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Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education

31stWorld Conference on Music Education

Porto Alegre, Brazil

20 25 July 2014

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Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education

31stWorld Conference on Music Education

Porto Alegre, Brazil

20 25 July 2014

David Forrest

Editor

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Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education 31st World Conference on Music Education,

Porto Alegre, Brazil, 20-25 July 2014

Edited by David Forrest

ISBN 978-0-9873511-8-0

© 2014 International Society for Music Education (ISME)

Published in Australia in 2014

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Dewey Number: 780.7

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of a short passage for the purposes of criticism or review, no part of

this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publisher.

The full papers submitted to the 2014 International Conference were double blind refereed by a panel of

international authorities before inclusion in the Conference Proceedings.

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Archaic Folklore in Lithuanian Primary School Music Programs

Eirimas Velicka, Vilnius Seskines Primary School

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to reveal the musical language features of children’s songs and

options for application of archaic music in primary school music pedagogy. The research

revealed that about half of the children’s song melodies are archaic: narrow (not exceeding

the fourth or fifth), based on a limited number of scale steps (2–4 different tones); in its

structure – fundamentally different from the major and minor melodies typical of classical

and popular music. These melodies are simple, catchy, and meet 7–9 year old children’s

musical perception and expression capabilities. Such archaic scales are the basis for the

spontaneous vocal improvisations of modern children.

From 1995-1998 a primary school music program was prepared, textbooks and activity

books were written, systematically relying on archaic Lithuanian music features. An original

music teaching system was created on the basis of archaic melodies, which in a consistent and

cohesive music education process combine different musical activities. Based on this system

almost all children, regardless of their musical aptitude, learn to read notes, play the flute,

write musical dictations, and compose elementary melodies to a given rhythm. A properly

selected repertoire helps form a child’s musical vocabulary consistently enriches it.

Keywords: Musical archaism, Lithuanian folklore, children’s songs, primary school.

Introduction: Conception of musical archaism

Musical archaism in this paper is the old folk tunes layer, significantly differing in its musical

language features from diatonic major or minor, inherent to classical and popular music. We

will avoid the derogatory term “primitive music” – a truer term would be Carl Orff’s

Elemental music, as musical archaism is an early phase in the evolution of musical thought,

not a stage in the historical development of music.

Narrow, few-note melodies are a child’s first melodic experience, important for

subsequent formation of scale perception. Although archaic folklore is considered old-

fashioned and irrelevant in modern musical pedagogy, children’s musical improvisations

constantly contain relics of archaic musical language. The author over a short period of time,

around the world, was able to hear several astonishingly similar musical examples. First in

Prague, in April 2009: a little girl was riding a tricycle and singing in Czech “circle, circle,

little circle” (Figure 1a). In January 2013, a melody in that same scale in Auckland, New

Zealand: two children were chasing one another and singing “catch me now” in Maori (Figure

1b). The third similar melody: June 2013, in Vilnius, children were playing with a ball and

singing a three-note melody without words (Figure 1c). The similarity of these three melodies

cannot be explained by mutual influence – they were sung in different parts of the world.

Therefore, we can assume that such a melody is universal, as it corresponds to the musical

experience of young children, their possibilities of expression. It is almost impossible to

explain this similarity by the influence of media: music on the radio and TV (mostly pop

music, less often – classical) is of entirely different musical language properties and is

characterized by major or minor scales, functional harmony.

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Figure 1. Examples of oligotonal melodies.

The most incredible thing is the similarity of these improvisations to archaic folk

melodies. They have a distinctive musical language, which is clearly different from the later

and more commonplace classical and pop music. Archaic melodies are characterised by: 1)

narrow range, close to the spoken language (not exceeding fourth or third); 2) a limited

number of scale steps; 3) syllabic rhythm (one note per syllable); 4) concise laconic form.

