ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kyra Gaunt - Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY.

Why you should listen

Kyra Gaunt's book, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop, published by NYU Press, won of the 2007 Alan Merriam Book Prize awarded by The Society for Ethnomusicology, which contributed to the emergence of black girlhood studies and hip-hop feminism. It also inspired a work by fellow TED Fellow Camille A. Brown, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, which was nominated for a 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Gaunt's articles have appeared in Musical Quarterly, The Journal for Popular Music Studies and Parcours anthropologiques, and she has contributed chapters to I Was Born to Use Mics: Listening to Nas’ Illmatic and The Hip-hop & Obama Reader, among other publications.  

Gaunt's scholarship has been funded by The Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a nationally- and internationally-recognized speaker. She also is a certified expert witness in federal and state cases on the unintended consequences of social media. She also continues to perform and record as a classically-trained, jazz vocalist and R&B singer-songwriter. Her original compositions are available on the CD Be the True Revolution available on iTunes and CDBaby.

More profile about the speaker
Kyra Gaunt | Speaker | TED.com
Small Thing Big Idea

Kyra Gaunt: How the jump rope got its rhythm

凯拉冈特: 跳绳的韵律是如何产生的

Filmed:
453,746 views

“下来,下来,宝贝,从过山车上下来...” 嘻哈亏欠了相绕绳单人跳女王太多。让人种音乐学家凯拉冈特带领我们去领略一番迷人的跳绳史。
- Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
If you do it right, it should sound声音 like:
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如果你做得正确,
声音听起来应该是:
滴答,滴答,滴答,
滴答,滴答,滴答,
00:14
TICK-tat刻度线, TICK-tat刻度线, TICK-tat刻度线,
TICK-tat刻度线, TICK-tat刻度线, TICK-tat刻度线.
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如果你做得不正确,它听起来像:
00:18
If you do it wrong错误, it sounds声音 like:
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滴哒,滴哒,滴哒。
00:20
Tick-TAT刻度线, tick-TAT刻度线, tick-TAT刻度线.
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【小事情,大想法。】
00:21
[Small thing. Big idea理念.]
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00:25
[Kyra凯拉 Gaunt憔悴 on
the Jump Rope]
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【Kyra Gaunt与跳绳】
00:28
The jump rope is such这样 a simple简单 object目的.
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跳绳是一个非常简单的东西,
00:31
It can be made制作 out of rope,
a clothesline晾衣绳, twine麻线.
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它可以由绳子、晒衣线
或者麻线制成。
跳绳上还有螺纹一样的结构。(笑)
00:34
It has, like, a twirl on it. (Laughs)
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我不确定该怎么去形容它。
00:37
I'm not sure how to describe描述 that.
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重要的是它自身有一定重量,
00:38
What's important重要
is that it has a certain某些 weight重量,
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并且有那种挥鞭子的声音。
00:41
and that they have
that kind of whip鞭子 sound声音.
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我们不清楚跳绳是如何起源的。
00:44
It's not clear明确 what the origin起源
of the jump rope is.
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有一些证据表明它最初
出现在古埃及、腓尼基,
00:48
There's some evidence证据
that it began开始 in ancient Egypt埃及, Phoenicia腓尼基,
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00:52
and then it most likely容易 traveled旅行
to North America美国 with Dutch荷兰人 settlers定居者.
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后来很有可能是被
荷兰移民带到了北美洲。
00:56
The rope became成为 a big thing
when women's女士的 clothes衣服 became成为 more fitted
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随着女性的衣服变得
更合身和马裤的兴起后,
跳绳变得流行起来。
01:01
and the pantaloonpantaloon came来了 into being存在.
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就这样,女孩们可以跳绳了,
01:03
And so, girls女孩 were able能够 to jump rope
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因为她们的裙子不会再绊到绳子了。
01:06
because their skirts
wouldn't不会 catch抓住 the ropes绳索.
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01:09
