“It’s such a nice songbook. We had been looking to find something just like it. But how do we use it?”

Now there’s a good question. When we spent the “spring shutdown” creating Hurrah and Hallelujah—a volume of songs dedicated to restoring our heritage of song—the question of “how to use it” did not cross my mind. Both Hank and I were raised in atmospheres where songs burst forth (very different types of songs in some cases, but songs nonetheless).

Today, in our fractured, techno-obsessed culture, “songs” have become links on a screen for too many kids enwrapped in earbuds. The very idea of songs resounding in the air as a regular, pleasurable, and sustaining part of daily life seems as out-of-date as the buggy whip.

So what are ways for families to proceed, especially those for whom a vital engagement with song-tradition is new? How do we make sure “learning songs” does not become yet another task in a schedule already packed with tasks and duties?

My first suggestion is to remember that we used to encounter songs regularly, in natural settings, be it during a family sing-along around the pump organ, in the backyard when neighbors bring guitars and harmonicas over to while away a Saturday evening, around the campfire or at community suppers, on the Town Green during patriotic festivals, or, for that matter, in church where real singing and acoustic music-making once dominated.

We acknowledge that it’s hard to replicate those dynamics. So, instead, try make a few selections from the songbook that you, your children, or your students do not know. Then, turn to the stunning resources brought us by recordings and online sites. We have literally a bouquet of performances available to us today that, in many cases, are free, too.

Using the well-honed pedagogy that repeated hearings are the best way to teach music, choose a variety of performances rich in contrasts: renditions by polished artists like Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Fred Astaire; vibrant performances by folk musicians like Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Burl Ives, the Kingston Trio; versions cast in Country-Western, Bluegrass, or Roy-Rogers’ Cowboy Style; lively, magnificent renderings by barbershop quartets and large choral ensembles (such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). Don’t forget to look for purely instrumental renditions too.

And finally, and importantly, seek out performances of these songs by some of the operatic stars, particularly singers like Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming, who have made songs from our American heritage a particular priority in their concerts and recordings.

If you are able to do even a portion of this, you will perk up the ears of your young listeners, challenge their perceptions, and very likely get them interested in those songs. Then, you can set them off on a quest to find even more performances, or to try to replicate some of these contrasting styles themselves as they sing. Whether they like the song ultimately or not does not matter. What matters is that they see the currency of this music that allows it both to survive for decades and to remain vital to a wide swath of talented musicians.

Students, particularly older ones, may enjoy a bit of sleuthing by investigating the sources and backgrounds of these songs. Were they popularized during significant political or military events in our Colonial days? Are they reflective of social movements in 19th-century history? Do they come from musical shows that sparkled with excitement in the early 20th century? Who sang them? Who wrote them? (Our songbook Hurrah and Hallelujah offers you a head start on this with some historical notes on each song.)

You may even try presenting a new song first only on paper (via the lyrics) and see how much how a student can decipher, based on the words, to place it historically or culturally. Think how a good cook can smell the essence (text) of something and declare which herbs and spices make up the recipe, even before tasting the broth (hearing the melodies).

Remember: at the root of song repertoire lies the words. Songs are poems set to music. The aesthetic and historical ramifications of this statement can be pondered endlessly, and have been in many a scholarly writing. Such musings, though, are not our first concern when presenting the heritage of song to the next generation. We want kids to taste, smell, see, and feel this music. We hope they can laugh or cry along with it. And we wish for the songs to move into the hearts and minds of each new generation so as to inspire, comfort, amuse, instruct, and edify them in own lives.

Give my initial suggestion a try. Find some vivid and contrasting performances and see what happens. Perhaps some of you will even comment about which songs you picked, what performances you chose, and the responses your kids had to the experience.