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Jazz chants by Carolyn Graham

A Baby’s Sleeping Big Mouth John Brown Rain Sally Speaks Spanish How’s His English? It’s Got To Be Somewhere Tall Trees Selfish What’re You Gonna Do At 2 ? Meet Me In The Morning Taking Credit A Bad Day More Bad Luck Personal Questions D’you Know Mary? Departure & Return Home On A Diet ‘12 Cans Of Tuna Fish’ Rag Panic On Being Late Ouch! That Hurts! Would You Walk To China? Major Decisions I Gave It Away

B Banker’s Wife’s Blues Tell Me Your Name Sand Late Again Warning Friends Easy Solutions Love Song On The Rocks The Beaches Of Mexico I’m Sorry, But ... Baby Bobby It’s Like Winter Today My Feet Hurt ... Mama Knows Best Fred 1-2 Four Fat Flies Big Bill Bell Wake Up, Wake Up Well, He Eats Like A Pig You’re Just Like Your Mother

What Is A Jazz Chant? Jazz Chants are the rhythmic expression of Standard American English as it occurs in situational contexts. The Jazz Chants are designed as a language acquisition tool to develop the student’s appreciation of the rhythm and intonation patterns of Spoken American English. Jazz Chanting was developed at the American Language Institute of New York University where it is an integral part of their language learning program. Teachers of English throughout the USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico, etc. have found Jazz Chants to be an exciting and valid teaching tool for effective language acquisition.

How A Jazz Chant Works. The Chants are a reflection of basic human emotions which occur in specific situations. The student learns to express feelings through stress and intonation, while building a vocabulary appropriate to the familiar rituals of daily life. The natural rhythms and humor of the chants are highly motivating and may be used effectively for both classroom practice and individual home study. A student practising a specific rhythm and intonation pattern within the chant form will be able to use the same pattern in normal conversation and be readily understood by a native speaker.

BABY’S SLEEPING

I said, Sh! Sh! Baby’s sleeping! (2) – What did you say? (2)

I said, Hush! Hush! Baby’s sleeping! (2) – What did you say? (2)

I said, Please be quiet, baby’s sleeping! (2) – What did you say? (2)

I said, Shut up! Shut up! Baby’s sleeping! (2)

WAAA!

Not anymore.

BIG MOUTH JOHN BROWN

Who did you see? - I saw John.

John who? - John Brown.

I can't hear you! - I said John Brown. } 2

I can't hear you! - I said John Brown.

I said John Brown, John Brown, John Brown.

What did he say? - Who?

John Brown. - John Brown?

Yes, what did he say? - He didn't say anything.

Nothing? - Not a word.

I don't believe it! (2) Big Mouth John Brown didn't say a word?

- Not a word.

I don't believe it! (2)

Big Mouth John Brown didn't say a word?

- Big Mouth John Brown didn't say a word.

RAIN It was raining, raining, raining hard. It was falling on my head.

- It was falling on the stars.

It was falling on the sun. - It was falling on my shoes.

I got soaking wet. - I got soaking wet.

But I stayed outside. - I stayed outside.

The rain was sweet. - The rain was warm.

The rain was soft. It reminded me of home.

It was raining, raining, raining hard.

- It was falling, falling, falling on the stars. } 2

Soft rain - Raining, raining ...

Sweet rain - Raining, raining ...

Warm rain - Raining, raining ...

Sweet, soft ... - Raining, raining ...

Warm rain ... - Raining, raining ...

Sweet, soft ... - Raining, raining ... Warm rain ... - Raining, raining ...

SALLY SPEAKS SPANISH BUT NOT VERY WELL Sally speaks Spanish, but not very well When she tries to speak Spanish You really can’t tell What language she is speaking Or trying to speak. The first time I heard her I thought it was Greek.

HOW’S HIS ENGLISH? His English is wonderful He speaks very well His accent is perfect You really can’t tell That he isn’t the native of the USA There is only one problem – He has nothing to say.