This Friday, my son will be auditioning for a youth theatre play, "Schoolhouse Rock"-- based on the '70's series of Saturday morning ABC TV 3 min. animated music video shorts. I vaguely remember this series-- not because I watched them, because I didn't--I think Saturday morning was sleep-in time instead of TV time, for me-- but because we got the VHS tapes from a garage sale and I've seen some of them with my own kids, and my kids also used to play some computer games that had songs and activities from Schoolhouse Rock. However, I do remember learning the preamble to the constitution by memory as a teen totally because of their preamble song; a high school friend taught it to me. I was grateful and ecstatic. I thought this was a far superior way of memorizing than to just recite the words, during our class's study of American Government.
Well, recently, when browsing music by some folk artists on MySpace, I came across an absolutely wonderful piece of music by Rachel Garlin-- called "Three is a Magic Number." I loved it, but didn't know it was a cover of a Schoolhouse Rock song, until looking up more info about it. I learned that this song was the very first episode of Schoolhouse Rock, and it was written by jazz musician and singer Bob Dorough, who also wrote songs for other episodes. Bob sang and recorded the songs, and they have helped numerous children learn their multiplication facts (because they go through the multiples of each number, using skip-counting).
Bob's original version is very well-sung, and has catchy musical accompaniment. You can see the original animated video above. This song's lyrics's are especially meaningful-- with phrases like "the past and the present and the future," " faith and hope and charity," "the heart and the brain and the body," . . . with these lyrics, it is more than just skip-counting -- and it is this "more" that has made it a beloved favorite out of all the number songs on Schoolhouse Rock.
Well, recently, when browsing music by some folk artists on MySpace, I came across an absolutely wonderful piece of music by Rachel Garlin-- called "Three is a Magic Number." I loved it, but didn't know it was a cover of a Schoolhouse Rock song, until looking up more info about it. I learned that this song was the very first episode of Schoolhouse Rock, and it was written by jazz musician and singer Bob Dorough, who also wrote songs for other episodes. Bob sang and recorded the songs, and they have helped numerous children learn their multiplication facts (because they go through the multiples of each number, using skip-counting).
Bob's original version is very well-sung, and has catchy musical accompaniment. You can see the original animated video above. This song's lyrics's are especially meaningful-- with phrases like "the past and the present and the future," " faith and hope and charity," "the heart and the brain and the body," . . . with these lyrics, it is more than just skip-counting -- and it is this "more" that has made it a beloved favorite out of all the number songs on Schoolhouse Rock.
Back to Rachel Garlin -- she is a folk singer-songwriter who has recorded four albums of original music-- this cover song is one exception; it is on her Big Blue Sky album (2004), and is available on CD Baby and iTunes. Rachel has a mellow, pleasant voice-- her singing reminds me of Carly Simon and Carole King. She teaches music to kids, and this kids' song seems a natural fit for her. But I like the way she has audience participation from grown-ups for singing the multiples of three during the song. Here is a link to hear Rachel's version of the song on MySpace -- this is where I first learned of her, and of this magical song: https://myspace.com/rachelgarlin/music/song/three-is-a-magic-number-77358219-85255929
I'm not sure which of the Schoolhouse Rock selections will be in the youth theater play . . . but I hope they include this one; I know whatever they use will be great learning for the audience as well as the youth actors-- and will also be entertaining and FUN :)
Do you have some favorite songs from Schoolhouse Rock?
I'm not sure which of the Schoolhouse Rock selections will be in the youth theater play . . . but I hope they include this one; I know whatever they use will be great learning for the audience as well as the youth actors-- and will also be entertaining and FUN :)
Do you have some favorite songs from Schoolhouse Rock?
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