Exploring Children s Compositions Based on a Musical Structure Call and Response, Using a Japanese Children s Play Song

Transcription

1 Exploring Children s Compositions Based on a Musical Structure Call and Response, Using a Japanese Children s Play Song Kumiko Koma Graduate student, Japan Women s University k-koma@mtg.biglobe.ne.jp Abstract This study considers the possibility that children compose music based on a musical structure call and response. The Japanese children s song Kakurenbo (hide-and-seek) has a musical structure call and response. 39 second graders of an elementary school composed tunes, using Kakurenbo. The author analyzed the children s compositions from three viewpoints. As a result, the following points about composing based on the structure call and response emerged clearly: (1) composing music with musical structure is fun; (2) composing music based on call and response is easy and useful for many children; (3) starting with call and response, many children can develop their musical sensibility independently; (4) and using their own musical tradition helps children to develop their musical world. Introduction Children s composing has been conducted mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries during the 1960s and 70s. Since Sound and Silence (1970) by Paynter, J. and Aston, P. was translated into Japanese in 1982, children s composing has become one of the main principles of music education in Japan. After composing was taken into Course of Study in 1989, it began to be implemented mainly in elementary schools. However, because how to compose music was not explained well, during the actual activities in the elementary schools classes, the teachers tended to find sound pictures or sound stories for the clues to compose. However recently, many Japanese teachers have noticed that musical structure must be emphasized in children s composing. While practicing of composing with children, they also recognized that attentive listening, namely, structural listening, is important for children s musical appreciation. In this point, the relationship between children s composing and appreciating has been respected. In this research, in order to discuss the relationship between composing and

2 appreciating, other music-related activities, and other subjects, the author focused on the importance of children s composing, focusing particularly on call and response as one of the musical structures. A Musical Structure Call and Response What is a musical structure? Music dictionaries such as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, have no description of structures. However, in The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, the relationship between repetition and form is explained as follows: The perception of repetition is one of the principal elements in the perception of musical form. 1 Furthermore, it describes call and response in terms of being at the same level as repetition, 2 and defines it as follows: Alternation between two performers or group of performers, especially between a solo singer and a group of singers. Silver Burdett s Music 3 (1981) explained structures as follows: Music can be structured (organized) by repeating and contrasting. The overall structure of a piece, with its repetition and contrasts, is the piece s form. This description indicates that musical structures already were considered as being important concepts of music education. Tsubono (2007) explained the importance of musical structure as follows: We can see musical structures, such as repetition and call and response, commonly in many styles of music in the world. Orff, C. (1962) emphasized that it is necessary for improvised music on the basic form such as question and answer. Wade (2004) stated that The structures of solo-group instrumentation and musical part-counterpart are heard in music all over the world. Even in Japanese children s play songs, we can also find significant examples of call and response, for instance, Touryanse (Would you like to pass here?), Hanaichimonme (Could you give us the kid?), and Hiraita-hiraita (Which flowers are out?). Further, Wade stated that the musical structure call and response is deeply significant in African music. Campbell (2004) devoted 6 th chapter Creating World Music in her book, Teaching Music Globally. She described that making music in the style of call-and-response technique are means of knowing the particular musical selection, as well as music at 1 Edited by Randel, D.M. (1986) The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p Ibid. pp.124.

