Why Friendship Belongs in the Music Room
I’ve been teaching elementary music classes long enough to know what the most important and impactful lessons are for these kiddos. And I will tell you that nearly all of these lessons revolve around friendship.
That should come as no surprise. Think about your own kids or your own students, or even your own school experience. This is THE formative time when it comes to learning and understanding what it means to have a true friend, and how to be one, too. Plus, as we all know, it’s not a bad lesson for us adults to relearn from time to time as well!
So when it came time to start this Creative Music Room journey and share what I’ve learned from teaching preschool music classes, I wanted to highlight some of the original friendship songs that are the most popular in my classroom.
Music Is a Language of Connection
We all have friends who know us so well and whom we know so well that it’s like we have our own language together. We can often communicate without words. That’s a side of friendship we celebrate in our song Come With Me!
When you introduce new friendship songs in elementary music classes, you’re doing more than teaching melody and rhythm. You’re reminding students that friendship is essential, supportive, and powerful.
Being with a friend kicks off a chemical reaction that sends positive signals to our brains and fills our hearts. We laugh, we share, we feel comfort, we care, and we matter. Music mirrors that emotional connection.
Because You Are My Friend: A Song About What Really Matters
One of our most loved original songs is “Because You Are My Friend“, a gentle song with a message that sticks:
Because you are my friend
I’m happy as can be
Because you are my friend
I am a much, much better me
We think this is a great way to highlight what is at once a simple truth and a fundamental part of being human. We all have within us a special power to improve the lives of others simply by caring about them. This song can open the door to deeper conversations:
- What does it mean to be a good friend?
- How can we include others who are different from us?
- What makes friendship stronger?
“Because You Are My Friend” also teaches us that being a friend sometimes has less to do with what we have in common than it does about celebrating our differences. Think about all the people in your own life who you are drawn to because you admire how different they are from you. What a way to expand our own horizons and to appreciate all the things that make us unique!
Rhythmic Tales: Story + Song = Social-Emotional Learning
At CMR, these lessons are so foundational that we created a whole genre around them: Rhythmic Tales!
Our original Rhythmic Tales blend simple music concepts with story-based learning. Each tale features a cast of animal characters whose adventures are built around important values like that of true friendship.
In our tale, The Lion Who Lost His Roar, Louie (as in Armstrong) Lion is faced with a real dilemma. He just can’t seem to roar. And while he is a gentle soul and not so much the roaring type, it is hard to be “King of the Jungle” without being able to sound the part!
Louie’s friends come together to brainstorm a solution, each using talents unique to them, before landing on a novel idea – capturing the sound of thunder, waiting for a big yawn, and putting that sound right in his mouth! Problem solved…and lesson learned: You can ALWAYS count on your friends.
Nothing Is Better Than Having a Friend
Whether it’s through movement, singing, storytelling, or rhythm games, the heart of what we do at CMR is help kids understand themselves—and each other—better.
So many of our friendship songs and tales center around this one powerful theme: We grow stronger, braver, and happier when we feel connected.
That’s something worth teaching. And singing. And celebrating.
Want to Share These Songs with Your Students?
Explore all of our Friendship Songs and Rhythmic Tales and share these dynamic resources with your preschool and elementary students
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