- Home
- All exercises
- Melodies
- The Holly and the Ivy
The Holly and the Ivy
The English folk carol in the version Cecil Sharp collected in 1909 and printed in 1911: the first verse and the refrain “The rising of the sun,” in three, with a leap of a major sixth on “and the” and “of the.”
The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional English folk carol. The version sung today was collected by Cecil Sharp (1859–1924) in 1909 in Chipping Campden and printed in 1911. You sing the first verse, from “The holly and the ivy” to “The holly bears the crown,” and then the refrain, from “The rising of the sun” to “Sweet singing in the choir.” It has 60 notes and takes about 27 seconds, in three.
How to do it
- Listen to the count-in. The piano plays the opening phrase alone, then plays along.
- Repeat the root four times, then leap a major sixth up on “and the,” “both full” and “of the.”
- Sing the quick pairs of short notes lightly and evenly, without rushing them.
- Let “in the wood” and “merry organ” dip below the root, and keep the tone steady.
- In the refrain, repeat the same leap on “of the” and finish on “choir.”
Coach's tip: The leap of a sixth comes four times – hear the top note before you sing it and aim straight at it instead of sliding up. Keep the quick pairs of short notes light.
What to watch out for
The leap of a major sixth comes back four times and is the main challenge. It is easy to undershoot or to push the top note. Prepare it by hearing the note in your head before you leap. The repeated notes on the root tend to drift flat, so keep the pitch level. The dips below the root can lose volume. Keep the three-beat pulse, and stop if your voice feels strained.
Who it's for
Level 2, for singers who can already sing a leap and want to practice it inside a real tune. Practice first with Interval: major sixth and Interval: perfect fourth. No program lists it. The daily training offers it only from 1 December to 6 January, but it is in the library all year. The piano plays along by default; you can switch to “Listen → Sing.”
Opens the app in your browser. Free to start, no account needed. Put on headphones first.
Related exercises
- Silent Night A wide range (1.5 octaves) and long notes. A ballad in its purest form.
- Amazing Grace Pentatonic in practice. Melismas on “zing”, “a”, “was”, “but”.
- When the Saints Go Marching In Energetic, with long notes at the end of phrases.
- Pop phrase: acoustic verse An original phrase in the style of acoustic verses: low register, minor pentatonic, speech rhythm.
- Twang on “nyah” A bright, narrow “nyah” on the first five scale degrees, holding the fifth. Twang is the safe base of rock edge – the voice sounds sharp while the throat stays loose.
- Pentatonic over a drone The piano holds a low drone – the tonic an octave down, like bagpipes or a hurdy-gurdy – and you sing the major pentatonic over it, up to the sixth and back. You hear the melody first, then sing it alone with just the drone.