Traditional Native American Songs.pdf

Traditional Native American Songs These melodies are directly from or (as best I know based on documented evidence) are strongly rooted in traditional Native American melodies. These songs include some songs from the Indianist movement that have traditional roots. 

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By the Waters of Minnetonka Death Song of the Cherokee Indians

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Earth My Body

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The Huron Carol

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Kayowajineh

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Maliseet Love Song

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Membertou's Three Songs

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Origin of the Flageolet

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Wendeyaho (Tinhanama)

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Yaquis Deer Dance

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Yuma Lullaby

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Zuni Sunrise

By the Waters of Minnetonka is Thurlow Lieurance's most well-known composition. Many versions and arrangements were published, and many recordings were released between 1913 and the 1950s.There are uncertainties about the exact date of composition. Different sources give dates of 1911 or 1912 for the first hearing of the Native American melody on which the song is based.

Publication was probably in 1913. According to a typewritten account from the Lieurance Collection at the Special Collections of the Library of the Wichita State University ([Wolff 1996]):

"By the Waters of Minnetonka" was inspired by a Sioux Love Song recorded by Mr. Lieurance in October, 1911, on the Crow Reservation in Montana. The tune was sung by Sitting Eagle, a Sioux. No one knows how old this Sioux Love Song is. It moves on today and into the future. This love song is based upon the following legend: Moon Deer, daughter of the Moon Clan, loved Sun Deer of the Sun Clan. Tribal law forbade marriage between the two clans. It was decreed that daughters of the Moon Clan must marry into the Eagle Clan. The two lovers, in tears, ran away far to the east and north. They came to a beautiful lake called Minnetonka (Minne means water; Tonka means large and round). Their happiness was disturbed enemies, and the finally Chippewa, lived on the north shoreto of this lake. They feared because to returntheir hometraditional and be separated, in desperation they decided end it all. The legend states that they disappeared beneath the waves and were no more. The waves moaned a rhythmic sound and the pines crooned their love song. Many moons afterwards the warriors of the Sioux drove the Chippewa north to Lake Superior. One night while they were camped on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, they heard the waters singing a weird melody and, in the moon-path on the waters, two lilies appeared and grew to the skies. The lilies were the spirits of Moon Deer and Sun Deer.

Thurlow Lieurance, 1922

Speaking about hearing the Native American melody for the first time, Mr. Lieurance was later quoted as saying:

That night marked an epoch in my life, opened to me a new world. What work I have since done has been due chiefly to that song. Thousands of people have heard it, clothed with the harmonizing which our ears demand; it is lying upon music Tables all over the land, has been sung by many of the world's famous singers, including Schuman-Heink, Julia Culp and Alice Nielson. (Kansas Teacher, 1940) The notes preceeding the sheet music published by Theodore Presser Co. in 1914 (song number 17550 - [Lieurance 1914]) provide some overlapping and some additional information:

Two lovers of the Sun and Moon clans of the Sioux Indians, loving against tribal law, fled to escape torture, and let themselves sink together into the waters of the lonely Northern Lake. The silver ripples, it is told, mourn above them, and the winds bear the cry afar. But in the song they will ariseand from of the lake foroff you; youmoonlight will hear as thethey steady and regular of their paddles seethe thedepths diamond-spray drip in the pass, once again,beat in their ghost-canoe. A violin typifies the wind, if you choose, echoes the soft harmonies of the accompaniment which rocks to and fro on harp chords, between the major key and its relative minor, in and out of that singular domain musicians know as the “added Sixth” chord and its derivatives.

Transcription and Performance Notes I've done two arrangements for the Native American flute, below. The first is based on the srcinal melody transcribed by Lieurance. This melody stretches the range of the Native American flute a bit beyond what may be comfortable. It also uses the major second note that requires half-holing on pentatonic minor flutes. The second arrangement avoids these issues by a few modificiations to the melody that (I hope) are in keeping with the overall spirit and feeling (and chord structure) of the song.

