In A Year of Folk Tunes, July’s key of the month is F Sharp Major and D Sharp Minor. It’s not a key that shows up in a first- or second-year method book. However, when you need to be able to use it, it’s usually urgent!

I wrote four rounds to help navigate this key. Everyone who played them, got a lot better at the hand positions required for F Sharp Major and D Sharp Minor. The rounds have one part doubled so they would be playable with only two parts. In score form, each tune also has an optional piano part for extra rehearsal. It was very, very hot when I was writing the canons, as you can see from the titles.

Dog Days of Summer is in D Sharp Minor and 3/4 time. The cello opens this round, while the violins and violas double.

Fried Egg on the Sidewalk is in 4/4 time and F Sharp Major. The violins and violas begin this round.

Splish! Splash! Raindrops on my Umbrella is entirely pizzicato. It is most challenging of the rounds for the cascading eighth notes patterns and dissonance.

In 2/4 time, the Lightning bugs and Fireflies buzz around with tremolo. The violins and violas begin with the cello following close behind.

The sheet music for the rounds is available as a digital download.
Dog Days of Summer for Violin, Viola and Cello with Optional Piano
Fried Egg on the Sidewalk for Violin, Viola and Cello with Optional Piano
Splish! Splash! Raindrops on my Umbrella for Violin, Viola and Cello with Optional Piano
Lightning bugs and Fireflies for Violin, Viola and Cello with Optional Piano

Listen to the rounds here.
Dog Days of Summer
Fried Egg on the Sidewalk
Splish! Splash! Raindrops on my Umbrella
Lightning bugs and Fireflies

Thank-you Sophie for playing the violin part on Dog Days of Summer, Splish! Splash! Raindrops on my Umbrella and Lightning bugs and Fireflies.
Thank-you Jacob for playing the cello part on Fried Egg on the Sidewalk.
Thank-you Jason for the insightful questions after the first read-though.

Current Round Count: 28