Around the World with The Music Class:
A Ram Sam Sam (Morocco)
Hello friends! I'm Ms. Jen, and I'll be taking over the blog for the winter session!
I started as a "Music Class Mom," then became a TMC teacher, and later expanded my role to working in the office as the liaison for our affiliate centers all around the world. I help teachers who want to teach our curriculum get started, train in our programs, and work with them as they share the joy and love that The Music Class brings to families in their local community!
One of my favorite things about The Music Class curriculum, and part of what drew me to it as a parent (waaaaaay back in 2002!) is the amazing cultural variety of the music in the program. Each session, there are songs based on melodies and musical traditions from many countries. So my kids weren't just singing, listening, and dancing to Western-style music - they were hearing the sounds and instruments of music from ALL OVER THE WORLD!
So, for The Bear Collection, I'm going to focus on the world music that The Music Class introduces to your kiddos, and share more music in those styles that you can share and explore with your children! Come and take a trip around the world with me!
“A Ram Sam Sam”
This song is very popular in some communities, so it's possible that you've heard it before, or sang it yourself as a child and think of it as a silly nonsense word tune that little fluffy creatures like to sing. But did you know that the song “A Ram Sam Sam” is a traditional children's song from Morocco? I didn’t, until I read about its origin in my Bear Collection songbook (check out the "Composer" section)!
BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
While “a ram sam sam” is actually just nonsense words, the other lyrics do have meaning. “Guli” means “tell me” in Darija, the Moroccan dialect of Arabic that is often considered to be its own language. “Rafiq” means companion or friend in Arabic. We went from zero to two languages in .5 seconds. How cool is that!
Moroccan Music
Moroccan musical tradition is incredibly rich and varied, just like its people. (THIS is the best overview I could find if you want to dive in a bit more, which I highly recommend.) The oldest Moroccan music comes from the indigenous Amazigh (Berber) people. By "oldest," I mean literally that the oldest homo sapiens fossils ever discovered were in Morocco! Berber music has a strong, continually evolving oral folk tradition focusing on vocals and poetry. The amazing voices of Berber musicians are something that really stood out in every video I could find, which makes sense in a tradition that has potentially been passed down vocally for hundreds of thousands of years!! So today, for our Moroccan feature, I present to you someone who exemplifies both the outstanding vocals and the ever-evolving genre of Berber music: Malika Zarra. Enjoy!
Sing "A Ram Sam Sam" in The Music Class!
Children learn music the same way they learn language: exposure, repetition, experimentation, and practice with the people they love (you!) “A Ram Sam Sam” is part of The Bear Collection, one of the many songs in our curriculum that introduces little ones to music from around the world. Each session includes a collection of original music to take home, so your family can sing along all week.
- If you are in Atlanta, join a free trial class at one of our 11 metro Atlanta locations.
- If you are outside Atlanta, find a local center near you. We are a family-owned business based in Atlanta, with music and curriculum used by independent centers worldwide.
- Preview TMC songs by streaming our compilation albums on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or YouTube Music.