Music is an important part of Native American culture. Many researchers feel that Native American music is some of the most complex ever performed, due to the tension and release of the voices and the different rhythms of the drums.
Their traditional music is essentially religious and is their main means of communication with supernatural powers. In general, he is passionate and above all vocal. This passion has greatly influenced modern popular music. His music is completely melodic without harmony and has unusual and irregular rhythms. The main instruments they use are drums and rattles, and flutes and whistles. Men and women often sing separate songs and have their own dances to reflect the eternal balance and harmony.
The music of each of the hundreds of Native American tribes is different, but their musical traditions have some common elements. Tribal groups can be grouped into six zones (Eastern Woodlands, South West, Great Basin, Plains, Northwest Coast, and Arctic) based on their musical traditions.
The Eastern Woodlands region includes tribes such as the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Iroquois, and Shawnee. Their music is antiphonal (responds in response), and includes frequent metrical changes, rhythmic intricacies, a close relationship with ritual dance, and the use of flutes, drums, rattles, etc.
The Great Basin is a sparsely populated region that includes tribes such as the Shoshoni, Ute, Modoc, and Klamath. His music is extremely simple, understated and ornate. It has short melodies with a range of less than one octave, relaxed and open vocals, paired phrase structure, and moderately mixed monophony (it has only one vocal part).
The Great Plains include tribes such as the Blackfoot, Crow, Comanche, and Cheyenne. His music has a nasal tone, high pitches, and frequent falsettoes. He uses instruments such as the bass drum and solo flutes.
The southwestern region includes tribes such as the Pueblo (including Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo, among others) and Athabaskan (including Navaho and Apache) tribes. Athabaskan music has fast, simple nasal voices and unmixed monophony, and uses instruments such as drums or rattles and the Apache fiddle. Pueblo music is quite complex and includes a slow tempo, a variety of forms, the use of various percussion instruments, and highly mixed, low-range monophony.
The northwest coast includes tribes such as the Nutka, Tsimshian, and Salish. His music is some of the most complex in North America. It has open voices with monophony, complex and declamatory rhythms (dramatic or rhetorical), and long melodies accompanied by chromatic intervals. He uses a wide variety of whistles, flutes, horns, and percussion instruments.
The Arctic region includes the Inuit, who are known for their throat singing. His music is simple and has narrow range melodies, declamatory effects, and the use of snare drums.
Like other musical styles, Native American music is evolving. In addition to pan-tribal musical styles (synergistic adoption of music from foreign communities) such as powwows and peyote songs, native musicians have developed distinct styles of rock, blues, hip-hop, and reggae. Martha Redbone, the foremost Native American Indian musician of this century, successfully blended traditional music with soul, funk, rock, and jazz.
Tribal music is very popular today, especially recordings of the haunting Native American flute. R. Carlos Nakai, who is perhaps the foremost native flutist of our generation, in the early 1990s influenced countless people to start playing the flute. Native American drums are also popular instruments now, even among non-Native Americans.
Unfortunately, attempts to assimilate Native Americans into our culture began in the early 20th century and outlawed many cultural traditions, including music. It was only in the late 1940s that assimilation rules began to go away. It’s lucky for us that Native American music resurfaced for us to enjoy today.