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This article explores the musical culture of Venda children in Limpopo, South Africa. Their perspective is examined from three primary points: a historical vantage point—that of ethnomusicologist John Blacking; the current perspective of the author as researcher; and the perspective of the children themselves, as creators and propagators of their own distinct and collective musical cultures. It shows that children have their own ideas about of what their musical cultures sound like, and what they should sound like. Music grounds them in their quest to understand what it means to be Venda, to be South African, and to locate themselves in a global culture.

In South Africa the arts and culture educational curriculum has undergone immense change and continues to impact and influence the role of musical arts practices in children’s lives throughout the country. In specific districts of the Limpopo province in particular, musical practices of the Venda culture are being integrated into the school classroom as a means to revitalize and regenerate musical forms that have been historically denigrated by missionaries and the apartheid government. The dance and performance genre known as tshigombela is one such example and, at present, it is a predominant musical practice that illustrates how a musical form can be preserved by shifting it from community settings and into government-sanctioned classrooms. This paper will explore this conscious shift of musical arts practices and the historical and current roles of tshigombela in communities and classrooms in Limpopo that are ensuring its legacy in the greater Venda musical culture.