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Twinkle, Twinkle

57

Category

vocal

Age

12+

Number of participants

5+

Duration

approx. 30 min.

Working method

group work

Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2  3  4  5  6

Equipment and instruments
  • music player / app to play the song
Competences
  • cultural / intercultural sensitivity
  • sense of language
  • perception
  • attention
  • cooperation

Twinkle, Twinkle

Introducing new aspects of a popular European melody.

AIM

In addition to singing the well-known melody together, the participants also listen to the lyrics in different languages and discuss how the same melody can appear in other cultures as well.

Description

We first sing the melody that everyone knows together, and then we ask the participants to tell us when they first encountered it.
After recalling the memories, we present the song in several languages, and the participants can guess in which language they heard it. Then we ask the participants how they think it is possible that the same melody appears in so many languages. The participants say what they think about it, without considering any possible version (singers, performers, spread of sheet music, etc.) as the only true one (Youtube and Facebook can of course be excluded, because we are talking about old times).
After thinking together, we show the version of the song sung in several languages and the Mozart arrangement. We can also try to sing in foreign languages.

COMMENTS FOR FACILITATORS

About the melody:
The origin of „Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” is a bit clouted, with an “anonymous” pastoral song being credited with the melody. The song dates back to 1740, while the lyrics incorporated within are relatively new. In 1761, the melody was first published, while the
first publication of the melody combined with the lyrics goes back to 1774.
“Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” is a French children’s melody/song which was popularized by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he created “Twelve Variations” based on it. Since it’s composition, several different versions of it have been created using diverse themes and lyrics.
Several songs over the years have been based on this melody, and also in several languages. In English alone, three popular children’s song is based on it: “Alphabet Song,” “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.”
Other prominent versions are included: “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann” (Germany), “Hull a pelyhes fehér hó” (Hungary), “Campanita del lugar” (Spain), and “Daha Dün Annemizin” (Turkey).

LYRICS

English

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.

French

Ah ! Vous dirai-je maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Moi je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.
Papa veut que je raisonne
Comme une grande personne.

Hungarian

Hull a pelyhes fehér hó,
jöjj el kedves Télapó!
Minden gyermek várva vár,
vidám ének hangja száll.
Van zsákodban minden jó,
piros alma, mogyoró,
Jöjj el hozzánk, várunk rád,
kedves öreg Télapó.

German

Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann,
Kommt mit seinen Gaben.
Bunte Lichter, Silberzier,
Kind mit Krippe, Schaf und Stier,
Zottelbär und Pantertier
Möcht’ ich gerne haben!

Spanish

Campanita del lugar,
suena alegre, suena,
noche en que Jesús nació,
que a la Humanidad salvó.
Campanita del lugar,
suena alegre, suena.

Sound Recognition

58

Category

vocal
instrumental

Age

8+

Number of participants

12-25

Duration

approx. 20 min.

Working method
  • individual
  • playing in pairs
  • group work
Musical abilities of the trainers

1 2  3  4  5  6

Equipment and instruments
  • music player / app to play the sound
    effects
  • any sound generating device
Competences
  • creativity
  • attention
  • perception
  • cooperation

Sound Recognition

Recognition of different natural and artificial sounds from a music player and through the activities of group members

AIM

The purpose of the game is to sensitize and develop young people’s hearing and association skills by recognizing and identifying the „melodies”, „rhythms” and noises of the sound world.

Description

The participants first listen to various effects with their eyes closed and the task is to recognize them. They can even compete to see who can recognize more sound sources.

The sound effects can be recorded in nature (water, wind, storm, thunder, birdsong, sounds of domestic and wild animals, etc.), sounds of human expressions (heartbeat, wheezing, sneezing, coughing, clapping, pounding, etc.), or even sound effects produced by household appliances, vehicles and machines. The animator can use online platforms to search for effects if it is not possible to make her/his own audio recordings for the
exercise.

Another option during the exercise is for the participants to produce sound effects themselves behind a curtain alone or with a partner, and the others have to guess what sound they hear.

Sound Reproduction

59

Category

vocal

Age

8+

Number of participants

10+

Duration

approx. 30 min.

Working method

group work

Musical abilities of the trainers

1  2  3  4 5 6

EQUIPMENT AND INSTRUMENTS
  • music player / app to play the sound
    effects
  • any sound generating device

Competences
  • improvisation
  • creativity
  • expression
  • confidence
  • attention
  • perception
  • cooperation
  • team cohesion

Sound Reproduction

The world around us is full of different sound effects, which we not only have to recognize, but sometimes also have to imitate, which in certain cases results in extremely humorous situations. The game is based on the systematic application and development of voice support.

AIM

In addition to observation and imitation, and the creative use of different sound production methods, it also serves to develop mutual attention, comparison, and self-evaluation.

Description

The members of the group sit in a circle and the animator distributes the piece of paper to everyone, and they each write a sound effect that comes to their mind (you can write more). This can be any effect, whether natural or artificial or human voice, except singing or other musical sounds.

Then, as in the „Activity” game, the participants draw a card and what they read there must be imitated with their own voice, which the others must recognize. It can be played as a team competition, but it can also be played as a scoring competition.
The game can be varied by asking for sound effects thematically: e.g. animal sounds, machine sounds, etc.

At the end of the game, they can listen to a piece of symphonic
music together, which is about voice imitation: e.g. Beethoven: VI.
Symphony – bird sounds; Rossini: Cat Duet, Honegger: Pacific 231;
The Typewriter