African American Singing Games

for the Elementary Music Classroom

Florida Music Educators Association Conference
Presented by Nyssa Brown
nyssa_brown@yahoo.com

Session Description:
Learn songs, play games, and listen to authentic field recordings from Step It Down by Bessie Jones and Bess
Lomax Hawes. Historical information about Bessie Jones, as well as cultural and gender considerations in teaching
African American children's music, will be included.
Date: Saturday, 1/11/2014 * Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM * Room: TCC 15

Nyssa Brown is a choral and general music educator at South View Middle School in Edina, Minnesota.
From 2007-2012, she served as Music Education Coordinator for Minnesota’s Perpich Center for Arts
Education, coaching teachers in over 100 school districts across the state of Minnesota in developing
standards-aligned curriculum and assessments. A collaborator in the revision of the National Coalition
for Core Arts Standards, she currently serves on the Grades 3-5 subcommittee, offering input to the Core
Writing Team. Ms. Brown taught elementary school vocal and general music at Park Spanish Immersion
School in St. Louis Park, Minnesota from 1998-2007. Passionate about teaching in a global context,
Nyssa taught at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India and in both Namibia and
South Africa, through a fellowship offered by the Eastman School of Music's Umculo: The
Kimberley Project. Ms. Brown was one of ten finalists for 2004 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
and received a prestigious Milken Educator Award in 2004 from the Milken Family
Foundation. In 2006, Nyssa was chosen by Education Minnesota, a state affiliate of NEA and
AFT, to represent Minnesota at the national level in NEA’s Foundation Award for Teaching
Excellence. Nyssa is a faculty member of the Kodály Levels Course at Indiana University and
the University of St. Thomas. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of St.
Thomas and Augsburg College. Nyssa also studied in Hungary at the Kodály Institute's summer seminar.
She released her first CD in October, 2000, "Packwood or Paradise" and is currently recording a CD of
lullabies. Ms. Brown graduated from the Hartt School of Music and Hartford College for Women in 1998
with a BMus in Education and a BArts in Women's Studies. She completed her Master of Arts in Music
Education at the University of St. Thomas, 2008. Her Kodály certification was earned at Brigham Young
University in 2001, and she has completed Levels 1 and 2 of her Orff training at University of St.
Thomas.

Session Goals:
• Learn songs and plays from the African American Tradition
• Describe context for each of the songs learned
• Discover resources to support integration of this material into the classroom

Recommended Resources:
• Book - Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage by Bessie
Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes
• CD and booklet - “Put Your Hand on Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip” by Bessie Jones
• Brown Girl in the Ring (book and cd) by Lomax

Opening Questions:
Why did I choose this session? * What do I hope to gain from the session? *
What would success look like for be by the end of this session?

Materials may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the presenter. 1  
All materials copyright Nyssa Brown, 2014. nyssa_brown@yahoo.com
African American Singing Games
for the Elementary Music Classroom
Florida Music Educators Association Conference
Presented by Nyssa Brown
Plays, not Games The Nature of the Play
• Quality of fun • Collaborative (not competitive)
• The Sea Islanders “played” • Sense of timing and movement through space
• Repeatedly constructing small life drama • Move to the music, don’t try to get there first
• Improvising on the central issues of their deepest • Circle is community space
concerns • Each person takes a turn in the center
• Taking on new personalities for identification or • The circle insulates from the outside world
caricature • Democratic structure
• Acting • Multiple ways to express oneself: music, movement,
and drama.

