American Indian Music

1. American Indian Music Music Academic Super Bowl Fine Arts 2014

2. Instruments • Percussion- • Drums are used in various religious ceremonies and powwows, often symbolizes the beating heart of Mother Earth(Indians are big believers of the circle of life) • Many different types of drums are used and vary between tribe to tribe largely in what they are made of (i.e. elk, moose, deer ,buffalo, etc.) • Double-Headed drums have two objects placed in them- a sphere representing the Earth and a cylinder representing the universe

3. Instruments Cont. • Types of Percussion Instruments- • Hand Drums (used in spiritual ceremonies for dancing and singing) • Water Drums (drums partially filled with water to provide a distinctive, deep, sound) • Log Drums (hollow logs are beaten by sticks)

4. Instruments Cont. • Wind Instruments- • The flute is easily the most popular native wind instrument and is often used in ceremonies like weddings, a “coming of age” for young men and women, and electing a new chief • A popular type of flute is the Hoppi “courting flute” and there are also many variations in the number of flute holes, size, tone, etc.

5. Instruments Cont. • Flute Anatomy- • The flutes are made of two distinct air chambers and are made usually from soft woods like western/eastern cedar, redwood, and spruce (some hard wood was used as well) • The tone of the flute is based on size and hole placement and the most common ones are A,G,F# but F,C,E are also used (mainly for those with bigger hands)

6. Instruments Cont. • Other types of wind instruments- • Ocarina/clay flutes- whistles made from clay with multiple key holes used in everyday music • Bone whistle-high, piercing whistle used strictly in spiritual ceremonies made from the wing bones of an eagle and other animals (marrow from bones used to cure eye disease) • Pan Flute- flute made from hollow pieces of wood joined together, with each one playing a separate note (very similar to wood flutes in sound but more booming and more pause in between notes)

7. Vocal Styles • Natives are by their very nature split into different categories based on their tribal nature and there are distinct differences in singing style between different groups in the same tribe let alone all the different tribes, but in general there are six different groups of singing styles-Eastern Woodland, Plains, Great Basin, Southwest, Northwest Coast, and Artic • General Vocab for Singing • Polyphony-simultaneous singing of separate lines • Metre- unit of organization of the underlying musical pulses in a song (often in groups of two or three-duple/triple metre) • Vibrato- rapid, slight variation in pitch (ornamental in music)

8. Vocal Styles Cont. • Eastern Woodland- • Rather relaxed vocal style in the middle range with a few songs using rapid vibrato and yodeling, scales include 4-6 equidistant tones with frequent changes in metre and the use of syncopation • A unique feature is the call-and-response style in many songs (antiphonal singing) and they also use strophic form (music repeats), sectional form (music changes in blocks), and iterative form (short sections with repetition) • Plains- • A tense, nasal vocal style is employed in either the high or low range, scales include 4-5 equidistant tones with a tempo slightly off the drums creating rhythmic complexity

9. Vocal Styles Cont. • Most songs use strophic form repeated four times and singers perform unblended unison (same song but variations in the way performed in tone, vibrato, etc.) • Great Basin- • Emphasis on middle range and very relaxed and open with scales of 4-5 equidistant tones; special variations include subtle aspirations at start/end of musical phrase and breathing techniques to vary duration of notes • Sing with mostly blended unison but very distinctive in their paired-phrase structure of certain songs (The line of music repeats then alternates with a different line i.e. AA BB AA BB AA, etc.)

10. Vocal Styles Cont. • Southwest- • Have an open, relaxed style emphasizing the lower ranges with blended unison and scales with 5-7 equidistant tones; poetry very common and most complex rhythmic structures with pauses and frequent changes in metre • Navajo and Apache are slightly different with a tense, nasal vocal style and use of unblended unison, strophic form, sectional form, falsettos, and rapid tempo • Northwest Coast- • Singing is moderately relaxed and open and contains moderately blended unison along with strophic and sectional forms; rhythmic structures are also complex with changes in metre, and differences in the rhythm between singers and drums

11. Vocal Styles Cont. • A distinct element of singing in this area is the scale of 4-6 tones which includes half-step intervals instead of full step intervals • Artic- • Has a moderately tense, nasal style; emphasizes the moderate range with ornaments like pulsations, grace ties, and breathing techniques; contains scales with 4-5 equidistant tones and rhythmic structures like tempo displacement between drum and voice, ties, cross-rhythms, and changes in metre • Mostly moderately blended unison but some part-singing in parallel structures; strophic form used as well as recitative sections in songs where words are rhythmically recited at a constant pitch

12. Function of Music in Society • Music is viewed as an expression of beauty and reverence in Native American Society • Mainly used in celebrations like birth, death, coming of age, an election of a new chief, and also religious ceremonies • Taken very seriously and musicians are trained since childhood and do not expect applause or verbal response from the audience (view it as simply their role in the community)