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Learning to sing English nursery rhymes is a crucial part of early childhood English enlightenment. It not only stimulates children’s interest in English and develops their language sense but also helps improve their musical literacy.
However, for Chinese parents, learning English nursery rhymes can be quite challenging. Having become accustomed to Chinese pronunciation, it is often difficult to master the pronunciation and breath control when singing English songs. Dad Chang has invited the talented Pineapple Mom from Hong Kong University to teach everyone how to sing nursery rhymes using “singing without accompaniment” (this method makes it easier for everyone to learn pronunciation and breath control). We aim to introduce one song each week, allowing everyone to cultivate their children’s enthusiasm for English and basic language sense through joyful singing.
(Note: We have not yet obtained official authorization for today’s song “I Can Sing a Rainbow,” so it is not yet available on our app. We are actively negotiating for authorization, and if we obtain it, it will be added to our app. For now, you can find a version with accompaniment on QQ Music.)
Pineapple Mom sings the nursery rhyme: I Can Sing a Rainbow
Pineapple Mom Introduction
I Can Sing a Rainbow
I can sing a rainbow
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too
Listen to your heart
Listen to your heart
And sing everything you see
You can sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too
Pineapple Mom’s rendition:
Version with accompaniment on QQ Music:
This is a colorful nursery rhyme, a beautiful rainbow that does not conform to science.
Whether in the quiet morning or at night, this simple and sweet song is suitable for gently humming to your baby, allowing them to welcome a beautiful day in the soothing melody or enter a sweet dream. If one day you are lucky enough to see a rainbow, be sure to remember to sing this nursery rhyme!
It should be noted that the seven colors listed at the beginning of the song (red, yellow, pink, green, purple, orange, blue) are not the seven colors of the rainbow spectrum we are familiar with. In fact, the colors of the rainbow are a continuous spectrum that can be subdivided into many colors distinguishable by the naked eye, far more than seven. However, we habitually define these seven colors as the colors of the rainbow from the outer circle to the inner circle.
I Can Sing a Rainbow (I can sing a rainbow), compares singing to a paintbrush, using imagination to paint a beautiful rainbow in the sky. As long as we learn to listen to our heart (listen to your heart), we can all sing our unique rainbow.
Music has such magic.
This song does not contain particularly complex vocabulary. It is important to pay attention to the pronunciation of consonant clusters, such as the green in the song, gr, and blue‘s bl. There should be no gap between the two consonants; they should be pronounced smoothly in one breath.
Additionally, for any word ending with a consonant sound, if the next word starts with a vowel sound, these two words should be linked. The places where linking occurs in the nursery rhyme are marked with the ^ symbol; the third stanza is the same as the first, so it is omitted.
Red ^ and yellow and pink ^ and green
Purple ^ and ^ orange ^ and blue
I can sing ^ a rainbow
Sing ^ a rainbow
Sing ^ a rainbow too
Listen to your heart
Listen to your heart
And sing ^ everything you see
You can sing ^ a rainbow
Sing ^ a rainbow
Sing ^ a rainbow too
This nursery rhyme has a wide vocal range. Before singing without accompaniment, you can first try the highest and lowest two lines (which are “I can sing a rainbow” and “sing a rainbow too” in the first and last stanzas) to determine the key. Once the key is set, it cannot be changed arbitrarily; this is a common mistake to avoid when singing without accompaniment. (Why learn to sing without accompaniment? Please read last Saturday’s post “Pineapple Mom Teaches to Sing English Nursery Rhymes: Down by the Station“).
Here is a singing tip: the higher the note, the more you should let your breath sink; the lower the note, the more you should find a higher position for your voice — this way, you won’t end up screaming with a strained throat on high notes or struggling to produce low notes. If you find it difficult to grasp such techniques solely through reading, please join my Ivy League Dad’s singing nursery rhyme course, where I will explain and demonstrate each line for you, helping you learn the most classic nursery rhymes one by one to sing for your baby.
Pineapple Mom Says
I Can Sing a Rainbow is actually the first nursery rhyme I recorded and one of my beloved nursery rhymes. From that point on, I recorded one, two, three… and more. The recording conditions at home are limited (the kitchen at one in the morning), so please forgive the background noise.
During that time, I often shared English nursery rhymes with mothers in WeChat groups through voice messages, and gradually the idea of recording the songs emerged. Dad Pineapple knew I wanted to record songs and immediately rushed out to buy a microphone, which made me feel like the happiest person on Earth. This also made me realize that many times, children need a bit of trust, support, and encouragement from their parents to muster the courage to achieve their dreams in life.
The video above is of a rainbow staircase I saw recently in a nondescript alley in Central Hong Kong, which was very shabby yet stunning. Later, when my family went on vacation to Hainan, we were lucky enough to see a rainbow after the rain on the first day; it was also little Pineapple’s first time seeing a rainbow, and she was amazed. At that moment, I sang I Can Sing a Rainbow and other songs about rainbows — there are really so many.
Do you like this nursery rhyme? Do you have any rainbow encounters to share? Feel free to leave a message below and share with us.
(Note: Pineapple Mom is currently teaching nursery rhymes word by word in Dad Chang’s parent-child English lecture group; the parent-child English course is currently in beta testing, and recruitment will be announced on the public account next week, so stay tuned).
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