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Nikos Gatsos and the Greek Folk Tradition: A Hermeneutic Study

memes. Chapter Seven, “Changing the Tradition,” examines ways that the singing game tradition is influenced by inter-ethnic transmission, audiovisual and written media, classroom transmission, and sources external to the classroom. Folklorists will find much material here on the updating of references to global cultural icons: Elvis lives on, but has been joined by Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Britney Spears. Marsh also shows how children appropriate and refashion material from popular television shows like Sesame Street or from downloaded sound files. Section IV deals with “Composition in Performance.” Once again, the children themselves provide revealing insights on their composition strategies. In response to a question about the source of nonsense syllables “tra la la la la” come from, Charlotte, whose native language is not English, says, “That I found up.” This creative blend of the verbs “to find” and “to make up” captures the folk composition process very concisely. Chapter Nine provides a detailed analysis of the music, movement, and text associated with the popular elimination game “Sar Macka Dora,” which is defined in terms of movement rather than text. This chapter, which may be more challenging for those without musical training, provides much useful information for ethnomusicologists and music educators on the relationship between text rhythm and movement patterns; tessitura and melodic range; tonal frequency and tonal shift. Chapter Ten, “Style and Cultural Idiosyncrasy in Musical Play,” discusses features of children’s musical play found in multiple field locations as well as differences related to local play contexts. The common stylistic features include improvisatory skill, disjuncture for humorous or surprise effect, and self-imposed challenge. Marsh also notes that melody is of secondary significance, although children are aware of melodic shape. She sums up her conclusions in Section V and discusses pedagogical implications stemming from the complexity of children’s musical play. Stressing the need to be attentive to specific play contexts, she suggests how teachers might adopt a “playful” pedagogy that provides cognitive, performative, creative, and kinaesthetic challenge. Although it directly addresses ethnomusicologists and music educators, The Musical Playground is also an outstanding contribution to childlore studies. The author writes clearly, using technical terminology only when necessary, and the book is well-organised with frequent reader-friendly recaps. In addition to the wealth of data, the extensive review of previous research and in-depth analyses, Marsh shows how much we can learn from children themselves. A tribute to change and creativity, her study challenges and shifts the reader’s own perspectives on children’s musical play.