Call-and-response

Exploring call and response in Black Girls Game Song

Rooted in the experiences of Black girls and women, their game songs encompass a diverse range of practices, including hand clapping, cheers, double-dutch jump rope chants, and other forms of music making. In their playful pursuits, African-American girls demonstrate a fundamental complement of Black music-making: syncopated rhythms and intricate percussion ignite hand-clapping and foot stomping; call-and-response patterns that define the interplay of linguistic and musical doing between their voices and bodies during group play; and a strong emphasis on percussive elements permeates their singing or chanting. Through their playful activities, girls engage in a form of embodied storytelling. This play acts as a practice and performance, akin to mnemonic rituals, that contribute to the ongoing development of African American and Black musical identities.