Lyrics to Zill By

I was taking a class from my friend Melanie and she mentioned that for zill drills (finger cymbals) she likes to say the phrases, “I can walk, I can play, I can walk, I can dance” (or something similar). The words line up to the “And-A-One, And-A-Two, And-A-Three, And-A-Four” that the zills strike on, and the feet move on 1 (right), 2 (left), 3 (right), and 4 (left).

I shared the lyrics with my student D’vorah, and as I was driving home from our lesson, I started to expand the phrases.

CHORUS
  I can breathe
  I can move
  I can dance
  I can zill

Verse One
  Have a drink?
  Yes, I shall!
  Thank you, much!
  Say no more!

To which D’vorah added Verse Two
  Double, please!
  Here you go!
  Oh thank G*D!
  That’s my girl.

Feel free to make up any lyrics you like. One nice trick about four-line verses or choruses, you can practice moving your arms “on the 4” to cue the next move when you get to the fourth line of lyrics.

For example:
CHORUS
  I can breathe [step R]
  I can move [step L]
  I can dance [step R]
  I can CUE! [arms move to new cue as you step L]

I hope you like this trick. As we move beyond the arms and feet and posture and smile layers of our Fundamentals in Level 1, we add the Zills as our next layer. In each progression in ATS, we’re bringing new layers to our combinations, like a delicious Baklava, lovingly prepared with layers of thin dough and delicious honey and butter. NOMZ. Delicious! <3