Carnegie Hall

Aim: How are rhythm and movement used in Jordanian folk music?
Summary: Students will learn to sing and move to the song “Ya Aroos il-Bahr,” and learn rhythmic layers.
Materials: Musical Explorers digital resources, Musical Explorers Student Guide
Standards: National 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11; NYC 1, 2, 3, 4
Vocabulary: bahri, gaseed, rest, and rhythmic layers

“Ya Aroos il-Bahr” is a song from the coast of Jordan that is inspired by the Red Sea. The song paints the picture of Aqaba, which has the distinction of being the only coastal city in Jordan. It details how the city is ornamented with flowers, palm trees, and palm leaves floating in the water. The gulf of Aqaba has its own subculture of bahri music, inspired by the sea and the sounds of the waves. The people of this area are bahri or sea people, and all aspects of their lives are intertwined with the sea; the relationship between the people and the sea is symbiotic.

Write Poetry for Your Neighborhood

• An important component of Jordanian folk music is the role of poetry. The word for poetry is gaseed (referred to as qasid in the broader Arabic world). Poetry is fully integrated into the songs.
• Jordanian folk songs are also directly reflective of the environment. “Ya Aroos il-Bahr” reflects the waves of the sea; city songs have fast rhythms and melodies; and desert songs are slow and laid back.
• Listen again to “Ya Aroos il-Bahr” and review the lyrics with your students.
  • How does the poem describe the environment or neighborhood? What words help tell the story?
  • What does the poet love about their neighborhood?
• Now ask your students to brainstorm the elements of their neighborhoods that make them distinct.
  • How would you describe your neighborhood to someone who doesn’t know it?
  • What do you love about your neighborhood, and why?
• They can then illustrate their poems with pictures of their favorite neighborhood places.
• Using My Neighborhood Poem (PDF), your students can write short poems about their neighborhoods. The poems can rhyme, or they can be in free verse.
• Then, have students read their poems aloud, thinking about how their spoken word performance might reflect the scene.
  • Are the sentences spoken fast or slow? Loud or soft? Are they smooth or jumpy? Why?
• Students can take turns reading their poems out loud with a partner or for the rest of the class and see if they can visualize the neighborhoods being described.