These short melodies are not fragments of bigger melodies or pieces; they are self-contained,

with a distinctive expression and aesthetic value. Most of the archaic melodies are based on

2–4 tone modes. These modes are also called oligotonic to emphasize their typological

difference from polytonic (i.e., with 5–7 different melodic tones). These features are

particularly evident in the various early folklore genres: lullabies, children’s songs, game

melodies, pasturage songs (lamentations, enchantments), laments, sutartin s (Lithuanian

polyphonic songs). It should be noted that these same features are also common to the

spontaneous improvisations of children. It is likely that this similarity is not accidental, it

allows to reason about the parallels of the evolution of modes (phylogenesis) and individual

melodic experience (ontogenesis). These similarities to a large extent even today strengthen

the still-prevalent tradition of oral transmission. The importance of this was emphasized by

Eduard Alekseyev, a Russian ethnomusicologist who researched archaic intonation techniques

and the evolution of archaic modes:

Adults usually sing to children the way they used to sing in their own childhood,

in the manner that they believe children should be sung to for them to

understand. The interaction of these two ways of singing creates a unified

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intonational array....A closed chain is formed – from grandmothers to

grandchildren, excluding the generation in between. A child’s intonational

images in this chain create a reverse connection, which unites generations and

helps reveal the fundamental melodic behaviour norms. (Alekseyev, 1986, p.

140)

One of the first to pay attention to the archaic 2–3 tone modes in the music of various

cultures was Curt Sachs (Sachs, 1943). Walter Wiora claims that such melodies are

characteristic of children songs in cultures worldwide, and sees them as a relic of mankind’s

embryonic musical thinking (Wiora, 1957). Bruno Nettl argues that “The simplest scales in

the world comprise two tones....Songs using them may be the oldest musical material

surviving to this day” (Nettl, 1957). Lithuanian ethnomusicologists noticed the volume and

variety of archaic modes, characteristic to the old folklore genres ( iurlionyt , 1969;

etkauskait , 1998; Sliužinskas, 2003). Interest in musical archaism and the folklore of exotic

countries had a big influence on musical pedagogy. Oligotonic anhemitonic melodies (excl.

halftones) were used in the musical pedagogic systems of C. Orff (1950) and Zoltan Kodaly

(1965, 1966). They used oligotonic scales as an initial stage, preparing children for pentatonic

scales. However, in modern musical pedagogy, little attention is paid to archaic folklore, and

these types of melodies are undeservedly underestimated. Edwin Gordon claims that “from

birth until developing a sense of tonality and meter, a child is in the stage of music babble.

Music babble is to music what speech babble is to language” (Gordon, 1986, p. 18). But is all

musical archaism that doesn’t fit into the major or minor scale simply musical babble? The

variety of archaic folklore and the musical improvisations of children lead us to believe

otherwise.

Method

Lithuanian children’s folk melodies (N=366) were examined, aiming to define the features of

their musical language: melodic range (ambitus), number of scale steps, arrangement of

supporting tones. The features of archaic musical language are summarised by comparing

them with similar songs of other folklore genres (shepherd and work songs, laments, etc.).

The second part focuses on examining the possibilities of pedagogical application.

Taking into account the features of Lithuanian archaic folklore scales and melodies, a

coherent music-learning methodology is constructed, which allows to connect different

musical activities: singing, solfège, reading notes, playing a musical instrument, music

composition basics.

Features of Lithuanian children’s song melodies

Lithuanian musical folklore is characterised by an abundance of archaic music. The reason for

this may be the late introduction of Christianity (1385) and the traditional peasant lifestyle.

Features of archaic music are characteristic to various Lithuanian musical folklore genres.

They can be clearly seen in the melodies of children’s songs as well.

This study selected a collection of Lithuanian children’s songs (Jokimaitien , 1980)

from the first volume in a multi-volume academic folk music songbook (since 1980, 30

volumes have been published). This volume is dedicated to children’s songs; texts of 1000

songs are published, 366 of them with melodies. The scales of the melodies are researched:

their scope, number of scale steps, supporting tones.

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An analysis of the children’s songs shows that a large part of the melodies have features

characteristic to archaic music. More than half of the melodies have a narrow ambitus.

