Doing Chumburung songs—A taxonomy of styles Gillian Hansford ...

Ane̱ tiikyaa awuye.
Ane̱ a yɔwe̱ agyuma,
Ane̱ e̱ yɔ pe̱.
our teachers.
We have stopped work,
We are going home.
Two of my language consultants disagreed as to what category these songs fit.
One said they are all sukuu iliŋ “school songs”, but the elder consultant, with
whom I agree, said that they fall into the broader category of asɔre̱e̱ iliŋ “church
songs”. Neither included them in ŋyaagyi iliŋ “children’s songs” which will be
discussed next. In no case was there dancing, even though the performances
were out of doors. Also in the last song, maybe for lack of money, there were no
musical instruments. As Nketia (1974), says there may have been “an exclusion
of traditional musicians and their music from church and educational
institutions” in the colonial period, but the pe̱ŋteṟe̱ŋ drum is certainly traditional.
Some schools also have mbeṟe̱, that is horns, and asadwiya, a frame drum, but no
more than two or three instruments.
Schools often hold cultural events. I am told that on these occasions, they might
do mbɔɔfɔɔ “the hunters dance” or so̱ko̱daye̱ (see Sections 6 and 7).
3. Children’s songs
The following are examples of songs that children sing and play to amuse
themselves. This might be in a small group in the day or a larger group when the
moon is shining.
The first (Example 9) is one of several possible Chumburung songs for a young
girl playing the Ghanaian game of ampee. In this, she will make a ball out of
leaves, and then toss it and kick it with the upper part of her foot, clapping
meantime, and then catching it. Others will sing along with her.
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