Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision- July 21, 2022
This post presents a small collection of chants that are spoken or sung before the "Concentration" ("Hands Up To 85") game actually begins.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/07/concentration-hands-up-to-85-hand-clap.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five YouTube videos of this hand clap game.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/07/why-64-or-another-number-is-part-of.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents some speculation about the reasons why the number "64" or "85" or another number is part of the names of so many Concentration elimination hand clap games.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/concentration-64-handclap-game.html for a 2011 pancocojams post entitled "Concentration 64 Handclap Game (YouTube videos and text examples)". A few chant examples from that post are also included in this 2022 post.
****
Selected comments from the discussion threads for the showcase videos #1 and #2 in Part I of this series are presented first in this section. (Comments weren't allowed in showcase Video #3. No "different" chants were given in the discussion thread for showcase video #4, and as of this date, there are no comments for showcase video #5).
Comments about "Concentration" ("Hands Up To 85") from other online sources are given in no particular order.
I'm particularly interested in documenting some of the different versions of these chants that are found in those discussion threads.
Numbers are added to these comments for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE DISCUSSION THREAD #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MEJ2Sle650
1. serenityq26, 2018
."thats not our chant. "hands up vanilla high/sky"
clap clap "gonna get. one a piece. to know a piece. no hesitation. no
demostrations. such as. names of" and so on"
**
Reply
2. Shakedia Morris-Wilcox, 2021
"The song varies by region. I'm from Philly my chant is
different too :)"
-snip-
Philly = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA)
****
SHOWCASE DISCUSSION THREAD #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=CojU3JiVLbs&feature=emb_logo . Concentration Handclap Game, Waldorf Training Lectures, Jan 12, 2016
1. Alex Garza, 2017
"The way I play it:
Everyone gets in a circle. We connect hands by putting right
hand on top and left hand on the bottom. Then we say "This is a game of
concentration no repeats or hesitations the category is...." while we say this, we slap the hand of the
person to the left of you. Anyone else play like this?"
**
Reply
2. She Likes It LOUD!, 2019
"Alex Garza, I do! Except I say topic."
**
Reply
3. Jolyne Kujo, 2019
"yeaн вυт we ѕay ιт lιĸe тнιѕ... " тнιѕ ιѕ a gaмe oғ
concenтraтιon no repeaтѕ or нeѕιтaтιon played вy ĸιdѕ all over тнe naтιon
caтegory ιѕ... ""
4.
"mine is like this "this is the game of concentration no
repeats or hesitation and the topic is." but I don't clap"
**
5. big pp boy, 2017
"Mine was concentration concentration is a game keep the
rhythm or you will be out the game starting with names of"
**
Reply
6. Knight, 2020
"Thank you so much!!!! I’ve been trying to remember this one
for the longest time not a lot of people say this one"
**
7. Kirbo, 2018
"No it goes like this: consontration 👏👏👏
64 👏👏👏 no repeats 👏👏👏
or hesitation 👏👏👏 I will start 👏👏👏
and you will follow 👏👏👏
category is 👏👏👏 (category)"
-snip-
That pictorical image represents a hand and means that the players do that number of individual hand claps at the point in that chant that those images are shown, .
**
8. Gerri Spencer, 2020
"Wow, showing my age, we used to say while clapping
"concentration has just begun are you ready to have some fun subject
is....."
**
9. Rhashaunda Jones, 2020
"In the VI, we play a game similar to this.♡♡I
haven't played in years. This took me down memory lane.
We say:
Hands up for 98
We gonna guess it
Names of ***CATEGORY ***
One a piece
No repeats
No hesitation
No duplication
Starting with. ... and keep the rhythm flowing:))♡♡♡♡these
days:))))
-snip-
VI = Virgin Islands (in the Caribbean). I think that "and keep the rhythm flowing and ":))♡♡♡♡these days:))))" aren't part of the chant.
**
10. Clara's Corner, 2022
"I say it like this: Let’s play 👏concentration
👏no
repeats 👏 or hesitation 👏me:I’ll go first 👏
my friend:and I’ll go second 👏category is 👏
usually I do names of people in the class"
****
SHOWCASE DISCUSSION THREAD #3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU&t=2s "90’s hands games !!!!!"
Geneas, Nov 4, 2018
1.Indira Solis, 2020
"idk if this version of concentration was already a thing but
in middle school it went like this:
concentration clap clap clap, sixteenth floor clap clap clap
don't go in clap clap clap the bathroom door clap clap clap
if you do clap clap clap, i'll kick your shoe clap clap clap
category is.."
