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You are here: Home / Musical Activities For... / 5+ / Frère Jacques: Traditional French Nursery Song

Frère Jacques: Traditional French Nursery Song

June 23, 2013 By Sara Mullett 7 Comments

Singing Frère Jacques is likely to be the first time that many English and American kids come across the French language, unless they are lucky enough to have someone who speaks French in the family. The simple repetitive tune (the same as I Hear Thunder) is easy to pick up and the small range makes it perfect for young voices. Small children are fascinated by the unusual words and keen to explore the different sounds and accent. In The UK we usually only sing the French words, but the English translation is underneath. This song is one of the easier ones to play on the xylophone, as you can see in the chime bar clip below.

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Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,

Dormez vous? Dormez vous?

Sonnez Les Matines, sonnez Les Matines,

Ding, dang, dong! Ding, dang, dong!

 

(translation below)

Brother John, Brother John,

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?

Ring the Matins bell, ring the Matins bell,

Ding, dang dong! Ding, dang, dong!

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Let's Play Music - Frere Jacques - Traditional French Nursery Songs

Older children (5yrs+) can learn to sing this song as a round, and this is such good practice for developing the ability to follow your own musical line against another, learning to harmonise, to listen to the sound they are making, and pitch their notes in tune with the other voice.

This may sound a little complicated, but in fact it is a simple, approachable way to introduce these more advanced musical concepts without it seeming difficult at all. A good way to teach a child how to sing in a round is to sing it together with a recording, joining in two bars or measures later (after you have heard the first line, Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques). The video below gives a quick demonstration and has the words written so that kids can join in and practice.

Educational benefits of Frere Jacques - Let's Play Music

 

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Filed Under: 5+, Musical Activities For..., Nursery Rhymes, Preschoolers, Toddlers Tagged With: First Nursery Rhyme Series, French

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Comments

  1. Carrie says

    August 2, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    Another favorite of ours. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!

    Reply
  2. Mama Carmody says

    June 24, 2013 at 1:38 am

    I understand that different regions sing songs differently and sometimes songs are simply handed down wrong so I am NOT saying your second verse is wrong, I simply want to share the way I learned it. This is the way I was taught the verse in English:
    Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
    Brother John, Brother John
    Morning bells are ringing. Morning bells are ringing.
    Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong. (I actually heard the last line they way you wrote it and this way too.)

    Reply
    • Sara_LetsPlayMusic says

      June 24, 2013 at 7:23 am

      Yes it’s funny the way different places sing songs with different words isn’t it?

      In England we actually never sing the Brother John version – only ever in French here! But I thought some people might find it useful to have the literal translation!

      Thanks for posting some alternative words! 🙂

      Reply
      • Natasha blick says

        November 2, 2016 at 5:51 pm

        I live in England, and grew up in the 70’s. Whilst the French version was the most prevalent we also learnt the ‘are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Brother John, brother John’ version.

        Reply
        • Sara Mullett says

          November 3, 2016 at 10:13 am

          Thats interesting Natasha, where in the UK did you grow up? I live in Brighton on the south coast, so we’re quite close to France!

          Reply

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