Categories of Plays Example Song from Source Other songs in

Category category (all found in
Step It Down)
Baby Games and Plays Go To Sleepy Little Baby Step It Down and Patty Cake
American Folk Songs for
Children, rec by Lomax*
Clapping Plays Hambone Step It Down and Put Head and Shoulders,
Your Hand on Your Hip Baby
Jumps and Skips Shoo Turkey Step It Down and Put Just from the Kitchen
Your Hand on Your Hip
Singing Plays Oh Green Fields, Roxie Step It Down and Put Draw Me a Bucket
Your Hand on Your Hip Green, Green the
Crabapple tree
Ring Plays Little Sally Walker Oral Tradition and Little Johnny Brown
Step It Down and Put Way Down Yonder in
Your Hand on Your Hip the Brickyard
Dances Zudie-O Oral Tradition I’m Going Away to
Step It Down See Aunt Dinah
House Plays and Home Missy-La Massa-La Brown Girl in the Ring Bob-a-Needle
Amusements (Book and cd) by Lomax
Outdoor Games See Step It Down
Songs and Stories
 
Ring Plays  
1. Number of players - almost any number, even or odd, b/w 6 and 12  
2. Formation - Players in the circle sing, clap, and “step it down”  
3. The Center Player - actor  
4. Movement to and from the Center - with the music  
5. When to Change Actions - Continue action  
6. Different Roles in the Circle - The center player and lead singer are two different roles.  
 
 
 
Source  for  all  of  the  above  information:  Step  It  Down  by  Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes and “Put Your
Hand on Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip” by Bessie Jones (except where noted)  
*  From  “American  Folk  Songs  for  Children”  recorded  by  Alan  Lomax,  summer  1959,  from  the  Southern  Folk  
Heritage  Series  (SD-­‐1350,  1965)  
 
Materials may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the presenter. 2  
All materials copyright Nyssa Brown, 2014. nyssa_brown@yahoo.com
 African American Singing Games
for the Elementary Music Classroom
Florida Music Educators Association Conference
Presented by Nyssa Brown

Chorus: leader leads line in a winding course, body in squatting

position, arms thrown out to right and left, alternately on each step,
African American Ring Play
Source: Jones, Bessie and Bess Lomax Hawes,. Step It Down. New York: Harper and Row, 1972, pg. 53-54

way yon' der goin to

œ ‰

œ . œ œ . œj œ œ

der. Goin' to
œ œ œ
œ Œ

œ œ œ Œ

der.
œ ‰ œ œ œ œœ œ ‰Œ

der

œ
bring them home?

save me mine?
go to town?

way yon

j
œ ˙

way yon
œ ˙
œ œ
j

œ.
yon
throw your fea ther
well, did, you

œ œ œ œ
œ ‰ œ œ œ
well, did, you

well, did, you

way
j‰ .
œ ‰ œ œ œ

ther
œ
der

ther

keeping time to the down beats of the song.

fea
œ
œ œ œ œ
way yon
œ ˙
Yes, ma'am.

throw your
fea

œ
Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

X etc.
Shoo Turkey

Formation: Line of children, facing the leader.

œ ‰

throw your
j
key

throw your fea ther

œ
œ

œ ‰ œ œ œ œ
œ
œ

shoo, tur
X
œ œ œ œ Œ

œ ˙
ny bread?

œ Œ
œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œ Œ

j
ny eggs?

key,
girl lit tle boy?

& b œ Œ œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ Œ
j j

j
key,
j j

er tur
X
œ œ œ œ œ

œ Œ œ Œ

œ œ

Action: none during the verse.

cook a

shoo,

j
er tur
get a

key

j
X

noth
& b œ Œ œ ‰ œj œ
shoo, tur
well, did, you
well, did, you

noth
shoo,

œ ˙
œ ‰ œ œ œ
Lit tle

Chorus

a
Clap:

a
Well,
œ Œ œ

&b œ Œ œ Œ

me
& b 44 Ó .

me
shoo,
Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

shoo,

buy

buy
Not too fast

&b œ

&b œ

&b œ
= 152

Voice

 
 
Oh Green Fields Roxie  
 
    African American Singing Game
Source: Jones, Bessie and Bess Lomax Hawes,. Step It Down. New York: Harper and Row, 1972, pg. 74-75.
Fast, with spirit

