A Holiday Parody
Let’s create!
Students learn about musical parodies and create their own based on a holiday song and/or theme.
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We’re in that season when the focus is on rehearsing musical pieces for various performances and I wanted something a little more light-hearted to round out our class time. My mom is a musician and was an elementary music teacher as well. There were several times that I remember her writing parodies for specific events. One time she helped throw a fake funeral for a friend’s surprise 50th birthday party. It wasn’t as awful as it sounds and feels strange to write that down. It was actually a very fun event. Their friend was a hilarious and wonderful person and he enjoyed the occasion. My mom had taken one of his favorite songs and written a parody for him. He loved it. Several years later some of our good friends were moving to Texas. A group of friends created a goodbye party that included funny skits and - you guessed it - a musical parody about them moving to Texas.
I grew up with witty and brilliant parents who always had so much fun making light of serious occasions. This is likely why I enjoyed creating this lesson for my students and even more so, enjoyed seeing what they created in the classroom.
Teaching Suggestions:
Since this is a holiday parody lesson, I’m using songs sung around November/December time frame. You know your students best. At my school we sing many Christmas carols in chapel and so I use songs that students are familiar with and have sung many times. If your students don’t sing holiday songs, you can always do this activity with pop music or other songs that they do know. This is just the way I’m using it because of the season we’re in and what our school community does.
First thing: For your parody examples, use songs you have taught in class or songs that you know everyone knows.
Provide examples of a parody with a specific topic: Ask students to listen to you sing the original song and then the parody.
You don’t need to parody the entire song. In fact, it is likely easier and more simplistic to cover only part of the song (verse, chorus, or one verse with one chorus)
After you share a parody example with students, select a song and topic ahead of time. Then work on creating the parody as a class.
Next step would be to keep the same song and change the topic for the parody. Allow students to work in partners or small groups to create their own parodies. They can share their parodies with the class
Finally, allow students to select their song and parody topic in partners or small groups. If you want to keep it holiday themed, you might brainstorm topics as a class and list them on the board. Students select the one they want to use. Then they share their parodies with the class.