Nautical Archives - Donna & Andy

It’s a Pirate’s Life for Me

Andy Duinker — Fri, 23 May 2025 19:22:08 +0000

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It's a Pirate's Life for Me

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio Sample

Listen to melody + accompaniment for It's a Pirate's Life for Me as you follow along with the lyrics.

Part of a song collection

It's a Pirate's Life for Me is one of 12 songs from the award-winning song collection "Blue Skies and Pirates". Donna Rhodenizer and Andy Duinker have written these songs in a variety of styles and skill levels for singers from ages 5-12+.

Learn more about this fun collection for elementary-aged kids, choirs and solo vocal students. The 112-page book provides the vocal score, full score and separate lyrics pages for 12 songs. Enjoy!

Please note: audio tracks for the e-book version are sold separately. Print copies of the book include CD (24 tracks)

Stream and purchase audio tracks

Stream or Purchase from many streaming sites including: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

The Blue Skies and Pirates CD (Donna & Andy performance and instrumental) tracks (24) are available as download or physical CD on this website.

Teaching tips

Introducing the song

Read the lyrics aloud.
Discuss any unfamiliar words.
Have a discussion

Do students think it would be fun to be a pirate with a talking parrot and the ability to sail a ship wherever they want to go?
Has anyone ever seen or heard a talking parrot?

Lyric options

Two options for lyrics are provided for line two of verse three.
Decide if you want to sing about a pirate with a sword, or if you prefer to have the pirate sleeping.
The teacher may make this decision before introducing the song, and two separate lyric sheets are provided to accommodate this lyric choice. It is also an option to have the students vote on their preference.

Performance suggestions

Add simple props – striped shirts, bandanas, toy parrots and fake tattoos (An eyeliner is a great tool for creating temporary tattoos).

Include special pirate “soloists” to present the spoken response, “To the sea!” Invite soloists to give different interpretations of the “to the sea!” response.

Loud / soft
High pitched/ low pitched
Changing their natural voice to sound more gruff, or silly, or…..

Small group classes, elementary music classroom singers or choirs may be divided into small solo groups to sing the verses as small solo sections. This helps lighten lyric memorization demands for younger singers.

Home schoolers

Create a ship by organizing a group of chairs, turning a table upside down, or using a cardboard box.

Pretend to be pirates as you listen to the song and sing along.

Have fun!

Colouring page

Download (pdf), print and have fun colouring this page while you listen to the song It's a Pirate's Life for Me

Composer's Notes

Some songs seem to “arrive” without much fuss. This is one of those songs. I don’t remember what sparked my imagination and got me started writing, but it was a simple process to include all the clichés associated with pirates as I wrote lyrics for the verses. It is great fun to include participatory bits in a song that I know the students will love to sing. The exuberant call, “To the sea!” is that kind of fun element that draws kids into the singing experience. Often the songs I write reflect the fact that I am the mother of three energetic boys. If I could write lyrics and keep my own three livewires interested, it was a good indication of how it would go for the general child population that eventually sings my songs.

The recording process for this song was also a blast. Our Donna & Andy recordings have all been recorded using the talents of the best musicians we can find. It’s a Pirate’s Life for Me was recorded for the CD: Bue Skies and Pirates, with lots of blues and jazz influenced tunes. The “heavyweights” we hired to record our tracks were high-end, well-known jazz musicians and musical monsters who are able to play with incredible skill. We took courage in hand and requested each of these highly respected musicians to add a spoken response, “to the sea!” to include on this track. At first, we thought nobody would agree, but as each musician contributed their pirate interpretation, their inner child became very evident. As the voices started accumulating, efforts were made to stand out in the group of voices. they tried to be louder, they laughed at each other, they asked to re-do their part if they thought they could do a better take. They were silly, they were earnest and they had fun!

You are Invited

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your performance video - perhaps we might post it on this page!

Send us your video of It's a Pirate's Life for Me and perhaps we can post it here.

