Themes & Variations

Author: Craig Cassils
Format: Book with Media Online
Subject: Music Classroom

Indigenous Singers of Canada is a collection of rhythm arrangements to songs by popular Indigenous artists in Canada. This resource features 8 Indigenous singers from Metis, Inuk, Dene, and Cree backgrounds, including Tom Jackson, Susan Aglukark, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Shane Yellowbird, and many more. Students will have the opportunity to learn about each artist through their biographies, notes about each song and their significance to the artist, and worksheets exploring each artist's background and why the Indigenous community in Canada is important to them.

As students work through this resource, they will learn to read quarter, eighth, and sixteenth-note rhythm patterns. Each pattern is written to be easy to pick up and closely match the song they are playing with. Featuring a variety of moods, genres, and tempos, students will use shakers, sticks, drums, and tambourines in each song.

• 8 pieces sequenced to build reading and performance skills.
• Biographies of each of our feature artists.
• Descriptions of each song, why it was written, and their significance to the artist.
• Lyric pages to most songs, to either print or project.
• PowerPoint with rhythm play-along and links to YouTube videos with the songs.
• Links to where you can purchase the original recording from iTunes or Amazon.

Song List:

• Leela Gilday - One Drum
• Don Amero - Life Gets Better
• Buffy Sainte-Marie - We Are Circling
• Derek Miller - Call An Angel
• Susan Aglukark - O Siem
• Tom Jackson - Huron Carol
• Mariame Hasni - As Long As You Are Here
• Shane Yellowbird - Life Is Calling My Name