Issue 104: Sambalele (is a monkey)

This is a neat little song about a monkey.

I’ve come across it in a number of different versions, all with roughly the same tune, but with varied lyrics and slightly altered rhythms. This is the version that I am using. So far I only have one verse, but I have challenged the children to come up with some more.

Here’s the thing. It’s a ‘two chorder’; just F and C (or C7, even easier) on a ukulele, G and D on a guitar. That’s well within my abilities to sing and play and teach all聽at the same time, and perfect for teaching ukulele.

And, what’s more, there are two great rhythms embedded into it; the verse rhythm, and the chorus rhythm. This week I used it in a year 5/6 samba class. We had learned the song last week, so it was just a matter of revising it, before we got to work.

First we all clapped the whole song (internalisation, aural memory,聽pulse skills). Then each of the four groups clapped a line in turn (more advanced skills). We transferred the song to the samba instruments, whole class and then group by group. It made an entertaining, slightly demanding warm-up activity, and extended the life of the song. I can see that we will develop a performance over the next few weeks聽incorporating singing, instrumental interludes, composition opportunities, maybe some instrumental solos… who knows where this could lead?

I intend to use the same idea in future djembe classes, adapting the basses and tones as follows;

(tones in lower case, bass in UPPER CASE)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 sambalele is a MON-KEY,聽聽聽聽聽聽 SAM-BA SAM-BA sambalele