Australian Aboriginal Music

Australian Aboriginal Music


General

The traditional music of indigenous Australians holds a lot of meaning to their culture. Music is used throughout an aboriginal's life to teach what must be known about their culture, about their place in it, and about its place in the world of nature and supernature. As a very young child, the aboriginal is encouraged to dance and sing about everyday tasks. At puberty, s/he learns the first karma songs - about totemic plants and animals of his/her clan and the history and mythology of the group - which belong to his/her lineage and have specific melodic formulas and modes that distinguish them from other group's songs. Embedded in a purely oral tradition, the music is learnt by imitation and passed on without reference to any written notations. In the bachelor's camp, the young man learns more light-hearted songs which are the basic entertainment media for the band. When he marries and enters further into group responsibilities, however, it is the karma songs that are the central part of his education and his source of strength in times of trouble. His maturity can be measured in the esoteric knowledge he has acquired through song, and as an old man, he knows that his honour is based partly on his mastery of the secret sacred songs of the band.To the Australian aboriginal, music is understood naturally and is an integral part of life. In the west, by contrast, music tends to be separated from life. For example, a Western music student must learn to "understand" a composed piece of music, like a Beethoven symphony or one of Bach's works. This involves dissecting the music into elements of individual study - form, rhythm, harmony, melody and orchestration. The westerner can come to understand aboriginal music also, if s/he is willing to learn its language and laws ans listen to it in terms of itself. It cannot be compared to a Beethoven symphony because it has nothing to do with it. Both, however, can be enjoyed once one knows what to listen for in each.

Traditional Instruments

In constructing their instruments, Aboriginal Australians use the resources at hand. Most of their instruments fall into the idiophone class, where instruments consist of two separate parts which are stuck together to give a percussive sound. Throughout Australia, this kind of instrument takes many different forms. Of the membraphones, or skinned drum types, there is only one example. There are no chordophones, or string instruments; however in the aerophone, or wind instrument class, one example provides an outstanding exhibition of musical ingenuity.


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