“Sleigh Ride” Play Along (with video)
‘Tis the season for sleigh bells! 🔔“Sleigh Ride” is a fun winter song that can be used in both individual and group sessions!
If your primary instrument was in the band or orchestra, you may have played this piece a few times in holiday recitals.
One of the fun aspects of this song is playing all the different parts! Each instrument represents a winter sound. You may already have some of them in your music therapy bag!
Here’s what you need to get started:
Sleigh Bells: Shake the bells to imitate the sound of the bells that are placed around the horse’s neck or on the side of the sleigh.
Temple Blocks: Alternate the playing of the blocks to create the sound of the horses (or reindeer) running down the street.
Slapstick: The slapstick represents the sound of the whip used to get the horses movin’.
Trumpet: I like to substitute this instrument for a kazoo or recorder to create the sound of the horse neighing at the end of the song.
Instruments for “Sleigh Ride” Play Along
This song can be great for addressing listening goals, completing musical tasks, identification/discrimination goals, and more!
If you’re looking for a group intervention for December, you can ask each group member to choose which part they’d like to play and help the group play the percussion parts together as a mini ensemble.
I also like to use this intervention in my individual sessions and give clients the opportunity to explore each musical sound. It can also be helpful to them the option to alternate between the bells and the temple block while providing cues and playing the slapstick part.
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