World Music Blog

Title : Sarasponda Performers : Unknown Origin : Denmark Orchestration : Voices, rhythm sticks In this Dutch folk song, the lyrics - being of no particular language - are meant to imitate the sounds of a spinning wheel. It is believed that mothers would teach this song to their daughters while they learned to use spinning machines, most likely to spin clothes or blankets. Meanwhile, the use of this repetitive song in such a way as this video shows, can be a very beneficial example of how play positively affects socialization. While teaching this song to a classroom of students, you can number them off into pairs, and then have them rotate each time the song starts over, so they are with a different student every time. Such as in this example, the use of the rhythm sticks forces the students to work together to perform the assigned actions. Being that this is a fun activity (and hopefully your students agree), this is an easy way to inhibit socialization among students who...

Title : Siyahamba Performers : Mwamba Children's Choir Culture : South Africa Instrumentation : Voice, guitars, drums This is a simple song in the African Zulu language, translating simply to "we are marching" and used often in the church. As in this rendition, performance of this hymn usually starts with one voice and builds to include several voices in unison, with accompanying instruments and dancing. There are several other videos taken informally in African villages where this is taught using the call-and-response method, which Campbell (2004) talks about in Teach Music Globally . The use of call-and-response is used all over the world to teach songs, but also in performance practice. Call-and-response is also one of the most effective teaching strategies for teaching songs, especially at younger ages. This strategy, paired with songs from this culture and others, can effectively and quickly be used to teach our students songs about other cultures as we...

Title : Magalenha Performer : Sergio Mendes Culture of Origin : Brazilian Instrumentation : Voice, bateria ensembe (surdo, tamborim, bells, timbal, repinique) This week's world music blog brings a genre of Brazilian music that is new to me - called batucada. Batucada is a substyle of samba, and it refers to an Afran-influenced Brazilian percussive style usually performed by bateria ensemble, which is used fairly often in Brazilian music. Batucada is characterized most easily by its repetitive style and fast pace.  Paul Simon uses this same substyle in his song The Obvious Child , showing its value and appreciation as it is melded into a Western music context. This shows the main benefit of the repetitive nature of batucada. Almost anything can be played on top of a bateria ensemble, no matter the chordal structure. Musical structure can be just as inclusive as it can be inclusive, depending on the parameters it sets. While the structure of butacada is much more malle...