Melodies are within the third interval – 44 (12%), fourth – 91 (24.8%), fifth – 72 (19.6%).

This means that more than third (36.8%) of the melodies fall within the scope of the fourth,

which roughly corresponds to the range of spoken language. 56.5% of the melodies fall within

the scope of the fifth.

A large part of Lithuanian children’s melodies are based on archaic modes, which

comprise only two, three or four different tones. The number of melodies, the scale steps of

which shall not exceed four notes, amounted to 144 melodies (39.3% of all songbook

melodies). Of these, 76 (20.7%) melodies are tetratonic (four notes), tritonic – 55 (15%),

bitonic – 10 (2.7%) and monotonic (consisting of only one note) – 3 (0.8%). Children’s song

melodies often have modes from one note (monotonic) to five notes (pentatonic):

Monotinic (monochord) – 3 melodies;

Ditonic (bichord) sol-mi – 10;

Anhemitonic tritonic (trichord): re-mi-sol – 11; mi-sol-la – 10; fa-sol-la – 11;

Diatonic tritonic: mi-fa-sol – 18; re-mi-fa – 5;

Anhemitonic tetratonic: do-re-mi-sol – 3; do-re-fa-sol – 1; re-fa-sol-la – 1;

Diatonic tetratonic: do-re-mi-fa – 20; re-mi-fa-sol – 25; do-mi-fa-sol – 1;

Anhemitonic pentatonic: do-re-mi-sol-la – 1; re-mi-sol-la-si – 1;

Diatonic pentatonic: do-re-mi-fa-sol – 30; re-mi-fa-sol-la – 39.

An analysis of children’s song melodies reveals their unique, archaic musical language. The

oldest melodies “don’t fit” into the frames of common major and minor scales. Archaic

melodies represent a significant part of the Lithuanian children’s folklore repertoire.

The singularity of archaic tunes is created by not only a narrow scope of melodies, but

their characteristic supporting notes. They seldom distance themselves in the fifth, as is

common in classical music. The supporting notes do-sol are of later origin, based on the

change of tonic and dominant harmonic functions; in the oldest Lithuanian folk melodies they

are not as common. Many of the most archaic Lithuanian children’s tunes are based on the

third (filled or empty), sometimes supplemented by seconds from the top and/or bottom (Fig.

1g). The oldest of the two notes create melodies based on the so-called “cuckoo’s song”,

composed of sol-mi (Fig. 1d). When the bichord sol-mi is filled in with the sound fa, the

“lament intonation” is revealed (Fig. 1f). Even in broader-scale children’s melodies the

“cuckoo tones” remain important (for example, out of 39 children’s melodies based on the

minor pentachord – the scale re-mi-fa-sol-la – almost 22 end with the supporting note mi!). It

is interesting to note that anhemitonic pentatonic scales (do-re-mi-sol-la) are uncharacteristic

of Lithuanian children’s melodies. However, there are plenty melodies based on anhemitonic

trichords – la-sol-mi or re-mi-sol (Fig. 1e), and diatonic pentachords (Fig. 1f).

Such melodies are not limited to the children’s song genre. These features are

characteristic to fairy tale song interludes, shepherd, work and calendar songs, laments,

sutartin s.

Archaic melody application in primary school

Archaic melodies have broad application possibilities in music pedagogy. They are widely

used in Lithuanian primary schools, in teaching children solfège and reading notes. Melodies

of a narrow ambitus with few sounds are catchy; they correspond with a 7–9 year-old child’s

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musical perception and musical structure perception capabilities. As noted above, Lithuanian

folklore music has almost no pentatonic melodies (the basis of Orff and Kodaly’s systems), so

there is a need to create an original method based on Lithuanian folk melody characteristics.

In 1995–1998 a primary school program was prepared, textbooks and workbooks were

written based on Lithuanian archaic folklore (renewed in 2007-2012). A consistently and

systematically developed method and repertoire helps children learn solfège and rhythm, read

and write down notes, play flute and create elementary musical compositions. The solfège

repertoire consists mainly of traditional children’s, shepherd, calendar songs, musical game

melodies, sutartin s and small easy instrumental music pieces performed using traditional

instruments. Materials for solfège are systematically taught, taking into account the learning

logic and consistency. The aim is to purposefully develop and enhance children’s musical

vocabulary, gradually moving from the simplest melodies towards more complex ones.