Sheet Music - Original Melody - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Original Melody - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 1

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Original Melody - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 2

Sheet Music - Original Melody - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Original Melody - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 1

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Original Melody - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 2

Sheet Music - Modified Melody - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Modified Melody - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 1

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Modified Melody - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 2

Sheet Music - Modified Melody - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Modified Melody - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 1

By the Shores of Minnetonka - Modified Melody - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - Page 2

From the Harvard Dictionary of Music ([Apel 1969]), page 33:

In the 18th century, F. W. Marpurg, the German music historian, publishedRemarks on Three Songs of the Iroquois (Berlin, 1760), and an early attempt at adaptation of an actual Indian melody, call Alknomook or Alkmoonok (“The death song of the Cherokee Indians”), was first published in London in 1784. In America, James Hewitt includedAlkmoonok in the score he arranged and composed for the ballad operaTammany (1794). The following is from [Ritson 1794]

(reprinted also in [Ritson 2009]

):

“The simple melody” of this song, as we are informed by its fair author, “was brought to England ten years ago by a gentleman named Turner, who had (owing to some singular events in his life) spent nine years amongst the natives of America; he assured the author,” she continues, “that it was peculiar to that tribe or nation called the Cherokees, and that they chanted it to a barbarous jargon, implying contempt for their enemies in, the moments of torture and death.” She adds that, “The words have been thought something characteristic of the spirit and sentiments of those brave savages;” that “we look upon the fierce and stubborn courage of the dying Indian with a mixture of respect, pity and horror; and” that “it is to those sentiments in the breast of the hearer that the death song must owe its effect.”

Death Song of the Cherokee Indians (1794)

Another version of this song appears in [Sonneck 1905] in [Sonneck 1921] , pages 63 –64.

, later reprinted

Sheet Music - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Death Song of the Cherokee Indians - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Death Song of the Cherokee Indians - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

I was introduced to this chant by Wayne McCleskey at the Vashon Island flute gathering the Summer of 2002. The earliest mention of Earth My Body that I've found is from Julie Forest Middleton's 1998 book Songs for Earthlings, which cites it as a contemporary chant of unknown authorship ([Middleton 1998]). According to Ian Prattis in his 2011 collection, the words are “ from an Earth chant sung by children, in countless languages, around the world ” ([Prattis 2011]).

Lyrics The English lyrics to the chant are:

Earth my body, Water my blood, Air my breath and Fire my spirit And here are some translations into various languages. Many are using Google Translate … if you are a native speaker of the language and have a better version, of if you would like to contribute a new language, please Contact Me. Arabic (Google Translate):

Chinese (Simplified) (Google Translate):

地球我的身体，我的血水，空气我的呼吸和火我的精神 French (Google Translate):

Terre de mon corps, mon sang de l'eau, l'air mon souffle et mon esprit d'incendie Hebrew (Google Translate):

,

,

Japanese (Google Translate):

地球は私の精神を私の体、水私の血、空気私の息とを発射 Russian (Google Translate):

Земля мое тело, вода моя кровь, воздух дыхание моего и огня мой дух

Spanish (Google Translate):

Tierra mi cuerpo, agua mi sangre, la respiración de aire y fuego mi espíritu The Melody and Performance Notes There are many melodies that have been used for Earth My Body. The melody transcribed below is from Wayne McCleskey at the Vashon Island flute gathering the Summer of 2002.

Note that it uses an unusual note on the Native American flute: the “ Fire” note can be fingered as

,

, or even

depending on the particular flute you're playing.

Recordings Here is a straight recording of the melody I made on December 2, 2011 on a low C # Native American flute by Brent Haines of Woodsounds Flutes. I'm playing both the low and the high versions of the melody twice, just as an example, the second time through uses a bit more ornamentation than the first time:


Earth My Body - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning


Earth My Body - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

The Huron Carol (also called Jesous Ahatonhia, Jesus is Born, and Noël Huron), is often considered to be the first Canadian Christmas carol. It is likely to have been written by the Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649), who taught the song to the Hurons near Georgian Bay in about 1642 ([Herbermann 1913]). He was apparently casting religion in terms that his Huron flock could relate to, using “the Great Spirit” for Jesus and speaking of the Wise Men as three chiefs.

Brébeuf to the Huron Indians for 22 years, until disaster struck in 1649. From the liner notes of ministered ([Mills-A 1960]):

In 1649 an Iroquois war party invaded Huronia, killing or driving out all the Hurons, and destroying the missions. Refusing to leave their flock at St. Joseph, Fathers Brébeuf and lalement were captured and died at the stake after enduring many hours of savage torture. Some of the Hurons escaped to Lorette, near Quebec City, and there their descendants live to this day. They did not forget Father Brébeuf's carol, and about 1750 another Jesuit, Father de Villeneuve, heard them singing it and wrote it down. Then it was translated into French under the title “Jesus est né” and it is still sung in that form in Quebec. In 1926, a Canadian poet, J. E. Middleton, wrote the English words, which have become widely known. Here is an excerpt from a version performed by Alan Mills of ([Mills-A 1960]):

Excerpt from The Huron Carol - from Canada's Story in Song by Smithsonian Folkways ([Mills-A 1960]).

