Introduction

It is the innate nature of children to play, and their play is an essential part of their development. (Hopkin 1984:1). Via their spontaneous play, children are open to the cultural elements of their own society within which “communicative and social development and the growth of problem-solving skills” are provided (Rubin 1980: vii).Although children’s play is a universal phenomenon, it is also true that “relationships between types of games and cultural correlates of child training, economics, politics, and technology” do exist (Sutton-Smith 1980: 6). As part of children’s play, musical activities, especially singing games, demonstrate the diversity of this phenomenon. 
“Music is shaped and surrounded by aspects of culture”; therefore, it “must be learned by a human group” (Herndon and McLeod 1979: 32). Children's life experiences, which consist of interactions with their family, peers, schools, and mass-media, provide them with the earliest opportunity to learn music (Perry and Perry 1987: 3). Through an oral tradition, this initial learning environment, in which singing games are included, offers young children various musical concepts, such as melody, rhythm, and form, and gradually shapes their unique musical development.
Spontaneity, the most prominent element associated with children’s play, is also important when children engage in musical activities such as singing games. This spontaneity, in terms of children’s musical development, is often referred to as “improvisation,” a term that western musicologists define as “the art of performing music spontaneously, without the aid of manuscript, sketches, or memory” (Apel 1969). The fact that improvisation does not require the aid of tools, such as manuscripts, supports the theory of children’s spontaneous play. Since no intellectual stimulus or professional musical training is provided in children’s earlier developmental stages, the most natural way for them to acquire a musical vocabulary and build up their own repertoire is by listening to and participating in the daily musical activities surrounding them in their own society.

Hence, I believe that, in addition to the spontaneous nature of children's play, cultural elements also have an important role in their creative music development.Children’s musical activities originate in their spontaneous nature; however, it is also necessary to set this spontaneity within a cultural framework so that their musical activities make sense to the members of the community.On the basis of this idea, in this paper I will investigate the universal spontaneity and cultural heritage of African American children’s singing games. I will introduce the characteristics of African American music as the basis of the cultural elements in African American children's singing games. I will also apply Vygotsky’s thoughts on socio–cultural learning theory to these singing games, and examine the relationship between the children’s creativity in their singing games and the resources of their society.

African American Music Culture

The music of African Americans, primarily derived from their African heritage with a fusion of western European elements, is now distinguished in the world. According to Merriam (1982), in traditional African society music is “an all-pervasive and continual aspect” of the day. Most communities “mark a daily cycle of events with music.” The Africans tend to tie “music tightly to the socio-cultural events for which it is created.” For the Africans, “without the events, the music is not produced” (149). Moreover, to the Africans, the process of making music, requiring a communal contribution, is similar to how they engage in their daily work. Individuals in a group have their own roles in maintaining an optimal daily routine. This nature of music as closely related to daily work was brought to North America through slavery, and has enormously influenced the development of African American music for hundreds of years. The following discussion of rhythmic structure, form, texture, and text shows the musical connection of the African Americans to their African ancestry. These elements of African music have evolved into African American children’s singing games.

Rhythmic Structure

Rhythm is the most illuminating characteristic of African music tradition. According to Merriam, four basic elements characterize rhythmic structure. They are an equal pulse base, a metric time arrangement, a specific organizing principle unifying a diversity of simultaneous rhythmic patterns together, and an exact starting point for rhythmic groupings (Merriam 1982: 147). These four fundamental elements in most African music traditions have influenced the music- making of African Americans, as evidenced by hand clapping, feet stamping, and the use of strong metric and polymetric effects in their singing and dancing (Standifer 1989: 48).

Form

The most frequent form in African tradition consists of repeated short phrases with the accompaniment of melodic- rhythmic ostinato patterns. Call and response is one of the examples, in which a leader usually sings a phrase with a chorus singing back a response (Merriam 1982: 149). This manner not only influences the music development of African Americans, but also plays an essential part on other related activities, such as congregation worshiping and sermon preaching at church. It is noteworthy that ample opportunities for improvisation usually appear in the form of call and response, regardless of whether it is speech, singing, or dancing.

Texture

Reflecting the African people’s communal nature, African music is marked by the simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches (Merriam 1982: 151). Melody and rhythm are interwoven within this dense structure of various instrumental and metric combinations. Ornamental devices, either by singing or instrumental playing, are commonly used to add more layers providing a richer density to the texture.
Another important feature of African music is its related movements or body percussion, such as hand clapping, foot stamping, and dance. It is nearly impossible to listen to African American music without moving one's body. This kinetic sense “permeates all African American folk music tradition, and it is an integral part of custom associated with work, worship, and entertainment” (Standifer 1989: 48). The connection also a reflects the fact that “musical behavior is the extension of their daily life” (Standifer 1989: 49).

