Tag Archives: Daria

Sing, Don’t Cry!

Welcome to our new section – posts featuring books about music. And there are some amazing books out there that inspire children with tales of world cultures, especially through the eyes – and ears – of musical traditions!

Written and illustrated by Angela Dominguez who was born in Mexico City, this lovely book shares a very personal vision into the world of the mariachi and Mexican music traditions. Angela’s grandfather – or abuelo – was a real life mariachi and music helped him weather the ups and downs of life.

Filling this beautiful book about Angela’s Abuelo Apolinar are stories from his actual life – a childhood accident, moving to a new city alone and other struggles. Through it all, singing and music help him stay happy and connected with the things in life that mattered most to him.

Where does the title – Sing, Don’t Cry – come from? It’s a translation of part of the chorus of the song, Cielito Lindo. A staple of mariachi music, Cielito Lindo was written way back in 1882 by Mexican author Quirino Mendoza y Cortés and has a beloved place in the world of Mexican music. The chorus of the song roughly translates to… Sing, Don’t Cry, Because singing gladdens the heart.

Here’s the chorus translated and a video so you can enjoy the song, if you aren’t already familiar with it!

Ay, ay ay ay… canta no llores
Por que cantando se allegran, cielito lindo, los corazones

Ai, ai, ai ai – sing don’t cry
Because singing gladdens the heart (heavenly one, dear)

(One translation note here – the phrase cielito lindo literally means pretty little sky but is a term for a dear one or a sweetheart)

I really enjoyed this book because it speaks of the powerful connection between generations. The grandfather in the story gets to share his big life lessons with his grandchildren as well as his music. And clearly, his granddaughter is sharing her talent with the world as well! You can find Sing, Don’t Cry at your local library or purchase it on Amazon, here: http://a.co/7Z65b0E .

Links And Related Resources

Author Angela Dominguez’s website: https://www.angeladominguezbooks.com/

Free Mariachi Guitar Coloring Page: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mariachi-Guitar-Coloring-Page-2511636

Three Cinco De Mayo music crafts: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cinco-De-Mayo-Music-Crafts-2507025

Learn the song “Un Poco Loco” from the movie “Coco” http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/uncategorized/are-you-un-poco-loco-about-disneys-coco/

All About The Mexican Hot Chocolate Song: http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/uncategorized/bate-bate-its-time-for-mexican-hot-chocolate/

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Posted in Classroom Music, Early Learning With Music, Favorite Songs, Hispanic Music, Multicultural Music

Tagged books about mariachis, children and music, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, intergenerational books, kids books about Mexico, Mariachi music for kids, multicultural music, world music with daria

Make A Drum That Sounds Like The Ocean!

Have you ever heard an ocean drum? It’s an amazing instrument that sounds almost exactly like the soothing sounds of the surf? And – guess what? It’s a quiet instrument! It’s great for music and meditation as well as a quiet time activity. And it’s also perfect project to make and play for for any child or adult on the autistic spectrum.

And, you can make it from all recycled materials!

What Is An Ocean Drum?

It looks like a frame drum from the Middle East, but it is filled with small round objects that, when tilted back and forth, sound remarkably like the waves at the seashore. It’s sound is soothing and when ocean drums are filled with colorful or interesting objects, they are as beautiful to watch as they are to hear.

Here are the supplies you need to make one ocean drum:

A sturdy box: Flat shipping boxes, or any sturdy small box
Clear plastic: You can recycle old report covers, salad bar containers, clear tablecloth covers or purchase a small amount of clear vinyl at a fabric or hardware store. Hint: Don’t use plastic wrap as it simply won’t hold up to the task.
Strong tape: Packing tape, masking tape, or electrical tape are good choices.
Contents for the drum: Choose any small fillings such as seed beads, pastina pasta, acini de pepe pasta, orzo, pony beads, mung beans, lentils, dried beans, marbles, or small pebbles.

How To Make It

Start with a sturdy box. It’s a good idea to decorate your box before experimenting with what you want to put inside. If you started with a plain box from a stationery supply store, you have a clean slate to create an ocean motif or decorate with paint, crayons, markers or glitter and glue. If you have an overly busy box, like a pizza box, you may wish to cover it with colored paper (leaving space for the window, of course) and decorate from there.

Next, create the window so you can watch the smaller items move around inside the drum. To do this, get some sturdy clear plastic and cut it into a large square or rectangle. Draw a slightly smaller square or rectangle on the inside of the top of your ocean drum box and cut it out. Secure the window in place inside the box using a strong tape such as packing tape, electrical tape, or masking tape.

