Dreams across the ocean (Notes and activities)

This stirring call-and-response song was commissioned especially for Sing Up Day 2023. It evokes the soundworld of a traditional sea shanty while offering a more modern, global perspective on the ‘seven seas’.

About the song

Before you begin

• Introduce the idea of a sea shanty – a type of traditional work song originally used to accompany rhythmic labour aboard large ships. Here’s a fun example to share with the children – Wellerman: a cappella performance by Jared Halley – to get into the spirit.
• Display the song lyrics and ask if anyone can guess which other languages feature here (Welsh, Swahili – the language of the Swahili people in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique – and French). Discuss together why the song might include this broad range of languages.

Warm-up

• Like many sea shanties, this song is in call-and-response format. Get the feel for this by warming up with some call-and-response rhythms. Establish a regular pulse with a foot or a drum, then clap a simple rhythm, asking the group to copy it back (listen to the Intro in the backing track for an example). Next, invite volunteers from among the children to take turns being the ‘caller’. 
• Sea shanties tend traditionally to be sung with very clear and strong tone of voice. Have a go at sliding up and down in pitch to a ‘zzzzzz’ then an ‘ng’ sound to warm up the voice and really focus and concentrate the sound. 
• Finish with a sing through of Warm-up and stomp canon – an excellent activity to concentrate the brain and build a lively sense of energy among singers. 

Teaching and rehearsing the song

• Together, listen through to the performance track, which is a demonstration of one of the ways that you could choose to perform the song. Discuss together how this sea shanty might differ in its message from more traditional such songs. You can find out more about the history of sea shanties, what their purpose was, and the different kind of shanties from the Royal Museums Greenwich website here. 
• Begin by singing the Verse melody altogether, phrase by phrase. You can loop sections using the Song Bank whiteboard. Notice the difference between the melody in the first and second responses – ‘Away, roll to sea’ – the first response goes up and the second goes down. 
• Aim for everyone to finish the word ‘sea’ together at the end of each response. Encourage the group to really listen and finish as one.
• Next, divide into two equal-sized groups and sing through the melody in call-and-response to build confidence, swapping parts regularly.
• If you’re going to add the harmonies to the response phrase, learn these next. The Harmony 1 and Harmony 2 parts each follow a similar melodic shape. Notice how Harmony 1 takes its note (A) from ‘my face’ in the notes sung at the end of the ‘call’, whereas Harmony 2 takes its lead from the F# sung to the word ‘on’ and then stays put. Simple hand gestures (hold your hand horizontally, rising up and down as necessary) might help show the basic shape of each harmony line. 
• Next tackle the Chorus. The ‘call’ for the chorus is more flowing and elaborate than the verse call, so it might be good to clap then speak the words in rhythm across a steady pulse before adding the melody. The ‘responses’ here are almost the same as the verse – just in different languages and with slightly adjusted rhythms. Listen to the performance track several times to get to grips with the different pronunciations and rhythms, then practise speaking the text together plenty of times before singing.
• The end of the song features a round. Work on getting the melody totally secure before dividing into 2 parts. NB: The backing track provided is the right length for a 2-part round. If singing a cappella, or with live accompaniment, the round also works in 4 (or even 8!) parts.
• Think about adding extra contrasts through shifts in mood and dynamics. After a rousing beginning, Verse 2 could perhaps start more softly, before getting louder at its end. Then for the round, try starting loudly then gradually bringing the volume down to a whisper, before encouraging a big lush sound for the Outro (end of bar 84 onwards ‘I lawr, I law’r i'r môr’).

Advice from the songwriter
Laura Bradshaw offers her thoughts on teaching and learning the song:

• Have a listen to the song before learning it and you will hear the repetitive and catchy sections within the song. This will help you to realise how approachable the song is, particularly within the ‘response’ sections. 
• There’s always a simple way for everyone to join in, for example everyone could sing all the song. Some – perhaps older children or a particular class – could lead the call – or it could be the teacher/group leader). The language sections at the end of each Chorus could be treated in a similar way.
• The simplest way to introduce harmony is to sing the round melody in unison, with a group singing the ‘Haul away, oh’ riff underneath. An audience could also be encouraged to sing along with this riff in a live performance. 
• For an exercise in creativity, you could create a sea soundscape to start and finish the song.
• Three different translations of the Chorus are provided with the song (in Welsh, Swahili, and French), but you could substitute any language. I’d love for people to find and create their own ways of interacting with the song too. 
• I worked with the wonderful youth group from one of my community music projects, Oasis One World Choir, to create a video performance of the song, which will hopefully provide some inspiration for you and those around you to create your own performances of the song. We all had a lot of fun on the filming day and we weren’t too precious about everything being too perfect – accuracy of spirit was what was needed! In the video you will see the children singing parts together with some parts as solos, some with movement and body percussion – all just suggestions for you to find your own way of visually or vocally engaging with the song. Hopefully the song will be kept alive because of the fun people have with it! 

Development ideas

Performance ideas

• This is lovely song to perform and has lots of scope for adding in solos and improvisation. The ‘call’ sections of both and verse and chorus are simple and memorable, and so offer nice ‘low-stakes’ opportunities for individuals to try out a solo, especially children who perhaps mightn’t normally volunteer to sing alone. Encourage lots of different children (either solo or in small groups) to have a go at leading the calls informally when rehearsing, before agreeing a line-up for the performance.
• The ‘response’ lines could also be a good place to add in other tuned instruments for a performance. Instrumentalists could follow the melody and harmony lines – or experiment with new parts to fit in with the simple D major/G major harmony.
• The Outro is an ideal passage to add in some vocal improvisation. Its busy, looping D major backdrop is perfect for individuals to have a go without feeling too exposed. Offer a relaxed setting for individuals to try improvising while the rest of the group sings this section on a loop, before making a plan for the performance itself.
• Consider adding in some suitably seafaring movement, such as gestures that connect to hauling up ropes, climbing up the rigging, and looking out to sea. Some vigorous body percussion that draws out the songs sturdy sense of pulse could be fun to include at certain points, such as foot stamps, finger clicks, thigh pats and chest thumps. Enjoy inventing your own patterns!

Activity notes by Kate Wakeling, with additions from Laura Bradshaw.