Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for It’s a Busy, Busy Time of Year

Add brightly coloured presents to your performance. We used one gift for every three students. The gifts were hidden behind their backs while singing the opening of the song. During the instrumental section, students revealed their hidden gifts, passing them from row to row while miming their excitement at seeing friends and exchanging presents. It is a great way to include a bit of drama to a performance, and it lengthens the song without requiring a lot of additional words!

Instead of including gift passing, add some movement to the instrumental section – quiet stepping, scarves, or hand movements.

For the performance at my school, we began the song with two students “talking” to each other using two cans tied together with a string. This was an old game I used to play when I was young! The students thought it was a novel idea (in this day and age of texting!). Alternatively, two students could be chatting by cell phone for the opening sequence.

Add props such as hats and scarves, and some shopping bags filled with presents.

It’s a Busy, Busy Time of Year

I was driving and listening to the radio. Someone was being interviewed and the announcer thanked them for agreeing to give their time to do the interview at this “busy, busy time of year.” Later, in the same drive the announcer again said something about this “busy, busy time of year.” The phrase stuck in my head and when I arrived home I started to write this song. It can be very important to “stay tuned” to what is going on around you if you are going to write songs!

My song ended up with a show tune kind of vibe and I was excited to share it with my music students. We had fun trying to figure out the opening telephone sequence. The first detail we needed to clear up is whose voice we should hear first in the phone conversation. We realized that when the phone rings, the first person to speak is not the caller! After that, the back and forth conversation worked out okay. For our performance in the school concert we decided to add gift passing as part of the song. Students entered the performing space with small, colourfully wrapped presents hidden behind their backs. When we arrived at the instrumental section the students pretended to meet and greet friends, miming enthusiasm and passing gifts from row to row. They liked the bouncy tune, they enjoyed being able to add some drama, and the song was a hit!

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