Matt Liston

Classroom Music Methods II

Folksong Analysis 1

Song Title: Cuckoo Waltz

Source: Backwoods Heritage: Traditional Songs, Dances, Fiddle Tunes and More by Martha Riley

p. 24

Origin: This song is from the lovely state of Indiana.

Background Info: I couldn’t find any additional background information, other than what Riley

describes in her book Traditional Songs, Dances, Fiddle Tunes and More on page 24. She

explains that the song originated in Indiana and “is a fun way to introduce the ‘star’ figure that

students may encounter in many folk or square dances.”

Tone Set:

Scale:
Chord Structure: I, IV, V7

Rhythm:

Form: a, a’, b, b’

Musical Concepts

Rhythm:

• In music, rhythms can be repeated in a song.

• Mm. 1-4 are examples of repetition in this piece of music.

• The whole piece is in 2/4 time.

• The downbeat, although not specifically accented in the music, is very prominent, as

phrases arrive there throughout.

Melody

• In music, rhythms that repeat with different notes are called sequences.

• Mm. 1-4 are also an example of a sequence.

• Range of piece spans from low ti-la (7th)

 • It uses the D Major scale without the high ti and do.

• Mm. 1 & 5, 2 & 6 repeat melodic pattern.

• No accidentals.

• The low “ti” may be new for the group, but I also believe by the time you teach this

complex of a song, it would already be known.

• There is a great contrast of melodic direction. In the verse, the movement tends to

descend until the second to last measure whereas the refrain features an ascent from a

to b before ending on the tonic. In measure 10, you can build on teaching about triads,

and in this case descending triads.

• In measure one, you could teach mi to do and in measure two mi to re. This can be

repeated in measure 3 and 4 with re-ti and re-do. In the refrain, measure 9, you can talk

about so-la.

• There are sequences in mm. 1-6.

• I don’t think there are any unusual intervals, but the “ti-re” interval could be tricky.

Harmony

• There is a repeated I, V7, I in the verse. Although it isn’t listed in the music, I believe

there is a IV chord in the refrain. In this case, there is a I-IV-I-IV-V7 in the first line of the

refrain.

• This is not in pentatonic, but there are moves to the dominant in mm. 2, 6, 7, and 15

with re on a strong beat.

• This chord structure does not allow for singing in canon of for a melodic ostinato.
 • I believe the chords allow for student accompaniment. Even if a chord comes right after

another, I believe by this age that students can handle it.

Form

• There is not a ton of contrast between sections, but you could make the refrain a little

more legato in the second measure of each phrase. This is because each section has an

energetic character, but the so-mi-do in measure 10 could offer some contrast.

• Phrases are all of even length.

Expression

• This song has energy, but is of a moderate tempo, not too slow but not terribly fast.

Perhaps in a quarter note equals 80-90 range.

• The verse offers some staccato singing, with the sixteenth notes appearing at the end of

measures. I also believe that measures 10 and 14-15 can be sang legato to make

students vary styles in the refrain section.

• There aren’t printed accents, but I believe the downbeats have a stronger beat than the

off-beats, giving them a slight accent.

• There aren’t any printed dynamics, but this could be sung at a mf due to the play party

nature.

• The phrases could start out soft and get loud, with this general pattern followed for all

following phrases.

• There are no specific tempo markings.

Activity Possibilities

Movement

• Students could move their hands and/or bodies to the shape of the melodic line as well

as phrase length. There would be a lot of high and low alternation to follow the contour,

which would help students gain a better understanding of the melodic structure.

• Students can definitely pat and move to the beat, as it is in an easy to follow 2/4 meter.

• Students could conduct this song, even with the complex rhythms, because there are

notes that fall directly on beats one and two.

• There is a dance that goes with the song from the source. The dance requires the

students to form one large circle and to have two dancers in the middle. During the

verse, the two dancers choose partners. At the refrain, the outside circle stops and claps

for the center dancers. The center dancers for a star and dance clockwise in the first

line, then counterclockwise in the second line.

