a) "Ooki Na Kuri No Ki No Shita De (Under the Big Chestnut Tree)"
b) Elizabeth Mitchell
c) Japan
d) Voice, flute, cello, violin, oboe, guitar, bass recorder, banjo
e) Mitchell writes, "In the fall of 2008 our family traveled throughout the wondrous country of Japan on tour with our band Ida. Our friend Mimi came over before we left to help us learn some Japanese. She taught us this song that day, and we fell in love with it! On one of our many rides on the Shinkansen—the bullet train—we saw two little girls about Storey's age singing this song and doing the hand movements that accompany it." (Mitchell, 2010) What is clearly visible here is not only the presence of music but the element of play. The movements as presented by Mitchell before performing the song is placed specifically as a form of interactive play between the participants. In this particular performance the element of socialization is made evident in the third repetition of the song when Mitchell asks the participants to turn to a partner and perform the song with movement. You can actually hear the smiles and gentle laughter of the audience members when this occurs. The two young girls closest to Mitchell can even be seen wearing warm smiles as they face each other. The presence of such interaction should not be seen as arbitrary but rather an acknowledgement by the originator of the piece that, "(p)lay is an important medium for learning in young children's lives...wherever they may be. It assists them in their development of language and reasoning skills, and it fosters social competence and peer-group interaction. Through the sensory and exploratory experiences they crave, little ones learn about themselves and others, and about the environment in which they live. Children learn how things (and people) look, sound, feel, and taste through playful experiences, and the more that young children can sense and explore, the more they come to know." (Campbell & Lew, 2005, p. 58). Other musical factors that support the socialization aspect of this piece is the simplistic melody, lyric, repetition, and careful musical arrangement. It can be inferred that the simplicity and repetition is to encourage more social interaction than focus on musical performance. Mitchell's arrangement of the piece seems to encourage this too, as she uses the instrumentation listed mainly during introductions and interludes while guitar-dominant, string accompaniment is used during the sung portions of the song.
Reference
Campbell, P. S., Lew, J. C. T. Children's natural and necessary play: Global Context, local application.
Music Educators Journal; May 2005; 91, 5; International Index to Music Periodicals Full text page 57.
Chasity
ReplyDeleteGreat selection to display how play is an important medium for learning in young children's lives. The children are able to learn a small part of the Japanese language and also get an opportunity to socialize during play. This is important because music and interactive learning aids very much with increasing the students attention span. There also seem to have adults that were participating and this would have allowed them to break the ice so to speak, with other parents that were there participating as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this selection. I love the enthusiasm the singer possessed as she shared this with the audience and the children. I can see that this would be a wonderful way for kids to be encouraged to use music outside of the classroom while they play. I agree with the quote you shared from Campbell, that this type of experience will lead to the student's greater understanding in all things. I cannot wait to teach this song to my own children! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell-written, extensive post. Good example.
ReplyDelete