7. Iguanas in a mess
I’m a lizard and I’m lounging in the forest canopy
I like basking, so I’m asking why is it so hard to see?
Why I don’t go near the ground that’s where danger can be found
I’m a lizard and I’m lounging in a tree
Strong jaws, sharp teeth and a tail that’s like a whip.
Don’t mess with a mess of chilled iguanas
I like basking, so I’m asking why is it so hard to see?
Why I don’t go near the ground that’s where danger can be found
I’m a lizard and I’m lounging in a tree
Strong jaws, sharp teeth and a tail that’s like a whip.
Don’t mess with a mess of chilled iguanas
Fascinations
Iguanas are the largest lizards in America. They have a very long, sharp tail that is used mainly for defense - an iguana can punch or whip an enemy with its tail. Since they do not need to actively hunt for their food, iguanas are very laid back creatures, typically spending their days lounging in the sun to keep warm and, from time to time, getting up for a snack. Green iguanas are tough. They can drop from a branch up to 12 meters high, hit the ground and survive!
Iguanas are the largest lizards in America. They have a very long, sharp tail that is used mainly for defense - an iguana can punch or whip an enemy with its tail. Since they do not need to actively hunt for their food, iguanas are very laid back creatures, typically spending their days lounging in the sun to keep warm and, from time to time, getting up for a snack. Green iguanas are tough. They can drop from a branch up to 12 meters high, hit the ground and survive!
Musicking
Rapping is the art of giving poetry life, bringing out the character within the words and injecting rhythm and energy to create your own unique interpretation. Whisk up a suitably cool rap beat on a keyboard and keep repeating verse 1 over and over, putting a gentle stress or emphasis on every word highlighted (see Resource 2), until it begins to groove or attain a life of its own. Think of whisking eggs - good things come to those who practice and persevere. Enjoy the taste of the words on your lips as you fill in the words between the stresses and repeat the process for the refrain and verse 2 as you find your rapping voice.
Rapping is the art of giving poetry life, bringing out the character within the words and injecting rhythm and energy to create your own unique interpretation. Whisk up a suitably cool rap beat on a keyboard and keep repeating verse 1 over and over, putting a gentle stress or emphasis on every word highlighted (see Resource 2), until it begins to groove or attain a life of its own. Think of whisking eggs - good things come to those who practice and persevere. Enjoy the taste of the words on your lips as you fill in the words between the stresses and repeat the process for the refrain and verse 2 as you find your rapping voice.
Learning moves
Time to chill out and get into the groove. It is essential here to loosen up and adopt the stance of a cool, laid back lounge-lizard. Keep your knees ‘soft’ and bouncy, raise your arms out in front of you and bend them at the elbows, hands forming loose ‘fists’. Feel the slow steady pulse of the Hip-Hop style and make small leaning movements forward, back, left and right (or any combination thereof) on each of the counts 1-4. Once comfortable with this, add in some steps to the side and continue the counting of four beats. Step to the left [on 1] and clap [on 2] step to the right [on 3] and clap [on 4] keeping your body loose and relaxed. Research rapping dance moves on youtube because there is a wealth of exciting information on the internet.
Iggy’s ostinati
Grab a suitable percussion instrument (suggestions include claves, woodblock, castanets or tambour) and learn each 4 beat ostinato together. Repeat as required to build confidence and achieve whip-cracking accuracy before moving onto the next rhythmic pattern. Remember the ‘sniff of disdain’ introduced in Crocs? Why not use it here to achieve the required rest in the second, fifth and eighth bars?
When secure with the rhythms, combine pairs of ostinato patterns to make an 8 beat pattern: bars 1 and 2 go well together as do bars 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8. Two of the rhythms are very similar except for a note – can you spot them? Use the accents to shape and make sense of the phrases which you will discover are all taken from somewhere within ‘Iguanas in a mess’. Can you identify each phrase from the song? If you are struggling to maintain rhythmic accuracy, saying the words (quietly!) to yourself whilst playing might help. Select rhythms to play together and begin to layer your sound - you could potentially have all eight rhythms being played simultaneously.
Play around with different combinations and sequences of patterns to make your own phrases. The challenge is to maintain your cool and play through all eight bars in a continuous percussive masterpiece.
Time to chill out and get into the groove. It is essential here to loosen up and adopt the stance of a cool, laid back lounge-lizard. Keep your knees ‘soft’ and bouncy, raise your arms out in front of you and bend them at the elbows, hands forming loose ‘fists’. Feel the slow steady pulse of the Hip-Hop style and make small leaning movements forward, back, left and right (or any combination thereof) on each of the counts 1-4. Once comfortable with this, add in some steps to the side and continue the counting of four beats. Step to the left [on 1] and clap [on 2] step to the right [on 3] and clap [on 4] keeping your body loose and relaxed. Research rapping dance moves on youtube because there is a wealth of exciting information on the internet.
Iggy’s ostinati
Grab a suitable percussion instrument (suggestions include claves, woodblock, castanets or tambour) and learn each 4 beat ostinato together. Repeat as required to build confidence and achieve whip-cracking accuracy before moving onto the next rhythmic pattern. Remember the ‘sniff of disdain’ introduced in Crocs? Why not use it here to achieve the required rest in the second, fifth and eighth bars?
When secure with the rhythms, combine pairs of ostinato patterns to make an 8 beat pattern: bars 1 and 2 go well together as do bars 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8. Two of the rhythms are very similar except for a note – can you spot them? Use the accents to shape and make sense of the phrases which you will discover are all taken from somewhere within ‘Iguanas in a mess’. Can you identify each phrase from the song? If you are struggling to maintain rhythmic accuracy, saying the words (quietly!) to yourself whilst playing might help. Select rhythms to play together and begin to layer your sound - you could potentially have all eight rhythms being played simultaneously.
Play around with different combinations and sequences of patterns to make your own phrases. The challenge is to maintain your cool and play through all eight bars in a continuous percussive masterpiece.