Text/Lyric:

As a tool to transmit messages and thoughts, and record historical events, African music always carries meanings. Consequently, the text to the music is considered the most important part of their music culture. The singing style resulting from the complex tonal characteristic of their language requires melodic arrangements to adhere to the African phonemic tonal system, so that the text meaning could beconveyed through singing. The intimate “relationship between linguistic and musical tone” that allows messages to be communicated through singing also is represented as a prominent feature of African American music. Examples of this characteristic can be heard in various “call and response” settings, such as in most religious events, working environments, and playing activities.

Creativity vs. African American Children's Singing Games

Traditionally, African children have been highly active musically. They are naturally exposed to a setting full of music as they grow up. Like the adults, they tend to learn important manners or attitudes of their culture conveyed through the messages of music. Therefore, the games they play, also musically involved, are the basis for their social and intellectual education.
It is not a surprise that “individual children often accompany their private play with spontaneous humming, singing, and rhythmic chanting” (Harwood 1998: 111). However, when the African American children gather as a group to play, the communal nature inherited from their African ancestry becomes a constraint for their “individual innovation” (Harwood 1998: 111). Nevertheless, as I stated earlier in my thesis, cultural constraint is not the only dimension involved with the development of creativity in children’s games. The universal nature of spontaneity during children’s playing activities also should be considered as an influential factor regarding creativity. This belief coincides Harwood’s assumptions regarding “constancy and change.” She suggests that these two are an integral part of children’s game culture. While “constancy” corresponds to the cultural constraint, “change” is the result of children’s spontaneous nature.Consequently, “individual melodic, rhythmic, gestural, and textual improvisation” will occur in children’s games within a framework built up by the cultural elements surrounding them (Harwood 1998: 111).

According to Jones, African American traditional games, which require groups of children to participate, include clapping games, jumps and skips, singing games, ring games, and dances (Jones and Hawes 1972). Adhering to the belief that music is tied to everyday life, African American children also perceive music as an immensely important part in every game they play.Most of the traditional African music features are rooted in these children’s games, especially the ostinato rhythmic pattern for accompaniment, the polyrhythmic structure, and the “call and response” form.As early as African American children stat to learn to play, these musical elements function as the framework of their games.

Oral instructions from either adults or peers in the children’s community first appear in their learning process familiarizing them with the rules and routines of the game. Regardless of the slight difference that occurs in the rhymes or rhythmic patterns resulting from the oral instruction, children are loyal to the initial version of any game they learn due to their “culturally conservative” nature as suggested by Hopkin. Children “always try to reproduce something exactly as they heard it, simply because that’s how it goes” (Hopkin 1984: 5). Cases from Howard’s field research “You Doin’It Wrong” show this conservative issue. When learning a new singing game, the African American girls “tried several times to reconstruct the texts and actions, and listened to suggestions from informed onlookers until they arrived at what they agreed was the complete, authentic version” (Harwood 1998: 112). Being authentic is the “only socially acceptable way ” for these African American girls. Faithfully adhering to the existing tradition is important to them. Consequently, “improvisation, in the sense of individual melodic, rhythmic, or textual embellishments of the right tune, does not flourish” (Harwood 1998: 114-15).

However, the many fashions in “speech and dress that inexplicably emerge and vanish,” and “songs that come and go” in trends over time are evidence that changes or creativity do exist in children’s folk culture (Harwood 1998: 115). African American children mostly demonstrate their creativity by improvising body movements connected with the singing games, while some examples of improvising on musical elements are also found in children’s repertoire. The most prominent instance is that African American children improvise in the clapping games. “Rather than repeating a set pattern throughout a song,” usually they tend to clap “in special phrasings designed to bring out the phrase structure of the song, which may be unique to the particular song” (Hopkin 1984: 10). Another interesting point regarding this issue is that acknowledged master players in a group “are allowed to break the rules,” and so, innovation or improvisation may occur legitimately (Harwood 1998: 115).

