Cryptozoologica : Developing the Child as Performer

Abstract

Music, movement, and imaginative play are essential for young children to explore and understand the world around them. It is important for educators of early primary students to consider how they can facilitate meaningful learning experiences that are practical, engaging, and allow children to investigate unfamiliar musical ideas in supportive, fun environments. This article introduces Cryptozoologica, a new work for flute, viola, and cello with Storyteller by Australian composer Jim Coyle, and describes how educators of young children can use music from a range of cultures and genres, including Western art music, to teach students to physically, cognitively, and imaginatively engage with sounds and stories. It includes the full score of Cryptozoologica and five lessons that encourage listening, movement, and play as a means of embodying musical understanding and knowledge.

Keywords

embodiment music education musical play primary Western Art Music

Introduction

In the world of the child, music, movement, and imaginative play are important parts of how they explore and understand the world around them. Early musical experiences can be a means of developing “interpersonal synchrony” (Trehub & Cirelli, 2018), and creative music and movement activities can “enhance mood, social bonds, and prosocial behaviour” (Trehub, 2019, p. 8). Embodied musical experiences, where young children experience interactions between their senses, perceptions, and the physical and social context, can be a crucial opportunity for children to begin to form connections between music, movement, and the environment (Juntunen, 2020). It is important for educators to consider how they can provide positive musical experiences for young children and expose them to a range of musical genres beyond what they are enculturated into through electronic media (Demorest et al., 2017; Gault, 1996).

In this article, we will use the piece Cryptozoologica, a new work for flute, viola, and cello with Storyteller by Australian composer Jim Coyle (Supplemental Appendix A), as an example of best practice in art music composition for young children and inspiration for music lessons that encourage active and playful engagement with music of different cultures. The score for Cyptozoologica has been provided, and a recording of the premiere performance can be found at this Soundcloud link. The nature and purpose of Western Art Music for children will be explored, as will the extramusical effects of creative, interactive engagement with familiar and unfamiliar music. The lesson examples provided in Supplemental Appendix B are intended to align with the musical ideas present in the different movements of Cryptozoologica; however, they can also be used as stand-alone lessons or be modified to suit the differing needs of students.

Cryptozoologica

Cryptozoologica is a musical composition in the Western Art Music tradition that is performed partly by professional musicians and partly by the small children who have gathered to be part of this experience. The word “audience” is deliberately avoided, because the children are intended to be very active participants. The lack of art music repertoire in which the very young can actively engage was the stimulus for composing this work and creating the educational resources to support it.

At first, the title of this piece may seem a poor one for a work aimed at young children. After all, there are few, if any, seven syllable words in their vocabularies. This is precisely the point. A good Storyteller will spend time at the start of the piece playfully teaching and encouraging the children to say “Cryptozoologica,” certainly the longest word they know and possibly the longest word in the world (Cremin et al., 2017).

The five cryptid animals portrayed in this work were chosen with cultural, musical, ethical, and psychological considerations in mind. The animals, besides the drop-bear, are new inventions, although a mugger is a type of Asian crocodilian and cuscus is the common name given to a species within the four genera of Australasian possums.

They are (in performance order):

Drop-Bear, which hides in trees and lands buttocks-first on its unsuspecting victims passing below.

Megacuscus, a sleepy and cuddly arboreal marsupial.

Mullabundra Bird, with absurdly small wings.

Hugger-Mugger, a toothless crocodilian.

Hopping Emu, a one-legged flightless bird.

Despite the exclusively Australian nature of these animals, there has been no attempt to appropriate cryptids from Australian Aboriginal lore (Coleman, 2016). This is a matter of a non-indigenous composer showing respect to a culture that is not his.

Works of art music that are intended to involve children fall into two groups. First, there are poly-technical compositions; those which are designed to have musically untrained children as performers alongside professional musicians. This compositional technique has attracted British composers in particular, many of whom pay homage to Benjamin Britten, whose Noye’s Fludde (1958) was the foundational work of this genre (Coyle, 2019; Nannestad, 2014). Since that time, there has been a steady output of such pieces, particularly from British composers (Humberstone, 2013). However, they have a strong tendency to be written to include tweens and teenagers as performers with very little opportunity for the under sevens.