Backing Track for Native American Flute in E Minor Gary Cope recorded a backing track for the melody that appeared on a limited-production CD-R of backing tracks ([Cope 2004]). He graciously gave me permission to include his backing track on the on Jam Tracks in E Minor CD. Here's a recording of my overdub to that track, on an E minor Native American flute. I'm mostly following the lead sheet (below) the first time through, and gradually improvise over the core melody more and more each time through:

This backing track (i.e. without my overdub) is available on Jam Tracks in E Minor.


The Huron Carol - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning


The Huron Carol - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

This song comes from the personal songbook of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger. It appears in Where Have All the Flowers Gone ([Seeger-P 2009], page 87) with the notation:

Forty years ago I learned the Seneca canoe song "Ka-yo-wa-ji-neh," from Tehanetorens (Ray Fadden). I have tried to teach it to others exactly as I learned it. Recordings

Here is an excerpt of this song from the album Fifty Sail on Newburgh Bay, sung by Pete Seeger and Ed Renehan. I've also included a flute recording I made on October 17, 2011 of the arrangement on this page:


Kayowajineh - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning


Kayowajineh - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

The Maliseet Love Song was collected by Natalie Curtis (Burlin) in the early 1900s and published in The Indians' Book([Curtis 1907]). Click on the image at the right to see the srcinal transcription and related notes.

Recordings Here is a recording I did on our Recording Kiosk over a backing track played by Jim Parker. This is in the key of G minor at 90 beats / minute, played three times: … and here is an excerpt of a recording by Laura Lee Perkins and Ken Green from thier First Light CD ([Perkins 2000]):

Backing Tracks Backing tracks in various keys and at various tempos are available for this song (and based on this transcription) on theFlute Haven Recording Kiosk web site.

Maliseet Love Song – Original Curtis Transcription

Maliseet Home Range

Elda Tate's Version The second image at the right shows a transcription by Elda Tate from [Tate 2004], based on the Natalie Curtis transcription. However, notes some differences: 

The tempo marking is significantly faster: a half note = 80 beats / minute rather than what appears to be the srcinal notation of a half note = 50 beats / minute. I'm not sure if this is intentional or a transcription error.



The melody has been substantially altered from the Curtis transcription. I believe that this is an attempt to accommodate a starting note of

, which seems to cause issues

throughout the melody.

Maliseet Love Song – Elda Tate Transcription

Transcription and Performance Notes First of all, note that I've dramatically changed (and simplified) the time signature from the srcinal transcription. Second, I've selected a starting note of , which seems to solve the issues of the Tate transcription, while still keeping the melody within the range of the low register of the instrument. I have not included the tempo marking — feel free to use the tempo that suits the situation. There are two versions for six-hole flutes, with slightly different fingerings. The first version uses the standard fingering and the second version uses some alternate fingerings that make it easier to play (for most people). The melody is interesting in that it changes from major (first and second lines) to minor (third line) and back to major (fourth line). Also note that it uses phrases of seven bars rather than a typical eight-bar cycle.

Sheet Music - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes (Standard Fingering)

Maliseet Love Song - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes (Standard Fingering)

Sheet Music - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes (Alternate Fingering)

Maliseet Love Song - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes (Alternate Fingering)


Maliseet Love Song - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Marc Lescarbot (1570-1641) provided us with the oldest existing transcriptions of a songs from the Americas — three songs by Henri Membertou (-1611), sakmow (grand chief) of the Micmac First Nations tribe. Lescarbot was a French lawyer with a passion for exploration and adventure. He readily accepted an assignment for a client in the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and arrived in May of 1606 ([Reid 2010]). He was based in Port Royal, present-day Nova Scotia until the summer of 1607 and took an interest in the lives of the region's native peoples. He became keenly aware of the tension between colonization and the desire for quick profits versus the realities of harvesting a colony's natural resources in a responsible manner — sentiments he published in 1609 in his Histoire de la Nouvelle-France ([Lescarbot 1609]). Sometime during Lescarbot's stay in North America, he transcribed three songs of the Micmac (Souriquois) healer and chief Henri Membertou.

