Native American Music

Native American Music, as a general rule tends to have no harmony and the songs have fairly simple in their forms. The music tends to be repetitive and uses vocables as well as a limited array of instruments.

Vocables

Syllables that are sung that have no meaning but are used for melodic or rhythmic effect.

3 Main forms of native american music

Strophic

Short repeating lines

2 alternating, contrasting sections

Vocals

The vocals were monophonic, and you could generally expect to see more choruses then solos. Vocals of ten included a sharp attacks using diaphragmatic support to really hit the note and quivers to accent the music.

At times the vocals contain direct shouts and Animal calls.

Primary Instruments

Frame drums - Small drum

Kettle Drum - A drum made of a kettle that was made by stretching a hide of a kettle with varying levels of water.

Flute

Musical Bow

Whistles

Apache Fiddle - One stringed fiddle made with plants

Navaho Violin

Plains Indians style

They had very short, very meaningful texts. They often sing in a very high and falsetto, with long rhythmic pulsing.

Falsetto

Rise

A style by the California-Yuman Indians, this style features sudden jumps in pitch to emphasis aspects of the music.

Stomp Dance

A dance characterized by a leader stomping out a rhythem that would be picked up by the group over the course of the event.

War Dance/Grass Dance

This dance is referred to as the grass dance because they wear a blade of grass for every person they have killed in battle.

Ghost Dance

Spiritual dance form from the Great Basin Indians that spread into the Great Plains Indians

1889 - The peyote Indians led by Wovoka sought to bring back deceased animal populations, and bring back the Ancestors. During this time it spread fairly regularly.

Inuit/Eskimo Music

Peyote

An inter-tribal style that became the Native American religion. In their ceremonies they use the helucinegenic effect of the peyote for the ceremonies. The music has special vocables. An example of this "He-ne-yo-we." which symbolized the end of the thought.

49er songs

Songs that have no spiritual significance and are purely for entertainment.

Carlos Nakai

The native-american flute culture began to fade from the scene in the 50's and 60's. Carlos Nakai helped to bring them back into some prominence by playing the flute in music with an orchestral. This helped with the resurgence of the 70's

Inter-tribal Style

In the last

The Ghost dance became one of the first major inter-tribal style.

The plains Indians became the basis for the inter-tribal pawow style.

Pow-wow

Athabascan

North/West American Indian regain that features a very wide vocal range, they have even beats and rhythm as well. Usually going to be chanting and percussion.

Great basin

North-West

The musical style in this area is distinguished for it's complex rhythm and more complicated instruments. They also discovered polyphony. They used step-motion or open motion.

Incomplete Repetition