**
2. Something Flowery Like a butterfly sunrise, 2021
"2004- for concentration we would say “let’s play,
concentration, no repeats, or hesitation, topic is, (insert topic)”
**
3.Deuel, 2021
For the concentration hand game the way I did it was
different
I present to you: Hands up for wonderful
hands up for wonderful clap clap
is going to be clap clap
a big surprise clap clap
with no repeat clap clap
no hesitation clap clap
no reservation clap clap
please give clap clap
a list of [insert category] clap clap
starting with clap clap
[insert name] clap clap
and ending with clap clap
[insert name] clap
clap
start now clap clap
right now clap clap
[list things]
-snip-
This is the way that this example was written in that discussion thread.
**
3. Mindy, 2021
"Omg we used to do the concern game different lol like if you
slap the other person's hands opposite and you could play with more than 1
person like in a circle. And we would
say like concentration, 64, no repeats, or hesitation, I will start, who will
end, category is... ____. 😅 But these brought me
back!!!!"
**
4. nneka chidoka, 2021
"... my own was
Contentration six to four
We don’t repeat or hesitate
I ho first and you will follow
Topic is anything"
-snip-
"Ho" is probably a typo for the word "go".
****
EXAMPLE OF CONCENTRATION HAND GAME FROM THE LATE 1970S VINYL CHILDREN'S RECORD "OLD MOTHER HIPPLETOE"
"Zing-zing-zing, and away we go
To the Jackie Gleason studio.*
Calaree! Calarah!
One apiece,
No repeats
Or hesitations
Or demonstrations!
Name some...
Foods: "Ham." "Turkey." "Eggs." "Cheeseburger." "Bacon," "Sausage." "Hot dog." "Watermelon." "What?" "Watermelon." "Toast."
"Hamburger." "I said hamburger." "No you didn't," ALL: "Yes she did. You out!"
Cars: "Mustang. ""Pinto." "What!? What you all naming? Oh." "Mustang II." "Firebird." "Mercury." "Cutlass Supreme." "Cadillac."
"Mustang." "Supreme II." "Cutlass S." "Um ...F'irebird." "You out!" "
- Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, in Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural and Urban Children's Songs (Recorded in 1976 at the Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, Washington, D.C.; New World NW 29); http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf
-snip-
This is the earliest version of a Concentration handclap rhyme that I've collected (This doesn't mean that it's the earliest version).
*The Jackie Gleason show was an American television network show that ran from 1952 to 1970 in various forms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackie_Gleason_Show
*****
AN EXAMPLE OF CONCENTRATION FROM MY DAUGHTER (who posted it in the comment section for http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/concentration-64-handclap-game.html on November 4, 2015)
"Hello, this is Azizi's daughter, Tazi. I was looking @ this post reminiscing on old childhood game songs. I noticed that the way I played/sang "Concentration" isn't listed :-(
Here is how I remember playing Concentration starting in second or third grade.
A group of girls sat in a circle & we made a beat by tapping the top of our legs & snapping our fingers. I don't remember playing this game standing up and I never saw it done as a hand clap game.
We broke the word "concentration" into two parts: "Concen" and then "tration". While chanting "concen" we hit our right leg with our right hand.
Next we hit our left leg while chanting "tration".
Then we snapped two times, first with our right hand and then with our left hand. This pattern continued throughout the entire chant. Btw: This beat pattern sounds the same as "stomp stomp clap clap/stomp stomp clap clap". The song "We Will Rock You" has the same beat. I'm sorry if this is confusing. I looked for but didn't find any video of this :-(
It's understood that messing up the beat, repeating, pausing (hesitating) will cause you to be out. If you mess up the beat, people would be upset with you and say something like "You can't even stay on beat". You say your answer when you are hitting your leg (your lap). But, remember, the answer has to be broken up into two syllables.
Here's how to make the beat
#1 = hit the right side of your lap
#2 = hit the left side of your lap
#3 = snap your fingers on your right hand
#4 = snap your fingers on your left hand
Lyrics:
1. concen
2. tration
3.
4.
1. Are you
2. ready
3.
4.
1. let's
2. go
3. you snap with your right hand and say "take it
4.you snap with you left hand: "slow"
1.don't
2. forget
3. to blow
4. your nose.
1.names
2. of [someone designated as the leader of this game says a category for example, colors, sports, famous singers, animals etc]
3.
