Around the World with The Music Class: Tum Balalaika (Eastern Europe)

Song of the Week

Around the World with The Music Class: 

Tum Balalaika (Eastern Europe)

This week on our world music tour, we’re stopping over in Mother Russia! Sort of. Not really. BEAR with me. Also, this blog has A LOT of links, so feel free to just click on whatever strikes your fancy! 

“Tum Balalaika” is a beautiful minor song that literally means “the sound of the balalaika.” Check out this video of an actual Balalaika player from one of our virtual The Music Class events in 2020 demonstrating the balalaika!

 

Here's the twist... Even though the lyrics to “Tum Balalaika” are about a Russian instrument, this song is NOT Russian, and there's no balalaika in it! 

"Tum Balalaika" is actually performed in the style of a klezmer - which is the musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. If you’re not Jewish but have ever danced the Hora at a Jewish wedding, you’ve enjoyed klezmer music! Klezmer has such a distinctive sound, influenced by European folk music, Romani music, and in recent history, American jazz. You’ll often hear clarinets, violins, accordions, and brass in klezmer music, but you will NEVER hear a balalaika. This is a fascinating contradiction for “Tum Balalaika," an incredibly famous klezmer song. Even Pete Seeger sang it – playing a Banjo instead of a Balalaika!

The lyrics to “Tum Balalaika” are a riddle about a boy searching for a clever wife who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. An endlessly relevant theme, right?! 

Here's a fantastic bilingual rendition of the song in Yiddish and English that also is the exception that proves the rule - because it DOES include a balalaika! The video is especially fun to watch to see all the instruments playing - look out for the piano, bass, drums, trumpet, clarinet, trombone - and the balalaika! 

 

More Yiddish/Klezmer things:

  • Adorable Jewish grandparents defining Yiddish words HERE.
  • A quick explanation of how the Yiddish and Hebrew languages are different HERE.
  • Itzchak Perlman playing Klezmer music HERE and his NEW MASTERCLASS HERE!! 
  • A Spotify playlist called “Yiddish, Klezmer, and Jewish Traditional Music” where the first song on the list is “Tum Balalaika” HERE!
  • And for a snapshot out of 2020 - a sweet Yiddish folk song workshop singing "Tum Balalaika" together from home during the COVID shutdown HERE. Look out for the cat cameos and an older couple dancing the Viennese Waltz at the end! So cute!!

More Balalaika things:

  • A full Balalaika Orchestra including the GIANT Contrabass Balalaika HERE.
  • A ridiculously adorable 7-year-old Balalaika prodigy HERE.
  • A jaw-dropping adult player HERE and HERE.
  • This is NOT a Balalaika, but it bops.

 

Sing and dance to "Tum Balalaika" in The Music Class!

Exposing children to a wide variety of musical sounds as early as possible is the best way to expand their musical vocabulary and ensure that they enjoy LOTS of different kinds of music! “Tum Balalaika” is part of The Bear Collection, one of the many songs in our curriculum that introduces little ones to different music traditions from around the world. Each session includes a collection of original music to take home, so your family can sing along all week.

 

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