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# 9 Formal detail in drum song

Alphabetical designations are particularly useful for describing intricate musical structures such as those found in many kinds of North American Indigenous song (see Browner, 2002; Nettl and Levine, 2011). For example, powwow songs, including the one by Red Bull discussed earlier, employ complex patterns of repetition, contrast and variation.

You have already studied how at the beginning of a push-up the lead introduces a melody that is not only echoed but extended by the rest of the singers. The nature of that extension, which complements the initial solo melody by means of a kind of rounding-off formula, will now be considered.

## Activity 10 Returning to ‘Grass Dance’

Allow about 20 minutes

#### Part 1

Listen to the opening of the first push-up of ‘Grass Dance’ in Audio 4. The lead starts at 00:04 and the seconds join at 00:11. Notice how the seconds not only echo what the lead has just sung but also extend this through some additional vocables on a fixed note: the ‘Wey-ey hey ah hey’ pattern between 00:18 and 00:20.

This additional material means that the seconds sing a melody that is slightly longer than what the lead sings, so the two can be distinguished as a and a′ in the ‘subsection’ column of Table 12 below.

## Table 12: Structure of first push-up of ‘Grass Dance’ by Red Bull

Push-up | Named part | Subsection | Track time | Notes
1 | Lead | a | 00:04 |
Seconds | a′ | 00:11 | rounding-off formula at 00:18
Body | b | 00:21 | rounding-off formula at 00:29
c | 00:32 | rounding-off formula at 00:39
b | 00:42 | rounding-off formula at 00:50
c | 00:53 | rounding-off formula at 00:59

#### Part 2

You may have noticed that what was earlier called the body of the push-up is divided into four subsections in Table 12 above. Each of these four subsections ends in a closing or cadential pattern – that is, a closing formula similar to the one at the end of the a′ section.

Revisit the first push-up in Audio 4 and listen for the four subsections of the body, which begin respectively at 00:21, 00:32, 00:42, and 00:53. Then listen for the cadential pattern at the end of each subsection. In each case, you should hear a set of vocables (‘Wey-ey hey ah hey ah’ or similar) sung on a single note. These occur at 00:29–00:31, 00:39–00:41, 00:50–00:52, and 00:59–01:01.

The four subsections themselves have a pattern of organisation: the first and third sound the same, and the second and the fourth sound the same, so they are designated as b and c, respectively. This means the push-up as a whole has the form aa′bcbc.

#### Part 3

Listen to the first push-up of ‘Grass Dance’ three or four more times to get familiar with the six subsections of the push-up. It may be helpful to pay attention to the overall contour of the melody; that is, its pattern of descent and ascent. Notice how the singers start the push-up at the very top of their range and then gradually descend: a is higher than b and b is higher than c. After the first bc, the singers leap up, then descend again through the second bc.

Finally, drawing on what you now know, try to identify the track times of the six subsections of the second push-up, beginning at 01:01 in the recording. Add your answers to the relevant text boxes provided in Table 13 below.

## Table 13: Structure of second push-up of ‘Grass Dance’ by Red Bull

Push-up | Named part | Subsection | Track time
2 | Lead | a | 01:01
Seconds | a′ | (A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
Body | b | (A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
c | (A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
b | (A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)
c | (A text entry box would appear here, but your browser does not support it.)

Interactive feature not available in single page view.

### Discussion

A completed table is shown below. You should have managed to perceive the beginnings of the various sections. If you didn’t, try listening to the second push-up a few more times while following along with the completed table. It may help to take a break and return to try the exercise on another day.

## Table 13 (completed): Structure of second push-up of ‘Grass Dance’ by Red Bull

Push-up | Named part | Subsection | Track time
2 | Lead | a | 01:01
Seconds | a′ | 01:08
Body | b | 01:17
c | 01:28
b | 01:38
c | 01:48

Throughout this part of the analysis, lower-case letters have been used. This is in the first case because lower-case letters typically designate the most local elements of any musical form. Second, these local elements are located within a larger, overarching structure; namely, the fourfold repetition of the push-up. This more global aspect of the form can be represented using upper-case letters: AAAA, with each A standing for one of the push-ups.

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