Week 10 North American Native Traditions

1
Week 10 North American Native Traditions

• North America like South America has musical
  traditions that originate with
• 1. Amerindian ethnic groups
• 2. European ethic groups
• 3. Black African and Creole groups
• All intermix and none have remained unaffected by
  the others.
• It is arguable that the mixing of black African
  and European has produce in jazz and blues the
  most universal musical idiom on earth today it
  being the basis of western popular music
• Amerindian is the least known, least understood
  and least influential. Much of it dying with the
  loss of land and identity as the white man took
  over North America

2
Music in Amerindian Society

• Music played a significant role in Amerindian
  culture before contact with Europeans but only in
  the 20th century has it been studied.
• Special role in Amerindian. Culture to maintain
  ethnic identity and provide a focal point for
  view of past.
• Intimately concerned with religion most
  important element in worship and it rituals such
  as peer group societies and gambling games.
• Used to accompany dances, games, calendar rituals
  and life cycle events.

3
Uses of Music

• Music is used to symbolise and personalise
  supernatural power. Spirits gave power to humans
  beings by teaching them songs, and individual
  with supernatural associations had special
  musical powers. Shamanism and music go together.
  
• Accompaniment to ceremonies, prayer, and aid to
  religious experience.
• Music judged less by musical criteria than by how
  effective in religious functions and good in
  providing food, water, healing etc.
• Each tribe had a large repertoires of songs for
  all manner of event and function.

4
Music and Dance

• Closely related in Amerindian culture.
• Music accompanied dances in specific ceremonies.
• Dances serve to unite members of the community
  with each other, with ancestors, and with
  supernatural beings.
• Each tribe had own dances but typically they are
  circular and feature dignified frontal movement.
  
• - Steps, hand gestures and spatial designs
  have symbolic meaning.
• - Range of dress specific to dance. Dances
  may be musicians with rattles, or sewn-in sound
  creators. Musical structures reflect dance
  structures. Dances stop when all have completed
  a circuit of the dance ground.

5
Songs and Poetry

• Most poetry is sung. Structures closely linked.
• Verbalisations and non-lexical symbols that
  surround meaningful text is very common. Some
  song repertoires have no lexical text at all, and
  feature only syllable sequences.
• General lack of instrumental music so songs
  fulfill both vocal and instrumental music. The
  songs are their own accompaniment hence the
  large use of non lexical vocalisations.
• Few professional musicians, or specialists
  female and male roles usually kept separate.
  Though they may join as distinct groups within
  songs.
• Some song types have a leader and a call and
  response form. In some there is scope for word
  improvisation by the leader but in many
  repertoires the words or non lexical textx are
  sacred and must be very accurately performed
  without any change.

6
Composition, Learning and Rehearsing

• Humans not the originators, but recipients of
  music imparted to tribe by spirits, either
  through dreams, visitations, or legendary time of
  tribes origin.
• Song learning accomplished by rote, and accuracy
  in some societies is greatly prized. A single
  lapse may invalidate the ritual and stable
  traditions may fail.
• Systematic musicianship is unusual and many
  societies learn just by rote copying and do so
  very fast.
• Learning and appreciating is done by direct
  experience and verbalising about music theory is
  rare. However clearly formed musical thought,
  values, aesthetics and concepts of musicianship
  are articulated by experienced singers.
• The ability to distinguish hundreds of similar
  songs in a narrow repertoire is highly developed.
  To an outsider they would all sound very much
  the same.

7
Tribes

• The tribal map of North America is complicated
  and is now dominated by reservations which may
  not conform to the original tribal location.
• There have been attempts to map the distribution
  of Amerindian musical styles. But there is only
  reliable information on about hundred out of many
  hundred groups. Plains, Eastern Woodlands, South
  West and California, Great Basin are basic
  divisions.
• Eastern woodlands relaxed style, call and
  response, stomp dance, social gatherings
• Plains high piercing style with falsetto.
  Melodic line starting at top and descending.
  Percussive accompaniment, powwow.
• Great Basin open and relaxed style, brief
  melodies and small ranges. Ghost dances.

8
Example of the Pueblo and Navaho

• Pueblo tribal groupings of Southwest and
  California.
• Pueblos style - open and relaxed style of singing
  in lower part of vocal range. Long complex
  melodies, ceremonial songs performed by large
  choruses in blended monophony.
• Scales are pentatonic, hexatonic and heptatonic
  with intervals of approx. major second.
• Poetry focuses on water imagery, spirit beings.
• Mix of lexical texts and vocables. Rhythmically
  complex
• Navaho singers cultivate a tense,nasal vocal
  style emphasing upper and middle vocal range and
  falsetto.
• Group songs in unblended monophony.
• Variety of melodic contours.
• Navaho perform during curing ceremonies to
  restore balance and harmony within person who is
  ill.
• Songs re-enact episodes from Creation stories and
  may include hundreds of songs over several days

9
Instuments

• Great variety of percussion. Especially
  Idiophones that vibrate when struck, shaken,
  rubbed or plucked. Log drums and rattles are
  common. Membraphones are widely used single
  headed frame drum most common.
• Main melodic are flutes. Almost no chordophones.
  
• Others provide tone-colours only, or imitate
  nature bull-roarer. Many induce shamanistic
  trance.

10
Developments through contact with Europeans

• All traditions have continually changed
  adapting historic repertoires to new social
  realities.
• Big effect of tourism in 20th century. Selecting
  and promoting styles and forms that conform to
  European tastes and expectations.
• Peyote music since 19th century and development
  of religious cult surrounding chewing of peyote.
  From south (Mexico and Texas) it spread north and
  had base in Oklahoma. Native American Church.
  Sacred visions, all-night worship, prayer and
  singing. Water drum.
• Ghost dance religion. Spread in 19th century
  from plains to other areas.

11
Eskimo Music

• Same basic Mongoloid stock that predominates in
  Eastern and Northern Asia same as other
  Amerindian groups.
• Huge territory very sparsely inhabited.
• Song culture with repertoires for many purposes.
  Dances, games, lullabies, stories, healing,
  hunting, songs of derision an important form of
  contest and conflict resolution.
• Most important instrument is the frame drum
  often used communally often struck with a
  stick.
• Some songs are very restricted in notes (some
  only 2) and rhythms (straight 2/4). Others up to
  5 note scales and more complex metres. Throat
  games, breathing, inhalation and exhalation an
  important part of many songs.