Henri Membertou

Canada Post Stamp

Henri Membertou was the grand chief of the Micmac tribe located near the first French settlement in Acadia, near Port Royal in present-day Nova Scotia, Canada. As a young man, he had met the French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) and throughout his life developed good relationships with French explorers. Late in life, he converted to Christianity and adopted the first name Henri in honor of the late king of France, Henry IV ([Bumsted 2007]). In 2007, Canada Post issued a 52¢ stamp dedicated to Membertou as part of their French Settlement Series. Since there were no reliable portraits of Chief Membertou, illustrator Suzanne Duranceau conceived a portrait with the assistance of historian Francis Back ([CanPost 2007]).

The Songs Lescarbot later published an account of Membertou's songs in Chapter 5 of the third edition of his book ([Lescarbot 1617]) using solfege notation for the melody. Here are the words and solfege melody of the three songs, from the Project Gutenberg 2007 edition ([Lescarbot 2007]):

Holoet ho ho hé hé ha ha haloet ho ho hé Re fa sol sol re sol sol fa fa re re sol sol fa fa Egrigna hau egrigna hé he hu hu ho ho ho egrigna hau hau hau Fa fa fa sol sol fa fa re re sol sol fa fa fa re fa fa sol sol sol Tamema alleluya tameja douveni hau hau hé hé Sol sol sol fa fa re re re fa fa sol fa sol fa fa re re Solfege notation can be adequate for conveying a melody, but it says nothing about the rhythm of a song. Rhythm had traditionally been conveyed using a number of standard rhythmic modes, but European composers were responding to music that called for increasingly more complex rhythms by developing a notation system that conveyed the rhythm as part of the written music. The system of mensural notation was developed that incorporated the rhythm in to the shape of the note heads on a written five-line staff. Mensural notation is the predecessor to the present-day modern music notation. Shortly after Lescarbot's return to France, a religious movement began to educate, catechize, and baptize Canadian indigenous cultures. The secretary of Louis XIII asked the Récollet Franciscan order to send missionaries to Canada, with support from Anne of Austria, the consort of Louis XIII. In 1623, Gabriel Sagard-Théodat, a French missionary, arrived in Quebec and proceeded on to live with the Huron Indians ([Herbermann 1913]). Things did not go well. After struggling to learn the difficult Huron language, Sagard-Théodat shared their incredible hardships. However, he won the affection and respect of the Hurons. Sagard-Théodat was ordered back to France in 1625 after another missionary, Nicholas Veil, was drowned in Riviere des Prairies (then renamed Saut du Récollet). He began writing about his travels and, in 1636, Sagard-Théodat published a four-volumes work ([Theodat 1636], in French). Volume two, pages 291 and 292 contains Lescarbot's transcriptions in solfege notation. In addition, SagardThéodat included his own arrangement of these songs, scored in mensural for four-part vocal harmony. These arrangements appear on four un-numbered pages ofnotation some editions of volume two. Catalog number 102 of the antiquarian bookseller Quaritch, dated October 1866 describes this book as containing “ four pages at the end which give the native words and the music of a Huron song and a Souriquois hymn” ([Pilling 1888]). Here are images of the four un-numbered pages, from the 1866 edition of Sagard-Théodat's narrative ([Theodat 1866]):

First and Second Membertou songs from [Theodat 1866]

Third Membertou song from [Theodat 1866]

Transcription and Performance Notes Rather than use the “Re – Fa – Sol” solfege syllables of the srcinal Lescarbot transcription, I've transposed these down to the equivalent “La –Do – Re” syllables. This provides the same scale steps between the notes, and the “La –Do – Re” syllables are more natural for the native American

Flute. Three transcriptions are given below: 

The three songs of Membertou, as transcribed in [Theodat 1866]. ... MENSURAL ...



The first song of Membertou, given in two starting positions on the Native American flute:

and

. 

An arrangement of the first song as a full performance piece. See the notes below on the structure of this arrangement.

Sheet Music - Core Melodies - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Membertou's Three Songs - Core Melodies - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - Core Melodies - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Membertou's Three Songs - Core Melodies - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - First Song - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Membertou's First Song - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - First Song - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Membertou's First Song - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - Full Song Arrangement - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

In this full song arrangement, the core melody is repeated twice at

then once at

, transposed up to start at the

a section at

that repeats the core melody starting at

Note that at the end of the piece at

note . Then an

. Then

using

at the starting note,

section is repeated, followed by

and

sections are repeated.