4.
The person sitting to the right of the leader has to come up with an answer that fits that category. It then goes clockwise.
Continue this pattern. If someone gave the answer on a snap, the person would be out. Sometimes people said (using the same beat pattern) "Your out. Stay out".
Also, when someone got out, we would close the circle up by moving closer together. We didn't start from the beginning. The leader would start from "Names of " and would pick a whole new category.
Once the game started no new person could join in until the next game.
I remember "Concentration" being a challenging game because you are doing several things at the same time. You must maintain the beat, think of multiple answers to fit the category because if someone who went before you said the answer that you were going to say, you had to come up with a new answer.
It's called "concentration" for a reason.
The key to playing this game well was to think of answers that fit the category but weren't commonly used. For example, for colors you could say "ultra-violet" or "copper" and not colors like "red " or "blue". The reason you'd do this is because people knew that the number one way that people got out was when someone said your answer and you had to quickly come up with a new answer.
I hope this helps!"
****
SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT "CONCENTRATION" ("HANDS UP TO 85") FROM OTHER ONLINE SOURCES
ONLINE SOURCE #1
From https://www.nappturality.com/forums/threads/81695-Clapping-Rhymes-hand-Games/page6
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: The nappturality.com link is active. However, the links that I retrieved years ago are no longer active. It's possible that these forum pages might be reserved now for members only.]
1.7/28/2004
QuitaD
'Hey! I remember this one we just updated it a bit.
All hands of 1990 (clap, clap)
No Demonstrations (clap, clap)
No Hesitations (clap, clap)
Naaaaame (clap, clap)
Booooyz (clap, clap)
and girls (clap, clap)
I’m first (clap, clap)
and I’m second (clap, clap)
Ready (clap, clap)
Set (clap, clap)
Go! (clap, clap)
Then you would just start naming boys and girls names, you
could change the category too to like cars or whatnot.
The 9-10 years at a camp I work for here still do these
games. They had new ones that I hadn’t heard of but SLIDE was still popular.
The boys loved playing that one with the girls. There is also and updated
version of the "All hand of 1990" song. They do the same thing but it
starts off different."
**
2. 07-28-2007, cyranosgirl
"Location
ATL (via Nwk, NJ)
OK, I’m takin it WAAAAAY back...
Hands up in 85 (clap, clap)
Gonna get (clap, clap)
The names of (clap, clap)
<SUBJECT> (clap, clap)
2 apiece (clap, clap)
No repeat (clap, clap)
No hesitation (clap, clap)
Some Concentration (clap, clap)
Starting with (clap, clap)
<PERSON’s NAME> (clap, clap)
If the subject was CARS, everyone would have to name 2 cars
(Eldorado, Pinto). If anyone
-snip-
That comment ends there or I didn't retrieve the rest of that comment.
****
ONLINE SOURCE #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRtq_z8j1Ac Concentration, published by Splash Games, Sept. 14, 2017 [summary statement and chant: Concentration is a fun classic game with handicapping and singing. See how far of a story your group can get without messing up!
Our version consists of at least 4 members. You asign a number to each member. And you sing the song first:
Con
I'd love to play it right now. It was fun.centration
Allegation
Feel the rhythm
Feel the rhythm if you can
tap clap
Concentration
tap clap
Now begins
And then the game starts from the person assigned as number 1. Since there are two snaps, per snap you will say one number: on the first snap you will say your number and on the second snap, you’ll say the number you want the concentration to jump to, for example if you’re number 1, you can say “1, 2” and the concentration jumps to the person assigned as number 2 and also repeats what number 1 did. So he can say “2, 4” and it will be number 4’s turn and number 4 can say “4, 3” and it will be number 3’s turn. The person who fumbles out of concentration loses
Yeah that’s long
-snip-
The bold font was used for those words in that discussion thread.
**
2. bizotically_yours83, 2020
"We always said
Concentration Concentration is the name, keep the
rhythm, keep the rhythm of the game. And
then we'd start counting down the line.
We didn't do the snap, we'd front slap and back slap each
others hands on the second."
**
3. FX Fade, 2021
"amazing ways for different people!! for our way we say
concentration busy in the station concentration lets begin. and we have it in
numbers"
**
4.Amron Carlos, 2021
"The right lyrics is concentration concentration ready now
get the rhtym get the rhtym of the game..... ...."
