Musicals’ popular songs foster language and Habits of Mind
Author Dr. Keith Mason in a publicity photo for a school production of The Music Man
Show tunes can be an engaging way to reinforce English, foreign language or EFL. Show tunes, part of popular culture, are songs from stage, film and TV musicals such as “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz and “It Might as Well Be Spring” from State Fair. Because so many musicals exist, they contain numerous songs to use with our students. Song lyrics offer a variety of ways to reinforce language in context at all levels.
Hundreds of catchy show tunes can enliven instruction by reinforcing idiomatic expressions, vocabulary, grammar, culture and pronunciation. Popular and folk songs may already be utilised with students so show tunes can be a welcome addition. It can be fun to celebrate anniversaries of musicals such as the seventy-fifth anniversary of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Carousel and State Fair, inviting show tunes from their scores.
How to Implement Show Tunes: Do-Re-Mi
Selecting show tunes is key to engaging students (see Appendix). Consider main messages, rhyme patterns, historical references, solo versus ensemble songs and melodies when selecting songs. Some students may be more familiar with show tunes than others, yet all can benefit from them by linking them to language. Consider using musical film clips to add a visual component and karaoke tracks for singalongs and play alongs with students who can play an instrument.
Many show tunes can be examined using Costa and Kallick’s Habits of Mind, 16 dispositions that help with life’s challenges. A selection of Habits that can be emphasised in show tune analysis include the following:
1. Persisting: Show tunes are often character songs revealing characters’ emotions and their ability to persist. “I Have Confidence” (The Sound of Music) and “Let It Go” (Frozen) can help students understand the characters better while moving the story along.
2. Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision: Some show tunes are inspired by a literary or a non-fiction source. Consider how a song of a few minutes’ duration can encapsulate ideas that may take pages to express in the original source. Examples include “I Dreamed a Dream” (Les Misérables) and “Tonight” (West Side Story).
3. Creating, imagining, innovating: Come up with alternate lyrics to a show tune using the original melody to express a different message.
4. Responding with wonderment and awe: React to song lyrics with wonderment and awe. How do show tunes engage
the listening audience? What ways do the orchestrations help tell the story of the song? Consider “Optimistic Voices” (The Wizard of Oz) and “My Favorite Things” (The Sound of Music).
Besides Habits of Mind, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences framework includes musical-rhythmic intelligence as one of 11 types of intelligence. Show tunes can foster musical intelligence.
Author Dr. Keith Mason at age three singing “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music
The following questions serve as a guide to using show tunes:
- What is the main message of the show tune?
- What grammatical structures in show tunes can be used to complement a lesson?
- What rhyme patterns are found in the lyrics?
- Are there any historical or cultural references in show tune lyrics?
- Are show tunes repeated within the musical as reprises? How do the reprises differ from their original renditions in terms of message or plot advancement?
- What time signature does the show tune have (e.g., march, waltz)? How does this help tell the story?Some show tunes have been translated for stage and film musicals, inviting their use in various language classes. The song “The Sound of Music” has numerous language renditions. Disney films or plays such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen
and Mary Poppins also contain numerous show tunes in many languages.Sample Show Tune Lessons
When choosing show tunes, consider ones for your grade level. Simpler lyrics can be handled by elementary students and more sophisticated lyrics are more appropriate for secondary students. The following outlines five show tunes and the rationale for using each.
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” (Mary Poppins Returns): This song sung by Mary Poppins is addressed to the Banks children who have recently lost their mother. The song is ideal for helping people who are grieving the loss of a loved one and can support Habit of Mind 9 “Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision.”
“The Sound of Music” (The Sound of Music): This song sung by Maria bridges music with nature. It serves to express how Maria believes that the hills create the sound of music. The orchestration of this song composed by Richard Rodgers highlights a counterpoint or echo of notes that make it sound as if the hills are responding to Maria’s singing. Vocabulary and rhyme patterns are highlights of this song.
“Let It Go” (Frozen): Queen Elsa sings about how people expect her to be a certain way. She sings this song of empowerment by realizing that she can “let it go” and not follow what is expected but rather express herself as she sees fit. This song illustrates Habit 1 “Persisting” and Habit 8 “Applying past knowledge to new situations.”
“If I Loved You” (Carousel): This song sung by Billy and Julie is a duet that is a conditional love song with “if” clauses. The conditional “would” is used and could serve as an effective way to highlight the English conditional tense.
“Over the Rainbow” (The Wizard of Oz): Sung by Dorothy before the color dream sequence, she clearly foreshadows what will happen after the cyclone. She refers to a place over the rainbow that ends up being the Land of Oz. This song highlights vocabulary and prepositions.
Summary
Using show tunes can be an inviting way to reinforce language and Habits of Mind. Why not try a show tune soon with students in your language lesson?
