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Good thing they put the old boards back up, I was able to find a list of 2-part music that I had put on an older post.   These are ones that my 3rd and 4th grade choruses have done and really liked, and our 5th/6th grade choir has also done a few of them as well and I picked several of these favorites when I conducted our region honors elementary choir last year (grades 4-6) - the the other teachers said their kids really liked the music, so they seem to appeal to a wide range of kids.  My students tend to get most excited about multicultural music, arrangements of songs from musicals that they've seen, African American spirituals, and any kind of round/canon.  They will sometimes also go nuts for an arrangement of a classical melody or folksong if it has a catchy melody or rhythm.  I would also add just getting any good collection of rounds and canons to this list, such as 150 Rounds for Singing and Teaching or The Book of Rounds and Canons.  You can do those a capella, or with simple piano or Orff accompaniment if you choose. 

Ode To Peace - arr. Jill Gallina (partner song with Beethoven's Ode to Joy)
Sing a Song of Peace - arr. Jill Gallina (partner song with This Is My Country)
Haida - Israeli folk song, arr. Henry Leck
Jibuli, Jibuli - Tanzanian folk song, arr. Ruth Elaine Schram
Song of the River - arr. Mark Patterson (tune of Salley Gardens, w/new words)
My Favorite Things - arr. Spevacek
Sansa Kroma - Ghanian folksong arr. by Michael Scott
The Frim Fram Sauce - arr. Greg Gilpin (jazz/swing, with relatively easy to hear harmony and fun lyrics)
O, Desayo - Angolan Folk Song, arr. Eliiot Z. Levine
Kokoleoko - Liberian Folk Song, Arr. Donnelly/Strid
Boats Sail on the Rivers - Mark Patterson
Put a Little Love in Your Heart - arr. Jeff Funk
Hitori - Japanese Folk Song, arr. Donnelly/Strid
Zum Gali Gali - Israeli folk Song, arr. Dan Schwartz
Ching a Ring Chaw (and Great Gittin' Up Mornin') - arr. Linda Spevacek
Partners on Parade (the Crawdad Song/When the Saints Go Marching In)- arr. Tom Anderson
So Long, Farewell (from The Sound of Music) -- arr. Mark A. Brymer
Cameroon -- Dorothy Masuka, arr. Micheal Scott
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - arr. Cristi Cary Miller
Freedom Train - arr. Jill Gallina
Rounds Around the World - arr. Mary Lynn Lightfoot
Woke Up This Morning (Freedom Song) - arr. Cynthia Gray
It's In My Desk - Mary Lynn Lightfoot (really funny lyrics about a kid's sloppy desk and great, easy to teach harmony)
Ladybug (Marienwurmchen) - Brahms, arr. Goetze (unison arr.)
Music Alone Shall Live - arr. Donald Moore
Over the Rainbow - arr. Audrey Snyder
Baseball Fever - Cristi Cary Miller (partner song with TAke Me Out to the Ballgame)
Al Yadil Yadil Yadi - Palestinian folksong arr. John Higgins (basically unison arr., really great syncopated rhythms!)
Scales and Arpeggios - arr. Audrey Snyder (from Disney's "The Aristocats")
A Distant Shore - Donnelly/Strid (partner song with The Water Is Wide)
Ahrirang - Korean folksong, arr. Brad Printz (this is a very accessable arrangement of this beautiful melody - it is 2-3 part, it works fine with either 2 or 3 parts)

If I think of any others I'll add to the list.  Also... I really trust most of the arrangers of the pieces listed above.  If I see something arranged or composed by Audrey Snyder, Mary Lynn Lightfoot, Ruth Elaine Schram, Michael Scott, Donelly and Strid, Greg Gilpin, Jill Gallina, Cristi Cary Miller, Mark Patterson, Mary Goetze, Donald Moore, etc. I can always count on it being something that's well arranged for treble voices and usually something that my kids will enjoy singing.  AFter you've been buying chorus music for a few years you learn to look out for certain composers/arrangers because you know you'll have success with their music.

Last edited by Christine Nowmos (2008-04-12 11:20:25)

My students loved Watu Wote by Sally Albrecht and Jay Althouse. We added conga drums and a shekere to the song, to make it more African. It was a log of fun!

SAB Songs that my kids still talk about...

River in Judea by Jack Feldman arr John Leavitt
Plenty Good Room by Kirby Shaw
Danny Boy arr Julie Knowles
Three Hungarian Folk Songs Set by Matyas Seiber/Arr. Maurice Jacobson (good for not quite baritone baritones)
Like an Eagle by Carl Strommen
Singabahambayo SATB (not to be confused by Singahambayo) can be found online for free by just searching for it.

Other songs that taught good fundementals (IMO) and had little or no resistance from the kids.

Alleluia Canon by Donald Moore (with Flute)
Ev'ry Night arr. Ruth Elain Schram
Wonderful World arr Russ Robinson
Joshua! (Fit the Battle of Jericho) arr by Kirby Shaw
Old Joe Clark (SSA accapulco) arr Emily Crocker (Kids put big resistance but they sounded really good and ended up liking it)