What better way to discover the world than to sing songs that have captivated the imaginations of children across the continents.

In this amazing collection of songs children love to sing, Karen Howard truly opens the door to encountering songs from diverse cultures and experiences, on themes from family, animals, flowers, food, and more. The repertoire in First Steps in Global Music is particularly accessible for teachers and children wishing to discover these great songs.

Organized by geographical region, Howard provides the context and guidance—including references to recordings—for these songs to come alive. She further organizes the songs based on First Steps activity categories: Fragment Singing, Simple Songs, Movement for Form and Expression, Movement with the Beat, and Songtales.

Take a look, have a listen, and see what captures your attention—and what might capture the imaginations of the children in your life!

Featuring music from:

• Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe)
• Oceania (Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand)
• Asia (China, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia)
• Middle East (Israel and Lebanon)
• North America (Quebec, Guatemala, Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti) 
• South America (Brazil, Peru, Chile) 
• Europe (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Poland, Republic of Georgia)

For more information and resources about global music, visit giamusic.com/firststepsglobal.

Special message: Since the summer of 2019, it has come to the attention of GIA editors that some of the American folk songs in the First Steps in Music series and other publications have racist histories. GIA is committed to providing resources that uphold the highest possible values for children and for our classrooms. We are excited about the efforts of the Feierabend Association for Music Education’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to develop standards through which repertoire should be evaluated. We intend to revise our publications based on those standards at the earliest possible opportunity. Learn more at giamusic.com/dei.