Debka Hora

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and today we're going to learn a traditional Israeli folk tune.
Let's listen to how it goes.
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai,♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
♫Lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai, lai♫
Sometimes the student asks me what's with the words of this song? You'll notice it was just 'lai, lai, lai' the whole time.
Well in Israel, that would be kind of like singing 'la, la, la'.
If you've ever heard the song "Deck the Halls" we have 'Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la'.
That doesn't really mean anything. It's just a fun word to use when you're singing.
"Debka Hora" is a dance song, so it's a song they might have used for parties or fun times and dancing.
Now, let's take a look at the rhythm of "Debka Hora".
In "Debka Hora" we have a new kind of rhythm.
It's actually one eighth note combined with two sixteenth notes,
and it makes it sound like this: TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI
So it's really kind of half eighth note and half sixteenth note. It's kind of like they merge together
to create this new rhythm.
Let's try saying it together.
Let's do this line two times. TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI Say it with me. Ready, go.
TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI
So you'll notice that the TI goes slower than the TI-KI.
Every time you add one of these extra beams, the notes go twice as fast as before.
So these two notes go twice as fast as this one eighth note TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI
Now for fun, let's try this rhythm which I just made up using a few TI-TI-KI's.
And, be prepared for a quarter note TA, and a rest, and of course our half note which will go TWO-OO.
Let's try to speak this rhythm together, go.
TI-TI-KI TI-TI-KI TA REST, TWO-OO TI-TI-KI TA
Great, now I have a challenge for you, and that is to see if you can help me figure out the rhythm or dictate the rhythm to "Debka Hora".
I'll sing the rhythm, but without rhythm words, and   see if you can hear where the TI-TI-KI is. Remember, you're listening for a:
Can you point to the beat where you heard TI-TI-KI?
Listen one more time now.
Where's the TI-TI-KI?
It was in beat number 2. I had:
Now, let's figure out the other beats. How many sounds did you hear in this beat?
If you said two sounds, you're correct. Which means we'll need two eighth notes. Now, can you figure out these last 2 beats?
What would that be in rhythm words?
If you said TI-TI TA, you're correct. Two eighth notes then a quarter note. Now let's figure out the next line.
What did you notice?
Can you point to the beat with the TI-TI-KI?
Once again it's in beat 2,
and you also might have noticed that
the other beats were the same too. So even though the melody had a different shape of step up and step down, the rhythm was the same.
Now, can you point to each beat with me and sing it in rhythm words? We'll sing TI-TI TI-TI-KI TI-TI TA
TI-TI TI-TI-KI TI-TI TA
Now, you try singing with me, go: TI-TI TI-TI-KI TI-TI TA, TI-TI TI-TI-KI TI-TI TA
Here's the score for "Debka Hora". Tell me what you notice.
There's lots of things you might have noticed. Maybe that there's a forte marking at the beginning so we know we'll play strong or loudly.
You might have noticed that the right hand is playing chords while the left hand gets to play the melody this time.
You might have noticed the repeat sign at the end, or perhaps you notice this new symbol.
Now as always, I would love it if you download this sheet music from the website so you can have your own copy at home.
And I'd like you to circle these two dots, which are called staccato dots.
When you see a staccato dot over or under a note head, that means to play that note staccato.
Like that, it will have a quick sound.
It's important to note that a staccato dot will always go over directly over the note head or directly under.
If a dot is placed to the side of the note, that's something totally different.
Remember, a dot over to the side of a half note makes it last for 3 beats.
So, a dot placed to the side actually stretches the note out longer.
A dot placed over it makes it have a staccato sound.
If you don't see a staccato dot over a note, you can assume that the notes will be played legato, which means smoothly.
Let's notice our time signature.
The top number of 2 tells us we'll have 2 beats inside every measure.
You might have also noticed our new rhythm, this TI-TI-KI rhythm.
Can you find any other TI-TI-KI's on this first line and point to it?
If you're pointing here, you are correct.
And there are seve ...