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Orcas

Andy Duinker — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 04:45:48 +0000

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Orcas

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Teacher Tips

Introducing the song

Encourage singers to read the lyrics aloud before learning the melody. Discuss the orca facts presented in the lyrics.
Sing Orcas with the teacher singing two bars at a time and have the students echo. Sing four bars at a time and have the students echo. Finally teacher and students sing the entire verse together and then have students sing on their own.

Use expressive singing

Discuss expressive singing. Find words the singer will emphasize to create an expressive performance. How will the singer emphasize “belly flop” and “kaboom” to create an expressive performance?
Add a movement to emphasize the word “bellyflop”. Hold one hand out in front of the body, palm facing up. Move the other hand up and over in a downward arc to land on the open hand on the word “kaboom!”
Use contrasting dynamics.

Melodic phrases

Have students use their hands to show the upward and downward movement of the melody of Orcas. Listen to the melody as it goes higher and lower in a wave pattern. Maybe the melody is representing the ocean or a swimming orca! This is called tone painting.
Sing the melody line using solfege names for the notes. Find the spots in the song where the notes move by steps going up: do-re-mi-fa-so and where the notes move in steps going down: so-fa-mi-re-do.

Rhythm activities

Clap the rhythm pattern of the song.
Clap the rhythm along with the accompaniment track. Use inner hearing (think the rhythm without saying it as you clap).
Create a body percussion performance of “Orcas” by adding a specific motion for each rhythmic element of the song (e.g. clapping, patsching, sliding, and splashing motions)

Composer's Notes

Orcas

I was contacted by a music teacher who had a young student who was enamored with orcas. She didn’t have any songs to offer him and she reached out to me to see what I might have in my library. I didn’t have any songs written about these sea creatures so I went to work and researched to find out orca facts. I knew the student was a young singer and needed a simple melody. I put together this song and sent it back to the music teacher who was excited to share the new song with her student. A few weeks later, I received a delightful video of Sebastien singing Orcas for his voice lesson. Sometimes inspiration hits “out of the blue” and sometimes an idea can be sparked by someone needing a song based on a specific topic. In the creative process, it can be helpful to have a little nudge and to narrow the myriad of subjects that can be used to write a song.

Fun Orca Facts

Did You Know?...

Orcas are also known as “killer whales”.

Orcas are friendly to humans and do not attack unless they feel threatened. They got their “killer whale” name from the fact that they hunt other larger whales, and even great white sharks.

Orcas can live from 50-80 years.

Orca offspring stay with their mothers for their entire lives.

Orcas live in family groups called pods.

Have fun researching more facts about orcas!

You Are Invited

When you have enjoyed singing this song and doing the activities with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your video of Orcas and perhaps we can post it here.

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The Love of the Sea

Andy Duinker — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 20:39:35 +0000

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The Love of the Sea

by Donna Rhodenizer

SATB - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: high school, adult/community

Level High school, adult

Audio Sample See video below

SSA - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: high school, adult/community

Level High school, adult

Audio Sample See video below

Unison - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: high school, adult/community

Level High school, adult

Unison - Key of C

Context Choir: high school, adult/community

Level High school, adult

Composer Notes

The Love of the Sea

I am often asked which comes first, the music or the lyrics? When I write, I often sit at the piano where I play various chord progressions or try out a melody line. Once I get the beginning idea, thinking of words and the music together, helps shape and direct the process. Sometimes a phrase or an interesting word combination strikes my fancy and I create the melody to fit that. The process is quite organic and really goes back and forth quite a lot as the writing progresses.