Now choose something to create the sound of the surf. Small, round objects make a sound that is closest to a real ocean drum. However, you can get creative with what you’d like to try. You can choose tiny pasta like acini de pepe, pastina pasta, seed beads, bee bees, or mung beans. You can fill your drum with lentils, dried peas, marbles, pony beads, larger beans, or orzo pasta for a louder drum. You can mix and match to see what sounds best to your ear.

You may also want to make it interesting by adding colorful beads or other items like marbles, buttons, glitter or confetti that will add to the visual appeal of the drum.

Once you’ve chosen what you want to go inside, you are ready to seal the drum. Cover it with packing tape so that the contents will stay inside. Seal up all the edges where the smaller objects might come out and then you’re ready to play your ocean drum.

Playing The Ocean Drum

This is a fun instrument to explore. Here are a few techniques you can use when playing it:

Tilt it back and forth at gentle angles

Tilt it back and forth at more extreme angles

Tilt the drum for a gentle swooshing sound then turn it on its side to stop the sound

Tap the sides or top with your fingertips

Shake your instrument as if it were a rattle.

Many people find the sound and the changing patterns very calming and meditative. You can relax and play it without any other accompaniment or you can play this instrument along with soothing music or any of your favorite songs. Try to match the beat by tilting the ocean drum along with the rhythms of the song.

If you enjoy this type of drum, you may want to make several as each one will have a distinct sound or might fit better with different musical styles that you enjoy.

Feel free to experiment and make this unusual instrument all your own!

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Posted in Early Learning With Music, First Instruments, Music And Community, Musical Crafts, Simple Instruments

Tagged autism kids music, children with autism projects, childrens music projects, childrens music., children’s musical instruments, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, DIY ocean drum, Easiest Instruments For Children, homemade music, kids music projects, kids ocean drum, MPYP ocean drum, music and autistic kids, music crafts, ocean drum, ocean drum craft, unusual percussion, world music with daria, young children and music

Seashell Trumpets Around The World

Did you know a seashell can be a musical instrument?

Years ago, I saw a picture of a conch shell used as a trumpet in an ancient Aztec drawing. As I’ve visited other counties, I’ve discovered that large shells have been used in many different ways in ancient and modern times, all over the world.

Here are just a few of the world music traditions that use sea shells as natural trumpets and horns.

MEXICO

In Aztec culture, the shell trumpet was very symbolic and often associated with the breath of life as well as the rhythms of the sea. Similarly, it was associated with the call to prayer, marking time during the day and night, rhythms of the moon, fertility and with Ehécatl – the Aztec God of the Wind.

Here is the first picture that piqued my curiosity. It is a musician called a “quiquizoani” playing the conch trumpet. Researchers found 7 different types of conch shell trumpets played in the ancient Aztec culture of Mexico. They also discovered that conch shell trumpets were used by the Aztec military in a manner similar to modern day bugles.

One of the best sites for information on Aztec instruments, including great pictures from important archeological sites is Mexicolore.com. You can find Mexico Lore’s conch shell page here:  http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/conch-trumpet

KOREA

A nagak is a large elegant seashell used as a trumpet, mainly in military parades. You can see it above in a photo of a procession at the royal place in Seoul, Korea. Also called the na, sora or godong, it is made from the shell of a sea snail that is sometimes called Triton’s Trumpet.

JAPAN

In Japan, large conch shells called Horagai (法螺貝) (or jinkai (陣貝) have been used as trumpets for many centuries. Special schools still teach students to play the traditional music associated with the conch.

In ancient times, conch trumpets were used by certain sects of Buddhist monks to signal their movements across mountains or to accompany religious chanting. Unlike shell trumpets from other parts of the world, Japanese shell trumpets are fitted with mouthpieces of bamboo or bronze that allow them to create several different notes rather than just one single trumpet blast. Samurai used the war shell; known as the jinkai, as a communication device during battles. Playing different combination of notes would signal warriors to attack, withdraw, or change strategies during battle. Here is an example of the Japanese shell trumpet where you can hear the different notes being played:

PUEBLO CULTURE (USA)

Although the location is many days travel from the ocean, conch shell trumpets were found in the burial chambers of recently discovered (Native American) Pueblo ruins in New Mexico. You can read about what else was discovered there, here: https://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/conch-trumpets-flutes-and-turquoise-beads-treasured-items-of-an-ancient-culture/

FLORIDA (USA)

Not to be left out, there is a conch shell trumpet contest every year in the Florida Keys. Adults and kids participate and try to make beautiful music – or at least long sustained blasts – from their own gorgeous shells.

