May 7, 2009

We received a present from the volunteers that visited school in March - a few hand held tam-tams, few xylophones, and 3 sets of bells. We also received musical notation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Start, National Anthem of The Gambia and Doe The Deer. For the past month children were coming to my compound were I was teaching them how to play those songs. After the teaching was over we would have a jam session with students playing, small children dancing and grown ups clapping. It was loud and wonderful.
This is one of our jam sessions where everyone was free to improvise and play however they want. The result was surprisingly melodic, as far as African music is melodic...

And this is during our face-to-face sessions where I was teaching them how to play the National Anthem and other things.

And this is Kumba dancing non-stop. This girl... I am telling you, she will be something when she grows up!!! :)