I selected this traditional Irish saying as inspiration for one of my Orff-Schulwerk groups. In class, I was just introducing music that featured movement between the I and V chord on Orff instruments. Since it was March, I thought I would use this beautiful Irish saying and incorporate it into my lesson plan. I often enjoy adding American Sign Language into the experience, and so below I provided you with a basic sign gloss for the lyrics.
*Glossing – Writing a word in your native language for each sign that appears. ASL is not a writen language, so glossing is not a translation, but a description of what was signed, including signs used, important body language, and accepted glossing symbols.
“An Irish Blessing”
May troubles be less, and blessings be more
TROUBLE LESS BLESSINGS MORE
And nothing but happiness come to your door.
ONLY HAPPINESS ARRIVE DOOR
And may you have luck wherever you go.
LUCKY, LUCKY (ONE FINGER MOVES AWAY)
Your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.
BLESSINGS MORE-THAN (GREEN BELOW OTHER HAND) GROW
Below is the Orff arrangement and melody I selected for “An Irish Blessing”. It includes parts for soprano recorder (SR), finger cymbals (FC), soprano and alto glockenspiels (SG & AG), and alto xylophone and alto metallophone (AX & AM), but the piece lends itself to a variety of percussion. I have used this piece with a harp student, and even a tone chime choir.
Free download: An Irish Blessing
Wade is a board-certified music therapist and one of the directors at Spectrum Creative Arts. He completed additional training programs in Orff-Schulwerk, Neurologic Music Therapy, and Performance Wellness. As a songwriter and creative writer, Wade has authored several music resource books for music therapy and music education.