Second, there are works designed for professional musicians to perform, but which are aimed at the child as listener. These include many well-loved classics, such as Peter and the Wolf (1940) and Tubby the Tuba (1948) (Ammon, 2009). Often, these works will have a narrator as well as instrumentalists, and this is integral to their success. These works still imagine the children as passive members of the audience. However, in Cryptozoologica, the Storyteller takes on more of a role as animator and encourages the children’s participation in music through movement, singing, playing, and creative manipulation of sound. The line between these two approaches is blurred when one takes into account those works in which the listening child is expected to contribute with some form of audience participation. Cryptozoologica is in this category but is closer to the child-as-performer model than it is to child-as-audience.

Teaching and Learning Ideas

While Cryptozoologica is a piece that is designed to involve young children throughout the performance, the concept of young children engaging with art music performances through active listening, movement, and song is not something that many people would be familiar with. Typically, a performance of art music is a serious, sit-down event, where the music is intended to be listened to and intellectually appreciated. It is certainly possible for young children to engage with the music of Cryptozoologica in this way, but more active participation is expected and encouraged. The following lesson structures are designed to develop the musical skills necessary for active engagement with the music of Cryptozoologica, or similar pieces and performances encouraging children to perform along with the music. By giving young children the opportunity to hear and purposefully engage with novel musical genres, such as art music, it can increase their familiarity with the music, influence their enjoyment of the music, and introduce them to what is expected of them as audience members (Peery & Peery, 1986; Suthers, 1993).

The following lessons can be found in Supplemental Appendix B and would be suitable for students in their first year of primary school (e.g., Kindergarten, 5–6 years of age).

Lesson 1

Movement 1: Drop-Bear

A piece that features repeated melodies and ostinatos.

Related piece: Chou Xiao Ya (Ugly Little Duckling)

https://musicacrossasia.blogspot.com/2020/07/chinese-songs-for-kids-best-popular-list.html

For the Drop-bear movement of Cryptozoologica, the main musical focus is on a melody played by the flute, called the “drop-bear music” by the Storyteller. The Drop-bear (Tim the Yowie Man, 2021) is a familiar enough yarn for most Australians and is a weary old joke used to frighten newcomers to the bush, who are usually already worried about spiders, snakes, scorpions, and wallabies with hand-grenades. Whenever this theme occurs, children in the audience are to swiftly put a pair of forks on their head, to avoid being squashed by the drop-bear’s incoming bottom.

The lesson plan in Supplemental Appendix B aligns with the idea of identifying and responding to recurring musical ideas. The lesson starts with students sharing their established knowledge of ducks, their movements and the sounds they make, through to learning about duck sounds from around the world, and then listening to and learning a Chinese song about a duck. Keeping the focus on the duck sounds (“quack quack” through to “gua gua”) and the rhythmic ostinato means students can engage with the music rather than the lyrics in a different language and can learn how to anticipate and identify recurring themes.

Lesson 2

Movement 2: Megacuscus

A piece that features a slow, gentle tempo and melody.

Related piece: Fa la ninna (Go to sleep)

https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1447

Megacuscus encourages the young audience to pretend to be a giant, sleepy marsupial, complete with a be-ribboned pouch. The audience can move slowly and gently to the music, imagining they are sleepily moving from tree to tree.

It is these slow, gentle movements that are the focus of learning in Lesson 2. It starts by listening to a “fast” piece of music—the faster and crazier the better—to get students moving and describing all the fast ways they can move their bodies. This is then contrasted with Fa la ninna, an Italian lullaby played on guitar. Even though the music is slow and quiet, students can still explore different ways they can move their bodies within the space in response to the music. They can learn to appreciate the value of slow and fast music—although it may be beneficial for more energetic classes to start with the slow piece and end with the fast piece.

Lesson 3

Movement 3: Mullabundra Bird

A piece that features changes in dynamics and texture.

Related piece—Old MacDonald Had a Farm

The Mullabundra Bird movement features frequent changes in dynamics throughout, sometimes through gradual decrescendo, and at other times through sudden fortissimo reappearances of the theme and ensemble. The surprising, dynamic nature of the piece reflects the surprising, absurd idea of a gigantic bird with tiny, spoon-like wings. The audience is encouraged to use the loud parts of the music to flap their spoon-wings as hard as they can so they can fly away.

