Native American Music Synthesis Essay

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Unison: The same pitch at the same octave or different octaves.

Call-and-response: A solo voice alternating with a chorus or singers. The effect may also be applied to instruments.

Texture: The manner in which melodic lines are used.

Monophony: The musical texture consisting of one melodic line.

-Heterophony: The simultaneous sounding of two or more different versions of the same melody.

Vocables: Neutral syllables, sometimes called consonant-vowel clusters.

Falsetto: The singing voice above the normal range.

Powwow: A contemporary pan-In-dian gathering for singing, dancing, rodeo, carnival, and other celebrations.

2. Why do you suppose the music of Native Americans has not been more influential on the development of music in …show more content…

A lot of Native American music can be described as tribal and ceremonial; a lot different from something such as George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Percussions, vocals, and drums are used in ways much different than what one may hear in a song influenced by North American music, or vise versa. In Rhapsody in Blue a number of parts of the song were peaceful and relaxing, where it would be fitting to use in a library. Some people may have found some of the Native American songs, on the other hand, to be somewhat stressful, given how some of them were created for the climax of a ceremony. Other reasons may be that some people may consider it to be primitive-sounding, where all the instruments were created by hand using the elements of nature. It also may be that there was simply no fitting place for it in society. For instance, techno music fits well in a party setting, classical music often goes well with studying and relaxing, and rock music is fitting for working out. I have not listened to enough Native American music to truly justify these reasons, but nonetheless they are what I can guess are some of the reasons why it was not as influential in North

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