play it again, that survivor girl ukulele band song

eleven of my students were recently restored to their homes and families. each of them brought home a ukulele and an electronic tuner and music and lots of happy memories of our survivor girl ukulele band days. one of the police officers accompanying the girls on their travels gave each of them a rose at the train station as they embarked on their new life.

here's a little video montage of those days and of their departure. listen to the end -- you won't be disappointed.

i hope that they continue to heal from the trauma they have endured and have courage and hope and joy in the challenges that lie ahead. lord bless those girls!!!

[wpvideo 1K9Hj8FC]

sgub song in hindi!!

if you have a minute and forty-three seconds, this just might make your day. it's audio of day two of the girls working on the hindi version of the "survivor girl ukulele band song."

back in december, with the survivor girl ukulele band benefit concert coming up, my friend record-producer-musician-singer-songwriter ed tree wrote the song for the girls. here's the original lyrics:

survivor girl ukulele band

if you're down, we'll lend you a hand if you're lost, we'll show you a plan if you're scared, we will understand survivor girl ukulele band

no matter who you are no matter where you've been the door is always open we will let you in

there's a brighter day there's another choice there's a melody waiting for your voice

(chorus)

see who you can be see how you can grow see what life will bring blessings overflow

there's a brighter day there's another choice there's a melody waiting for your voice

(chorus)

and here's chorus of the hindi version, written by my new friend joseph pawar.

kya ho tum gire, thaam lo ye haath kya de khoge, tum ko hai yeh aas kyu tum dare, hum hain denge saath survivor girl ukulele band

and here is the hindi version of the song written phonetically in bangla by one of the bangladeshi girls. is that cool or what?

and now for the audio:

[audio http://theworkingdraft.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/sgub-song-day-two.m4a]

as you can tell, they love this song, and they lovelovelove singing the last line. and i think it's because they know its about them, and it makes them feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.

something special,

something good,

something strong:

a band.

a survivor

girl

ukulele

band.

the sound of music and give me some sunshine

some days i feel like i'm fräuline maria in the sound of music.

oh, there are those minor differences: she was in salzburg and i am pune; she wore a dirndl and i wear a salwar kameez; she had a guitar and i have a ukulele; she had a handsome sea captain, and i have a -- hey, wait a minute!

anyway, the the joy in task is the same!!!

i now have 26 students in four different classes. they are all learning anthony raj's "tu pyaar ka saagar", which i've transposed into the key of c major so it's easier to play. its a song they love, so they are willing to play it over and over. we start with chords and strumming and counting. we then add singing. and then we move into the c major scale -- complete with naming the notes on the fretboard as they play, and from there they learn how to play the melody in fingerstyle.

here's a 39 second video of batches 2 and 5 playing "tu pyaar ka saagar." (i know these videos take a while to load, but if you watch this one to the end, you will be rewarded with a view of one of the dear kitchen girls hanging in there despite difficulties :) )

[wpvideo DS8YRfia]

one day toward the end of my batch 1 class, nandita* was struggling to keep up with the other girls in learning the c scale. soon there was a frown on her face as she complained in bangladshi about all the english letters in the c scale and how it was too difficult to learn. the next class i took her and another girl aside to give them special attention on the c scale. within minutes she had it. and what was so cool about her success was how eager she was to share with the other girl and teach her how to do it, too. she could hardly contain herself in her eagerness to help the other girl. yay!!

and here's a 12 second video of yet another girl, anika, and her 3rd batch classmates working that c scale.

[wpvideo DP9Mlg92]

i wish you could see the smile of achievement and delight in her face as she finishes off with a flourish. they love learning ukulele!!

and here is alisha* who, along with laksha*, bravely learned how to change ukulele strings.

what would fräuline maria do? create contests and give prizes? i think she would!

here are the prizes from last week's contests. the addition of little plastic rings and nail polish has upped the ante.

two happy winners in batch 3!

when you know the chords to play, you can play most an-y-thing.

recently one of the girls started jamming on her uke and singing, "give me some sunshine," the catchy and yet poignant song from the much-loved bollywood movie 3 idiots, starring aamir khan.

the girls all chimed in on the song, and that evening when i looked up the chords and lyrics, it struck me how relevant the words of the song are to these girls.

here are some of the lyrics from "give me some sunshine" translated from hindi into english (adapted from: http://johnboednew.blogspot.in/2010/08/translation-give-me-some-sunshine-ost-3.html). the chorus is already in english.

we kept living

an incomplete life till now,

let us live fully for a moment now

we have lost our childhood

as well as youth

now let us live fully

for a moment

give me some sunshine

give me some rain

give me another chance

i wanna grow up once again

na na na-na...na na na-na....

i'm hoping that learning to play the ukulele will be part of the survivor girls's chance to grow up once again.

*names have been changed