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This story is about learning to play the didgeridoo. First listen to the way Rif uses the word
'want':
Well, the main reason I want to play the didgeridoo is it just sounds awesome. It sounds like
some alien noise basically. It is the only instrument that is completely
Australian. I just want to learn it, it just sounds really
interesting. He says 'want to' quickly - wanna.
I just want to learn it.
Okay
I'm a bit nervous and a bit awkward because everybody is just so professional and do things
so fast and for me, even peeling the carrot, it's just so hard for me, it keeps falling
off and Andy's very quick and you know, fast and he finish one carrot in like two seconds
but for me it take like one minute. He uses it in the usual way to mean he wishes
or desires to learn. So let's watch Rif learning: You want to really relax your lips, just let
them wobble. Just like 'pfpfpfpfpfpfpf'. You compress you mouth in there so there's no
air can escape in or out then just blow nice and soft. That'll be the first noise, is just
the drone.
See that there's just too hard so you just pull back a little bit and just
Yeah, so you're getting it straight away. He says that Rif is 'getting it' - he's understanding
how to do it. And he's getting it 'straight away', which
means immediately. Listen again:
You compress you mouth in there so there's no air can escape in or out then just blow
nice and soft. That'll be the first noise is just the drone. So.
Just, yeah, see you're getting it straight away.
So its' like 'pfpfpfpfpfpfpf'. Yep.
Trap your lips inside so that no air can come out and yeah, just blow soft. And keep trying
it a couple
Yeah, there you go. He said 'there you go' - this is a phrase
often used to encourage and praise. Next, listen for the way Rif stresses that
what he is doing is very difficult:
The breathing, the breathing is really, really hard to get.
That's the hardest part. The hardest part is the breathing, the circular breathing.
He said, "It's really, really hard." To emphasise something you can sometimes repeat
adverbs such as 'really' or 'very' and say it's 'very, very' hard or it's 'really, really'
hard. Listen to Rif say it again:
It's a lot harder than I thought it would be specially the breathing technique. It's
just, I don't think I'll get it within a year or so, something like that. It's really, really
hard to do. He said, "I don't think I'll get it." He doesn't
think he'll be able to do it. Next, listen for the expression that means
to try or make an attempt: He listened and I didn't have to say anything
twice. He did really well for a beginner to get down what he did get down.
I'm gonna jump on and do just a little bit of busking and during the song Rif's going
to jump in and have a little go himself, just have a little drone along with me.
Pretty much just accompany me. Have a little go himself - to have a go is
to try to do something. You can also say 'give it a go', like this:
Ah, I'm a bit scared and a bit nervous. I don't think I'll be able to keep up with those
guys but yeah, I'll give it a go, give it a go, see how it goes.
We'll finish with Rif using the word 'jam' which means to play music together:
Thanks a lot man, you were awesome. You were great. Thanks, man.
One of my goals when I came to Australia was actually to busk - not just busk, to actually
jam with some Australian musicians and it does not get more Australian than this.