You can check out some of the champion “conch honkers” from the 50th anniversary contest in Key West, here:

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged children’s musical instruments, conch shell horn, conch shell trumpets, conch shells, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, Green music, multicultural music, natural instruments, ocean music, sea shells, Seashell music, world music, world music for kids, world music with daria

Báte Báte – It’s Time For Mexican Hot Chocolate!

Want to add some musical hot chocolate to your favorite playlists? Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora listening links to DARIA’s version of this great song are below.

A lot of people recognize the song from the PBS show Dora The Explorer. But did you know that “Báte, Báte Chocoláte” is probably about 400 years old, first appearing as a counting rhyme in schoolbooks written in Spain? Wow, that’s an ancient song, but one that is so easy and fun to sing.

If you don’t speak Spanish, here’s a bit of an explanation of the song.

The song counts to three in Spanish (uno, dos tres), then it progressively spells out the word “chocolate”(CHO CO LA TE). The word “báte” is from the Spanish verb “batear” meaning to whip or beat (like you might beat cake batter or whip homemade frosting with a mixer). Why is the chocolate being beaten or whipped? That’s how the drink is prepared.

To make Mexican hot chocolate, you put all the ingredients together and heat them up. As you do, you use a special carved stick called a molinillo that is rubbed between your hands to create the frothiness and delicious texture that makes this such a special treat! Although this was mainly considered a breakfast treat in Mexico, it’s hard to imagine it not being delicious any time of the day or night.

So sing along, or better yet, whip up some hot chocolate while you enjoy the song, especially if the weather is cold and frosty!

Links And Resources

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2osmKIhdalG0si6IjQri3j
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-rainbow-world/id208109471
Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/artist/dora-the…/bate-bate-chocolate/TRlVgkxZ6rxkcwK

Free Lyric Sheet for Báte, Báte Chocoláte
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bate-Bate-Chocolate-Free-Lyric-Sheet-3732121
Báte, Báte Chocolate – On Itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/do-the-limbo/id208109471?i=208109484&ign-mpt=uo%3D6
Báte, Báte Chocolate – On Amazon mp3
http://amzn.com/B0013XM8LCDirections For Mexican Hot Chocolate From Pati’s Mexican Table: (Photo above is courtesy of Pati’s Mexican Table – An Excellent site for exploring Mexican Cooking!)
http://www.patismexicantable.com/2010/02/ancient_ways_for_comfort_in_cold_days_mexican_hot_chocolate/
Directions For Mexican Hot Chocolate From Multicultural Cooking Network http://multiculturalcookingnetwork.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/authentic-mexican-hot-chocolate-recipe/

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Báte, Báte Chocoláte, counting songs, counting songs in spanish, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, dariamusic, Dora Songs, kids songs in Spanish, Mexican hot chocolate. hot choclate song, musica infantil, songs in Spanish, young children and music

What Are You Singing For Groundhog’s Day?

I just love groundhog’s day! Maybe it’s because groundhogs are so cute and cuddley. Or I was born somewhat near the permanent residence of Punxatawney Phil, official groundhog predictor of Spring. Or because groundhogs have adorable nicknames such as whistle pigs and woodchucks.

So, for so many reasons I couldn’t just crawl back into my hole for 6 more weeks of winter and I jumped at the chance to write and record a silly Groundhog’s Day song.

The simple song is based around the tongue-twister “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck… if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” I also wondered how much ground a groundhog could grind and how much sap a sapsucker could suck. And, yes, even though the lyrics are in song form, the tongue twisters still are a challenge to sing or say.

You can find the song lyric freebie below, plus a link to a sweet Springtime activity that includes pop-up puppets. It’s a fun way of having your own groundhog’s day anytime and anywhere.

And the best thing? You can laugh yourself silly while you predict an early Spring!

Links and Resources

Groundhog’s Day Song – Free Lyric Sheet – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Groundhogs-Day-Song-Lyric-Sheet-2357681

Groundhog’s Day Song From Itunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-groundhog-song-how-much/id385842751

Groundhog’s Day MYO Pop-Up Puppet Activity from TPT – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Groundhogs-Day-Song-and-Pop-Up-Groundhog-Puppet-Activity-484374

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Posted in Classroom Music, Early Learning With Music, Ecology/Nature, Family Fun, Holiday Songs, Homeschool Musical Fun, Musical Crafts, Silly Songs

Tagged childrens music., Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, Groundhog, Groundhogs Day, Groundhogs Day song, kids music crafts, kids songs, playing music with young children, Spring songs, woodchucks, world music with daria, young children and music

Travel To Mongolia and Discover The Morin Khuur!