Lithuanian music textbooks comply with the following principles:

initial solfège and music note learning stage, supported by melodies based on two or three

notes; a new note is introduced by connecting it to the notes already familiar to the child,

but never exceeding the three-note range! Based on the scales and melodic patterns

characteristic to archaic Lithuanian music, such consistency is observed: 1) sol-mi; 2) re-

mi-sol; 3) la-sol-mi; 4) fa-sol-la. Halftones are avoided in the primary school learning

stage, therefore anhemitonic patterns are learned earlier than diatonic ones.

On the basis of archaic folk melodies, a coherent music teaching process combines

different musical activities: singing, rhythm, solfège, note reading, playing the flute,

creating music. Particularly effective is the connection of reading notes and playing an

instrument. Since 1990, primary school children in Lithuania have been using a six-hole

longitudinal flute in C. In playing the flute, children apply their note-reading skills, while

the flute itself motivates note-reading. With the flute, children read notes independently,

without the teacher’s assistance. The flute is within the children’s vocal range (sounds an

octave higher), therefore ir helps to correct intonation inaccuracies that can occur.

Melodic patterns are separated from rhythmic ones. This allows melodic hearing tests

(Fig. 1a-f) and dictations (written in note heads without stems) to be performed in the first

few grades. Children can recognize bitonic patterns (sol-mi) and independently write them

down with 88–84% accuracy; tritonic (re-mi-sol and others) – recognise in notes with 79–

47% and independently write them down with 47–39% accuracy. Tetratonic scales (fa-mi-

re-do and others) are recognised with 69–60% and written down with 47–38% accuracy.

With the increase in the number of notes in the scales, the relative gap between the ability

to identify patterns in notes and write them down increases (Veli ka, 2005, p. 25).

Oligotonal scales are suitable for music composing in primary school. Children are asked

to create a two- or three-note melody for a rhythmic riddle or proverb. The riddle’s

rhythm is written down in note values without heads (Fig. 2g). Composition activity

blanks are provided in workbooks included with textbooks.

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Figure 2. Examples of tasks in workbooks.

Concluding remarks

The research revealed that archaic scales are characteristic of a large part of Lithuanian

children’s folk songs. They are characterized by a narrow ambitus and limited number of

scale steps. They have a distinctive aesthetic value and, in terms of musical language, are akin

to other genres of songs: pasturage songs, laments, etc.

Archaic melodies are useful for music teaching in primary school. The structure of these

melodies corresponds to Orff’s “elemental music” conception. On the basis of the features of

Lithuanian folk song melodies, a music teaching method was created that connected different

musical activities into a coherent system. An appropriately selected repertoire helps form a

child’s musical vocabulary, consistently enriches it. This creates preconditions for later

moving on to more complicated modal systems, including major-minor.

The valuable aspect of archaic folklore is also important. In singing archaic songs,

children are familiarised with their culture’s roots. In the words of ethnomusicologist Alan P.

Merriam, one of the most important functions of music is “the function of contribution to the

continuity and stability of culture” (Merriam, 1964, p. 225). Methodology based on archaic

folklore is not insular; it helps to recognise the musical archaism of other cultures, encourages

going beyond classical and pop music. Oligotonal scales are characteristic of not only

Lithuania’s neighbouring countries (Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Belarus, Russia), but also the

music of some Asian, Oceanic and African nations. Nzewi and Nzewi, note that: “The

number of the notes that make up a scale as well as the quality of the intervals between

successive notes of the scale help to give the music of a culture area its peculiar sound

quality” (Nzewi et al., 2007, p. 34). In turn, musical archaism can be a bridge to the

compositions of modernists and minimalists, especially considering the archaisms inherent to

the neo-folkloric works of B. Bartok and I. Stravinsky.

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