A village of singers
I enjoyed this story on NPR the other day about a village in China where singing is an important part of every day life, and every individual is able to do it. Author Amy Tan traveled to the village of Dimen and learned how music and song are integral to the traditional culture of the Dong people who live there. In the audio story there is an amazing recording of the village people imitating the voices of the cicadas.
As an early childhood music educator I was moved by this story because that is just how I would like our culture to be. I would like for the ability to sing to be as common as the ability to read and for us to recognize it as an important way to remember the past, express the present and simply process the world around us. How amazing would it be if an entire generation of children was brought up to truly believe that everyone has both the ability to sing and the ability to benefit from musical expression. Instead we seem to focus on singing as a talent held by just a few.
Here is a short excerpt from the NPR piece including a song the children of Dimen learn about Spring:
“Entering into the village I had little girls singing those songs — those dong songs, the welcoming songs — one at each elbow,” Tan says. “However, the singing isn’t just to welcome tourists, it’s how the culture communicates with each other.”
While these “gate-barring songs” are reserved mainly for tourists and official guests, the Dong song-style is a form of communication every child learns from the age of 5. “And they sing on key, on rhythm, perfectly a capella, in tune with one another,” Tan says.
Young children not only sing to greet but also talk about community and the changing of seasons. The song “Spring Is Here, Swallows Fly” talks about the shortness of childhood, using birds as a metaphor:
After winter we get spring / Swallows fly amidst green leaves / Cicadas sing on top of berry trees / High and low sounds fill the mountains / Cicadas’ songs are so beautiful, let’s stop and listen / You can hear the mountains and forests resounding / Even the birds would stop and listen / There is music, there is love / All four seasons are filled with happiness / We are happy in our hearts
