What a fun start to the New Year! Today in music we did two things; firstly, we made a list of all of the musical games that we already know of or have played before, and secondly, we had the chance to learn a new game from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
Over the holidays, we had a chance to reflect and talk to our families and friends about musical games. This process has helped us to start a list of all the games we know as a year four group - so far our list is this:
Musical Chairs, Musical Statues, pass the parcel, skipping games with chants and songs, the limbo, London Bridge is falling down (UK), O Mochi O (Japan), Epapawairi/stick games (New Zealand), Poi Poi game (New Zealand), Kaka (Malaysia), hide the napkin, hot potato, guitar hero (video game), dance pad (video game), rock band (video game), apple on a stick, and musical guessing and memory games (echoing, listening, memory games).
We also did some reflecting about what exactly a musical game is. We came up with a list of 6 elements that we think a musical game MUST have to make it qualify as 'real' musical game. Here is our list:
1. shows or reflects different parts of a culture
2. must have music of some kind (singing, rhythm, beat, instruments, chant etc..)
3. must have rules and/or instructions
4. should be entertaining and does not need to have a winner
5. should have 2 or more players
6. has some kind of movement
The game that we played and learned about today was 'The Limbo." We discovered that some of us were already familiar with this game and have played at birthday parties and other social gatherings, but this was also a new game for others. We learned that this game originated in in Trinidad - a country in the Caribbean. We discovered that the English dialect (way of speaking) in Trinidad is quite different from the way we speak English, and we got to experience this dialect when learning the song "Poco 'le 'me 'lone" that we sang while doing the limbo.
Here are some quick facts that we discovered about the limbo:
- it was believed to be started by slaves who were brought to Trinidad from Africa on ships.
-it started as a dance, and then CHANGED into a game by adding rules and adding the limbo stick
- some people believe that the action of bending backwards is a symbol of the way slaves had to stand when put in the bottom part of the ship where the area was too low for them to stand straight up when they were being brought over to the Caribbean. This is only someones idea... we don't know if it is 100% true.
-the words in the song are sung in a different dialect of English - the words are shortened or different versions of the words we use (le me lone= leave me alone)
-the rules are that you must go under the bar by leaning backwards, you must not touch the floor with any part of your body except your feet, and you cannot touch the bar. We added the rule that you have to sing while you are waiting to go under, but you don't need to sing while you are actually going under.
-there is a winner and this person is the last person standing who has not touched the bar or the floor
-Even though this game started a long time ago in the Caribbean, it is connected to many other parts of the world because we think that it is probably a game that is played in many, many countries and cultures.
Next class, there will be a few girls from 4DB who will teach the class the musical game "apple on a stick."
Over the holidays, we had a chance to reflect and talk to our families and friends about musical games. This process has helped us to start a list of all the games we know as a year four group - so far our list is this:
Musical Chairs, Musical Statues, pass the parcel, skipping games with chants and songs, the limbo, London Bridge is falling down (UK), O Mochi O (Japan), Epapawairi/stick games (New Zealand), Poi Poi game (New Zealand), Kaka (Malaysia), hide the napkin, hot potato, guitar hero (video game), dance pad (video game), rock band (video game), apple on a stick, and musical guessing and memory games (echoing, listening, memory games).
We also did some reflecting about what exactly a musical game is. We came up with a list of 6 elements that we think a musical game MUST have to make it qualify as 'real' musical game. Here is our list:
1. shows or reflects different parts of a culture
2. must have music of some kind (singing, rhythm, beat, instruments, chant etc..)
3. must have rules and/or instructions
4. should be entertaining and does not need to have a winner
5. should have 2 or more players
6. has some kind of movement
The game that we played and learned about today was 'The Limbo." We discovered that some of us were already familiar with this game and have played at birthday parties and other social gatherings, but this was also a new game for others. We learned that this game originated in in Trinidad - a country in the Caribbean. We discovered that the English dialect (way of speaking) in Trinidad is quite different from the way we speak English, and we got to experience this dialect when learning the song "Poco 'le 'me 'lone" that we sang while doing the limbo.
Here are some quick facts that we discovered about the limbo:
- it was believed to be started by slaves who were brought to Trinidad from Africa on ships.
-it started as a dance, and then CHANGED into a game by adding rules and adding the limbo stick
- some people believe that the action of bending backwards is a symbol of the way slaves had to stand when put in the bottom part of the ship where the area was too low for them to stand straight up when they were being brought over to the Caribbean. This is only someones idea... we don't know if it is 100% true.
-the words in the song are sung in a different dialect of English - the words are shortened or different versions of the words we use (le me lone= leave me alone)
-the rules are that you must go under the bar by leaning backwards, you must not touch the floor with any part of your body except your feet, and you cannot touch the bar. We added the rule that you have to sing while you are waiting to go under, but you don't need to sing while you are actually going under.
-there is a winner and this person is the last person standing who has not touched the bar or the floor
-Even though this game started a long time ago in the Caribbean, it is connected to many other parts of the world because we think that it is probably a game that is played in many, many countries and cultures.
Next class, there will be a few girls from 4DB who will teach the class the musical game "apple on a stick."
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