3 large for its variety of component structure, and also cited examples of composing based on call and response using African music, such as Atsiagbeko, Kumbaya and Riachao. Tsubono (2007) explored children s composing based on various styles of world music in the early 1990s. Her work was published in a magazine for music educators in Japan for about four years. During her work, she recognized that repetition and call and response were included as the common structures of many styles of world music. Here, she took in Japanese court music Gagaku as the teaching material for children s composing. Later she introduced the Sarashi pattern as the Japanese basic repetitive structure. At present, this pattern is widely used in Japanese schools, for the children s composing on the Koto, a Japanese instrument. In this research, the author will introduce the structure call and response as the basis of children s composing, by using the Japanese children s song Kakurenbo. While the material explored by Tsubono was exclusively for the higher graders, Kakurenbo used in this research will be for the lower graders. Because the material is a children s play song, they can enjoy it, and develop it easily. Background of the Music Class The elementary school is one of the private schools in Tokyo. The music class of 39 second graders was held in November, 2006.The class activities included four lessons, and this case was the fourth lesson. In this music class, not only Teacher S, who was a music teacher but also Teacher F, who was a second grade classroom teacher, was involved. The author observed this class and offered advice to Teacher S for planning curriculums. For every music class, Teacher F took the children to the music room and played musical games 3 with them as an introduction. These games involved the imitation of rhythms 4 by clapping hands. Each child had a chance to express his or her rhythm. In this way, these games allowed the children to confidently express the rhythm they created by themselves. Fig.1 is a location whole the music class. And table1 is a summary of activities of children. 3 Musical games are a kind of improvisation based on simple rules which anybody can understand. 4 An imitation of rhythms is considered to be a style of call and response.

4 Children and two teachers sit down in a circle. Hallway side Windows side is a classroom teacher. is a music teacher. AV piano AV White board Fig. 1 Location in the music class Table 1 Summary of activities of children 1)Singing a song of Kakurenbo Music teacher sang Moiikai? and children sang Madadayo. 2)Playing a Musical Game They enjoyed improvising using Moiikai? and Madadayo. 3)Making music by each group The children were divided into four groups and asked to compose their own music using these phrases. 4)Performing music by each group The groups performed their compositions, and commented on each other s musical works, 5)Performing music by all children They connected song of Kakurenbo and their compositions like a rondo form and they performed them. 6)Appreciating music The children appreciated two pieces composed by two professional musicians. One of the pieces Yobikake was composed by contemporary Japanese composer, and the other Duetto buffo di due gatti was composed by Rossini. Both the pieces included the call and response structure. 7)Writing their report

5 Japanese Children s Song "Kakurenbo" Kakurenbo (hide-and-seek) (Ex.1) is a Japanese school song composed by Kanichi Shimofusa in This song begins with a children s calling, kakurenbo surumono yottoide, and ends with two phrases, mouiikai (Are you ready?) and madadayo (Not yet), which are frequently used in the children s games in Japan. The melodies, rhythms, and words have many varieties depending on regions, have been passed down, and diffused in each region. As mentioned before, Japanese children s songs have the structure of call and response in many cases. In particular, in the Kakurenbo song both call and response are very short so that children can use them in their plays very easily. This song is consisted of five sounds, such as D, E, G, A, and H, which are considered to be one of the typical Japanese pentatonic scale. Only three of the five tones from the scale are used in the last two phrases, mouiikai and madadayo. Koizumi (1958) categorized Japanese children s songs and folk songs into the following three types: (1) two-tone melody, (2) three-tone melody, and (3) four-tone melody. Based on his categorization, mouiikai and madadayo has three-tone melody consisted of a combination of major second + major second and put an end at the middle tone. Thus, these short phrases appear Japanese typical traditional melody structure. This is also the reason why Japanese children play them easily and enjoy them. Ex.1 Kakurenbo hide-and-seek

6 Analysis of Their Compositions The author analyzed children's compositions. Children were divided into four groups consisted of 9-10, and each group was given a theme for composing. They are as follows: (1) faraway (2) nearby (3) the way to make variation of their voices (4) from nearby to faraway. Fig.2 is a location when children perform their compositions. Please refer with Fig.1 and Fig.2. Hallway side Windows side Center of the circle Center of the circle From center of the circle to faraway girl boy Fig.2 Location of activities of 4 groups

7 The author saved these based on a video record. Children compositions are as follows: Without beat Ex. 2 Group1 Faraway Ex. 3 Group2 Nearby