This absurdity and frequent changes in musical style and substance is what inspired the lesson plan in Supplemental Appendix B. Many young children know Old MacDonald, which makes it fun and easy to experiment with. This lesson plan encourages variations on dynamics, movements, and animals, but it could be just as fun to experiment with tempo and accompaniment. Students can learn about how different dynamics can affect the sound of a piece and be able to identify different sections in a piece of music.

Lesson 4

Movement 4: Hugger-Mugger

A piece that features a recurring melody that the audience is taught and encouraged to sing.

Related piece—I saw a Taniwha

https://childrenlovetosing.com/kids-action-song/i-saw-a-taniwha/

Lesson 5

Movement 5: Hopping Emu

A piece where the audience can dress up and pretend to be a one-legged emu.

Related piece—Hop Little Bunnies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRjsyzbvqsc

Lessons 4 and 5 both feature a focus on movement and drama, as well as engagement with musical ideas. This aligns with the music in Movements 4 and 5—for the audience, the focus is less on what the music is and more about what the music represents. In Movement 4, the melody and the piece as a whole become a means for the audience to avoid being hugged into oblivion—it is an imaginative tool for keeping everyone safe. Movement 5 is an opportunity for the audience to become the cryptid and hop along to the music created just for them.

The plans for Lessons 4 and 5 are designed to appreciate the specific songs more holistically, exploring what they communicate through lyrics and structure. Similar to Chou Xiao Ya, I saw a Taniwha is a song that features words in a different language—in this case, Māori. Like the Hugger-Mugger, the story of the Taniwha and the lyrics of the song are important for students to know about to engage effectively with the music. It can help give them depth to their imaginative play—thinking about how the tricky Taniwha might tempt a human into their belly, and then how they as the Taniwha would react if the human said no! Singing a song to ward off danger is a powerful concept, and exploring these ideas allows students to learn about how music can tell stories and shape experiences.

Hop Little Bunnies then gives students an opportunity to explore their bodies, the space around them, and the absurdity of becoming an animal that wouldn’t typically hop around, like an elephant or a cow. The song becomes a catalyst for musical and imaginative play, where students can hear the different sections of the music and understand when to “sleep” and when to move.

Both lessons, and the Hugger-Mugger movement, should also involve singing by children and adults. Any adult can sing the short Hugger-Mugger melody well enough to teach it to small children, and the melodies for I saw a Taniwha and Hop Little Bunnies are also easy to learn. Small children are utterly unselfconscious about their own singing and are quite prepared to accept singing from an adult which the adult might consider of poor quality. Alas, in our culture, singing has become an activity for specialists only rather than a basic human function (Demorest et al., 2017). Children intuit the universal normality of singing; adults often do not (Barrett et al., 2020).

Discussion

The lesson structures created for Cryptozoologica and the cited musical examples were designed to highlight and explore specific musical aspects of the pieces, to build the aural appreciation and identification skills of young children. However, by exploring these pieces in ways that are active and experiential, students can develop more than just their musical understanding.

As established in the introduction, music and movement “are inseparable for infants and young children” (Trehub, 2019, p. 12). Music education in early childhood can enhance self-regulation and should be designed to stimulate beat synchronization and motor coordination (Williams, 2018). Movement as response to music is a key pedagogical element in Cryptozoologica. However, the purpose of the audience engagement with the music is not about achieving accuracy but exploring and embodying musical ideas. For example, in Megacuscus, sometimes the movement in reaction to music may be emotive and subjective. In other instances, such as with the Hopping Emu, the children need to engage a more precise sort of aural perception. This is so they can hop when they hear a certain theme, but not at other times. Apart from the pedagogical goal, this also allows respite from hopping which is at the limit of many a small child’s motor skills.

