KS2 Music: Shakespeare on Trial! - Song 9: 'For All Time'

School Radio > Music > Shakespeare on Trial!

Notes for ‘For All Time’

This lively, upbeat, Latin-American-influenced song features catchy riffs and rhythms to get across the positive message of Shakespeare’s relevance for all ages and parts of the world.

Try to keep the singing of the syllables crisp and clear (eg short notes for the words ‘all… time…’) and take care with practising the tricky timing of words in some verses. If you wish, separate verse lines can be split between individuals and/or small groups.

The Judges’ ‘readings’ - bars 5-12 before Verse 1 and just before Verses 2, 3 and 4 - are performed ‘ad-lib’ over the instrumental introductions. The vocal ensemble can hum or sing ‘doo-doo…’ with the introduction melody (shown in small notes) as a background to the Judges’ voices.

The backing accompaniment features trumpets, flute, saxophone, guitars, bass, drums and percussion. You could add Latin-inspired rhythms and riffs on percussion: listen to recordings of Samba bands to get an idea for layered percussion sounds typical of South America.

After Verse 4 the introduction melody is sung vigorously and enthusiastically as a double chorus, to the words ‘Yes, he’s for all time…’. This is followed by the opening riff three times, during which every-one finger-clicks on the half-bars and then ends by singing the riff to ‘For all time’.

There’s no need for everyone to sit still in this one! To help bring the song to life rhythmically, let everyone experiment with some side-to-side moves and actions, in time with the music’s syncopation. But can you choreograph these moves together, into a sequence that looks good for an audience?

Should an encore be called for (!) the backing track will also work well to accompany a dance, using the stage area as a dance-floor, and perhaps spilling out into the audience area. Try out some Samba and Tango-like moves - think Strictly! But keep the percussion going too…

Resources

More from this series