“Deñuy jàngal seen bopp” (They Teach Themselves): Children’s Music Learning in The Gambia

The author investigated the teaching and learning processes among children in a suburban community of The Gambia, West Africa. Participants included children and adults in the community (N = 101). The researcher used ethnographic techniques of participant and nonparticipant observation, interviews, and song and chant col lection. Data consisted of field notes from observations of play and adultcentered musical events, interviews with children and adults, and transcripts of video and audio recordings. On the basis of the data, the researcher identified a music learning process consisting of listening, observing, doing, and combinations of the three. Children seemed to “teach themselves ” and one another in many instances; interpretation of data suggested that this was facilitated by three factors: a rich musical environment, expectation to be musical, and motivation to learn. Possibilities for transfer of these three factors to elementary general music classrooms are suggested. Keywords ethnographic research, Gambian children’s music, playground pedagogy, world musi