Descending tonic arpeggio and counting beats in 6/8 time
with dotted quarter note syncopation, minor seventh (So/Fa).

 

Description

• Grade: Kindergarten
• Origin: England, 19th-century Nursery Rhyme*
• Key: F Major
• Time: 6/8
• Form: AABC
• Rhythm: advanced: | ta ti ti ti ti | ta/ ta/ |
  | ta ti ta ti | syncopation, | ti ti ti ti ti ti |
• Pitches: advanced: So La Ti Do Re Mi Fa
• Intervals: advanced: Mi\Do\So descending tonic arpeggio, So/Fa (m7), Ti\So, Ti/Re
• Musical Elements: notes: dotted quarter, quarter, eighth; vocal slur; 6/8 time: eighth note receives one beat, divisions of a dotted quarter note: three eights (3 ti’s), feeling duple meter (2) in 6/8: where three eights would be a triplet if the beat is represented by a dotted quarter
• Key Words: boys, girls, frogs, snails, puppy-dog’s tails, sugar, spice, nice

* From a larger work, “What Folks Are Made Of” or “What All the World is Made Of.”

 

“What Are Little Boys/Girls Made Of?”

What are little boys made of? What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails, and puppy-dog’s tails, That’s what little boys are made of. What are little girls made of? What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice, and everything nice, That’s what little girls are made of.