The Love of the Sea started out as a melodic phrase. I was in my elementary music classroom waiting for my next class to arrive. Small intervals of time between classes do not happen often and I went to the piano to play something while I waited. I picked out a melody that lasted for only two bars. I liked the interval jump, I liked the 3/4 feel and I decided it was worth writing down to mull over later. I rolled the phrase around in my mind a few times and thought, “the love of the sea” fit nicely with both the melody and the timing. Then my class arrived. I scurried to my desk to write down those five notes and the corresponding five words so that I could remember them to work on them later. (A word to the wise, you may think you will remember these bits of inspiration, but more often than not, they get lost in the rest of the day. My advice is, write it down, even if you end up throwing it out!)

When I finally had time to work on my initial inspiration, the melody and the words were sculpted and crafted back and forth as I filled out the melody and form of the song. I spent a long time wrestling with what I wanted to say about the ocean. As a Nova Scotian, the sea is a very big part of the culture, the landscape and the very air we breathe in our Maritime location. (I lived for a year in Manitoba and I desperately missed the salt air and the ocean that I felt was “in my blood” and my very soul.) The form of the song turned out to have a double verse, a chorus, another double verse and two final choruses. Strangely enough, the lyrics do not rhyme in the verses. The lilt of the 3/4 time carried the lyrics without confining them to a rhyme scheme, although I must admit, I didn’t really make a conscious decision NOT to rhyme the words. In fact, I didn’t really notice that they didn’t rhyme until well after the process was underway. In any case, The Love of the Sea eventually came to its final form and started on its journey into the world.

Someone once told me they loved how the words just fell into place, like they were meant to be that way. I have a fairly thick file of rejected lyrics to prove that the lyrics had many versions and revisions before arriving at their final form. I guess that is part of the writing process.

The Love of the Sea has been around since 1996 and it is still being sung by choirs and soloists around the world. It has been recorded multiple times, it has been sung by singers of all ages. This song has been sung in many locations and for a wide variety of reasons. My singing partner, Andy Duinker was on an airplane heading to Newfoundland and struck up a conversation with the person next to him. He asked her:

Where are you heading? Home for my Dad’s funeral.

What kind of music will you have at the service? We are singing one of my Dad’s favourite songs, "The Love of the Sea".

How does that go? She hummed a few bars.

That song was written by my singing partner, Donna Rhodenizer – what a small world!

We may not be able to explain inspiration, but composers talk about “receiving” a song. I remain grateful that The Love of the Sea was entrusted to me. Thankfully, I had a moment of silence in my usually busy music classroom to receive the opening notes, the time to write it down and the inclination to work at crafting the rest of the song. It has been almost thirty years since I wrote it and it is still being sung around the world. That is music to my composer’s heart!

Stream or purchase audio track

Stream or Purchase The Love of the Sea from many streaming sites including:

Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

Andy's Fine Company CD (on which you will find The Love of the Sea) is available for download or physical CD on this website.

You are invited

You are invited to send us your performance of Call of the Ocean. Maybe your video will be featured here on this page.

Please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

The Love of the Sea - SATB

Performed by:

Ann Arbor Singers from the University of Michigan

Thomas Burton - Conductor

The Love of the Sea - SSA

Performed by:

Northern Arts Academy Choir

The Love of the Sea - SSA

Performed by:

The Fredericton Ladies Choir

Send us your video of The Love of the Sea and perhaps we can post it here.

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Jolly Sailors

Andy Duinker — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 23:43:40 +0000

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Jolly Sailors

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Part of a Song collection

Jolly Sailors is one of 10 songs from the Donna & Andy CD "A Jolly Bunch Are We".

Bonus Audio Tracks / CD

Stream or purchase from many music streaming sites including:

Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

A Jolly Bunch Are We (Donna & Andy performance and instrumental) tracks (20) are available for download or physical CD on this website.

Teaching Tips & Strategies

Structure/Form

Jolly Sailors supports young singers with developing voices.

Jolly Sailors is a three-verse song, making it most suitable for young singers who have had previous experience.
A short re-intro is included between each verse providing a bit of “breathing space” and the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming verse.
Vocal range of an octave (D4-D5) with most of the song well placed in the mid range and only one short reach into the upper range.
Jolly Sailors is a great length for use at a summer music theatre camp or for teachers looking for songs that are a bit shorter to use throughout the year.
The three-verse structure can work with younger students in group classes, assigning different verses to different combinations of students within the group.

