World Folk Songs

At work or play, children and families all over the world make music. One way to celebrate the joy and excellence of humankind is to share our music together!  

With the help of her students in Los Angeles, StringsPop creator Carrie Salisbury designed these World Folk Song resources for music educators, parents and students. Each song in the current collection was recommended by a studio family with ties to the country, culture and songs shared. Over the course of a year, the students in Carrie’s group, Crescendo Strings, shared stories, history, food, traditions, memories and music of their heritage with the class. All the students learned the song favored by each family. Then the entire performing group recorded and premiered the songs as large multi-level group collaborations. The finished music videos, with displays of traditional dress and some singing in family languages are also shared here.  

We embrace the excellence of our friends’ cultures and countries with joy! 

We invite music educators and students everywhere to learn these songs and offer the following resources to help!

Introducing concepts about diatonic harmony through lead sheet notation is a hallmark component to Carrie’s unique StringsPop pedagogy – where folk and popular music of all kinds are broken down into layers of melody, bass, harmony and rhythm. These elements build music literacy about functional harmony in otherwise single-line instruments!  For more examples of how Creative Lead Sheet Pedagogy can be shared with tweens and teens, check out the StringsPop online camp and workshops. 

For more information about free teacher workshops like this in the future, RSVP here.

Cielito Lindo (Mexico)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “Cielito Lindo”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “Cielito Lindo”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “Cielito Lindo”)
(Above: Completed video of “Cielito Lindo” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)

Jasmine Flower (China and Taiwan)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “Jasmine Flower”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “Jasmine Flower”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “Jasmine Flower”)
(Above: Completed video of “Jasmine Flower” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)

Per Spelmann (Norway)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “Per Spelmann”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “Per Spelmann”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “Per Spelmann”)
(Above: Completed video of “Per Spelmann” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)

Arirang (Korea)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “Arirang”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “Arirang”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “Arirang”)
(Above: Completed video of “Arirang” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)

The Boy with the Axles in His Hands (Southern U.S.)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “The Boy with the Axles in His Hands”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “The Boy with the Axles in His Hands”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “The Boy with the Axles in His Hands”)
(Above: Completed video of “The Boy with the Axles in His Hands” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)

Bint El Shalabiya (Lebanon)

Download Free PDF Lead Sheet of “Bint El Shalabiya”:

(Above: accompaniment track for “Bint El Shalabiya”)
(Above: Layer-cake video tutorial for “Bint El Shalabiya”)
(Above: Completed video of “Bint El Shalabiya” by children in the Gerona Rose Music Studio)