There’s a great chant called H E L L O on www.singup.org. It has worked really well as a samba piece. The only problem is you have to be a paid-up member to access it.

BUT, if you are NOT a member, you won’t be able to get at it!

Let’s have a think. How about this?

Yup, for a first go, that will do nicely. I prefer the words to the Singup one, but this has got the rhythms I want.

So, Teach it as a “Listen-and-copy” chant “Look who’s coming here today” “Look who’s coming here today” ect.

Then turn it into clapping, as in the leader (me!) claps each line and the children copy

Finally move it onto instruments; the leader (still me!) plays a line, the children copy it.

This makes a great introduction to your samba.

Once this intro is secure, allocate a lie to each section eg line 1 ganza (shakey shakey shakey shake); line 2 agogo (Hi-hi lo, hi-hi lo, maybe); line 3 surdo (low high low high) and line 4 to tamborim.

Straight after the intro, bring in each section in turn. Ah, did I mention you should make sure the STOP signal is properly understood before you set this samba rolling? Sorry!

I haven’t mentioned breaks and endings – see what the children come up with, or just introduce the “Don’t Play this one back” game as a break.

For djembe, it’s pretty much the same process – decide which words are tones or bass strokes and away you go,