Musical Journey at the Primary School

Today, a band called Nataf brothers visited the primary school. The brothers Alon, Eres and Yoni took the children on a musical journey to Jewish roots in the Middle East, visiting the countries of their grandfathers origin.

The three were around the same age as the children from the school when they learned musical instruments from their grandfathers, and were fascinated. As they grew up, they drifted away from music for a while, but then realised they wanted to learn even more about the different origins of music. So they decided to travel to the Jewish roots of their grandfathers to learn the various styles of music from countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and India, which they all showcased for the children.

On this journey, they introduced the children to different kinds of instruments, including the sitar, the banjo, and the guitar. During some songs they also used a variety of flutes, drums and bells. Another melody was played entirely on two spoons. Part of the performance also involved the children clapping rhythmically to some songs, and singing along to an African song.

Yoni, the leader of the band, narrated the story almost entirely in Arabic, which is unusual for a Jew, but which also presented the young Jewish children with a role model for speaking Arabic.