• This song would allow students to do certain movements during the A section, which

could be anything from bobbing to walking. In the B section, students could do a

different movement, such as swaying from side to side.

• I believe there is a possibility for creative and/or unstructured movement. Students can

certainly explore the form by walking to the beat and doing some improvised movement

to gauge their understanding of beat.

 • I think the song could work with ASL, but probably not at this level. There are a lot of

words and with the moderate tempo, it may be difficult to sign for students.

• I think there could be arm movements to reflect the text. For the “three times ‘round”

lines, students could move their arms in three circles to reflect the text of the verse. For

the B section, students could wave and point to their feet during the “golden slippers”

measure.

• I believe you could pantomime this song, but for the sake of the lesson, I think it may be

too difficult at this age.

• Students can certainly move their arms and walk with the phrase lengths.

Instruments

• I feel students could play a non-pitched ostinato in the pattern of “quarter, quarter,

rest, quarter”. This would make “cuckoo”, “girl”, “well”, and “slip-“ sung acapella

(unless non-pitched percussion color is added). As students advance, the ostinato could

get a little more advanced.

• I believe that the word “cuckoo” could have some color to it. Perhaps on woodblocks as

a way to try and mimic the cuckoo clock sound (not 100% accurate, but close).

• I believe that students could play the 2 eighth, 1 one quarter pattern that appears in

mm. 2, 4, 6, 10, and 14. Students could have a variety of percussion instruments so that

they have a chance to play on their own, but also so that the color changes and gives

the song a more interesting characteristic.

• I believe there could be a short interlude between the verse and refrain. Students could

use the rhythm of the last 2 phrases of the verse, from measure 5 to measure 8 to

create a transition to the refrain. This could be accompanied with the ostinato pattern

as well to create an ensemble for the “transition”, or interlude as described in the

assignment sheet.

• Again, I believe mm. 2, 4, 6, 10, and 14 could also be played on xylophone or resonator

bells, as they are the easiest measures in the song and have solid melodic content.

• The song is not in pentatonic, but mostly uses two chords. Although I believe there is a

short use of IV in mm 9, 11, and 13, students could alternate between I and V in the

verse and refrain. Also, as a side note, this song could be utilized with piano

accompaniment from the teacher due to the V7 chords used.

• Although the song isn’t long, the rhythmic complexity doesn’t allow the entire melody

to be played from notation. Perhaps one could teach it by rote, or with “long, short”

instructions, but I feel that would be difficult and time consuming.

• Again, with the complexity of the rhythm, I don’t think it would be able to be sung on

recorder.

• I don’t believe an ostinato or countermelody would be good for this specific song. It is

very busy, and I think would take away from singing the song as well.

• I believe the song could be played on autoharp, especially by the teacher.

Boomwhackers, chimes, resonator bells could also accompany because the chord

changes repeat.

• Chord roots could certainly be played on instruments.

Singing

• The song does not lend itself to a sung ostinato.

• The song is not a round or canon.

• I think the song could be sung as a call and response due to the similar, but different

content in the phrase groups.

• I also believe this song could be sung antiphonally.

• There is no countermelody, and I feel it would be rather difficult to write an effective

countermelody. It is something that could be played around with.

• I believe that the same measures listed above in the instruments category could also

apply to singing. Mm. 2, 4, 6, 10 could be sang each time they appear. Perhaps mm. 14

and 15 could be sang too, due to the 4 eighth notes in each measure.

• Students could certainly sing the chord roots with solfege.

Creating

• The song isn’t in pentatonic and it doesn’t have multiple verses, but I still believe

students could create introductions and interludes. It may be more effective to use non-

pitched percussion to make it easier, but I also wouldn’t shy away from melodic

instruments for this.

• I believe students could create movements or a dance to the song. It’s in a duple meter,

which makes it dance like and the downbeats also have a sort of accent to them making

it easy to arrive at downbeats where dance steps could repeat. There are also two
 sections, the verse and refrain, that could allow students to create with a partner or

small groups to foster some classroom collaboration.