Vygotsky’s Socio- Cultural Learning Theory

Erikson defines children’s play as “a function of the ego, an attempt to synchronize the bodily and the social processes with the self” (Erikson 1963: 211). He further explains that when a child “plays he must intermingle with things and people” in a similar fashion (Erikson 1963: 212). The interaction between children and the other “things” when they play, as suggested by Erikson, is culturally oriented. People of various cultures possess different standards.Therefore, according to Marxism, it is possible that “human nature can be changed by changing interaction patterns in society” (Pellgrini 1987: 128). This belief led Vygotsky[1] to emphasize the role of social interaction in individual development. His “sociocultural theory” was thus formed and has been employed to various educational and sociological studies, which “focus on how culture, the value, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group, is transmitted to the next generation” (Berk 1999: 28).
During the process of child development, it is especially important to have experienced adults and peers in the environment of the same society help children manage “culturally meaningful activities” (Berk 1999: 28). According to this theory, different tasks, such as children’s play, are selected for children’s learning. To obtain essential knowledge and skills for success in a particular culture, social interactions among children and these specific tasks are indispensable. This distinct social interaction which differs from culture to culture is unique, enabling children of various cultural backgrounds to develop strengths not found in other cultures.

Along with school settings, I believe children’s playgrounds and streets are the best cultural laboratories, where “the unique form of cooperation” between the children, adults, and their peers are established (Moll 1990; Vygotsky 1987: 2). Vygotsky employed the concept of this inter-relationship between learners (children) and instructors (adults or peers) to build up a proposition-- the zone of proximal development (ZPD) to explain how children learn differently. This concept “allows adults to know what a child is able to achieve through the use of a mediator and thus enables the adults to help the child attain that level by themselves” (Constructivism 2000).

The first function that adults and mature peers of society serve in the structure of ZPD theory is to observe and determine children’s level of competence. They then teach or provide children instructions at the upper limits of the children’s competence to “facilitate children’s independent problem solving” (Pellegrini 1987: 129). According to Berk (1999), during the learning process is that at first, adults guide and support children’s learning by “breaking the task into manageable units and calling their attention to specific features.” Later, “by joining the interaction,” children gain their mental strategies, and their competence will increase (Berk 1999: 339). One substantial message of this concept is the need to consider this development within itsculturally related context, since its structure is based on a socially interacted system.

Vygotsky’s Learning Theory and African American Children’s Singing Games

According to this theory, children’s games, often including rhymes and songs, are considered the tools or mediums assisting their enculcuration. Mature peers who manage games for other children and participate in their play may be perceived as the mediators. In the process of learning, these mature children impart what they have learned to the novices. For them, their major responsibility is to rely upon the authentic plays and pass them on faithfully. Cultural elements such as languages, customs, music, and taboos, are the sources provided in this process. Children in a societal setting are unconsciously exposed to all of these sources. Through play and related activities, they imitate how people around them deal with these sources and gradually develop an identity of belonging to that specific culture. Although it is true that children may spontaneously engage their play without seeking any direct assistance, these cultural elements associated with their play still explain the structure of Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory that child development lays its foundation on a cultural-oriented system.

This learning theory also is applicable to the way African American children interact with their older peers or adults when engaging in singing games. Evidently, traditional African musical characters are still the basic sources that make up the African American children’s repertoire. Each individual child absorbs his musical vocabulary in the same manner as he learns to talk. Roots are disclosed to African American children through the African music tradition. These children, according to Vygotsky’s theory, culturally interact with the music elements voluntarily penetrated into children's daily life through their parents and the elders in the family or peers on the street and play yard.

I also believe that Vygotsky's theory has a rational explanation supporting my thesis that children's music creativity is limited by their culture. African American children's creativity of a singing game is an example. Despite their loyalty attached to the first heard version, improvisation or innovation does take place in their singing games. Musical principles regarding this sort of improvisation are derived from the African music features such as ostinato clapping pattern and "call and response" form. I consider these elements or principles to be important to African American children's music creativity since it is through interacting with them that the African American children make their culture distinguished.

Conclusion

Children everywhere play, but they play differently. Children everywhere sing, yet they sing differently. Children everywhere improvise, but they improvise differently. Vygotsky employs the importance of culture to explain why and how children develop differently as they grow up. The way African American children play their singing games also demonstrates the fact that culture limits the development of children’s music creativity to a certain degree. This limitation is not necessarily negative, instead, it shows the genuine side of children’s learning and provides researchers and educators another challenge --the challenge of using cultural factors when determining children’s intellectual and social learning.

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[1] Lev Semyonovitch Vygotsky was born on November 5 1896 in Soviet Union, and died in 1934.