Teaching Strategies

Expressive Singing

Encourage singers to read the lyrics out loud before learning the melody.
Discuss the story of the song.

Have the singers ever wished they could sail around the world on a ship?
Would they like to be the captain in charge of all the crew?
How do they feel about eating lumpy stew or sleeping in bunk beds near other crew members who snore?

Discuss which words the singer will emphasize to create an expressive performance.

What consonants need to be crisp and clean to clearly tell the story for the listening audience?
Look for the word groups that provide a chance to emphasize similar sounding vowels or consonants (funny, bumpy lumps and loud, snorty snores).

Add dynamics or other musical contrasts to sing the song expressively.
Jolly Sailors is a high energy, humorous song. Have fun with it!

Vocabulary

Understanding the meaning of the lyrics helps the students when they are presenting the “story” of the song.

Have students read the lyrics and find any words that they do not understand.

Tongue Twister warm-ups

Jolly Sailors has some tricky lyrics to master (check out bars 6 and 10).

To help your singers warm up and have some fun, try the tongue twister:

Seven sassy sailors sailed the seven salty seas.

(This is included with the PDF download.)

Say the tongue twister using crisp consonants.

Set a metronome at a slow tempo and say the tongue twister.
Say the tongue twister multiple times and gradually increase the speed each time.

Sing the tongue twister warm up.

Sing the whole tongue twister on each note of the scale.
Add actions: hold up seven fingers for the number 7, salute on the word sailor, and make wave motions with your hands on the word “seas”.
Eliminate the words with actions, but continue to do the action associated with the missing word. (This is a challenge!)

Theatrical Elements

Add actions to enhance the theatrical presentation of Jolly Sailors. Remember, the musical presentation is still the focal point of the performance. Actions need to support the song, not “take over” or detract from the singing.
When presenting Jolly Sailors for a recital or school performance, add a few props or costumes to add visual interest to the performance.

A mop and pail
A bowl of fake stew
A hat or uniform (captain or crew!)

Other Performance Options

Younger students may sing Jolly Sailors as a unison group performance. Assign each student one of the verses to learn to be the “anchor” for their verse, although all students will sing all verses.
Singing the entire song with a small group in unison may be enough support for younger students to manage the lyrics for all three verses.
Add hearty spoken “Heave ho’s” to the performance. "Heave! Ho! Hey, heave ho!" fits in the first two bars of the musical interludes between verses and before singing the final two bars.

Composer's Notes

Jolly Sailors

I like to write sea songs. Jolly Sailors is a jovial glimpse into the life of a sailor. I had fun playing with words that either repeated or that had similar structures such as the captain who is a “jolly jolly soul”, the cook who makes a “yummy, runny stew” with “funny, bumpy lumps” and the tribulations of sleeping in tight quarters with “comfy cosy bunks” where “loud and snorty snores” can be heard throughout the night. On a ship, one must make the best of it as there isn’t anywhere else to go! I wanted to keep the sailors happy with their lot in life and they do decide that “adventure is our job” which sounds pretty exciting. I originally envisioned a brass quintet kind of vibe for this song, but as it went along, it turned out to be more of a jolly “oom pah” kind of sound. As a composer, one of my tasks is to shape a song and sometimes that means changing my preconceived ideas of how it should be and letting the song develop its own path. This was a fun song to write and it is also fun to sing! We included it on our Donna & Andy CD A Jolly Bunch are We (released September 2023) and had the pleasure of including our studio musicians as the sailors working the ropes on the ship with a gusty “heave ho” or two. They really got into the spirit of the task and their exuberant vocalizing is an entertaining part of the recorded track.

You Are invited

You are invited to send us your performance of Jolly Sailors.

Maybe your video will be featured here on this page.

