INDIAN MUSIC. The music of the aborigi nes of North America. although never reduced by them to a written science, is nevertheless marked by distinct racial characteristics. Of the greatest importance to the Indian musician was the emotion to be expressed: to this everything was subordinated. As a result the Indian songs can be divided into certain stereotyped classes (such as burial, love, war-songs), in each of whieh the similarity of the different melodies is most marked. This monotonous character of their tunes is an outgrowth of the very elements which among civilized peoples have been skillfully blended to produce original and unusual effects; for preeminent in Indian music are complicated rhythms (many of them as intricate as those of Schumann and Chopin) and a frequent use of syncopation. When it is remembered that they had no strict forms to restrain them, it will be seen how these two strong elements came in time to dominate and confine their whole musical sys tem. The strictly technical side of Indian music less interest. Their scale. like the Chinese,
Hindu. etc•.. consisted of five tones, and was. for the most part, major: their melodies generally ran from the top of the scale to the bottom; their conception of time was very exact; but had no part-singing; no way of determining pitch. and consequently no universal key. Of most interest to the cultured musician are the wonderful transitions which we tied everywhere throughout the native sore,. The smoothness and rapidity of their changes from key to key are unsurpassed even in European music. The Indians had a sense of but. owing to the crudity of their musical science. it was never developed. Only by the use of wooden drums, toned to different pitches, did they get a sort of etude bass. Besides the drums their instru ments consisted merely of a flute (with a scale of seven notes), a whistle (with a scale of five notes), and a rattle, made of dry gourds, loaded with sand or pebbles.