Native American Music
In chapter ten, author Bruno Nettle takes the reader to the town of Browning, Montana, where he is about to witness a modern Native American ceremony. As he observes, he notices that only one-half of the people there are actual Native Americans. The rest are are white tourists and innocent observers just like himself. Eventually, somewhere around eighteen singing groups appear from different tribes and reservations. They will be summoning the dancers into what is known as the grand entry. Nettle notices that the overall style of the music remains the same among all of the different groups, or `drums.' People are able to interact by taking pictures, video and tape recording what goes on. In that respect, the event is similar to a high school or local sporting event. Throughout this chapter the reader is introduced to many aspects of Native American music including: ceremonial traditions, musical areas, societies, unity and diversity, ideas about music, musical instruments, and aspects of history.
Besides the powwow, there are other events involving music that deserve to be mentioned. In one area there may be gambling games played between two teams. This involves only the repetition of two musical phrases, trading places, along with only one melody. In another hut or barn, there could be a country hoe-down with a Blackfoot tribe singing familiar Nashville tunes. Events such as a rodeo also involve music, but not in as big of a way. It might be played jus as simple background music. These ceremonies are unique because it brings all tribes together as one. Since all songs are known by the majority of tribes, conflicts with language are overcome, mainly because the songs are wordless. D...
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...e it incorporated the use of rattles and percussion at much faster pace. There was a solo singer, and he did repeat a lot of the phrases, but it was one- hundred percent redundant. Song number twenty-four brought the listener into the more contemporary trends of Native American music. The song was a capella, and in a more strophic form than other pieces. It was similar to many songs on the radio, just without accompaniment. The last three tracks contained a bigger variety of musical instruments, from flutes to guitars and strings, to percussion. The last song was really neat because it sounded like a country western tune, yet it was done in Spainish. I don't agree with Nettl in his opinion that a lot of the music sounds the same because every song I listened to on the track was completely different from the other whether by instrumentation or vocal aspects.
Going to the powwow I didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. After our performance, a few of us decided to come back, and we were surprised by many of the sights and sounds. When we arrived, there was a group of men known as bird singers who were chanting and singing traditional songs. Some of the older women were doing simple dances
The Native American flute is the third oldest known musical instrument in the world, with bone flutes dating back over 60,000 years. The first instrument found were drums, then varies whistle were made. Over time, the instrument evolved with many different materials and shapes. And these difference and changes reflect the culture of that time. Virtually, flutes were used all types of hardwoods and softwoods in history. They had many different configurations, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7 or 8 holes. The flute we used in class is 6 holes, and we also saw many different flutes in class, someone smaller, someone larger, someone with 3 holes, etc. The oldest flutes we have were made from wing bones of a Griffon Vulture [1] and a Whooper Swan [2], as well as one from mammoth tusk ivory [3].
Native American music has many different musical styles. Within every Native American tribe there is a variety of musical styles and instruments. In response to the research that I have conducted, there are three main musical styles that are going to be my point of focus. The Sioux Grass Dance, the Zuni Lullaby, and the Iroquois Quiver Dance are the principal methods which contribute to Native American music.
Neil Diamond reveals the truth behind the Native stereotypes and the effects it left on the Natives. He begins by showing how Hollywood generalizes the Natives from the clothing they wore, like feathers
...gers of the old folk music are referred to as “authentic”. The author uses the biographies and the personal experiences of true Appalachian folk musicians to portray what life in the Appalachians was like. The strong family values, the music, the legends.
Southern Musical Tradition and the African Tradition The second major tributary of the southern musical tradition comes from the African continent and is the heritage import of the five million slaves brought to North America against their will to provide the bulk of the labor in the pre-industrial agrarian south. Contemporary blues, while not exclusively black music by any means, remains largely black in terms of its leading performers and, to a lesser extent, its listening audience.
Native Americans are known for many different qualities they had as a part of their lifestyle. The games and sports they created to play that are now used in today’s society, lacrosse being the most famous. Some of the games played in the early times are either drastically changed or no longer played. There are many different Native American tribes that factor out cultural differences and depending on the tribe, the lifestyle qualities such as sports, games, and rituals differentiate between one another.
Eucalyptus Grove comes alive with the beat of the drums, sending chills of power trickling down your spine. All around you are people, over 30,000 weaving in and out of over 100 booths. Despite the tickle of your nose from the dust kicked up by the passionate dancers in the arena, you are greeted by the smell of foods representative of different tribes. The crowd is colorful in dress, face and purpose; the songs represent and evoke different emotions. You have just entered the Stanford American Indian Organization’s Annual Pow Wow.
as an illustration of a lifestyle unknown to many people. Over the past few years there has
Of the five minutes, I believe that the most interesting segments are the first solo and the last minute or so; I will be analyzing these particular portions in depth. From the very start, this song is hot and fast. To open, the entire band plays a fast phrase that follows the 12 bar blues scale and this phrase remains central throughout the entirety of the song. The bass and piano hold this phrase while the horns transition into a separate rhythm to compliment it. These two phrases are repeated until the beginning of the first saxophone solo at :56. During this solo the bass transitions to a shuffle line while the piano compliments. The other horns join in with riffs after the first two choruses of the solo. The solo continues for another two choruses with the whole band playing before it is rounded off. The final minute of the song begins with a repeat of the third, fourth, and fifth choruses. In the final 20 seconds, things begin to get very interesting. The horns hold the last note of the chorus as the rhythms comes to a sharp halt. The horns engage in a brief agglomeration of notes that exhibits a strong use of polyphony and could be described as somewhat hectic. The drummer begins to shine with a solo of his own which he continues for the final seconds of the song, before resolving the entire song with a final
Humans from the coast of West Africa arrived to the New World as slaves. Stripped of everything familiar, they brought with them their traditional ways of using music to record historic events, expressions, and to accompany rituals. While toiling in the tobacco fields of Virginia, slaves were not permitted to speak to each other. So, they resorted to their African tradition. They sang!
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
The book America’s Musical Landscape starts by looking back to early North American Music from the American Indians, to the religious and non religious music of the European and African settlers. According to the book “Native American music was and is song, sometimes supported by instruments.”1 The Native American used different types of instruments to accompany their songs or chants such as the drums, flute and rattles. Like music for us today the Native Americans used music in all different aspects of their lives. The early European settlers br...
The colonization of civilizations has changed the world’s history forever. From the French, Spaniard, and down to the English, have changed cultures, traditions, religions, and livelihoods of other societies. The Native Americans, for example, were one of the many civilizations that were conquered by the English. The result was their ways of life based on nature changed into the more “civilized” ways of the colonists of the English people. Many Native Americans have lost their old ways and were pulled into the new “civilized” ways. Today only a small amount of Native American nations or tribes exist in remote areas surviving following their traditions. In the book Ceremony, a story of a man named Tayo, did not know himself and the world around him but in the end found out and opened his eyes to the truth. However the Ceremony’s main message is related not only to one man but also to everything and everyone in the world. It is a book with the message that the realization of oneself will open the eyes to see what is truth and false which will consequently turn to freedom.
West African's made music for ceremonies surrounding agriculture, the crowning a new king or chief, and the reenactment of an important event that happened in the past. Special kinds of music were played during war ceremonies, hunting excursions, and other victory celebrations. Hunting songs, war songs, and boating songs were performances of men. Music performed by women was associated with children, young girls, and funerals. An example of a festival the West Africans celebrated was called the "Annual Customs of Dahomey". This was a festival worshiping the king of their capital. The West Africans also had music for litigation. They would come before a judge and sing or chant their argument.