Down by the Sea

is based on a traditional children's song Down by the Bay Where the Watermelons Grow. It is unknown who the original song is attributed to, but a version was made famous by Raffi and Randy Luxton in 1976 and appears on the album Singable Songs for the Very Young.

I wrote Down by the Sea as a fun teaching tool to explore the call and response musical genre through quirky rhythm and rhyme. I encourage you to improvise around the melody, experiment with different voices for each character, explore a range of dynamics and tempos, and make up actions for the repeated chorus. And just for fun... make lots of noise and add a big clap on each BOOM!