Australian Aboriginal Music
Music
- 1. Music was a very important part of Aboriginal life.
- 2. They had songs for every occasion and even to help pass on the Dreamtime stories.
- 3. Each song is sung with short verses and the words related to the occasion that they were singing for.
- 4. Most of the songs would be about a their ancestors, how things were created and the land or anything to do with their ancestors.
- 5. Each type of music from each different tribe was different.
- 6. They had no written notation so only teaching the young passed on the songs.
- 7. Their parents or the Elders would teach them the music.
- 8. The Elders were the oldest and wisest in the tribe.
Corroborees
- 1. Sometimes they would sing in ceremonies called corroborees. In these ceremonies, they would sing ancient songs and strange dances with strange patterns painted on their bodies.
- 2. The most important performers would be the young people.
- 3. There were sometimes specialists in each tribe to perform. These performers were highly respected.
- 4. The interesting thing about the songs sung at corroborees was that they could last for days or even weeks.
- The people often dance along to the songs.
Musical Instruments
- 1. didgeridoo
- 2. boomerangs
- 3. clubs
- 4. sticks
- 5. hollow logs
- 6. seed rattles
- 7. bone and reed whistles
- 8. bark beaten or struck on the ground
- 9. folded leaf whistle
- 10. hand clapping
- 11. lap slapping
- 12. Aboriginal trumpets
- 13. some different types of drums covered with animal skins
- 14. Some types of shells were also used
Fusion
In the present, there are some Aboriginal singers that fuse the type of songs from the western world to the Aboriginal culture. One of the most famous ones would be Yothu Yindi and his band. They combined the sounds and instrumentation of western rock and roll music with aboriginal music that dates back thousands of years. He has put traditional dances and instruments in his music. That way, he is fusing the two cultures together.
The music and language for each tribe was different but some were similar. The languages have very special names that are very different.
Bibliography
australian aboriginal 1
australian aboriginal 2
australian aboriginal 3
australian aboriginal 4
By
Phoebe Wong and Vanessa Lee 7C