, the melody is modified slightly to resolve the melody.

This arrangement is a classic way to take a simple melody and create a longer piece using what is knows as a 12-bar blues structure.

Membertou's First Song - Full Song Arrangement - Six-Hole Flutes Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 1 of 2

Membertou's First Song - Full Song Arrangement - Six-Hole Flutes -

Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 2 of 2

Sheet Music - Full Song Arrangement - Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Membertou's First Song - Full Song Arrangement - Five-Hole Flutes Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 1 of 2

Membertou's First Song - Full Song Arrangement - Five-Hole Flutes -

Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 2 of 2

This melody comes from the Mandan and Hidatsa legend of the Origin of the F lageolet. The melody was collected and transcribed by in herMandan and Hidatsa ([Densmore 1923] ), Frances pages 80Densmore Music –84:

Flageolet Melody, from [Densmore 1923]

, page 83

Transcription and Performance Notes Two versions of the melody are transcribed below: 

The srcinal melody as shown in Frances Densmore's 1923 publication. This melody is in a major mode that requires some cross-fingerings on the Native Amercian flute.



A variation of the srcinal melody, converting it to a minor key. This version requires no crossfingerings and is probably easier to play for less experienced players. The two versions provide a great example of the difference between a major and a minor melody.

Recording Here are two recordings I made on October 29, 2011. They are each taken once through the melody, with no repeats, and are both on the same flute, an F# minor flute by Colyn Petersen:

Sheet Music - Original Major Tuning - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Origin of the Flageolet - Original Major Tuning - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Sheet Music - Minor Version of the Melody - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Origin of the Flageolet - Minor Version of the Melody - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Sheet Music

—

Variation A

—

Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Wendeyaho — Variation A — Six-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music

—

Variation A

—

Five-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Wendeyaho — Variation A — Five-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music Variation A (Inverted Fingerings) —

—


Wendeyaho — Variation A — Six-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning (Inverted Fingerings)

Sheet Music Variation A (Inverted Fingerings) —

—


Wendeyaho — Variation A — Five-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning (Inverted Fingerings)

Sheet Music

—

Variation B

—


Wendeyaho — Variation B — Six-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music

—

Variation B

—


Wendeyaho — Variation B — Five-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music Variation B (Inverted Fingerings) —

—


Wendeyaho — Variation B — Six-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning (Inverted Fingerings)

Sheet Music Variation B (Inverted Fingerings) —

—


Wendeyaho — Variation B — Five-Hole Flutes — Pentatonic Minor Tuning (Inverted Fingerings)

I first heard this melody in 2002 at the Arizona State Museum in Tuscon. It is one of the songs that is used in the Yaquis culture with the Deer Dance. This excerpt from [ASM 2001], page 10, provides some background: Yaquis [yah-kee] are a Uto-Aztecan speaking people whose homeland is the Yaqui River valley of Southern Sonora. They call themselves Yoemem[yoh-em-mem], or “ People.” Their nearest neighbors are the Mayos, withiswhom they share many customs and beliefs. Forin many Yaqui, the heart of their culture the five enchanted worlds that mirror the land which they live. These mystical realms play a part in the everyday life of the Yaqui people. One of the most important worlds is the Sea Ania or Flower World. The flowers of the Sea Ania unite the people and connect them to their past. The deer dance is an important ceremony that lets Yaqui people communicate with the Flower World. It is performed at Easter, as well as other times of the year. It is an excellent example of how Yaquis combine their own spiritualism with traditional Catholic rituals. In the deer dance, Saila Maaso [see-lah mah-soh] “ little brother deer” leaves the Flower World to visit the Yaqui people. The dance was created a long time ago after a man saw the deer having a party of their own in the woods. He practiced their dancing and was able to do it himself. The deer songs that are now part of the ceremony were traditionally used for hunting. For Yaquis, songs are bridges between the natural world and the enchanted worlds. They are the language that unites people and animals. The participants in the ceremony are: the Deer Dancer, Deer Singers, Musicians, and the Pahkola dancers who are the ceremonial hosts and who often perform clownish antics. Despite their visions of beautiful spiritual worlds, the history of theYaqui people is full of harsh realities. Following Mexican independence in 1821, the Mexican government stepped up attempts to control Yaqui farm lands. For ninety years, Yaqui guerrilla fighters resisted attacks by the Mexican government. By 1880, Yaquis created a formal army of 4,000 troops; the fighting which took place after this time was known as the “ Yaqui Wars.” The Mexican army finally defeated the Yaqui troops at the battle of Buatachive in 1886. Many Yoemem fled hundreds of miles to the United States to avoid deportation, or execution. As a result of the years of fighting, the Yaqui population dropped from 20,000 to less than 3,000. Today, Yaqui people live in small communities in southern Arizona as well as in their Mexican homeland. In Tucson there are four Yaqui communities: New Pascua, Old Pascua, Barrio Libre and Yoem pueblo in Marana. The Yaquis' vision of the enchanted worlds, like the Flower World, along with their religious ceremonies, like the Deer Dance, bind them together and help them endure as a people.

