CHAPTER FIVE
a) Social Roles of Children’s songs
In Tswana culture there is a saying „ Tlhako ya morago e gata fa ya pele e gatileng teng’
interpreted as “the back foot steps where the front foot stepped.‟ By implication this denotes that “knowledge is the prerogative of the aged” as has also been observed by Ntsihlele (1982:9). Children should be empowered with the wisdom of the aged, to equip them with life skills which could capacitate them to engage successfully with life challenges.
Traditionally in Tswana culture, children were perceived as the wealth of the nation, with manhood and womanhood judged on the basis of how many children somebody had. In order for children to be responsible citizens who were able to fit and function well in the society, they were provided with some gender role expectations, which they were later on obliged to display to demonstrate their masculinity in the case of boys or femininity on girls‟ side, as soon as they graduate from toddlerhood. These values were usually disseminated in the form of either songs or story-telling. Herbst et al (2003:15) support this in writing thus, “Sex and gender decorum are routinely transacted in the songs and the theatre of musical arts performance.” Addo (1996:2) endorses, “Singing games are traditional games in that their performance is a window into the community norms, values, kinship patterns and gender roles, since the games reflect the various traditions.”
Children‟s story telling songs for example, have got some teachings aimed at empowering children with life skills, morality and character molding models. The story of Tsuwele exemplifies how stories were used to warn children against alienating themselves from parental guidance. In that story, Tsuwele‟s mother had warned her that they should leave the place they were staying in, because it was terrorized by the giants who ate children. Tsuwele paid a deaf ear to her mother‟s pleas, and consequently she became the victim.
The story about Ntadiane has a moral message warning children never to insult others. It shows how the consequences of being rude could impact badly on perpetrators of the act, by revealing how the stone which Ntadiane had insulted surprised her by engulfing her until she died, while it freed her colleagues. Ntsihlele (1992:10) uncovered the same findings in her research on Xhosa children‟s songs when she states: “The songs have moral content to correct the child‟s conceited behavior and attitudes towards others, in their daily interaction with them.”
Most of the songs emphasize group activity through performance. Each child is expected to take turns in leading while others are responding (call and response). This action challenges children to express themselves in front of others, hence developing their self-esteem. They are further empowered to subordinate their interests to the interest of the group by taking turns in leading the songs, and coming only at the right time. Children‟s songs also teach leadership skills, as well as assertiveness. Lastly, children learn to be empathic, and appreciate the importance of socialization. Brown (1977) cited by Ntsihlele: (1982:61) concurs, “Children‟s games and songs are a force of socialization or enculturation, which initiates the individual into the ways of the group”
Other virtues which the songs transmit include the following: the importance of hard work embedded in the song: in the song Kika e kae, the composer‟s intent is to ridicule lazy people by calling them „mesela‟ implying they always remain behind like tails. The song Sila sila mile also has the same intent of being satirical of lazy personalities. The composer depicted a woman who got divorced because she failed to grind some corn to cook for her husband. In her song analysis, Ntsihlele discovered moral values such as cleanliness, greeting lessons and memory functions, among others. Akuno (2005:101) endorses, “through such songs and chants the children learn the different social roles of their communities…. Children‟s songs often incorporate aspects of the teaching of mores. The songs praise the well-behaved, and mock or ridicule the wicked, so children learn the difference between what is considered good and that which is condemned.”
b) Characteristics of Children’s songs
The majority of the Tswana children‟s songs studied have a rhythmic formula which is flexible and always accompanied by some movements. Most Tswana children‟s songs are responsorial, and use cyclical themes. In her study on Xhosa children‟s songs, Nompula (1988:20) observed the same characteristics as she contents, “Characteristics of their songs involve incorporation and interlocking rhythmic patterns, call and response. Songs vary in length, repeated at libitum, depending on circumstances of performance. Use of verbal phrases which are meaningless and illogical also persists as children will fit new meaningless words to a melody to suit the particular rhythm associated with their activity ”Nyakiti cited by Akuno (2005:95) endorses further “Children‟s songs tend to be melodically and rhythmically uncomplicated…metrically and melodically simple.” This is evident in the song Sananapo (pg 105).
i) Form
Most of the songs use repetition as a compositional technique. Repetition could be in text or music as shown in Kika e kae (p 111). According to Kamien (2000:75) “Repetition creates a sense of unity….musical repetition appeals to the pleasure we get in recognizing and remembering something…it is a technique widely used for binding something together.”
