When I First Came To This Land

Trad. American folk song. Game by Jenny Gillan & Deborah Smith

Thanks to my students at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and to James Lauritz for their work on this project. We had a lot of fun.

When I First Came to This Land from Jennifer Gillan on Vimeo.

Verse 2:

When I first came to this land, I was not a wealthy man,
So I got myself a cow, I did what I could
And I called my cow, “No milk now”
And I called my shack, “Break my back”
And the land was sweet and good and I did what I could

Verse 3:

When I first …,
So I got myself a duck, I did what I could
And I called my duck, “Out of luck”
And I Called my cow, “no milk now”
And I Called my shack, “Break my back”
And the land was sweet and good and I did what I could

Verse 4:

When I first …,
So I got myself a wife, I did what I could
And I called my wife, “Run for your life”
And I Called his duck, “Out of luck”
And I Called his cow, “No milk now”
And I Called his shack, “Break my back”
And the land was sweet and good and I did what I could

Verse 5:

When I first …
So I got myself a son, I did what I could
And I called his son, “My work’s done”
And the land was sweet and good and I did what I could

Teaching Purpose: tim-ka       fa and ti     Major scale – fa and ti always approached step-wise

These games are designed to be part of a five minute segment in a music classroom setting. Each time the song is experienced, another more complex element is added. These videos demonstrate an experience of the songs after many different five minute segments.

The songs use rhythmic or melodic elements which students then use in their musical dictations, improvisation and reading. Games enable students to experience these elements in context as well as develop coordination and provide enjoyable singing experiences.

Suggested timeline for playing this game

First Five Minute Segment: Learn song. Focus on “I did what I could” phrase. For some reason, students always get this one very wrong.

Second Experience: Review song, Sing while sitting in a circle. Pass objects to each other around the circle. This can be tricky enough to get right with some groups.

Third Experience: Review song and first action. Focus on “I did what I could, and I called my” – on the word ‘called’ put right hand down on the ground

‘my’ – lift up the object.  Teach in small steps. I often do this just with hands, without objects.

‘shack’ – place object over the top of right hand onto the floor, repeat for “break my back”

Attempt the game through from the start

Forth Experience: Review song and previously learnt actions. If this is all confident, add in next verse.