Transcription and Performance Notes

Two versions of the melody are transcribed below: 

The srcinal melody as I heard it in Tuscon. This melody is in a minor mode and fits nicely on the Native American flute.



A variation of the srcinal melody, converting it to a major key. This version requires some cross fingerings. I often use this version of the melody in workshops to demonstrate the difference between melodies in minor and major keys.

Recordings Here are two recordings I made of the minor and major version of the song. The first recording was made on October 22, 2006, complete with guitar, shakers and background flute harmony. The lead flute is a Little Horse A minor flute by Butch Hall. The second recording of the major-keyed version was done on November 1, 2011, using those tracks from 2006 that could be salvaged. Since the guitar background was done for the minor tuning, that was dropped, as well as the flute harmony. This second version was played on an A minor flute by Jon Norris.

Sheet Music - Standard Fingering - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Yaquis Deer Dance - Standard Fingering - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - Simplified Fingering - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Yaquis Deer Dance - Simplified Fingering - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning


Yaquis Deer Dance - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Sheet Music - Major Tuning Variation - Six-hole Pentatonic Minor Tuned Flutes

Yaquis Deer Dance - Major Tuning Variation - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

This lullaby comes from the work of Natalie Curtis, a pioneering ethnomusicologist who collected traditional songs from many cultures. She published this Yuma Lullaby in 1921 ([Curtis 1921] ). Below are narratives of different lengths that are excerpted from the srcinal Curtis publication that describe this song:

Short Narrative At a Hopi name-giving ceremony, the new-born infant … was reverently carried at dawn to the edge of the cliff to behold its father, the Sun, whose first rays welcomed the child into the elemental world of which the new life was now a part. Solemnly the grandmother and aunts waved ears of corn, symbols of fertility and plenty, reciting a short prayer while pronouncing over the child its names. Slowly the sun rose, shining on the upheld infant … Into such a world was the Indian baby born.

Longer Narrative So important, so sacred even, is … the sense of fatherhood and motherhood that the Indian

expands the obvious human tie into a mystic, cosmic revelation between man and the lifegiving forces of Nature. … The simple philosophy of the natives of our land, whose great teacher is Nature, sees hroughout all creation the birth-giving power of two opposite yet mating forces, the male and female principles …. these primal elements of existence become to the Indian the Earth-Mother, within whose potent heart lie hushed and unborn all the seeds of life, and the Sun-Father, awakener and fructifier. Man is the child of these cosmic parents behind whom lies the great life-principle itself, too vast and unknowable to be defined, a force impersonal and infinite — the “Great Mystery”. At a Hopi name-giving ceremony which I witnessed, the new-born infant … was reverently carried at dawn to the edge of the cliff to behold its father, the Sun, whose first rays welcomed the child into the elemental world of which the new life was now a part. Solemnly the grandmother and aunts waved ears of corn, symbols of fertility and plenty, reciting a short prayer while pronouncing over the child its names. Slowly the sun rose, shining on the upheld infant … Dawn flooded the desert with swift waves of amethyst and gold. The morning air, pure, unbreathed, untainted, seemed the very breath of a life infinite and sublime … The figures at the edge of the upsweeping crags of rock were as yet the only human forms in a land whose vast horizon tossed against the sky in unbelievable colorsplendor. The birth-throes of the coming day throbbed glory and promise and beauty unstained. Into such a world was the Indian baby born.

