2024 is the Year of the Dragon and this week, I created a steady beat play-along for my preschool and kindergarten musicians. In this video, they will clap their hands, tap their feet, tap their knees, and march in place. The song is Gong Xi, one of my favorite songs our school’s 老师 Lǎoshī taught me many years ago. I hope that you can use this in your classroom.

Need a Boomwhacker Play-Along for Gong Xi?

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• Gong Xi Boomwhackers and Xylophone Play Along Slow and Fast - I created this play-along because my students know the song well. The Lǎoshī (老师) that worked at our school taught the students this song and they loved it so much that we sing it every year. This play-along is played twice. The first time is a slow tempo to practice and the second time is the recorded tempo. I used Flat.io to create the notation to help with playing the song.

• Gong Xi Adapted Play Along - This is one I used in my hybrid teaching scenario so those in class could use the xylophones and those at home could use the playxylo.com app. It is a very simple manipulative for younger players. We first performed the rhythm patterns separately. They appear on the screen as separate rhythm patterns. We did talk about the four-beat patterns but have not introduced the meter yet.

Need Valentine Play-Along Videos?

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• Valentine Rhythm Play-Along Throwback Medley 2 - This rhythm play-along is a medley of five fun, Valentine-like songs dating from 1963 to 1996. The rhythms involved are quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes, and quarter and half rests. The play-along ends with a dance break.

• That Thing You Do Rhythm Play-Along - Here is a fun, simple rhythm play-along video to the song, That Thing You Do, written by Adam Schlesinger. The song is performed by the fictional 1960s band The Wonders, who are the focus of the film with the same title. The song peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1997. The note values that are covered are quarter, eighth, and half notes, as well as quarter rests. It also includes a dance party in the middle of the song.

I will be presenting two sessions at NJMEA from February 22-24. Check out these amazing elementary sessions at NJMEA this year!