Music Activity
Purpose:
Music though out the ages has been a powerful way for people to express themselves and their cultures. Using music is a great way to teach children about other cultures. Introducing children to the sounds of other cultures will expand their world view and help them understand other people. If children learn to appreciate music from other cultures and countries, they will be well on their way to understand and appreciate other cultures as a whole. Because children naturally love music, including a music activity in your curriculum will be a fun and engaging way to teach.
This activity will introduce children to music from Rwanda and more specifically to a history African musical technique named call and responses which as traditionally been used to form and empower community. Through this activity children will learn about Rwandan music, will understand how music can be used as a tool to empower and to bring hope.
African Call and Response Music
Call and response music is traditional of Sub-Sahara Africa. Call and response is a form of verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener(s) in which all of the statements ('calls') are punctuated by expressions ('responses') from the listener. In call and response song, the speaker signs a phrase and the listener(s) responds by singing the same phrase.
In African cultures, call and response is a way for people to engage in democratic participation in community activities, public meetings, in religious gatherings, as well as in vocal and instrumental musical expression. Many traditional African songs, even children's rhymes, are written and sung in a call and response fashion. This type of musical expression has been transmitted to many kinds of music including blues, jazz, gospel and even hip hop.
Activity
1- Pick a traditional African call and response song or an American call and response song. Overall, look for child-friendly songs-ones with simple melodies, lots of repetition, and call-and-response techniques. These formats invite children to easily participate and make the songs their own. See below for some song suggestions.
2 - Gather the children in a circle.
3 - Introduce children to call and response music and put it in context of African culture. Explain to them how the music is structured, what are the speaker and listener roles and what it means to sing in collaboration.
4 - (optional) Show the children videos of African children singing a traditional call and response song. This will give them a great idea of what the structure of the song is like and will give them a picture of African children. See below for some links to videos.
5 - Teach the children the lyrics to the call and response song of your choosing. Make it even more fun by teaching them movements along with the lyrics. We suggest that you write down the lyrics to the song on a board or poster board to make it easier for children to follow along.
6 - Sing the song with the children. Allow many different children to be the ‘speakers’ so many students have the opportunity to lead the song. Leading other children in song will be each child a sense of empowerment.
8 - Reflect upon the collaborative importance of the song and of the call and response technique.
Questions to ask the children:
- Would it be as much fun if one person sang and everyone else just listened?
- How much louder and nicer does the song sounds when it is sung by many people?
- How can singing together help us form our community?
- How are African songs different from American songs? How are they similar?
- What does music mean to you and to your friends?
- How can singing bring hope to people? Can together singing make people happy?
Song Suggestions
The song "Jambo Bwana" is a popular welcome song in East Africa. It is often sung to welcome visitors and the words are easy to follow and remember. The melody is also easy to learn and to sign. This is a great song for children to learn and to sing using the call and response technique. The song is in Swahili which is one of Rwnada's official languages. To see a video of children singing this song please click here.
The lyrics to this song with English translation:
Jambo, Jambo bwana
Habari gani,
Mzuri san
Wwageni, mwakaribishwa
Africa hakuna matata
Hello, hello Sir
How are you?
Fine thank you
You are all welcome
Africa no problem
Other song and artist suggestions:
Putumayo African Playground
Ella Jenkins
Ella Jenkin's Call and Response CD can be found here.
Songs for Teaching
Katherine Dines
Links to Videos
Rwandan children singing a call and response:
Rwandan children singing and dancing