Four White Horses

​This is a singing game that I learned from a wonderful book by the New England Dancing Masters (Down in the Valley: More Great Singing Games for Children, Schools, & Communities edited by Andy Davis, Peter Amidon, Mary Alice Amidon)—possibly my favorite collection of childrens' singing games. The clip is of my Elementary Music Methods course at Northwest Missouri State University playing the game. The third group is trying to figure out a way to play the game with more than four people. I also have the class make up new hand clapping (or other movement) patterns to go with the song. We tried this with the fourth graders at Horace Mann Elementary School (our on-campus lab school) and they went the entire 30 minutes making up new, creative ways to play the game and they played the game outside of class. Note: In this version, for some reason, we sing "ay ay ay" instead of "hey hey hey." Most versions sing "hey hey hey."
The first thing that really catches my attention in this song is the repeated and syncopated pattern, "hey hey hey". So, when I teach this song to a group I usually have them first clap on the hey's while I sing the lyrics (Four white horses on a river, hey hey hey up tomorrow. Up tomorrow is a rainy day. Come on, join in our shadow play. Shadow play is a ripe banana, hey hey hey, up tomorrow. Up tomorrow is a rainy day.) This usually takes two times through to get all of the hey's.  Then, we start adding actions for the various parts of the song starting with raising hands high above the head on up and then dropping the hands again . . . the rainy fingers for rainy day . . . make up shadow puppets for shadow play . . . etc. All in all, this gives about 10 to 12 repetitions of the song at which point the students may have internalized it well enough to move on. On a subsequent day, I re-introduce the song this time keeping the beat in various ways and eventually keeping the beat with everyone in a large circle keeping the beat as if they were playing the game starting with hands out in front as if they were clapping hands with the person across from them, then clapping, then clapping the hands of the people to each side, and then clapping hands again, etc. I find that it helps to do this as a large group first so that everyone builds off the success of each other. Then we divide into groups and try the game. Then, on other days, we make up new ways to play the game. It is important to let the students demonstrate in their groups either the original game or their new way. This gives them opportunities to sing in smaller groups without being self-conscious. It gives me a chance to assess how well they are matching pitch, etc. 
This game will kind of take on a life of it's own, but could be re-visited for skill development and creativity multiple times (10 or so) throughout a school year. Yes, fun and games!!! But, think about all of the musical, kinesthetic, creative, and interpersonal skills being developed in the process.

Here, than, is a sequence map for learning this song:

First Session: Learn the song by rote
  • Listen to Four White Horses and clap on "hey" (or "ay")
  • Listen again and clap on "hey"
  • Listen again and add actions on "up" (raise hands high above the head)
  • Repeat and add actions on "rainy day" (fingers wiggle and fall)
  • Develop actions for "shadow play" and repeat
  • Continue repeating, adding actions for other parts of the song (come on, four white horses, on a river, ripe banana)
  • Repeat the entire song with actions; invite all participants to sing along (Let them just listen if they want to up until this point when everyone is invited to sing along. However, if they choose to sing along prior, that's okay.)
  • Repeat the entire song again without the vocal model; see if the students can carry the song on their own. Usually they can at this point. 

Second Session: Explore the meaning of the song
  • Repeat the song with actions
  • Brain-storm ideas for the song's meaning
  • Write a short story based on the song
  • (Participants could also research the origins and possible meanings for the song.)
  • Share stories with others in small groups 
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Third Session: Learn the game and make up new ways to play the game
  • Repeat the song with actions
  • Invite participants to stand in a circle close enough to reach each other
  • Practice a four-count pattern (hands forward, clap hands, hands to sides clapping neighbor's hands, clap hands again)
  • Sing the song with the repeated four-count pattern; the first four beats match the syllables, "four white hor-ses", etc.
  • Choose three participants (making four in all) and demonstrate the game; begin with one partnership always clapping above the others, then alternate above and below if possible
  • Invite groups to make up new ways to play the game
  • If the class does not divided evenly into groups of four, invite odd groups (3 or 5 participants) to develop a way to play the game
  • Have the groups share their creative ways to play the game if they would like; the other groups can also try the new ways to play the game