Kamien‟s statement ascertains the contention held by scholars that African music enshrines the African philosophy of communal re-creation and solidarity. According to Wood (1975) Binary and rounded binary are other types of form that feature in Tswana children‟s songs.example Sila sila mile.
ii) Melody
Tswana children‟s melodies are simple and singable, mostly sung within the octave, although there are rare cases of going beyond the octave. The researcher observed that singing beyond an octave is influenced by older children in a group. Both pentatonic and diatonic scales are used, but care is taken in avoiding large, tricky and jumpy intervals. Most of the melodies used are single line melodies which produce monophonic texture or unison, which result in fuller, richer-sounding monophonic texture. Almost all lullabies are monophonic in texture; other cited songs such as Mmupudu oa wa, Mme wa loga have unison characteristics. Wood (1975) in her study on Tswana music also observed the same characteristics though she elaborated further with other features such as descending melodies, open fifths and fourths and basic harmony thus I-IV-V. The songs have got no fixed pitch;
instead pitch is intuitive and depends on numeral factors such as the singer‟s capability of pitching together with the mood. Moog, (1976 ) cited by Akuno (2005:96) observes, “ Children sing at a medium low pitch…The most comfortable tessitura for 6-8 year olds is D- through C to B. This changes as children‟s vocal ranges expand with maturity…”
iii) Rhythm
According to Merriam (1964), African music is generally polyrhythmic. Tswana music confirms this, because it is overtly polyrhythmic, as such Tswana children‟s music is not an exception in this state of affair, as could be seen in Kuru oa lela. Most of the songs start on an upbeat and proceed with emphasis on metric pulse, resulting in lots of syncopated notes and staccatos e.g. Lentswe o re pha. This practise qualifies Nzewi (1977) contention of a
„subjective beat‟ as a challenge in African music which emanates from African philosophical perception of life as a challenge, with lots of surprises and inconsistencies. Quadruple, duple,
compound meters dominate in Tswana music making. This is reflected in children‟s songs too.
c)) Play
Children‟s songs are predominantly characterized by play. Play could be categorized into different levels depending on its form, the level of liberty and or governance. According to Bjorkvold (1989:22-26) there are basically 3 types of play namely: traditional, open and original play. While he sees traditional play as fixed, since it is governed by some laid down rules, he sees open play as having some improvisory characteristics, and conversely, sees original play as having an emphasis on the setting, and pretentious play. Most Tswana children‟s plays are characterized by the afore-mentioned categories to similar intensity.
Taking the song Bana bame a lo a nkitse which is a chant, children follow the leader as s/he leads the song and eventually the leader pretends to be a giant from whom the followers run away.
d) Costume
In Tswana music performance, only children are allowed to wear special attire which displays their thighs and breasts, since they are thought of being young and not knowledgeable of some sexual connotations which are usually implied by wearing some mini-skirts and showing out the breasts. Ideally even traditionally, girls wore makgabe- costumes which were made of beads and were worn by wrapping around the waists. The boys also had the same costume but theirs were designed to cover the front part only, leaving out the back part.
e) Dance style
Tswana children‟s dances are mostly vigorous, with twisting of torso and swaying of hips movements. Encapsulated in the Tswana dance making philosophy is among others the fact that aesthetics of children‟s dances involve such bold movements. Gentle and collected dancing patterns are reserved for adults. Under Tswana philosophy it is also believed that the swaying of hips is seen as sexual provocation for men, as such if it is done by children it becomes something humorous, as compared to when it is done by adults where it would be taken as a serious violation of societal etiquette.
Children‟s songs are a kind of community music‟s microcosm. They are guided by the organizational principles of the elderly music making procedures. Nevertheless, there are some slight deviations in children‟s performance patterns. According to Addo (1996:2),
“Children‟s music culture resident in the playgrounds, alleys, and so on ….their culture possesses a shared meaning that reflects the larger musical culture.”