Governesses怪家庭教师 used it
to train培养 their wards病房 to jump rope.
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家庭教师用它来训练孩子们跳绳。
甚至在南北战争前的南方,
那些被奴役的非洲孩子们,
01:13
Even formerly以前 enslaved奴役 African非洲人 children孩子
in the antebellum战前 South
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也在跳绳。
01:16
jumped跳下 rope, too.
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01:17
In the 1950s, in Harlem哈林,
Bronx布朗克斯, Brooklyn布鲁克林, Queens皇后,
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二十世纪五十年代,在哈莱姆、
布朗克斯、布鲁克林、皇后区,
01:22
you could see on the sidewalk人行道,
lots of girls女孩 playing播放 with ropes绳索.
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你都能在路边看到许多女孩在跳绳。
01:27
Sometimes有时 they would take two ropes绳索
and turn them as a single rope together一起,
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有时她们拿着两根绳子,
并把它们绕成一根,
但也可以将它们
像打蛋器一样交叉使用。
01:30
but you could separate分离 them and turn
them in like an eggbeater打蛋器 on each other.
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跳绳时,这绳子就像是
一个稳定的时间轴——
01:34
The skipping跳绳 rope
was like a steady稳定 timeline时间线 --
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哒,哒,哒,哒——
01:37
tick, tick, tick, tick --
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01:38
upon which哪一个 you can add rhymes童谣
and rhythms节奏 and chants圣歌.
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你可以在上面加上韵律、
节奏和小段吟唱。
那些绳子为我们创造了一个空间,
01:42
Those ropes绳索 created创建 a space空间
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01:44
where we were able能够
to contribute有助于 to something
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在这个空间里,我们可以去
创造更伟大的事物,
01:47
that was far greater更大
than the neighborhood邻里.
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一种超越邻里街坊的事物。
01:49
Double Dutch荷兰人 jump rope remains遗迹
a powerful强大 symbol符号 of culture文化 and identity身分
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相绕绳单人跳为黑人女性
保留了一个强有力的文化和
01:53
for black黑色 women妇女.
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身份的标志。
追溯回二十世纪
五十年代到七十年代,
01:54
Back from the 1950s to the 1970s,
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01:56
girls女孩 weren't supposed应该 to play sports体育.
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女孩们是不能去参加体育运动的。
01:58
Boys男孩 played发挥 baseball棒球,
basketball篮球 and football足球,
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男孩们玩着棒球,篮球,橄榄球,
02:01
and girls女孩 weren't allowed允许.
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女孩们却被禁止参与。
02:03
A lot has changed, but in that era时代,
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现状已经大不相同,
但是在那个年代,
02:05
girls女孩 would rule规则 the playground操场.
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女孩们可是操场之王。
她们还不让男孩子们参与进来。
02:07
They'd他们会 make sure
that boys男孩 weren't a part部分 of that.
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02:10
It's their space空间, it's a girl-power女孩-力量 space空间.
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因为这是属于她们自己的空间,
一个“女孩能量”空间。
02:12
It's where they get to shine闪耀.
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这是她们闪光的地方。
02:14
But I also think it's for boys男孩,
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但我认为跳绳也是属于男孩们的,
因为男孩们会无意中
听到那些歌词,
02:16
because boys男孩 overheard偷听 those,
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02:17
which哪一个 is why, I think,
so many许多 hip-hop嘻哈 artists艺术家
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这就是为什么,我认为有
很多的嘻哈艺术家
02:19
sampled取样 from things that they heard听说
in black黑色 girls'女孩 game游戏 songs歌曲.
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会从他们听到的黑人女孩们的
游戏歌中借鉴一番。
(歌词)“...冰凉,醇厚的奶昔,
秀出你的翻转能力吧,
02:23
(Chanting诵经) ... cold, thick shake,
act法案 like you know how to flip翻动,
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麦香鱼, 至尊牛肉堡,
炸薯条,冰凉,醇厚的奶昔,
02:26
Filet-O-Fish菲力-O-鱼, Quarter25美分硬币 Pounder,
french法国 fries薯条, ice cold, thick shake,
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秀出你的跳跃能力吧。”
02:29
act法案 like you know how to jump.
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为什么Nelly的“Country Grammar”
