South and West Africa - Chords and Rhythms
There are eleven languages spoken in South Africa, and the second most common of them is Xhosa. The language includes a series of clicking sounds, which are difficult sounds to make for many people who do not speak Xhosa.
The children listened to a song called Qongqothwane, which is a traditional song of the Xhosa people in South Africa. Following this, the children listened to Shosholoza, which was originally sung by men of the Bantu people, who lived in Zimbabwe and used to travel by steam train between their homes and neighbouring South Africa to work in South Africa’s diamond and gold mines. The song uses the Ndebele language. The song was sung in time with the rhythm of the men swinging their axes to dig and was sung as a call and response
song to make the hard work feel easier.
Enjoy listening to a section of the song as we started to learn it...