Chumbara

Folk Songfrom Quebec

'l. unum - ba - ra.

Chum-ba - ra,

\Lnum-oa - ra,

Chum-ba - ra,

chum-ba - ra,

chum-ba - ra,

Chum-ba - ra.

Chum, chum, chum, chum,

chum-ba - ra.

Chum-ba - ra,

chum-ba - ra,

2. Fydo-lee

3. Chow-ber-ski

chum-ba - ra,

chum, chum, chum, chum,

chum-ba - ra,

SINGING
Havethe studentsdo a simple"pat - clap" body percussionpatternin two to get a feel for the
beatandthe meterof the song. Singthe songwhile you "play" the bodypercussionpattern.
rest,pat-olapsnap.Repeat3 X then
Add a moredifficult bodypercussionpattern:pat-pat-clap,
add pat-clapclapclapclapclapclap-clap. Repeatabove3 X again. Finishwith pat, snap,pat
Singand"play" the entiresequence
together.Divide the classinto two groups.Havehalf the
"play"
the meteredbeatin two andhalf the class"play" the rhythmicpatternwhile singing,
class

PLAY-ING
Divide the classinto threegroups,everyonein eachgrouphavingthe sameunpitchedpercussion
instrument.(i.e. rhythmsticks,bells,woodblocks) Followingthe rhythmicpatternabove,have
one groupof studentsplay the "pat" part of the pattern,havethe secondgoup play the "clap"
part of the pattem,and havethe third groupplay the "snap" part of the pattern. Play the whole
rhythmicsequence
usingthe percussioninstruments.Seeif the studentscansingandplay at the
sametime. Add the two beatmetricpart on a drumor tambourine.Put it all together.
Add the two chord accompanimenton an auto harpor guitar. If the classcanplay recorders,
havethemlearnthe songon recorders.
CREATING
Havethe studentscreatear "A B A" arrangementof the songby singingon the "A" part and
playingan instrumentalonly verseon the "8" part. Now try creatingan "A B C B D"
arrangementwith different versesof the songon the "A C D" parts,and instrumentalonly
verseson the "B" parts.
LISTENING
Try changingthe percussioninstrumentsby either addingnew instrumentsor changingthe parts
is betterthanthe
the instrumentsareassignedto play. Listenanddecideif the new arrangement
previousarrangement.Analyzethe new arrangementand determineif a changein the tempo
and/ordynamicswould be an improvementon the old anangement.Describeto the classwhy
the changesarebetteror not aspleasingwhencomparingtwo or morearangementsof the song.
CURRICULUM INTEGRATION (LanguageArts)
Noticing that the songis madeup entirely of tluee syllablewordsthat do not makesenseto the
students,havethe studentbrain stormthreesyllablewordsor combinationof wordsthat come
lyrics to the song.
from their experienceanddo makesensewhensungasreplacement
(i.e. ham-bur-ger,piz-zapie, el-e-phant,big blue sky,endof schooletc.) Singnew lyrics

Chumbara