Alphabet song

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The alphabet song is a popular tool used to help teach children the English alphabet, commonly known by children as "the A-B-C's." It is used in kindergartens, pre-schools and homes around the world. It is sung to the widely-known French folk tune "Ah! Vous Dirais-je, Maman", perhaps best-known as the melody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep", and also well-known as a set of variations for piano by Mozart (k.265).

Contents

[edit] Original version

The song was first copyrighted by Charles Bradlee, music publisher, in Boston, USA in 1835, with the title, "The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte". The musical arrangement was attributed to Louis Le Maire (sometimes Lemaire), an 18th century composer. This was "Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1835, by C. Bradlee, in the clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts", according to the Newberry Library [1], which also says, "The theme is that used by Mozart for his piano variations, Ah, vous dirai-je, maman."[2]

Lyrics: (each line represents a measure, or four beats)

a-b-c-d-e-f-g, (the comma denotes a short pause)
h-i-j-k-lmnop, (l-m-n-o spoken twice as quickly as rest of rhyme)
q-r-s, t-u-v, (pause between s and t)
w--x--y-and-z, (w and x last for two beats)
Now I know my A, B, C's,
next time won't you sing with me ?

[edit] Zed for Zee

In the United States, Z is pronounced zee; in most other English-speaking countries it is pronounced zed, which spoils the final rhyme. (This is also the case when it is sung in French, where "y and z" becomes "i-grec, zed".) Generally the absent zee-rhyme is not missed, although some children use a zee pronunciation in the rhyme which they would not use elsewhere. Variants of the song exist to accommodate the zed pronunciation. One variation shortens the second line and lengthens the last, to form a near-rhyme between N and zed:

a-b-c-d-e-f-g
h-i-j-k-l-m-n
o-p-q, r-s-t
u-v-w, x-y-z

Other variants make significantly more changes in order to rhyme with zed, and even alter the rest of the song to fit a new rhythm. For example[3]:

a-b-c-d-e-f-g
h-i-j-k-lmnop
q-r-s-t
u-v-w-x-y-z
x-y-z.

[edit] Greek Alphabet

The tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" also works for the Greek alphabet (although much less used):

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta,

Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta,

Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu,

Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi,

Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon,

Phi, Chi, Psi kai Omega.

Note: kai (και) is the Greek word for "and".

[edit] Trivia

  • Because the words "l-m-n-o-p" are sung faster than any other letters in the song, young children hearing the song often decode "l-m-n-o-p" as only one or two words. Hearing the words wrong results in misconceptions about the song and, more importantly, the alphabet. The misconceptions are formed independently, but are often found to be similar. Of those who hear "elemenopee", some decide that "elemenopee" is a special letter of the alphabet, and some think "elemenopee" is an unknown word that completes the phrase. Of those who hear "elemeno", some take "elemeno" to be the name of a single letter, and some take "elemeno" to be an unknown word or an adjective modifying "P". [2]
  • Ella Minnow Pea is the title character of a novel by American novelist Mark Dunn. Her name was also inspired by the misinterpreted "l-m-n-o-p" phrase (those letters play a prominent role late in the book).
  • One children's joke starts off with the joke teller singing the whole song except the "P". The listener then asks "Where's the P?" To this the joke teller responds, "Running down your knee" (interpreting the "P" as "pee").

[edit] Other alphabet songs

There is a version of the alphabet song using a different melody taught by some pre-schools that use the phonics method.

What does the A say? Ay Aa Ah (the vowels are sounded completely)
What does the B say? B* B* B* (only the leading sound of consonants are sung in the response part)
What does the C say? K* K* K*
What does the D say? D* D* D*
What does the E say? Ee and Eh
. . .

(continue for each letter with several slightly different melodies)

. . .
What does the X say? Ks Ks Ks
What does the Y say? Y* Y* Y*
What does the Z say? Zzz Zzz Zzz
What do you call these phones and sounds?
English alphabet letters.
Yeah!

This song teaches children that each letter has a name and sounds. Just like a dog says "woof" and a cat says "meow", the "I" says "eye" and "ee".

Another variant popular at many children's summer camps goes:

A: you're an alphabet
B: you're a belly button
C: you're a cantaloupe with arms
D: you're delirious
E: you're an elephant
F: you're the fairy of my arms
G: you're a goony goon
H: you're a hairy loon
I: you're an icky dicky doo
J: you've got joppy knees
k: klaustrophobia (sp)
l: you've got leprosy too!
M, N: you're a maniac
O: you're an octopus-pus-pus-pus
P:, Q: particularly queer
R, S, T,: responsible for stupid things
U: pick your nose in bed
V: you're a vomit head
W, X, Y, Z

A song from the 1940s, by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise and Sidney Lippman, called "The Alphabet Love Song". It has also been performed on Sesame Street, as well as by Patrick Stewart on Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 DVD, as an easter egg[4], :

A, you're adorable
B, you're so beautiful
...

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newberry Library catalog
  2. ^ The alphabet song is sometimes said to come from another of Bradlee's publications, "The Schoolmaster", but the first line of that song is given as "Come, come my children, I must see", in Yale University's library catalog. It is described as "a favorite glee for three voices, as sung at the Salem glee club."
  3. ^ Listen to the song sung (RealPlayer).
  4. ^ [1]

[edit] See also

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