Music Maybe?
An Orff Classroom Arrangement of the song that just won’t leave your head
26-year old Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen has moved in on the former Canadian Pop hit by Robin Sparkles (How I Met Your Mother reference), with her hit Call Me Maybe. Signed by Justin Bieber to his label, Jepsen’s song has officially hit number-one on the Billboard 100. And despite its bland lyrics the song is a clever ear-worm offering music teachers a chance to deconstruct pop/song writing in the classroom.
That is why I arranged it for an Orff Classroom Ensemble.
I see this song as another way to teach my students the beauty of writing clever hooks and simple rhythms, when composing in the pop genre. This is made clear in Jimmy Fallon’s take on Call Me Maybe with my arrangement synced underneath using Noteflight. Every part moves together so well (even when out of time) and the ensemble look like they are having so much fun when the hook returns (look for the head nodding). Imagine students having this much fun while learning! If you want the Sibelius or Finale Notepad files just scroll underneath.
As promised here is the Dropbox link to the Sibelius, Finale and MusicXML files of my Orff Arrangement for Call Me Maybe.
Leave a comment in the space below after you see Cookie Monster’s version with changed lyrics that could easily spark off your own classroom song-writing units.
Cookie Monster cover image from http://scientopia.org/blogs/childsplay/files/2010/08/cookie-monster.jpg
