As I’ve written about previously, I used to keep my “database” of Spanish music in my head…..until it just got to be too much to remember! Then, I started keeping each song used for a particular chapter or unit on the chapter page on my wikispace. However, that did not give me great organization, particularly when someone asked me for a music suggestion for a particular topic, theme, artist, etc. Almost three years ago, I created my second presentation for MFLA on using Spanish music to teach geography, social awareness, vocabulary and history. That presentation featured the music of Juanes (Colombia), Juan Luis Guerra (La República Dominicana) and Carlos Baute (Venezuela). By that time, the need to create a database was pressing! Last year, I created a third MFLA session called Music Lights the Language Fire! (which I will be presenting again at NECTFL spring 2012) and I could no longer put off the creation of an organized system. The first database that I created contained some 325 songs that are in an Excel spreadsheet by artist, title, grammar, vocabulary, culture topic, country, and YouTube video link. Today, that database contains 635 songs that are searchable by the same topics. It is a valuable tool for me. If I’m looking for a song that contains the future tense or object pronouns or commands, etc, that’s what I search for; if I need a song from Uruguay, I search for that; if my students have responded favorably to a different artist, like Sie7e, María Mulata or Orishas, I am able to search for more music from that artist; if I need music videos about Sevilla, they are there, too. If you would like to view the database, here is the actual document that you may access without visiting my wikispace, Spanish Music Database 2 (version 1) . Also, if you have favorite artists or songs, please share them with me! Since I use music every single day with my students, I am always searching for more.
Updated again with suggestions from @karacjacobs Thanks, Kara!!! Spanish Music Database 2 (version 1)
Participate, by text message, in a poll, using poll everywhere: Who is your favorite Spanish artist or what is your favorite Spanish song?
Finally, here’s a video that I just discovered today, with lyrics in Spanish and English, by Noel Schajris and John Legend.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Here are few that I have used with great success:
- El Hijo de Hernandezby El Cuarteto de Nos – the video is very Michael Jackson-ish. And the students want to talk about the video so much!
- La Vida Tombola by Manu Chao – imperfect subjunctive and soccer (Diego Maradona)
- La Perla by Calle 13 feat. Ruben Blades – pride in where you come from, great video of the neighborhood La Perla in San Juan
- Niagara en Bicicleta by Juan Luis Guerra – DR healthcare (or lack there of)
- Ska de la Tierra by Bebe – enviroment – challenges students to sing Fast
- Bandera by Aterciopelados – immigration
- Ellas danzan solas by Sting – madres de la Plaza de Mayo
Thanks, Kara! These are some great additions. While I had 2 from El Cuarteto de Nos, I had not seen the one you suggested. And somehow, I didn’t have La Vida Tombola which I use every year with my Spanish III’s! The rest are great suggestions! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi,
Thanks so much for this fantastic resource. Although it’s early to start thinking of Christmas – sorry (!) I always use this when teaching present subjunctive – which, as luck would have it I usually introduce just before Christmas – Rosana, En Navidad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moppq95ib_Y I hope you like it!
Jane
Wow! Thanks for sharing this. This will be incredibly helpful to me, as I have in the last year just started taking baby steps toward integrating more music into my curriculum. I found you via your post on using music in the classroom without using a cloze activity, which I found incredibly helpful, as I have for the past year been struggling to do the same thing. Thank you for sharing the fruits of your labor. Unfortunately I’m not sure I have anything helpful to add as I am many steps behind you. I will post back here if I think of anything.
Michelle….I’m happy to share! Please let me know what songs you use and what works well for you.
Love this!!!!!
I do a song each week with my students and this helps me a lot! I don’t know how much time I waste each week looking for songs that fit the vocabulary/grammar we are learning.
Some songs I recently used are:
Frio de Ricky Martin
Me Rio de Ti – Gloria Trevi
Llueve el amor – Tito El Bambino
Thanks for sharing!
I’m happy to share! And thank you for sharing some other songs with me! Let me know if there is a song that your students really enjoy!
Pingback: Incorporating Spanish Into Our Daily Lives « SpanglishBaby™
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m sorry I’ve been absent for so long, but I’ve been dealing with serious illness and the death of my mother. I’m hoping that I am back in the blog/twitter world now. The database has been updated: Now more than 800 songs. Also, you could check out my current music unit here:
Amazing. Simply amazing. Thank you sooooo much!!!! I cannot wait to listen to them and add them to playlists for my students. We sing every day, too, so this will be used by me a LOT!!!
Thank you! I hope it is helpful for you. It’s always nice to find out that other people like the same things! I’d love to know what you and your students are singing.
Started using your wonderful database to create YouTube playlists. Here’s the first of hopefully more to come…there are many more from your database to add to this list, but it’s a start—> http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF2D075E5EC252208 (Bailes tradicionales y música para bailar)
Just updated the above link into two separate ones:
Bailes tradicionales: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF2D075E5EC252208
Música para bailar: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA8A2D42E6C00FBD4
Our daughter and son enjoyed the “bailes tradicionales” playlist today. Thank you again for finding and sharing so much of your hard work!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi! My name is César, i am also a Spansih teacher. I use a lot of songs that i write myself. my students love them. check them out. They might be helpful to you as well!
https://soundcloud.com/cesarachinchilla
Pingback: Update to My Spanish Music Database | Mod Spani...
Pingback: 7 Best Ways to Use Music in World Language Classrooms - Calico Spanish
Thanks for the mention!!!! I wish I could join the #langchat sessions, but I usually am not at home Thursdays nights at 8:00!!!