可以获得格莱美奖,
02:30
Why "Country国家 Grammar语法" by Nelly耐 莉
became成为 a Grammy格莱美 Award-winning获奖 single
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02:34
was because people already已经 knew知道
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是因为人们早已知道
“我们坐在路虎车里
沿着你的街道往下走 ...”
02:37
"We're going down down baby宝宝
your street in a Range范围 Rover流浪者 ... "
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02:40
That's the beginning开始 of "Down down, baby宝宝,
down down the roller滚筒 coaster杯垫,
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这句歌词是借鉴了“下来,下来,
宝贝,从过山车上下来,
02:44
sweet, sweet baby宝宝, I'll never let you go."
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甜心宝贝儿,我永远不会让你离开。”
02:46
All people who grew成长 up
in any black黑色 urban城市的 community社区
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所有在市镇的黑人社区里长大的人
02:49
would know that music音乐.
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都会知道那首歌。
02:51
And so, it was a ready-made现成 hit击中.
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这首歌本来就很火。
02:54
The Double Dutch荷兰人 rope playing播放
helped帮助 maintain保持 these songs歌曲
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通过相绕绳单人跳这项运动,
这些歌以及吟唱、手势
得到了很好的保留,
02:58
and helped帮助 maintain保持 the chants圣歌
and the gestures手势 that go along沿 with it,
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03:02
which哪一个 is very natural自然
to what I call "kinetic动能 orality口传" --
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这其实是很自然的一件事,
我称之为“运动的口头形态”——
03:06
word of mouth and word of body身体.
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嘴部语言和身体语言。
03:09
It's the thing that gets得到
passed通过 down over generations.
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这是由一代代人传承下来的,
03:12
In some ways方法, the rope
is the thing that helps帮助 carry携带 it.
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而跳绳则起到了至关重要的作用。
03:15
You need some object目的
to carry携带 memory记忆 through通过.
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需要一些物件来承载回忆。
03:18
So, a jump rope, you can use it
for all different不同 kinds of things.
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而跳绳就是这么一样物件,
你可以借它来传递很多不同的文化。
它跨越了文化。
03:22
It crosses十字架 cultures文化.
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03:24
And I think it lasted历时
because people need to move移动.
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我认为它能保留下来的原因
是人们依旧需要向前,
03:28
And I think sometimes有时 the simplest简单 objects对象
can make the most creative创作的 uses使用.
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而最简单的事物往往能
发挥最富有创意的用途。
Translated by Marshall Hu
Reviewed by Echo Sun

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kyra Gaunt - Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY.

Why you should listen

Kyra Gaunt's book, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop, published by NYU Press, won of the 2007 Alan Merriam Book Prize awarded by The Society for Ethnomusicology, which contributed to the emergence of black girlhood studies and hip-hop feminism. It also inspired a work by fellow TED Fellow Camille A. Brown, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, which was nominated for a 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Gaunt's articles have appeared in Musical Quarterly, The Journal for Popular Music Studies and Parcours anthropologiques, and she has contributed chapters to I Was Born to Use Mics: Listening to Nas’ Illmatic and The Hip-hop & Obama Reader, among other publications.  

Gaunt's scholarship has been funded by The Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a nationally- and internationally-recognized speaker. She also is a certified expert witness in federal and state cases on the unintended consequences of social media. She also continues to perform and record as a classically-trained, jazz vocalist and R&B singer-songwriter. Her original compositions are available on the CD Be the True Revolution available on iTunes and CDBaby.

More profile about the speaker
Kyra Gaunt | Speaker | TED.com