Swahili nursery rhymes released

Remember all those nursery rhymes you grew up singing along to? Some of those memorable tunes included “Row, Row Your Boat” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or even “Old McDonald”?

Of course, these are nursery rhymes that are a legacy of the English education system and remain the standard fare in schools to this day. Ever wondered what these nursery rhymes would sound like in Kiswahili?

It is those thoughts that inspired a 19-year-old Kenyan student called Zahra Didarali to begin translating some of her favourite nursery rhymes into Kiswahili. Her interest in singing began at the age of five when she would perform during social events at the mosque, and later at talent shows and graduation ceremonies at school.

Childhood songs

Zahra began selecting the nursery rhymes two years while still in high school at Aga Khan Academy in Nairobi. “I sat down and thought about all the songs that I could remember from my childhood, but I also spent time with friends and children to know about their favourite songs.”

Together with her vocal teacher, Eunice Thairu, she translated the songs and before handing them over to her Kiswahili teacher to verify the language.

This was a challenging task because the words had to fit into a rhythmic pattern and this was not always the case with some of them once translated. As Zahra explains, some of the words in a song like “Wheels on the Bus” did not fit the melody when translated.

12 rhymes

The first line of the song says ‘‘The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round’’ and in Kiswahili this becomes “Miguu ya basi huzunguka, huzunguka, huzunguka.” Zahra says, “In order to maintain the melody of the English version, she had to repeat that line three times in Kiswahili.

It was also difficult to interpret “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” because in the singer’s view, some of the Kiswahili words became a little too complex for children. The duration of each song is not more than two minutes and in addition to the 12 nursery rhymes, there are six bonus fun songs.

Why nursery rhymes? “I want to help children learn the language in a fun way because the songs are in both Kiswahili and English,” says Zahra.

Piano chords

Besides, the music is played with basic piano chords which young learners can use as they start their education in music. While the album is primarily targeted at children, the songs are sure to be a joy to people of all ages who may not just want to relive their childhood, but also listen to songs they know and love given a refreshing twist.

The first sessions for the album were recorded at the B-Ware Studio that is located in Nanyuki in July 2014 before Zahra took a break from the music to prepare for her final year high school examinations.

The initial recordings were purely in Kiswahili, but she decided to include some of the original English lyrics in the songs and this was done during the second sessions that were recorded at Ketebul Studios in Nairobi in November 2014.

The music on the album, from the piano to the traditional instruments like the nyatiti, kalimba, djembe and the mbira are all played by Daniel Benon Okiror who is originally from Uganda, but runs a charity for street children in Mombasa.

Instruments

While all the instruments were left to Daniel on the album, Zahra has been playing the saxophone for three years now and has started learning the guitar to accompany her voice.

The piano is also firmly in her plans in the coming months.

A.I Records Kenya liked the idea of the “Swahili Nursery Rhymes” and took up the project by supporting Zahra during the recording of the album and pressing the CDs for distribution.

The album sleeve is designed in rainbow colours with drawings that are similar to what you find in children’s books. “Once they hear the album, I hope they can name those very same things in English and Kiswahili,” says Zahra.

Price

Zahra says the production of the album was great fun, but was also a learning experience for her being the first time she was actually recording in a studio.

The big challenge was balancing the demands of schoolwork and the commitment to making the album a reality.

Having achieved that successfully, she wants to devote her talents to making even more music with educational value presented in an enjoyable format.

This year she was admitted to Rhodes University in South Africa to study Environmental Science and Mathematics and she has been back home in the last few weeks for the official release of the album.

“Swahili Nursery Rhymes” is now available at Nakumatt Junction and Text Book Centre for Sh699.