songs in sign

Subject: songs in sign
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 04:33 AM

ok - get your thinking caps on - I want a traditional folk song ( well one that lots of people know anyway) that has a repetitive simple chorus which is nothing to do with fol di diddles ( very difficult to translate in to sing language!)

thanks

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Mr Happy
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 04:40 AM

old mcdonald had a farm--F.A.R.M

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Dead Horse
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 04:44 AM

What key would that be in?
E. I. E. I, & O.

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Noreen
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 08:34 AM

One that springs to mind, Sooz is Country Life (I like to rise when the sun she rises...)
(How did I know this would be your thread? :0)

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Genie
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 08:52 AM

How about Red River Valley or Home On The Range? Or maybe something like "Down By The Riverside?"

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Mr Happy
Date: 22 Nov 02 - 09:03 AM

swing lo

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 23 Nov 02 - 07:13 AM

Thanks everyone - old macdonald is great in sign langauge - trouble is the deaf arent very aware about the noises animals make!! Also every time I sing it it reminds me of MC Fat - do I really need that?
Cant imagine how anyone would know it was me requesting a song to translate into sign language - why would I want to do that
thanks for the other suggestions though

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: CapriUni
Date: 23 Nov 02 - 09:07 AM

One song that I learned in sign while in summer camp ('twas a camp for disabled kids) was: "Happy Days are Here Again!" (not in the DT, though). Or how about "Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Me?"

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Sorcha
Date: 23 Nov 02 - 09:57 AM

Amazing Grace
The Great Storm is Over
And, not for the faint of heart, Rubber Blubber Whale.

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Tinker
Date: 23 Nov 02 - 04:22 PM

To use with Kids or Adults?? Be sure to try them out first.

We added signs to a song we introduced at camp one summer and after the first practice run we were doubled over and knew we couldn't use the sign for understand... the grown ups couldn't resist "altering" it so at least our crowd of adolescent,hearing kids would need an alternative.

Micheal row your boat ashore
This Little Light of Mine

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 24 Nov 02 - 04:14 AM

Thanks again- I translate everything into sign language as part of my job so I know the problems people are talking about. Its for a mixed audience adult and kids all of whom are hearing and probaby are well aware of the rugby club versions and guide/scout versions as I am which is why I keep having a block on thinking of a song to use.
I use lots of slow songs in sign and a lot of kids songs I just want an upbeat folk song with a chorus to use - Noreens suggestion about country life isnt bad it translates quite well - had to think about what sign to use for morris dancers though!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: ballpienhammer
Date: 24 Nov 02 - 05:25 AM

John Denver's(RIP) Sunshine on My Shoulders adapts very well to ASL.
Froggy Went A Courtin' and Billy Boy are a little fast but simple enough to work. Lemon Tree?

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: rock chick
Date: 24 Nov 02 - 01:33 PM

Being signing is my profession, the only song I ever been requested to sign was Somewhere over the Rainbow, a group of young deaf children signed it for their parents at their school show, it was very beautiful and moving for everyone.

rc

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Barbara
Date: 24 Nov 02 - 11:56 PM

I once saw a very capable woman sign "Rubber Blubber Whale" at a John McCutcheon concert many years back, and when she got to the repetition part, she just puffed up her cheeks and body and mimed the "rubber blubber, rubber blubber, rubber blubber whale" part. When she got to the second verse someone walked out on stage and handed her one of those 6 ft. inflatable Orcas that were popular a few years back, and it just blew her away. She had no idea it was coming.
John McCutcheon also performs this magical song for signers -- My Music Is In Your Hands". Is that here at DT? The database has been down recently when I tried to look.
I love watching little kids sing and perform Christmas carols in sign, and Jingle Bells is fun.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Barbara
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 12:12 AM

Here's John's song about signing.

Music in Your Hands
words and music by John McCutcheon

Though my friend and frequent partner, Susan Freundlich, was the particular recipient of this song, it is, in fact, for all those men and women who help all of us, hearing and deaf, enjoy music and many other cultural activities together.

Where would I be, if not for you?
I know I wouldn't be here today
I'd be out at a movie, or off in some bar
But now I've seen what you have to say
And you've opened my eyes and you opened my heart
And I want you to understand
That you're speaking my language though it's never been heard
My heart feels the music, my eyes see the word
And my soul is aflight, like a flutter of birds
And my music is in your hands

Where would I be, if not for you?
To some a mime with a violin
But since your fingers have spoken, the walls have been broken
And there's music where none had been
You know, I'm proud to be sharing this stage with you
And from up here where we all stand
My words have been taken where they've never been known
My song has journeyed where it never had flown
My seed has been planted where none had been sown
And my music is in your hands

Where would we be if not for you?
Still divided by lies and fear
But we've seen it this time since you gave us the sign
That the future is coming clear
When these bodies we live in and love in and lose
And that harbor our dreams and plans
Will not be divided by part and by whole
But used, every cell, till it's time that we go
And when we have traveled the high and the low
And before we're departed, the body from soul
We want to tell you once more 'cause it's important you know
That our music is in your hands

Where would we be, if not for you?

© 1984 John McCutcheon /Appalsongs (ASCAP

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 04:12 AM

thanks - can anyone tell me where I can hear John's song so I can get the tune - which cd?

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 04:20 AM

by the way - I have also signed 'Over the Rainbow' and 'Jingle bells'
and a song called 'Magic Penny' and many others - mostly religious ones for assemblies but I signed 'ten pints of tetleys' at Whitby's Moor and Coast festival and translated Lancashire Sid's 'Pratty Pie' which is a dialect poem. Some things just translate better than others
I think my favourite song in sign is 'From a distance'

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 12:37 PM

And let's not forget the 'plastic cheeses'!!! We did 'Little Donkey' signed when I used to work in a school with a hearing unit.

Subject: RE:Music In Your Hands
From: Barbara
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 11:30 PM

Hi R&W Rabbit, the song is on a CD coproduced by John and Si Kahn and is called "Signs of the Times" Here's a blicky to take you to his homepages where you can buy the CD as well as listen to some of his music and download it. This is an older song, and I didn't see a tunefile for it. John McCutcheon homepage
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: open mike
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 08:37 AM

i did From a Distance for my final test in sign language class!!
such a visually interesting song with so many natural images-
mountains, eagles, colors, etc! hooray for Julie Gold who wrote
this song!! and Nanci Griffith and Bette Midler who sang it
for so many people to hear!

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: vectis
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 05:02 PM

Rolling down the river by Rod Shearman. I'ts the only one I know in Makaton (I don't even know how to spell Makaton).

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Sorcha
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 05:10 PM

I'm telling you,you haven't lived until you have seen Linda Tilton sign for John McCutcheon doing "Rubber Blubber Whale" John just keeps getting faster and faster and faster until they both collapse in laughter.

Subject: RE: songs in sign
From: Burke
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 05:29 PM

How about Bill Staines' "A place in the choir?"

All God's critters got a place in the choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got.