich the lessons. There's a very funny one about Lord Peter Parker getting his pants shot off in, iirc, one of the Revolutionary battles. Apparently, this is quite literal, he did. I can just picture hoards of little boys singing this one with glee and wanting to know more about that battle. As we go through each term, we hope that we can all work together to find folksongs that fit with each year's course of study (there are many songs about Robin Hood, for example, that would be fun for those reading Howard Pyle's Robin Hood). We'd like to have around three folksongs per term. These are, of course, optional. It's not our intent to burden homeschooling moms, but to add a little joy and life to their studies. We hope the songs are fun. In response to the question, "What is the value of folksongs?" I offer the following ideas (sorry for the delay!) The easy answer is that Ambleside's foremost goal is to be as representative of Charlotte Mason's ideas, philosophies, and practices as possible. This is what defines us. Note, please, that doesn't mean we've ever thought we arrived, or were somehow superior to everybody else, or were _the_ Charlotte Mason experts. Somebody will always know more than we do, and we hope never to stop learning.=) But that's our goal, to set forth a program that shows what a CM education might actually look like if it were as close as possible to what Cm did- not because we idolize her, but because we think that's the fairest test of her methods. Miss Mason used folksongs in her programs, so Ambleside, in an effort to give those methods the fullest and fairest demonstration, has folksongs as well. But that's not all there is to say about folksongs. There is a wealth of rich material in folksongs. There are songs about historical and mythical characters, there are songs that go with the history we study in school, there are songs that, like the poetry of the day, give the feel and flavor of the time or culture- a very important goal in a CM education. Folksongs do this in a unique and special way. I've mentioned before that when reading about CM, I find it helpful to take about three steps- the first one is simply to ascertain exactly what Cm said or did- just the facts, ma'am, just the facts. Only after I am quite sure I know the bare bones facts, I think about why_, the principles involved. In this case, I think it's helpful to remember that we call a 'CM'education is really just a 'liberal education' (liberal meaning generous, wide, extensive, broad, bountiful, rich). It is not educating for utilitarian purposes (Utilitarian meaning limited to what we might need to know to perform a job for income). We are educating our children for themselves, for their entire lives, to enrich every area of their lives, to give them broad vistas, to enrich their lives as adults in many areas. Folk songs are one part of a liberal education. Besides giving us some feel for the time and culture they represent, they are fun to sing. Developed by the people for the people, they are singable, useful for delight and enrichment in the bathtub, in teh shower, while rocking a baby to sleep, traveling in a car, washing dishes, cleaning out the car. They are accessable to all of us- no externals necessary (no instruments, no lessons, no accompaniment required). More of us should sing, and if we start this when our children are young, when they are grown, they will feel comfortable with their own voices. Which brings me to the next step I find helpful- after figuring out the principle behind the fact, I can think about how I might follow that same principle today. IN this case, folksongs are folksongs. I don't think modern children's songs are a substitute, because then we'd miss the historical aspect. However, the folksongs listed in the curriculum are there as a service, not a requirement. Other folksongs may freely be substituted to accomplish the same thing. I know I could say much more about the fun and joy and lasting personal benefits to singing folksongs, but that's all I have time for this morning. Hope this was helpful, Wendi www.amblesideonline.org

		This page was last updated on: September 20, 2004