Poems about MUSIC!
by Little Dazzy Donuts
Here’s a selection of poems about music taken from the weekly Kids’ Poetry Club podcast, including links to podcast episodes and YouTube videos.
All poems are written by children’s poet, Little Dazzy Donuts. Illustrations by Dot Cherch.
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“Back Together”
(available in episode 120 and on YouTube)
When you went South,
I went North.
I seem to recall
it was all because
of creative differences
in what we wrote,
and how we sang,
and what we spoke.
So, we left behind
our string of hits
when we chose to focus
on the few small bits
that annoyed us. When,
what we should have done,
is to focus instead
on the joy and fun.
But once we’d split,
it was there to see
that without the “us”,
the “you” and the “me”
would be shadows
of what we could have been.
It’s true when they say
there’s no “I” in team.
So, let’s not regret
what we did forever,
when instead we can get
the band back together.
“Duo”
(available in episode 120)
You play the high notes.
I’ll take the low.
If you’re the violin,
then I’ll be your bow.
You be the neck
and I’ll be the strings.
I’ll play the tune,
for the lyrics you sing.
You be the cymbals,
and I’ll be the drums.
Without all of your words,
I’d be just left to hum.
So, come be the chorus,
and I’ll be the verse.
You’re the performance,
after I first rehearse.
While others have big bands,
percussionists too,
the only accompaniment I need
is to be accompanied by you.
“Playing A Tune”
(available in episode 120)
You’ll be surprised when you listen,
that for someone my age,
I manage to play notes
with a very wide range.
I perform many octaves
from the highs to the lows,
including ones that are so high
that only dogs really know.
I’ve perfected my scales,
both major and minor.
You might think that for musicians
that none could be finer.
But, something then happens
when playing a tune,
that within minutes of starting
can clear a whole room.
Do you know what I’m playing?
Perhaps, kinda or sorta.
As I play all the right notes
just not in the right order.
“The Bird Choir”
(available in episode 101)
I was friends with the neighbors
until this all started,
when I signed myself up
for the morning’s dawn chorus.
I’d be awake bright and early,
with an alarm set for four.
I’d jump up, get changed,
and dash straight out the door
to stand out on my lawn,
awaiting my part,
listening patiently for a sign
that the singing would start.
Then I’d blast out the sweetest tune
you’ll ever of heard.
So glad to be a member
in the choir of birds.
“My Music Lesson”
(available in episode 56 and on YouTube)
On that fateful day,
I approached the room
with a packet of pectin,
and a wooden spoon,
a box full of berries
an armful of jars,
as many bags of sugar
as I could fit in the car.
I opened the door,
with my confidence high,
but once inside
what first caught my eye
was someone with a trumpet,
and one at the drums,
a musician standing up
playing a bass using thumbs.
I guess that night
was my first music lesson
of learning what it means
to attend a jam session!
“Band”
(available in episode 56)
I joined the band,
but just couldn’t play.
None of the sounds
came out the right way.
On brass, I’d suck
when I really show blow.
On the strings, I was holding
the wrong end of the bow.
On drums, I tried playing
with my hands not with sticks.
That crash wasn’t cymbals,
I was banging two bricks.
I failed with the oboe,
the flute, and bassoon.
I just came across
as a music buffoon.
I guess that my racket
was too tough to withstand,
and despite all of my trying.
I’ve been banned … from the band.
“The Music Pioneer”
(available in episode 56)
The drum kit's located center stage,
the brass off to its right,
the strings are lined up to the left,
for my solo show tonight.
Yet my drum sticks are safely in a bag,
my bows are in a case,
my pedals sit up on a shelf,
my mouthpiece locked away.
I’ve heard it said I am unique:
a music pioneer.
As when on stage to perform a show,
I play everything by ear!
“Superstar”
(available in episode 12)
Just toot a horn,
bang a drum,
play a mouth harp
with your thumb.
Strum a chord.
Start a tune.
Blow an oboe,
and bassoon.
Stomp your foot,
clap in time,
sing a song,
and rap in rhyme.
Grab a bow
and violin,
and pick away
on a mandolin.
Finish strong
with a tambourine -
the wackiest sight
they’ll have ever seen.
A hit machine -
you'll sure go far,
a one-kid ten-instrument
superstar.
“The Fish Band”
(available in episode 55)
There was a Bass and a Salmon.
A Trout and Carp too.
Playing hard Rock and Sole,
‘til their Breams all came true.
They were Perched up on stage,
with Mullets galore,
and they Clowned and they Floundered.
Did the Conger and all!
They Cod have done better.
It was Roughy for sure,
And most folks agreed that they
broke one or more lures.
If only the band
had ended it sooner,
as it was clear to us all
they were all out of Tuna.
“My Radio”
(available in episode 49 and on YouTube)
AM. FM. Digital.
I'm scanning just for fun.
I listen to a hundred stations.
Never settle just on one.
Sports talk, classical, 80s,
then jazz followed by rock.
In the afternoon, it's chart hits,
soft ballads and hip-hop.
I wake up to the radio,
and it's on when I go to bed.
It doesn't matter if I turn it off,
I'll still hear it in my head.
I'll tune in for the traffic,
and to hear the local news.
Or I'll tune into a far off station,
from a country that I choose.
I've listened since I was a kid.
For sure, I’ll never end.
When I'm all alone, and no one calls,
the radio's my friend.
“Making Money From Music”
(available in episode 12 and on YouTube)
First, they put me in the strings
with the cellos, violas and other things.
But my bow went up
as others’ went down,
and I was easy to spot
as the source of the sound
of a lonesome cat
shrieking all of the night,
with a scraping that induced
such a fearful fright
that I was taken off of the violin
for making such an awful din.
Next, they tried me in the choir –
not a great decision, it did transpire.
As I sang out loud,
and all could see
I had the vocal qualities
of a chimpanzee,
and the kids around me
were brought to tears
and stuffed their fingers
in their ears.
Now, the teacher pays me just enough
to be elsewhere and not show up.