When you have enjoyed practicing and performing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your video of Jolly Sailors and perhaps we can post it here.

Composer, Elementary Music Specialist

Donna Rhodenizer

Donna Grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, where no matter where you are, you are never more than 56 kilometers (approximately 35 miles) from the ocean! This might be why Donna is inspired to use the ocean as a theme in some of her songs. Jolly Sailors is a great example of the high energy, humorous songs Donna enjoys writing for upper elementary school singers (age 8-12). Over her 37-year career as an elementary music educator, Donna has written many songs in this style which have been premiered by her Grade 4-5 choir. Adding costumes and a few props and letting the students bring their unique energy to the presentation, creates a fun performance for both the singers and the audience.

Donna has written over five hundred songs including repertoire for solo singers, choirs, and school groups, as well as songs for recorder, violin, handbells, piano, and organ. Donna’s music has found a place in the hearts and music libraries of music teachers and students around the world.

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A Jolly Bunch Are We – Donna & Andy CD

Andy Duinker — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 19:11:38 +0000

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A Jolly Bunch Are We - CD

by Donna & Andy

Audio and Lyrics

Jolly Sailors

Turn it Around

When You're Smiling

I Really Need to Know

Don't Make Me Do Laundry

My Kaleidoscope View

A Snake Tango Tale

The Compliant Giant

Music in the Kitchen

See You Later, Alligator

Print Music

Jolly Sailors - Print Music Download - print music and teaching strategies
Turn it Around - Print Music Download
When You're Smiling - print music coming soon
I Really Need to Know - Print Music Download
Don't Make Me Do Laundry - print music coming soon
My Kaleidoscope View - Print Music Download
A Snake Tango Tale - Print Music Download
The Compliant Giant - Print Music Download
Music in the Kitchen - print music coming soon
See You Later, Alligator - Print Music Download

Stream on various Apps

Stream and download from various applications (e.g. iTunes and Spotify)

You Are invited

You are invited to send us your performances of the songs on

A Jolly Bunch Are We

Maybe your video will be featured here on this page.

Please Leave a Review

Scroll up to the "Reviews" tab and let us know what you think of our new CD! Thanks!

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Call of the Ocean

Andy Duinker — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 01:04:28 +0000

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Call of the Ocean

by Donna Rhodenizer

Unison - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: elementary, middle school, high school, adult/community, vocal solo

Level Age 12 and up, middle school, high school, adult

Vocal Range B♭4-E♭5

Audio Sample Performed by - Kings County Academy (KCA) Choir

SSA - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: elementary, middle school, high school, adult/community

Level Age 12 and up, middle school, high school, adult

Audio Sample Performed by Annapolis Valley Junior Honour Choir (AVJHC) & Coastal Sound

SATB - Key Of E♭

Context Choir: high school, adult/community

Level High school, adult

Audio Sample Performed by Annapolis Valley Honour Choir (AVHC)

Unison - Key of C

Context Choir: elementary, middle school, high school, adult/community, vocal solo

Level Age 12 and up, middle school, high school, adult

Vocal Range G3-C5

Audio Sample Performed by - Donna & Andy

Composer Notes

Call of the Ocean

Andy Duinker and I perform together as the singing duo, Donna & Andy. We have performed together since 1996 and have done thousands of concerts for young audiences. We also sing and play traditional, original, and easy listening music for adults in a variety of settings.

We had a gig playing in Chester, a beautiful village in Nova Scotia that borders on the Atlantic Ocean. We were playing in a gazebo overlooking the water where we could see sailboats moored at the yacht club, children playing on the beach, and a view of the basin opening to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. We played for an hour or two, breathing the brisk salt air and enjoying the warmth of the sun. The sun was dipping its face into the ocean before disappearing below the horizon as we packed up and headed for home.