**
5. madison joe, 2022
"From NZ and we say “concentration , concentration now begin,
keep the rhythm, keep the rhythm moving, start now…” "
-snip-
NZ= New Zealand
****
ONLINE SOURCE #3
From https://twitter.com/smilejamtvj/status/1030071630846930945?lang=en Jamaican version of Hands Up To 85/
Concentration
Smile Jamaica
@Smilejamtvj
Who remembers this Hands to the 85/Hands of the 85 game?
Neville and
@DahliaHarris
took a trip down
memory lane for our Back-to-School show 👏🏽🙌🏽.
#SmileJamaica #1MorningShow #DailyDoseOfAwesomeness #WakeUpAndSmile
8:39 AM · Aug 16, 2018·Twitter for iPhone
-snip-
Here’s my transcription of this version of the introductory chant for "Hands Up To 85/Concentration".
[clap clap]
Wanna guess [clap clap]
Names of [clap clap]
Boys [clap clap]
One a piece [clap clap]
No repeat [clap clap]
Or hesitation [clap clap]
concentration[clap clap]
Let’s go [clap clap]
To the show [clap clap]
****
ONLINE SOURCE #4
From
"How about this: remember this game that was played, usually with five or more people, and you have to name a certain number of things that was related to a particular subject? The chant went something like this:
Hands down vanilla five (Clap Clap)
Gonna get (Clap Clap)
One a-piece (Clap Clap)
To no a-piece (Clap Clap)
No Hesitation...(Clap Clap)
No Demonstration (Clap Clap)
Subject (Clap Clap)
Names of (Clap Clap) (enter subject name here)" Usually, the subject name was boys, or cars, or teachers....and after each round, the number of things you had to name went up....that used to be my FAVORITE GAME!! lol"
****
ONLINE SOURCE #5
From GUEST, KLC, (East Harlem, New York, New York ;
July 11, 2008, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 ; Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
"Nintendo 64,
no repeats or hesitations
starting with the name of... (anything usually colors, boys, girls, cars, toys, tv shows, movies, etc) they keep up the hand beat and shouting names to someone messes up whoever is left at the end is the winner."
****
ONLINE SOURCE #6
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=85915&threadid=85915, Origins: Concentration (kids' game)
1. Old Roger, 02 Nov 05
"Our family (Dad Mum and daughter ) used to play Concentration with other familys back in about 1975 when we lived at Fenny Stratford. We sat round in a circle. Each person had a number in order around the circle. One person was designated leader or starter.
The leader followed by all present sets up a slow four beat pulse
Beat one slap you hands down on your knees
Beat two clap your hands
Beat three snap finger and thumb of left hand
Beat four snap finger and thumb of right hand
Begin by chanting whilst keeping the hand movements going
Con cen tra tion
Concen tration now be gin
Keep in Rhy thm
This bizarre spacing is an attempt to show how the words pulsed in time with the hand sounds.
The chanting stops but the rhythmic handwork keeps going.
The leader calls out two numbers. The first is his/her own number and then the number of another person in time with beats one and two. That person then calls out their own number and the number of another different person in time with beats one and two and so on.
It really requires a lot of concentration to keep the brain and hands working and coordinated and to remember the sequence. There are no absolute rules but you can decide beforehand what constitutes a break and offenders drop out until only one is left - the winner.
My wife and I were both teachers and we thought this was a great social, and hand and eye game, for kids. Did us good too.
**
2. GUEST, Nanny150, 29 Nov 09
"Our Concentration game was a rhythm elimination game - great for b-day parties. Everyone sat in a circle, slap knees, clap hands, snap left hand, snap right hand while saying "con-cen-tra-tion, keep in rhy-thm, cat-e-gor-y, names of _____________" (boys, girls, foods, cars, etc.) Whoever broke rhythm or repeated was out, until one was left, who was the winner."
**
3. GUEST, 6/2/2010
"Hands up for one eighty-five (clap-clap)
It's gonna be (clap-clap)
A big surprise (clap-clap)
No repeats (clap-clap)
No hesitations (clap-clap)
No demonstrations (clap-clap)
Starting with (clap-clap)
Names... (clap-clap)
Of... (clap-clap)
(colors, girls, boys, etc...) (clap-clap)... repeat names until someone loses.
The first person to repeat, hesitate, or demonstrate any word lost the game.
Multiple people stood in a circle and clapped hands with kids to the right and left of them. If only 2 people, they faced each other.
I now play this game with my kids. They love it!
****
This concludes Part II of this threepart pancocojams series.
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