It’s wonderful if you can travel with your children to beautiful and exotic places around the world. But, if you can’t, you can always spend time reading about other countries, discovering their cultures and listening to their unique and beautiful traditional music.

Can you imagine a trip to Mongolia? Known as the “Land of the Eternal Blue Sky, it’s the birthplace of Ghengis Khan and home to camels and reindeer. It’s a place of extreme temperatures and equally striking beauty. It’s the birthplace of “throat-singing” and the home of an instrument called morin khuur.

The morin khurr or horsehead fiddle is the national instrument of Mongolia and is often said to symbolize the deep and connected relationship between horses and people in this region of the world. Similar to the erhu from China, it has only 2 string and is played with a bow. You can hear it’s unique sound and playing style in this video of a song titled “My Father. My Hero”.

We’ve just created a morin khurr poster and freebie coloring page as part of our “Stringed Instruments of The World” series. You can find a link to them below. If you’d like to visit other regions of the world through music, you can also check out some of our other music mini-courses below.

Links and Resources

Morin Khuur -Freebie coloring page - https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mongolian-Horsehead-Fiddle-Free-Coloring-Page-3578368

Morin Khuur – poster and coloring page - https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Morin-Khuur-Mongolian-Fiddle-3578353

Visit Australia – Music Mini-Series - https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Australian-Aboriginal-Instruments-Music-Mini-Course-2816723

Visit India – Music Mini-Series – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Instruments-of-India-Mini-Course-2682389

Visit The Andes – E-Book and CD – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Childs-Life-In-The-Andes-E-Book-Plus-Music-CD-639838

Hispanic Heritage – Music Craft And Coloring Book https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Celebrate-Hispanic-Heritage-Musical-Craft-And-Coloring-E-Book-1427919

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Asian instruments, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, dariamusic, homeschool music, horsehead fiddle, Instruments of Asia, Mongolia, Mongolia for kids, morin khuur, multicultural music, Music of Mongolia, silk road for kids, silk road instruments, silk road music, world music with daria

4 Recycled Thanksgiving Music Crafts!

Recycle, Upcycle – Repurpose!

Isn’t it great to find ways to use items that might be a part of your holiday celebration. Instead of tossing them into the trash, you can turn them into treasure. Well, maybe not treasure, but definitely great kids music crafts that can provide hours of fun while you’re relaxing during or after a wonderful celebration.

Here’s our 4 fav holiday craft re-makes.

Turkey Roasting Pan into A Gong

Seriously, is there a better way to get the whole group together than to bang a gong? Let the kids use the extra turkey roasting pan to create this wonderful Chinese-style gong to mark time at your celebration. Decorate it with your Chinese zodiac animals – the chart of Chinese Zodiac animals is part of this pdf – or just apply pure creativity!

DARIA’s Chinese Gong Freebie on TPT – https://buff.ly/2mTkrU4

Pie Box Ocean Drum

We love this craft. There’s a cool little window built right in so you can see what’s making the sound of the sea in your ocean drum. This simple craft sounds remarkable and is wonderfully relaxing!

DARIA’s Ocean Drum Craft Post – https://buff.ly/2zZPGCm

Turn Your Coffee Can into An Africa Style Drum

Who doesn’t love a hand drum? Here’s a super simple way to turn the empty coffee cans into a child-size hand drum.

Coffee Can Hand Drum From DARIA’s Website (Look Under African Drum) http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

A Beater For Those Drums!

While you’ve got a gong and a hand drum, you might want to make your own easy beaters. Opt for unsharpened pencils or go for a nature walk and find sticks that can create sturdy basic beaters for any drum you may have or make.

DARIA’s Easy Drum Beaters Post – https://buff.ly/2hbREba

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Chinese gong craft, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, Easiest Instruments For Children, Green crafts, Green crafts for kid, holiday crafts, multicultural music, music for toddlers, musica infantil, MYO hand drum, MYO ocean drum, Thanksgiving crafts

Learn A Song In Quechua for Native American Heritage Month

If you enjoy this song, you can listen to it at the Spotify, Apple Music or Pandora links below.

November is Native American Heritage Month and it’s a great time to connect with the rich cultures that exist thoroughout North and South America – as well as the world. Here’s an easy song to learn and sing that comes from Quechua culture and I’m proud to say that my version of this folksong from Peru is being used by children’s choruses across the USA.