With all the sun and salt air, I was ready to drop into bed when I got home. However, sleep would not come. As I lay there reflecting on the day, phrases and word combinations started to form. I turned on the light, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper (I always try to have these things handy!) and I started to write. I wrote the words and melody at the same time. I jotted down the melody using solfege syllables and I wrote lyrics for two verses and a chorus. I returned my paper and pen to the nightstand, turned out the light, and finally drifted off to sleep.

In the morning I got up and went to the piano to try out the song that had “arrived” in the night. It still felt right and I spent some time inputting it into my music-writing program so it was in more usable form. I called Andy to let him know I had a new song for us to sing when he came to the next rehearsal at my house. I often discuss ideas for lyrics with Andy. We have joked that sometimes it seems like his main contribution to my lyrics is to take words out of the song. Regardless of taking words out or adding them in, it is a valuable asset to have someone with whom you can bounce ideas around. Andy suggested that he would be happy to help me finish the song when we got together. I assured him the song didn’t need any deletions or additions and that it was fine as written. When he arrived and we sang through the song, there were not really any spots to “fix” or change and we left it pretty much as it was written.

Anyone who composes knows that songs can be a lot of hard work as one takes the initial inspiration and then crafts and molds the song using a variety of skills and techniques. It is not often that a song “arrives” intact and complete in one swift, writing session. These songs seem to write themselves and composers talk about being open to receive the song that is being delivered. This is one reason why it is always a good idea to have a pen and paper close by! Call of the Ocean is one of those songs. I consider it a gift. I’m glad I was willing to put off sleep, turn on the light and write down what “needed” to be written.

Stream or purchase audio track

Stream or Purchase The Love of the Sea from many streaming sites including:

Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

Andy's Fine Company CD (on which you will find Call of the Ocean) is available for download or physical CD on this website.

You Are Invited

You are invited to send us your performance of Call of the Ocean. Maybe your video will be featured here on this page.

Please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Call of the Ocean - SSA

Performed by:

Annapolis Valley Junior Honour Choir

Coastal Sound Children's Choir

Call of the Ocean

SSA & SATB combined

Performed by:

Annapolis Valley Junior and Senior Honour Choirs

Coastal Sound Children's Choir

Call of the Ocean

Performed by:

Andy Duinker & Donna Rhodenizer

Please send us your video of Call of the Ocean. Perhaps we can post it here.

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Seven Sassy Sailors

Andy Duinker — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 21:59:10 +0000

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Seven Sassy Sailors

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment + melody guide (and accordion bonus accompaniment) for Seven Sassy Sailors.

Donna had fun adding an accordion to the accompaniment track. Use this accompaniment track (included in your download) to add flair to a performance of Seven Sassy Sailors.

Full Blog Post

Read more about Seven Sassy Sailors in the extensive blog post created by Donna to support teachers with teaching tips and strategies, additional tongue twister activities, and suggestions for adding dramatic flair to the performance.

Composer's Notes

Seven Sassy Sailors

I had just created the song Jolly Sailors and I thought a tongue twister warm-up would be a good way for my students to get ready to sing the song. “Seven sassy sailors sailed the seven salty seas” is a common tongue twister that many people would know. I decided to write a few more verses for the sassy sailors. First the sailors enjoyed slipping salsa in their soup. Next they were sorry when their schooner sank and they suddenly found themselves swimming. After they sent an S.O.S., the soggy sailors were extracted from the sea so the song could end on a happy note! When the sailors start out on their salty, sailing adventure, the melody is in a major key. I had fun changing the third verse to a minor key while the sailors were involved in the sinking of their schooner, but I got to return to the major key for the happy ending.

I couldn’t resist adding some accordion to the accompaniment for this song. It has such a jaunty sound to add to the cheery, major-key verses and it could be made to sound quite melancholy in the minor key. I hope you enjoy my salty, sassy, saucy, sorry, soggy song!

You Are Invited

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Please send us your performance video - we might be able to post it on this page!

Send us your video of Seven Sassy Sailors and perhaps we can post it here.

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