Spanish Singing Games, Mi guitarrí

Games played to songs are popular with children around the world.  Our title track, Mi guitarrí is a traditional Spanish version of musical chairs.  This game is especially appropriate for use in a language classroom as students have to listen for a slight change in lyrics to know when to scramble for a chair.

To play this game, you place chairs (or markers on the floor) in a circular pattern.  Make sure there is one less chair than the number of students.  Turn on the music and sing along with Joel to the rhythm of his guitar.  Students listen for Joel to change the lyrics from, "Al ritmo de mi guitarrí" to "¡Al ritmo de mi guitarrí-co!"  At the sound of the syllable, "-co," students must scramble to occupy one of the empty spaces.  The one left out looses that round and the game begins again.

A bonus track on the CD has Joel singing the repeated line 12 times to allow the teacher to stop the music at the end of any of the lines and shout "-co!" thereby keeping the kids guessing as to when they will have to find a seat.

Song for Counting by Tens in Spanish, Gotas de diez en diez

Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm?  Did the drops hit you one by one, or did you get wet quickly?

Here's a song that catches you up in the rain as you learn to count by tens in Spanish.  In Spanish we say, "Counting by Tens" as "Contar de diez en diez."

Our song is called "Gotas de diez en diez." The English translation of the lyrics would be: Today, I see the sky and it's going to rain.  Now I see the drops, falling and falling.  Ten, twenty, thirty, etc.

The melody is catchy and your students will love practicing counting by tens as they try not to get wet!

Sing the Days of the Week in Spanish

Are you looking for a great song to sing along as you learn the days of the week in Spanish? You'll find the perfect solution with La semana from Joel Valle's album, Mi guitarrí.

Visit our Kids Immersion YouTube channel to watch more of Joel's live performance with the students at New Vision School as they showed off what they had learned, including the days of the week!

Parts of the Body Song in Spanish

Todo mi cuerpo is a terrific song for learning the parts of the body in Spanish. You will be reminded of the English favorite "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." However, we have chosen a different melody and added some dancing into the mix. Encourage your students to touch each body part as they sing. They'll need to get faster and faster as Joel Valle speeds up the guitar and vocals towards the end.

This is a body parts song that is sure to generate lots of laughs!

We encourage you to listen to samples of Todo mi cuerpo, Track 6 on Mi guitarrí on iTunes, Amazon or CDBaby.

Songs for Teaching Spanish Numbers

The Mi guitarrí CD has several songs you can use to teach numbers in Spanish. For starters, sing Cuenten conmigo (Count with Me). You get to sing this song to the tune of "Ten Little Indians" and count your fingers. Then continue on counting your claps (aplausos) and jumps (saltos).

As usual, Joel makes singing and dancing to this song a total joy as the kids easily listen in to his native Spanish voice and brilliant guitar playing! All of the songs are in 100% Spanish so you can focus on learning the language rather than translating!!

Listen to the samples of Cuenten conmigo, Track 8 on Mi guitarrí on iTunes, Amazon or CDBaby.

Alphabet Song on YouTube

You can view an updated version of our alphabet song on YouTube. If you are trying to teach your children the Spanish Alphabet, you'll love the great images posted with the video. The melody is easy to learn and kids quickly memorize the letter shapes and names as they sing along. Canten el alfabeto hoy con la cancion Alfabeto.

Which version of the Spanish alphabet do you teach?

Recently I was asked how we selected the letters for our alphabet song. We did quite a bit of research and reading to decide which letters, if any, to exclude. The letters ñ, ll, ch and rr are no longer officially letters of the Spanish alphabet. However, according to our sources, the letters ñ, ll and ch are still included when teaching the Spanish alphabet to students in Latin America. The rr is no longer taught as a separate letter as it represents a rolling "r" sound which is indicated by double "r's" in a word, but by a single "r" at the beginning of a word. We also had to select specific names for certain letters such as "w" because certain letter names in Spanish vary by region. After conducting our extensive research to determine what is currently being taught to students today in Latin America, we feel confident that our Alfabeto song is representative of the current trend.

A, B, C, Ch, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, Ll, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Song for Teaching the Alphabet in Spanish

Mi guitarrí has a wonderful song to teach the alphabet in Spanish. Kids learn quickly when they sing along to our tune and see the letters.

You can hear and sample and see the alphabet on our YouTube channel.

Songs for Teaching Spanish, Mi guitarrí

Ah, children's music CDs. How many have you really loved to listen to? There is a huge range of quality and when we produced Mi guitarrí, our goal was to be one of the best children's CDs available. We know you'll be pleased with the results.

What's our formula for producing a fabulous children's Spanish music CD?

First, we wrote songs that teach children Spanish themes, phrases and vocabulary. All of the lyrics are in Spanish so that the children can focus on the Spanish language. It is helpful to know what you are singing, so our lyrics are listed in the liner notes.

Once we had our lyrics, we made sure to set them to catchy tunes. Some of our melodies were written by our talented musicians, Elizabeth Turner and Joel Valle. Other tunes have been handed down for generations as traditional children's songs in German, Spanish or English. For maximum fun, we created songs that allow you to make up motions as you sing.

Next, we hired an amazingly talented musician, Joel Valle. Joel is a native Spanish speaker, his voice is pleasant, and he has more guitar talent than seems possible. I love listening to him perform and I am so grateful that he took time to work on our project.

Finally, we recorded at a top-notch studio owned and operated by Michael Andrews. If you want a quality sound, you have to utilize great equipment and extraordinary talent. We have been blessed in finding so many people who turned this dream into a reality that sounds even better than we imagined possible.

Take time to visit our website and listen to samples, or check out the samples on iTunes and Amazon.com. Your ears will be grateful and your brain will be learning!