8 1round When girls call Mo-i-i-kai? using small voice one by one, boys answer Ma-da-da-yo using small voice one by one. Boys call, and girls answer likewise. 2round Girls call whisper, and boys answer whisper likewise. Boys call, and girls answer likewise. 3round Girls call interesting voice, and boys answer interesting voice likewise. Boys call, and girls answer likewise. Without beat In every one round, they sing one letter. Mo------i------ka------i Girls: Counterclockwise direction, while tapping a chest with their right hand Ma------da------da------yo Boys: Clockwise direction, while tapping a chest with their both hands Yoda------da------ma Boys: Counterclockwise direction, while tapping a chest with their both hands I------ka------i------mo Girls: Clockwise direction, while tapping a chest with their right hand Ex.4 Group3 The way to make variation of their voices Mo-i-kai Mo-i-kai Mo--i--ika-i Ma-dada yo Ma-dada yo Ma--da-da-yo- Mo-i-kai Mo-i-kai Mo--i--ika-i Ma-dada yo Ma-dada yo Ma--da-da-yo- Mo-i-kai Mo-i-kai Mo--i--ika-i Ma-dada yo Ma-dada yo Ma-da-da-yo- Mo-i-kai Mo-i-kai Mo--i--ika-i Ma-dada yo Ma-dada yo Ma-da-da-yo- Mo-i-kai Mo-i-kai Mo--i--ika-i Ma-dada yo Ma-dada yo Ma---da---da---yo----- pp ff rit. Ex.5 Group4 From nearby to faraway

9 The author analyzes music composed by children from three viewpoints as follows. Using Space and Body Please refer to Fig. 2. As explained before, each group had a theme provided by their music teacher with reference to the music piece, Yobikake, composed by Chisako Takeuchi, which children listened to after the activities. Group 1 with a theme, faraway, called each other from hallway to windows outside of a circle in which other children were sitting stretched widely in the class room. Group 2 with a theme, nearby, called each other from very close in the center of a circle in which other children were sitting. Group 4 with a theme, from nearby to faraway, started calling each other from close in the center of the circle and as doing so, stepped away from each other. These activities allowed children to express their themes by making a good use of space and alternating distance to call each other based on their locations for presentation. Why is it that they made such good use of space to express their themes? The author assumes that the children realized their using of space through their play. Group 3 showed their using of body in coordination with sounds and movements. In this group, girls used their right hands and boys used their left hands to tap their chest adjusting tones for call and response. They also expressed mouiikai by turning in a counterclockwise direction and madadayo by turning in a clockwise direction. Such coordination of sounds and movements can be seen in Brazilian capoeira. In the forefront of capoeira is coordination in structuring music along with physical play (Wade, 2004). Capoeira is originally a street game played in Brazil and has been institutionalized today. This game emerged from a play involving music and movements. Moreover, a Japanese children s song, Hanaichimonme, is a call and response song involving a game in which players stand facing each other in two lines holding hands. When one line calls the other line moves forward, and the previous line moves backward; this procedure is repeated with the call of the second line. The using of body and play through call and response have a close relationship with each other. Therefore the author highlights importance that Kakurenbo was a Japanese children s song and used phrases directly related to children s play. From Words to Tunes From Music with beat to Music without beat The song, mouiikai and madadayo, is originally sung in binary time. Tunes made by Group 1 had with beat, while tunes made by Group 2-4 had without beat. Why did tunes

10 made by Group 2-4 have without beat? It was because the original phrases had melody directly composed of rhythms for calling. In other words, children freely used the phrases for calling without caring for beat and could extend words to tunes in any manner. It was also assumed that children could make such tunes because these phrases were not Western classical music but Japanese children s song, Japanese music, which children could manipulate with many variations. Making Good Using of Various Musical Techniques There happened to be many overlaps of tones in tunes created by children. Group 1 overlapped madadayo with double time delay and further added the next phrase, mouiikai. It sounded like an echo. Group 2 overlapped whispering voices one after another. Group 4 slightly shifted one phrase of mouiikai and madadayo creating heterophony. Heterophony is widespread in Asian musical traditions and can be seen in Japanese traditional music (Wade, 2004). It was also noteworthy that Group 3 made mouiikai backward motion, such as iikaimou, and also made madadayo backward motion, such as yodadama. Forward and backward motions have been used since old times of Bach, J.S. and are frequently used even in twelve-tone music of modern music. Neither children had knowledge of such techniques nor did teachers teach children such techniques. The techniques were musical ideas created by children. Moreover, each group managed smooth beginning and ending of their tunes by deciding their own rules and communicating with each other by looking at faces and feeling breaths. Beginning and ending music with feeling breaths or communication between each other are very frequently observed in ethnic music performances all over the world. How could children create such musical ideas and freely use them? One reason was that children made tunes based on music they were familiar and simple phrases using a Japanese children s song. Another reason was that the phrases had a call-and-response structure. Call and response, such as mouiikai and madadayo, is a kind of communication and conversation between persons. It cannot be realized without communication or conversation with the other persons. The phrases were composed only of three tones and were simple enough for children to sing the way they speak. Composing music with child-friendly phrases enabled children create various musical techniques and use them to create tunes.

