Rain, Rain, Go Away/It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, by Lawrence Weiss, 2018
Rain, Rain, Go Away
England
HISTORY AND SONG NOTES
Rain, Rain Go Away, is a folktune that most likely originated in England. However, similar tunes have been traced to Ancient Greece and Rome. The first published versions of the song that we know today date as far back as the 1600s.
Singing
This song is a lovely singing activity for young children, as it includes an easy-to-sing pattern and a narrow range. The teacher can model high and low sounds throughout the song by raising and lowering their hand while they sing.
Rain (high), rain (low), go a- (high), way (low), etc.
AUDIO RECORDING FOR LISTENING, SINGING ALONG, AND LEARNING
You’ll notice that in the recording below Rain, Rain Go Away is paired with another folksong, It’s Raining, It’s Pouring. These songs share the same harmonic structure, and can be sung together. Young children will not be able to sing two or more overlapping songs independently as you hear in this recording without considerable practice and teacher help; however, listening to overlapping songs or songs with different vocal parts is one way that we first introduce children to the concept of harmony.