Bad Wolf Plays for Music Teachers
You Don't Have to Be Musically Timid!
Here's part of a letter we received from a music teacher: "I'm not musically
timid! I passed over your catalogs for years, thinking your stuff would be
of low quality (like new lyrics to 'Row Your Boat.') But when I actually saw
and heard the shows I was amazed. Don't sell yourselves short: Your work is
great. Music teachers will find it great too."
We apologize about the "musically timid" slogan. It's just that
90% of our plays are purchased by non-music teachers and we're trying not
to scare them.
We package and present our plays differently from the big publishers. For
a start, our basic book/cd set does not include any
musical
notation
! (Don't
worry, the complete piano/vocal scores for mostl of our shows are available;
our most recent shows have lead sheet notation)
Here are some other issues that you might want to know about:
The vocal range of almost all our songs is one octave. This is usually pitched
from B to B, or B flat to B flat. But there are some exceptions, so please
phone or email if you want to know about specific shows.
The CD included with the plays has the songs both with and without singing.
The
composer sings all of the songs on some of the shows; on other plays there
are a number of other performers.
We know that many of you would prefer the recordings to have children, but
we much prefer to hear adults. Why? Because
in every
recording of children demonstrating songs
that we've ever heard the
kids sound like singing robots
.
We want our song demonstrations to be full of emotions and this can better
be demonstrated by an adult who completely understands the character, the
humor (and occasionally the tragedy). This gives the kids something to
mimic instead of robot children.
The CDs for the first several shows we published have piano accompiaments.
Gradually we have added
more instruments. Please contact us if you want more
details.
How about musical style? We are quite eclectic. Folk, rock, jazz, salsa,
bluegrass, country, reggae, western swing, and Dixieland are just a few of
the styles that we've done. We find that most students really enjoy the variety
and hope you will too.
Standardized testing has become a huge part of education. Many music teachers
have discovered that they can support the rest of the staff by programming
musical plays that are
connected to the school's curriculum. Our shows are
built around curriculum such as history, science and math, literature and
folk-tales, social studies and holidays. Try showing our list of topics to
classroom teachers and see where they would like reinforcement from the music
department.
A final quote (from a music teacher who asked not to have her name used): "Your
joy of learning and singing came across so clearly in your work. The kids
are drawn in immediately. The parents loved the humor. The classroom teachers
loved the social studies. I laughed, I cried. It was better than
Cats!"
"I have taught elementary music forever! (33 years). I began using your
plays about 6 or 7 years ago. There are so many things I like; singability,
cleverness both in lyrics, plot and music, challenging vocabulary, humor for
the adults (one of my favorites, 'cause I get bored with sappy "children's" material),
adaptability, easy to order and quick shipping to name a few.
"My students love these musicals. Months after the performances, they
ask to sing the songs again and/or I hear them singing on the bus or playground."
---Vivian McAfee, Elementary Music Teacher, Tahoka
Elementary, Tahoka, TX
SHOP NOW!