Ice and Snow - music and lyrics by Chris Beller

This entire tune is built upon the concept of “coming together.” I love those moments in music
when all of the disparate elements of the song slot together like puzzle pieces, creating a satisfying
experience for the performers and the audience. As such, the ostinatos are meant to work alone and
alongside each other no matter when they are played.
Students should have had a bit of experience working with songs in 5, as this will illustrate the 3-
2 split of the time signature. I think that the music could just as easily be written in 5/8 rather than 5/4, but
I find it a little bit easier to read when we’re dealing with quarter and eighth notes instead of eighth and
sixteenths. The students should first learn the melody of the tune, likely at the same time that they learn
the clapping pattern. Tying together clapping, melody, and stepping to the strong beats of the measure
will be key to getting this melody in the body and the mind. Once the students are confident in singing,
clapping, and moving, it’s time to bring in the instruments.
In order of importance, I’d say the instruments are like so: Timekeeper, Glockenspiel, Bass
Xylophone, Alto Metallophone, Woodblock, then Tambourine. Though strong-beat accents should be
employed in the Timekeeper’s ostinato, the consistent down beat provided by the Glockenspiel is very
useful for building all other parts. The relative simplicity of the Glockenspiel means that we can fairly
reasonably teach all of the barred instrument parts within the same lesson. In the following lesson, we can
explore the way the Tambourine can change its feel based upon when the student starts their first note
with it. Since all but the Tamborine’s phrases are written over one measure, there are two possible feels
with that instrument. In this same lesson, we can finish off with the woodblock part before beginning to
discuss how to arrange the piece, along with the important cues given by the teacher on their timekeeping
drum. Students will learn all of the parts, as they will be expected to be able to play any of the
instruments using the correct ostinatos.
The arrangement of this piece works like this: The teacher will take the Timekeeping ostinato
while each student stands in a circle around them. The instruments will be placed in a star pattern outside
of the circle, just beyond the students. The teacher will begin with an ostinato, gesturing for the students
to begin stepping to the strong beats of the ostinato. The teacher will play the claps cue after a
comfortable amount of time, and the students will begin to clap their hands. After another few rounds of
clapping, the teacher will play the singing cue, bringing the students to sing the first two verses of the
song (A section) while continuing to clap their hands. Once finished with the verses, students will begin
to move to an instrument, one by one, first with whoever is directly in front of it when the verses end.
Students can play as little as three to four measures and as many as twelve to sixteen, but they should give
all the students the chance to eventually play at least one instrument. The students who are left standing
will continue to step and clap around the circle until one of their peers plays their coda on an instrument
and returns to the circle once more. After this initial exploration is through, the teacher will play the
singing cue to bring the students in with vocals while other students continue to play their instruments.
Students will be able to leave and join the circle whenever an instrument that they are near becomes
available. Eventually, the teacher will play the section change cue and all students will switch to the B
section ostinatos on their instruments. As before, give some time to explore the ostinatos without the
vocals before playing the singing cue to bring the students to the next verse. At the end of the B section
verse, immediately switch back to the A section ostinatos with a section change cue and let the students
sing the tune until the end. Once the vocals have finished, students will slowly, one by one, stop clapping
and playing on the instruments, making sure to be aware enough to not all stop at the same time. This will
continue until the teacher is the only one playing. End on the down beat.
I hope for this piece to be entertaining for students to learn and perform, and this collective music
making experience to be worthwhile and fun.