11 Appreciating music After their activities, a musical piece titled Yobikake (Calls) was played on CD. This piece was written by Chisako Takeuchi in 1977, which only used ohy (hey) and nani (what) as the text. It was performed by children. In this piece, the composer used the effect of spacing, the overlapping of the several parts and the many variations such like mimic, or some new ideas using their voices. While listening to the piece, children mimicked ohy and nani, and imitated the sound in the piece such lightly tapped their mouth with their hands. With such behavior, they listened to common features with their creation of music. From the analysis of reports written by children about impressions after listening, about 62% of the children described that they noticed the common features between their music and the music they appreciated. Namely, they listened to call and response in both of music. About 40% of the children described that they noticed some musical elements, such as tone color, high notes by the falsetto, and the texture (sound overlaps). Most of those who noticed the musical elements did not describe a musical structure, call and response. On the other hands, many of those who noticed call and response did not pay so much attention the musical elements. In other words, they tended to focus only a single concept in music in their age. Children (89%) who described musical components ( call and response and other musical elements) stated that composing was fun, and wished to do the same kind of activity again in the future (73%). In other words, composing music based on a music structure enabled children to understand other music with the same structure. Children then could not only enjoy creating music but also were absorbed in the further musical ideas by learning from others. By appreciating the composer s piece, some children noticed musical elements to which Teacher S never referred, for example, tone color, high notes with the falsetto, and the texture. It means that children could develop their musical sensibility independently without teacher s advice. Therefore, making music enables children not only express their inner-self but also create and play music with other people. Listening to other peoples performance, children could deepen their understanding of others and, at the same time, they could deepen understanding of themselves.

12 Relationship with Other Subjects Later, the author interviewed Teacher F who was took in charge of the class for second graders. She stated that children had changed after the class. The change was significantly observed in the Japanese language class. In this class, children started ad-lib singing by finding call and response in a poem. They were fascinated with the reciting the poem by using call and response in the poem. Although, Teacher F had no attention to call and response in the poem, children found them in the poem by themselves. In addition, children noticed a repetition in the poem. In other words, children could find not only call and response but also the other structure, repetition in the poem. Again, children could find independently new musical idea by themselves. Conclusion In this research, the author discussed how children could develop their musical sensitivity through composing based on call and response. As a result, the following four points emerged clearly: Composing music with a musical structure is fun for many children. Composing music based on call and response is easy and useful for many children. Starting with call and response, many children can develop their musical sensibility independently. Using their own musical tradition helps children to develop their musical world. Reference Campbell, P.S. (2004) Teaching Music Globally, New York: Oxford University Press. pp ,212. Koizumi, F Nippon Dentou Ongaku no Kenkyu {A study of Japanese traditional music }, Tokyo: Ongaku no tomo sya, pp Orff, C Carl Orff hakase wo mukaete Kodomo ha rythm ni ikiru Kodomo no tame no Ongaku Kouen to Enso, Sidou {Meet Dr. Carl Orff Children live for rhythm (Music for Children) Lecture, Performance and Teaching}, Tokyo: The Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) publication.

13 Silver Burdett (1981) Music Book3 Tsubono, Y. (2007) Kodomo no souzoutekina ongaku kastudou no imi wo toinaosu {Re-considering the children s creative activity in music}, Kyouiku Kenkyu {Research of Education} Vol.62 No.2, Tokyo:Fumaido press, pp Wade, B. (2004) Thinking Musically, New York: Oxford University Press. pp