The emerging singing cultures of young children in Australia and Hawaii

The purpose of the study was to explore the notion and place of singing in young children's emerging musical cultures. Participants were 50 Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged 3-8 years and their parent(s) or close adult(s) from six areas in New South Wales, Australia, and Hawaii, USA. Data were collected on videotape in the form of semi-structured interviews, undertaken in familiar settings such as community centres, homes and schools. Children's interviews were based on questions about their favourite song (including an invitation to sing it), where and what they sing, with whom they sing and where they learn songs. Adults' interviews centred around a similar discourse, with the addition of discussion about musical background and heritage, and reasons behind singing with their children. Interviews were transcribed, and transferred to NVivo software for coding and analysis