Native American Music Essay

James Genn once said, “Drumming is like film directing. You build a framework for everyone to create something together.” This perfectly describes Native American music, for the drums are the sole basis of the beat and keep the rhythm going. Once the beat gets going, everyone can jump in, dance, chant, and create more sound to make one piece of music together as one. The drums carry out the beat throughout the entire chant and keep everyone in time. Victoria Lindsay Levine wrote in her article titled, “Native American Music” and says how “sacred narratives describe the origins of specific musical instruments, songs, dances, and ceremonies,” which shows how the reasons for their music are integrated directly into their music (1). Native American
The Indian culture has made a very large impact on traditions with the celebration of Mardi Gras. The Native Americans made their way into the Mardi Gras culture by weaving their ways in with people who were enslaved within the area as well as having relationships with other countries that eventually made their way to New Orleans as well. The whole point of Native American chant music is to spread their word and evoke emotion within their culture through chants and often dances. As stated earlier, it is very important in their culture that the music is performed correctly as well. Nick Spitzer wrote in the article titled, “A History of Mardi Gras in New Orleans” that “a chief is expected to be a good singer capable of improvising songs over a dense rhythm section of bass drums, tambourines and various bottles, sticks and bells,” which shows how important it is that the leader of a tribe should know everything there is to know about their culture and how to perform their music to the best of his ability (1). Native American chant music is used for ceremonies, religious practices, and for entertainment other than just for dance