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From local to global: the evolution of musical play in secondary schools

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 3; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/21594937.2014.976036

2159-4953

Athena Lill,

Art Education and Development

AbstractThe musical play of children in primary school playgrounds has been well documented throughout musicological, sociological and ethnomusicological texts [Bickford, T. (2011). Children's music, MP3 players, and expressive practices at a Vermont elementary school: Media consumption as social organization among schoolchildren (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Columbia University, New York, NY; Campbell, P. (2010). Songs in their heads: Music and its meaning in children's lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Marsh, K. (2008). The musical playground: Global tradition and change in children's songs and games. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; Willett, R. (2011). An ethnographic study of preteen girls’ play with popular music on a school playground in the UK. Journal of Children and Media, 5, 341–357]. However, very few studies have examined the role of musical play in the secondary school environment, where participants are typically aged between 11 and 19. This article draws on an ethnographic study of teenagers' musical worlds in Australia and the UK, and examines musical play in their lives through the framework of childhood studies, with particular reference to the role of interpretive reproduction [Corsaro, W. (2011). The sociology of childhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] as a means to construct and consolidate distinct teenage cultures. The article argues that there is evidence of both local and global forms of teenage musical play, and that the intimate relationship between localised peer cultures and a global teenage ‘imaginary’ (Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press) provides a dynamic structure for the growth and transmission of a culture separate from both adults' and children's worlds.Keywords: musical playadolescentsgloballocalplaygroundthe Cup Game AcknowledgementsI wish to gratefully acknowledge the Henderson Scholarship from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, which has made my PhD research possible, and the teenagers in both Sydney and Cambridgeshire who performed endless repetitions of games and answered my often ‘obvious’ questions with the minimum of withering glances.Notes on contributorAthena Lill is currently a doctoral candidate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, having previously completed a music degree at Oxford University, and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education together with a master's degree in education at the University of Cambridge. Prior to commencing her Ph.D., Athena taught as a specialist music teacher in secondary and primary schools in the UK and Australia. Her area of research focuses on children's musical worlds, and the ways in which children and young people learn music informally, both in and out of school.Notes1. Other leading pioneers included Lady Alice Gomme (1853–1938) in the UK, William Wells Newell (1839–1907) in the USA and Dr Dorothy Howard (1902–1996) in Australia. See Marsh and Bishop (Citation2014, pp. 12–20) for more details.2. Pseudonyms are used throughout this article, for both schools and participants.3. ‘Glamping’ is a portmanteau of ‘glamorous camping’, where campers have access to luxuries ranging from toilet and shower facilities to beds and heating.4. For further information, see www.urbandictionary.com. ‘Eshay’ is possibly a corrupted Pig Latin phrase for ‘session’ (‘eshay adlay’ is sometimes used to refer to lads ‘hanging out’, or having a ‘lad sesh’). In Sydney, eshays are often associated with gangs and violence amongst young males. The phrase is also occasionally used to denote something that is good. I am grateful to an anonymous peer reviewer for their linguistic comments on this term.5. Own hands are placed together, and then slide across each other from left to right, as if ‘mushing’ a baby bumblebee.6. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dodGzOjBOHA, number 38 ‘the Chicken Wing’ for a demonstration.7. Pitch Perfect follows the story of an all-female a cappella group as they enter and compete in a national competition. The song is featured in an audition scene where the female lead (played by Anna Kendrick) performs for the two leaders of the group.8. OMG = ‘Oh my God'.9. A ‘hipster’ is someone who is cool, frequently one who is associated with an alternative, underground music scene (see www.urbandictionary.com).10. As of 18 February 2014.