This intertwining of movement with music is present throughout all of the lesson plans. Students are encouraged to listen to the rhythms, melodies, and tempos of the music and to express what they hear through their bodies. In this way, the body serves as a medium through which to “embody music and demonstrate musical knowledge” (Abril, 2011, p. 94). The activities provide opportunities for children to not only experiment with the ways their body can move, but to articulate their processes, and consider how their movements can connect with musical elements and their knowledge of animals, both real and imagined. By exploring the music through movement, they are able to physically represent their knowledge, building connections between their physical and perceptual senses (Juntunen, 2020; Leman & Maes, 2014).

There is a strong note of the absurd in Cryptozoologica which appeals to small children, and a strong contrast in the purported body size and shape of these animals which lends itself to obvious contrast in musical approaches to matters like tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and melodic contour. It is easy to frighten small children, although in the correct dose they enjoy the frisson of safe scariness as much as the thriller-watching adult. The Drop-Bear is the most obviously frightening of these creatures, but it will not harm people who are holding plastic forks on their heads. This element of the ridiculous takes the sting out of most frightening situations. The Hugger-mugger, likewise, loses its menace as a cold-eyed reptilian predator when all it really wants is a hug.

Engaging with the absurd during musical play in educational contexts is an excellent way to connect with the creativity children already utilize to explore language, their bodies, and the world around them. “Children have fun violating rules they have learned” (Loizou, 2005, p. 106), and so the simple act of using a plastic utensil as a means of warding off a monster appeals to this sense of the absurd. Educators should provide time, opportunities, and environments where children can test rules, explore their physical abilities, and use materials creatively (Loizou, 2005). These lessons allow for creative, ridiculous tangents and ideas, by asking for “fast” dance moves, or asking how we can sing without singing, or even learning about the dragon in New Zealand that likes to eat people! In doing so, we as teachers can appeal to the level of humor present at kindergarten age—playing with identities and contrasting ideas, physical slapstick, and exploring the surreal (Carr & Greeves, 2007).

Beyond the joy of the musical experience, pieces like Cryptozoologica can facilitate other beneficial developmental processes. Musical play between adults and children can promote prosocial behaviors and engagement (Beck & Rieser, 2022). By interacting with other children during a performance or a class lesson, they are also developing social bonds and exploring ways to interpret and communicate ideas about the emotional intent of music (Trehub, 2019). Engaging particularly with the musical ideas present in art music, such as dynamics, silence, and repetition, can help children to develop focus, self-control, and an understanding of delayed gratification as they wait for the theme to return (Kenney, 2013).

Conclusion

Cryptozoologica and the lesson plans and suggested activities to accompany its performance present an opportunity for young children to engage in a piece of music in the Western Art tradition as both audience and as performer-participants. This role, which a child naturally fills, has been the missing element in Western Art Music repertoire composed with the very young in mind. The lesson plans that surround the performance of this work contextualize Cryptozoologica in the broader repertoire of children’s music from a variety of cultures, some of it familiar, some of it less so. In all of these activities, children are encouraged to be as actively engaged as possible, particularly through moving and singing; and their engagement is attracted by appealing to their inquisitive courage in the face of contained danger and to their sense of the absurd. There are elements in Cryptozoologica and its supporting material that could serve as a model for future musical compositions in this genre and with the same aim in mind.

Supplemental Material

sj-pdf-1-gmt-10.1177_27527646221139438 – Supplemental material for Cryptozoologica: Developing the Child as Performer

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-gmt-10.1177_27527646221139438 for Cryptozoologica: Developing the Child as Performer by Rachel White and Jim Coyle in Journal of General Music Education

Supplemental Material

sj-pdf-2-gmt-10.1177_27527646221139438 – Supplemental material for Cryptozoologica: Developing the Child as Performer

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-gmt-10.1177_27527646221139438 for Cryptozoologica: Developing the Child as Performer by Rachel White and Jim Coyle in Journal of General Music Education

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Rachel White

Supplemental Material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Author Biographies

Rachel White is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Sydney, working in professional experience, music education, and initial teacher education. She has taught in primary, secondary, and tertiary contexts and enjoys the creative challenges inherent to teaching. Rachel is interested in exploring quality educational experiences and what they can look like for teachers and students.

Jim Coyle lectures in Music Education at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is a composer with a particular interest in music for children and young people, both as audience and as performer. Jim is also in demand as a leader of professional learning for music teachers and as a mentor for young composers.

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Supplementary Material

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