History The initial transcription of the Yuma Lullaby was done by Natalie Curtis from wax cylinder recordings she made in Southern Arizona. It was first published by her in “American Indian Cradle Songs,” The Musical Quarterly, Volume 7, 1921, pages 551–552. Her transcription carries the specific titles “Ash’var’ Homar’ Tashmatsk” and the translation “Song for putting Child to sleep”. The published transcription is now in the public domain in the United States and many other countries, and was digitized by Google on October 18, 2007 from the library of Harvard University. It has been made available as part thepublication: Google Books project (http://books.google.com) and downloaded on April 14, 2010 forofthis

Natalie Curtis's Version of Yuma Lullaby from 1921

Transcription and Performance Notes My arrangement for Native American flute does not show the words that were transcribed by Natalie Curtis, so refer to the srcinal transcription of you would like the words. The key of the srcinal transcription is one whole step higher than the standard key of Nakai tablature, so if you would like to play it in the srcinal key, play it on a G # or Ab Native American flute.

The follows theCurtis exacton notes the 1921 transcription, butrepeated leaves out theof grace notes that arrangement were scored by Natalie the of first line. It also expands the bars the first three lines, for easier readability. At there is a change of meter from 4/4 to 6/8 time, but not a change in tempo. One way to handle this is to think of it as going from common 4/4 meter to triplets. You might try counting it as “one two three four”, and change at

At

to “chi kee dah chi kee dah”.

there is a very unusual and interesting note to play in a lullaby! It evokes the jazz style, since

it is the “flat five” that is often used in jazz and blues. The fingering for this note is often

on

contemporary Native American flutes, but it might sound better using the fingering on some flutes. How do you tell which fingering to use? The sound of the flat five note should be half way

between and . So, try the two sequences: gives the better sound for the middle note.

and


and use the fingering that

Yuma Lullaby - Version 1 - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 1 of 2

Yuma Lullaby - Version 1 - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 2 of 2


Yuma Lullaby - Version 1 - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 1 of 2

Yuma Lullaby - Version 1 - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning - page 2 of 2

Zuni Sunrise is one of the most well-known traditional melodies played on the Native American flute. I first heard it played by Steve Bliven in the Spring of 2002 and later learned it from Gary Stroutsos. He had learned it from the Navajo flute player Paul Thompson who had learned it from Zuni flutist Fernando Cellicion.

In 1904, the Smithsonian Institute published Matilda Coxe Stevenson's huge study title The Zuni Indians: Their mythology, esoteric fraternities, and ceremonies([Stevenson 1904]). On page 150, Stevension notes that “The closing song to the rising sun, when the flute is played, is exceedingly impressive.”

An early transcription of this melody appears in [Stacey 1906] , page 59, which is an extraction of the melody of “ The Sunrise Call”, arranged by Carlos Troyer for voice and piano and published in 1904 ([Troyer 1904] ). However, these melodies have been modified substantially since those early transcriptions. Here is a description of the ssome note :

The “Sunrise Call” is one of the most inspiring features of the morning ceremonials of the cliff dewllers. It assumes, however, a greater significance in its connection with the ceremonial for the “Coming of Montezuma,” which is immediately announced thereafter. Before the dawn of day breaks forth, the vibrating chime-plates are brought into action, their whirr reaching the outermost dwellings of the pueblo and bringing the people to the roofs and tops of the houses. All is alive, men, women and children all appear to obey the summons of the Sun-priest to rise and greet the mother-of-life, the rising sun. With his great tuma, and amid the roar of big drums, he blazons forth the “call to rise” to the surrounding mesas, and receives from the a prompt and faithful response. Having fulfilled his first duty, he next makes a fervent appeal in the form of a morning prayer, to ople, the “Mighty Sun-god,” imploring in a low and a tremulous voice aid and guidance for his pe and concludes by repeating his first sunrise call again, to the distant mesas.

Transcription and Performance Notes The version I've arranged below is my own take on the melody … basically the way I play it as a solo

piece in performance. The piece is scored in parlando style, using note durations to roughly indicate

how long each note is held and a caesura symbol …

… to indicate a pause between phrases.

The song begins at

to the

with a series of calls that do not really resolve for a long time - until you get

note just before

. Personally, I like to repeat the in the

three times, and then end the piece on with a few calls at just left “up in the air”.

and

sections two or

that do not resolve … the listener is


Zuni Sunrise - Six-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning


Zuni Sunrise - Five-Hole Flutes - Pentatonic Minor Tuning

Traditional Native American Songs.pdf

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