Hummy
matching a pitch
Hummy Floats to Your Note
Hummy was a tiny hummingbird, and she loved to follow a voice. Wherever a note went, Hummy went too. Sing up high, and up she floated. Sing down low, and down she drifted. She never floated to the wrong place — she floated to yours.
A little one hummed a soft middle note. Up-hover, down-hover — Hummy wobbled in the air, listening. “Sing it again,” she seemed to say, wings a happy blur. The note came again, and Hummy floated right up beside it, nose to nose. Your voice and Hummy, at the very same spot.
But Hummy could not land while a note kept sliding around. So the little one took a breath and held one gentle note — steady, soft, like holding a bubble without popping it. Slowly, slowly, Hummy floated down… and landed right on the flower. Held notes are landing spots.
Every day they played it. A high note — Hummy up by the leaves. A low note — Hummy down by the roots. And a steady, held note — Hummy landing softly, wings folding, happy and calm. Wherever your voice goes, a friend can follow.
Reading together with a grown-up? A card for the grown-up
For the grown-up: ask one question, then wait. When they answer, add one word to what they said. Tap the button when they have said something — that is one turn each, a circle. Nothing is recorded or kept.
Let them finish it
Say “Hummy floats to YOUR note — sing it, hold …” and stop. Let them finish it.
Now wait. Count slowly to five in your head. Their answer is worth the quiet.
Circles together: 0
The HumTots ensemble
Hummy is one of the friends in HumTots. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.