What Is Quechua?

Quechua is a beautiful indigenous language that was spoken widely throughout South America during the time of the Incas. When Spanish Conquistadors arrived at that continent, dialects of Quechua were spoken in countries now known as Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Bolivia as well as the southern part of Columbia and the northern regions of Argentina.

Yaw, Yaw, Puka Polleracha

So here’s the song and a video of the song. The lyrics are simple. Someone is calling to a girl in the red skirt (puka = red, polleracha = skirt, yaw = hey). The person singing says “I saw what you did and I am going to tell your mom and dad on you!”

Learn More About Quechua and A Child’s Life In The Andes

If you like the song, you can find the complete lyric sheet, plus two language freebies below. These are a great way to learn about Quechua and get a sense of what the language sounds like and what some common words and phrases are.

And remember, all folk songs that come from a specific culture describe life in that world. If you enjoy the song, you might like to check out my E-book: A Child’s Life In The Andes that shares more about the music, the food, the chores and the day to day life of children in this beautiful indigenous culture.

Links And Resources

Listen to Yaw, Yaw on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/77JSyFW5OINqMGOA0cvNa7

Listen to Yaw, Yaw on Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-rainbow-world/id208109471

Listen to Yaw, Yaw on Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/artist/daria…world/yaw-yaw…/TRkZwmVbKqthXf4

Yaw Yaw – Free Lyric Sheet https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yaw-Yaw-Puka-Polleracha-Free-Lyric-Sheet-Song-In-Quechua-3340027

Quechua Mini-Lesson for Kids (TPT Freebie) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quechua-Language-Mini-Lesson-For-Kids-Colors-Numbers-And-Common-Words-2825911

Learn About Quechua Language – For Kids (TPT Freebie) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quechua-Language-For-Kids-Verbs-Common-Phrases-and-Notes-on-Spelling-2825952

Yaw Yaw Sheet Music – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yaw-Yaw-Puka-Polleracha-Sheet-Music-2707454

A Child’s Life In the Andes E-Book and CD of Andean Music https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Childs-Life-In-The-Andes-E-Book-Plus-Music-CD-639838

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Posted in Early Learning With Music, Favorite Songs, Homeschool Musical Fun, Multicultural Music, Native American Music

Tagged Andean music, Childrens Music South America, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, kids music Andes, multicultural music, musica infantil, Native American music, Quechua kids song, Quechua music, Quechua song for kids, world music with daria, Yaw, Yaw Yaw Puka Polleracha, young children and music

Win A Beautiful New Spanish Language Book + CD!

We just found out that one of our favorite fellow bloggers is reviewing AND giving 5 copies of the beautiful new CD/Book set seen above – “Cántale A Tu Bebé” (Sing To Your Baby!).

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably already singing to your little ones and this Spanish language set can make it even easier and more fun to combine music and language learning at the same time. It’s perfect for bilingual parents, Spanish-speaking parents or families learning Spanish.

Read the entire post for the story of the book and cd set, check out the info on bilingualism for baby or skip directly to the contest at the bottom of this page to enter and win! http://www.biculturalmama.com/2017/09/music-book-baby-singing.html

Good luck and don’t forget to …“Cántale A Tu Bebé” (Sing To Your Baby!)

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Posted in Babies and Music, Early Learning With Music, Family Fun, Hispanic Music, Multicultural Music

Tagged bilingual babies, Cántale A Tu Bebé, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, multicultural music, Music for children, musica infantil, parents sing to babies, sing in Spanish, Sing To Your Baby, Spanish kids songs, Spanish Language music for kids, Spanish music for children, young children and music

Free Music Resources For Hispanic Heritage Month

Can you believe that Hispanic Heritage Month is almost here?

It’s celebrated every year from September 15^th – October 15^th and it’s a great time to connect, explore and enjoy the beauty and diversity of Hispanic cultures around the globe. For the past several years, I’ve been adding free items to my TPT store to share with teachers, parents and homeschoolers who want to have some hands-on fun as part of their HHM experience.

Here’s our most recent list of HHM freebies that share the culture and musical traditions of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Spain.

Wishing you a wonderful Hispanic Heritage Month!

FREE RESOURCES

Make Your Own Guiro – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-Your-Own-Latin-American-Guiro-1230266

Make Your Own Cajon Box Drum – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Cajon-Make-And-Play-Your-Own-Box-Drum-1236616