La Bamba ~with lyrics, notation, and chords~

Special thanks to all the students who helped in making this video from Langley Park McCormick Elementary School in Maryland.
La Bamba is a wonderful Mexican folk song that became internationally famous by the Hispanic-American singer Ritchie Valens, recorded just months before he died.
In some ways, La Bamba can be a very simple song to sing and play- but in other ways (especially rhythmic), it can be quite a challenge- which makes it such a great song for kids to learn to sing and play.
In this video, we focused on trying to make something that could capture the musical qualities of La Bamba in as many ways as possible, so there is a section that focuses on lyrics and their English translation, a section dedicated to an 'Orff arrangement' that music classes can play as a group, a section dedicated to learning the melody on both the keyboard and the recorder, and a section dedicated to group sing alongs where all the guitar chords and lyrics are presented on one screen.
About our singers: One of the aspects I like best about La Bamba is how it became famous by 17 year old Ritchie Valens, an American singer with Hispanic roots who never really learned how to speak Spanish. He took an old folk song from Mexico, made it his own, and changed the world in the process. The student singers in this video are very similar to Ritchie Valens in that they are also, for the most part, Hispanic-Americans, growing up in a culture different from that of their parents. So for us, this song and video has been extra special in that it represents the music of Hispanic-America.
Credits:
Video: Nathan Walby
Composer: Mexican Folk Song
Arranger: Nathan Walby
Performers: Nathan Walby, Ms. O's 4th grade class, and Ms. H's 6th grade boys