Tue Tue, by Lawrence Weiss, 2018
Tue Tue
GHANA
HISTORY AND SONG NOTES
Tue Tue is a circle game from Ghana written in the Twi language. The English translation of the words is loosely: “sorry, man. This small boy has made you fall down flat.” This song is commonly used as a group circle game, movement, or percussion activity due to its upbeat tempo and lively feeling.
CIRCLE GAME
This song makes an excellent group circle game, and can be done with simple movements for 3-year-olds, or more difficult movements for 4 or 5-year-olds. You can also add an optional accelerando, where the song and the movements speed up at the end of the song.
You may not see the children singing and moving at the same time, and that is totally fine. In movement games, it is common for children to stop singing so that they can focus on their movements. Singing and moving may occur simultaneously in bursts, or as the children develop confidence over time with the song.
Version 1: Standing or sitting, the children pat their knees, or keep the beat in another way on their own body (tapping hands, patting the top of their head, etc.).
Version 2: Standing or sitting, children face a partner, and pat hands together with their partner along with the beat of the song. You can also have the children change partners in between repetitions of the song.
Version 3: Standing or sitting, children face a partner, and pat lap two times, then pat hands with their partner two times, then repeat, along with the beat of the song. This works well if the children have already been successful with Version 1.
Version 4: Children find their own way to show the beat with their partner. This works best if they are already familiar with the song, and have been successful with both Version 1 and Version 2.
Learn the Song with a Diller-Quaile Instructor - Movement
INSTRUMENT PLAYING
Tue Tue also works well as a group percussion instrument playing activity. Click here for more information and suggestions for group instrument playing.