10.01.

2021
Martin Meyer
S6DEX

The place of music in the Australian aboriginals’ lives

Chapter summary

Chapter 1:

Australian indigenous music expresses ideas. The player will portray his thoughts through
lyrics and music, spontaneously. Music becomes a part of one's creative imagination.
Their culture includes "psychological, sociological, religious, symbolic and linguistic
factors", showing that a musical idea doesn’t need to necessarily have to be expressed in
intelligible words, to portray the feelings of the singer.

Through melody, the aboriginals feel like they have "a magic power" since every note
summons up a spirit. This ties in with the godly, otherworldly conception of totems. In this
world, the voice is the magic bond "uniting all things in the universe". They are a celebration,
a worship of the spirits of mythical ancestors who created and taught music and the "rites and
songs" necessary for creating. In ceremonies or nature concerts, they often behave like the
thing that the totem portrays, imitating sounds, animals, winds, etc.
Their melodies also change meaning according to the organ they sing it from, e.g. nose, chest,
or falsetto voice.

Chapter 2:

The writer Pallavi Singhal shed a light on how old the Australian aboriginal population is,
linking them genetically to the highland Papua new guinea populations. By studying their
language, it is said that the Pama-Nyungan language group shows the "evolutionary
relationships between the different genomic groups sampled in the study" as almost perfect.
A study of the development of these languages traces the complex movements of the
population, dating from 10,000/32,000 years ago.
As well as that, many revolutionary practices and tools have been found to originate from
Australia, such as cremation, axes, and sea crafts.

Tribes are often divided into two groups called moieties.

Each of them is in charge of their moiety's heretical myths and songs and must respect their
totems and take part in rituals, in a serious manner.
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Martin Meyer
S6DEX
Tribes met with each other to collaborate in making things and performing, each meeting
costing two spears. A commonly used object during these meetings/rituals was the "tjurunga"
a carved stone so sacred that if a woman saw one, it was believed that she would die.

However, in every sacred ritual, both men and women have to interact with each other. These
rituals' aims are to summon divine intervention, needed by the Aboriginals to ensure their
"material and spiritual continuation". Music, songs, and performances existed for every
occasion, having a very important place still in today's Aboriginals' lives.

Chapter 3:

Children also took part in these rituals, by singing about spirits and animals. Other more
initiated boys had to learn special chants written about myths in general, while older men
become the "upholders of tradition" meaning that they have to know all information
regarding songs, rituals, and chants.

Chapter 4:

Each Corroboree is different from every tribe. In this chapter, the focus is on the Tiwi tribes
that are known for creating the most thrilling sound heard in any Australian corroboree.
It is, bold, dramatic, and theatrical by holding on to notes for very long times and then
abruptly letting it go.
The Aboriginies showcased their personalities through their dramatic art, articulated and
rhythmical music, and the fluent performance. This way they expressed that "the pursuit of
man is not happiness, but self-expression".

Chapter 5:
The most common instruments used are paper-bark Clap or rhythm sticks which are beaten
on the ground, boomerangs which produce a light "clack sound", ankle shells, trumpets made
of conches, lizard-skin drums, gum leaves which often took the place of the Didgeridoo,
which is made of a burnt tube of wood.

Chapter 6:
Aboriginal songs are divided into two patterns, the "common keyword pattern" and the "east
Arnhem land song cycles". They rarely sing in solitude as it is believed to have outcomes that
can affect their community. Their songs range from religious, poetic songs to gossip songs
about people the song men know, to love and mourning songs to help send the spirits in the
"land of the dead".
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Martin Meyer
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Chants, however, consist of verses made in a pair of successive lines, each expressing an
idea. They all must fit the rhythm of the music and normal speech accents can be changed to
fit the music.
The music theme can range from "charms against sicknesses" to "Tiwi" who sing in unison
and don't mix female ceremonies with the "sacred" male-only ceremonies.

Chapter 7:

By examining deeper, we can find certain reoccurring characteristics in the Aboriginal songs.
They show no lyrical impulse, no rhapsodic songs, and a set strophic form. There are
however sudden pitch changes moving to higher keys, the melody, however, staying the
same.
The rhythmic beats were turned to two pulse beats as the song reached its climax to put more
emphasis on the rhythm.
Other features of their music are linked to the Aboriginal men's tenor voices, limiting them to
a restricted note range. One of the features includes an incomplete tetrachord and a
descending 4th interval, creating a variated effect.

Chapter 8:

Musical devices such as the "gunboig-gunbalanga" series, aims to make an extended song
cycle by separating the structural elements of a song. The songs follow a simple descent of an
octave, ornamented with repetitions and sequences as well as syncopation.
Vocal repetition is replaced with rapid triplets and "faster sticks" and a short unaccompanied
recitative. Their form is unique, repeating two melodies one after the other and finishing with
three separate ones, making the finale complete and satisfactory.

Chapter 9:

A deeper study of these devices shows the often use of canonic imitation, found in "Djarada
Wadeniddi songs", reaching its peak of evolution in the "Mulara series".
In women's Djarda songs, the use of the diminished 5th is noticeable whereas the men’s
songs use unusually grouped notes, in irregular time. Djarda songs are the only ones written
in irregular times.
Djidbangari songs, however, are played with virtuosity, creating a "never-ending flow of
ideas".
The Malara cycle is reminiscent of Western Plain Chant, being distinct through its quaver
movement, ornamental melisma, seriousness, and exultation, showing advanced musical
progress ahead of its time, and because of the presence of harmony and counterpoint.
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Martin Meyer
S6DEX

However, the aboriginal culture has been destroyed and detribalized once their territory was
invaded by the white civilization. Now their songs are vanishing together with the young
generation who doesn't need these ancestral songs. They still sing about the new aspects of
their lives, however, most old traditional songs have "ceased to be sung and the fate of
complete oblivion awaits them".