Lyrics - Akan
(Folk song from Ghana)
Obwisana sa, nana
Obwisana sa
English Translation
The rock has crushed my hand, grandma
The rock has crushed my hand.
Game
This is an easy stone-passing game. Have students sit in a circle. Every student taps the stone in front of him/herself on each downbeat. The only time the stone is passed to the right is on the downbeat of the last measure.
YouTube
 (or available for purchase here)
- Song with chords, Lesson ideas, Orff arrangement
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
5 thoughts on “Obwisana”
What language is this song in?
The language is Akan.
Alternative activities that do not involve passing objects and sitting in a circle as those are two things we are not permitted to do…
Hi! I created a worksheet with dots in a circle. The students tapped each dot in the circle on the beat. At the end of the song, the dot they landed on was out! They crossed it out. The game continued until there was only one dot left.
I have also had them take things out of their desks like markers, erasers, pencils, etc. (if you’re push-in) and put them in a circle. Then followed the same tapping on the beat and eliminating objects one by one. They had to ‘guess’ which item would be the winner before beginning to make it extra enticing.
Very creative! Thanks for sharing!