& b 22 œ œ
= 104

œ Œ Œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Œ
œ œ œ œ. œ œ. œ œ
Œ
call: response: call: response: call:
Voice

j j
Oh Green Fields, Ro xie, Oh Green Fields Ro xie, Tell me who you love

& b œ œ Œ œ œ. œ œ. œ œ Œ Œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
response: call: response: call:

j j
Ro xie, Tell me who you love Ro xie, Tell Miss Ma bel), your name is called,

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ ‰Œ

& b œj j
Come take a seat right side your love. Shake his hand and let him go

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
Don't let him sit in that chair no more.
Formation: ring of players standing, one center player sitting on a chair. Leader/caller stands near chair.
Action: Person in chair whispers the name of another player to caller on "Tell me who you love, Roxie."
When the next players name is called, he or she dances to center, shakes sitting player's hand,
and pulls the seated child out of the center seat. The new player sits in the chair. Game repeats.
*Originally, this song was notated in common time, since the tempo suggests speed, I chose to notate in cut time.
February 17, 2007, Nyssa M. Brown.

Materials may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the presenter. 3  
All materials copyright Nyssa Brown, 2014. nyssa_brown@yahoo.com
  
Voice
Little Sally Walker
Traditional African American
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. r
& b 42 œ œ œ œ
Lit tle Sal ly Wal ker walk in' down the street. She

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
di dn't know what to do so she stopped in front of me. She said,

Voice
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ

#
#
#
Spirited
"Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing and switch!

= 120

& # ‰
#
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
Presented by Nyssa Brown

"Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing and switch."

 

Mis sy La

œ
find
& # œ œœ ˙
Formation: standing single circle, one player in middle

find em, find em,

act of passing.)
Action:
Circle stands and sings while center player walks around inside of circle
African American Singing Games

Mis sy La
stopping in front of someone at "stops in front of me."

œ
& # 22 œ œ œ ˙

'em
j
"Hey girl . . ." center person does an action, outside person copies
for the Elementary Music Classroom

"and switch" - the two switch places and continue with the original action.

Mas sa La

j
With new person in center, the game begins again.

œ œœ ˙

œ
let
New York: Pantheon Books, 1979, pg. 94-95.
Source: Kristen Roemer, Indiana University, Summer, 2006.

find 'em let me see

Mas sa La
œ œœ˙

Formation: Standing circle, with hands behind backs.

œ
me
Mis sy lost
Florida Music Educators Association Conference

œ œœ œœ

œ
Mis

see
œ

& # œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œJ œ œ
la, la, la, la.
her gold
 

˙
sy lost

ring.

˙.
Missy-La, Massa-La

œ œ œ œ œ œ
her gold
Source: Lomax, Alan and J.D. Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawes. Brown Girl in the Ring.
Zudio

œ œ œ œ
find em, find em,
Traditional African American

I got to
Voice & b 42 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
Here we go Zu di o, Zu di o, Zu di o.

Œ
ring, go 'way.

All materials copyright Nyssa Brown, 2014. nyssa_brown@yahoo.com

j

ring at the end of the song. (Original game, the child in the center reaches around behind the
back of a child he/she thinks has the ring and tries to grab it - catching the circle player in the
j

œ œ œ Œ
œ œ œ

Action: While song is sung, students pass the ring. The children in the center tries to guess who has the
&b œ

œ œ œ œ
‰œœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ

find em, find em,

find em, find em,
œ œ œ ˙
Here we go Zu di o All night long
Game Song, St. Lucia

Formation: Actions:
longways set, across from partner Verse 1: Take partners hands, move arms back and forth

Materials may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the presenter.
Verse 2 - Step Back, Sally Sally Sally Verse 2: Jump backwards, clap (repeat 7 more times)
Step Back Sally all night long
Verse 3 - Goin' down the alley, alley, alley Verse 3: Top couple goes down alley
Goin' down the alley all night long One person chooses motion, other person copies

Source: Ivy Rawlins, MKMEA, Fall, 2005, Kansas City.

4  
African American Singing Games
for the Elementary Music Classroom
Florida Music Educators Association Conference
Presented by Nyssa Brown
 
 
 

collected and edited with additional new material by Alan

New words and new music adaptation by Bessie Jones;

Lomax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Materials may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the presenter. 5  
All materials copyright Nyssa Brown, 2014. nyssa_brown@yahoo.com