Describing and/or “Problem Solving”

• Students can be led to discover the pattern repetitions in the verse and refrain. They

could also discover what makes them different (ending of sections vs earlier phrases).

They could also be asked what a “waltz” is and learn subject material about the text.

• I believe students could signal “three times”, “cuckoo”, and “fare thee” as fat as text

goes. They could also signal the beginning of the verse vs the beginning of the refrain.

They could also signal the rhythmic patterns that repeat.

Other Lesson Planning Considerations

Appropriate Developmental Levels

• Because of the melodic material, I believe this song would be appropriate for a 4th grade

classroom. The use of ti and fa make it difficult for younger grades with the appearance

of half-steps. According to the Campbell text, I also believe that the rhythmic content

allows for a 4th grade classroom due to the dotted eighth-sixteenth rhythms.

• I feel that younger grades would find the text appealing. This is due to the cuckoo waltz,

which makes it silly and fun. With that being said, I believe that 4th graders would

certainly enjoy this song as well.

 • I believe this could be K-4 text, as it is fun and light-hearted, and it gives the teacher a

chance to explain a waltz to intermediate grades (even though the song does not hint at

being a waltz.

• I think this would be a good song to use for movement and expression in younger

grades. It gives students a chance to sing in different styles and also plenty of movement

opportunities, especially with the play party. I would definitely bring it back to teach

dotted eighth-sixteenth as the rhythm is isolated to allow a good song for teaching the

concept.

Accommodations

• For my first accommodation, I will outline a plan for a student with an intellectual

(cognitive) disability. On pg. 413 of the Campbell text, there are different

accommodations described.

o When teaching the new rhythm (dotted eighth-sixteenth), I would make sure to

repeat the pattern several times. I would also use color-coded notation to make

sure the student can differentiate different rhythms. For example, I could use

red for all “ta” rhythm, blue for “ti”, and when learning “tim-ka”, I could make it

yellow, showing that is a new rhythm and allow the student to become familiar

with it. I would also ensure that students only perform one task at a time to

ensure that there are not multiple activities going on at once.

• For my second accommodation, I will outline an accommodation for a student with

neuromuscular difficulties, such as Cerebral Palsy.

 o For this accommodation, I will focus on using xylophones in the classroom for

accompaniment. I believe that everybody has a right to make music and be part

of the class and that everybody should have a chance to play musical

instruments. If a student has trouble gripping mallets, I would use the example

listed on pg. 424 of the Campbell text to allow them to play. This

accommodation takes a mitten and place straps on the bottom side of it,

strapping in the mallet so that is stays stationary. This would allow students to

still play xylophones, whether playing chord roots or using two to play a bordun

accompaniment.

Integration

• For younger students, you could relate the song to a cuckoo clock and ask questions

about what amounts to three times around it and what different cuckoo clocks look like,

which would bring art and building into the mix as well.

• I believe that the lyrics link the clocks with the song.

• You could also relate the song to geography. You could show students where Indiana is

on a map and ask where they live and talk about the Midwest region.

Rationale

• I believe this song is a great play party that allows students to experience a range of

concepts, from form to style and rhythms, it’s a song you could use in multiple grades.
• I think it is a song that teaches patterns very well and allows students to be silly with the

play party. I also believe there is very good melodic and rhythmic content as well and

that it could be used to talk about form and style with younger students and triads and

chords with older students.

• As stated above, it has a great binary form, it isolates dotted eighth-sixteenth rhythm,

and also allows for varied performances with the possibilities of piano, autoharp,

antiphonal, non-pitched percussion, and melodic instrument accompaniment.

• The song allows for several types of activities. From exploratory movement and

improvisation, call and response singing, percussion and instrumental accompaniment,

and of course the play party, there are several activities one can do with this song,

despite the scarce background information.

• The text isn’t necessarily moving, but I believe it is silly and fun and still allows itself to

be a good song for teaching.