A Birdly Debate
$10.00 – $50.00
What happens when two birds go toe to toe and beak to beak, arguing about who is the best bird? It gets even more complicated when they fail to see a prowling cat, ready to take advantage of their inattention. The ending is written with two options and the outcome is decided by the singer!
A Birdly Debate is written with call and response tongue-twisty repetitive “cuckoo” and “rat-a-tat” lyrics representing the arguing birds. It works well as a duet or as a 2-part or unison song for choir or small group performances. It can also be sung as a solo piece.
The melody is written within the range of D4-D5, sitting in a vocal range that works well for young singers. The action begins with the melody in a major key and a contrasting minor section represents the arrival of the cat. With sections alternating between major and minor, the final minor section signals the end of the argument and the song ends as it began, in the major key.
A Birdly Debate includes dramatic moments and humour creating an ideal vehicle for exploring expressive singing. It can be used as a score study focusing on major and minor tonalities, repeats, 1st and 2nd endings and 3/4 meter. It is also wonderful for early duet or ensemble singing experience. Students choose the ending of the song, experiencing the thought process of a composer making lyric choices.
Listen to melody + accompaniment:
Download Includes:
- Vocal score
- Lead sheet
- Director/piano score
- Lyrics
- Accompaniment – with melody guide
- Accompaniment – piano
- Teaching Tips
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A Birdly Debate
Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for A Birdly Debate.
Coldbrook & District Elementary School
(director - Joanna MacPhee Simpson) in rehearsal with composer Donna Rhodenizer. The singers (grades 4 & 5) are demonstrating the ending with the Cuckoo wining the debate.
This was a March rehearsal leading up to the school's year end concert in June.
Expressive singing
Use clear, crisp diction for the repeated “cuckoo” and “rat-a-tat tat” lyrics.
The melodic placement of the “cuckoos” provides the opportunity to work on singing with a light upper register tone.
Discuss how to create a contrast between the major and minor sections. The tonality, staccato or legato phrases and dynamics all play a part in creating the contrast.
Discuss the term leggiero at the beginning of each B section. How will that expressive instruction affect the way the singer will sing in this section?
Find the rit. at the end of each C section. Following this marking creates a final bit of drama and highlights the shift between the minor and major tonalities.
Composing
Decide on the final outcome of the song. This may require compromise if there are varied opinions regarding which ending should be sung. Try not to get into a singers debate!
When composing the two endings, I was thinking that the cat either manages to eat one bird or two. However, without specific details provided, that outcome is open to interpretation. If students feel better with no carnivorous activity taking place, it is certainly possible that the cat scared away the woodpecker, leaving the cuckoo to declare its status as the "winner" of the debate. Teachers are encouraged to discuss this background information with students as they make their decision about the song ending!
Call and Response
A Birdly Debate has three sections.
Section A – dialogue between the two birds
Section B – cuckoo and rat-a-tat tat alternating lyrics
Section C – minor tonality and dealing with the cat
The sections can be managed in a variety of ways with unison sections or the lyrics divided between two groups of singers using call and response.
- Call and response provides the opportunity for singers to add different perspectives and hone their expressive singing skills as each singer or group expressively represents the view of “their” bird.
- Call and response helps singers develop musical independence, an early introduction to a skill used for harmony singing.
The teacher and student(s) may decide together how much of the song will be sung back and forth between the two groups and which sections will be sung in unison.
Part options:
- Sing sections A and C in unison. In the B section, divide the singers into a “cuckoo” group and a “rat-a-tat tat” group. Each group will sing only their words alternating back and forth (call and response style) through this section.
- Divide all cuckoo and rat-a-tat-tat lyrics between the two groups of singers. This will mean the A section and the B section will include the call and response treatment of the lyrics.
- Divide the dialogue lyrics so each group only sings the lyrics that correspond with the bird they are representing.
The PDF download includes more detailed instructions and suggestions for dividing the song between two parts.
Ensemble Singing
It may be helpful to involve a director to assist a small ensemble with the call and response sections and help singers stay together. If a director is part of the performance, singers will need to practice watching carefully for direction.
Without a director, singers need to listen carefully to each other so call and response sections flow seamlessly one to the other.
When practicing the 2-part version of this song, have the two groups face each other to help the singers hear and respond to the other part more clearly.
A Birdly Debate
Inspiration for a song can come in a variety of ways. This song was written because of another cuckoo song I saw in a book. The song included repeated cuckoo lyrics but they were hard to sing and the song didn’t really work for me. For some reason, that sparked the idea of two birds talking back and forth. What would they talk about? Would they argue about who was the superior bird? I jotted down ideas and knew it was going to work as a song when it made me laugh as I was writing.
The cat showed up, almost the same as it does in the song, skulking about the edges of my thought process and inserting itself into the story. I wrote two different endings for the song. I thought both had merit and I couldn’t decide which one to include. My kids used to read “choose your own ending” books. I decided to include both lyric options and leave it up to the singer to choose the ending. As much as it was really a copout on my part not to make the choice, I also think it is fun for the singer to have a bit of say in the matter. I have tried to sing this song with Andy dividing up the cuckoo and rat-a-tat tats back and forth and we usually end up laughing. When the Coldbrook & District School Grade 4-5 Choir (in Nova Scotia) premiered A Birdly Debate, they did a super job and gave this song a good start in the world! Congratulations to the singers and their teacher, Joanna MacPhee Simpson.
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| License | Vocal Solo / Single User License, Studio / School License, Small Ensemble License, Small Choir License, Large Choir License |
|---|---|
| Context | Choir – Elementary, Choir Repertoire, Classroom Songs, Expressive Storytelling Songs, Novelty, Small Group Class, Vocal Solo, Choir – 2-part Treble, Choir – Unison, Composing |
| Topic | |
| Level | |
| Voicing | |
| Vocal Range | D4 – D5 |
| Duration | |
| Composer | Donna Rhodenizer |
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