Inuit Music of North America
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The Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic are known for katajjait (throat singing). Women perform katajjait in pairs standing face to face, improvising and trading off rhythmic, guttural sounds. They use vocal manipulation and breathing techniques to create rhythms that reach more than 240 beats per minute. They use known words, words that have lost their meanings, vocables (nonlexical syllables), and mimicking of nature sounds. Sometimes, throat singing becomes a game, with each participant trying to make the other laugh. Katajjait has no instruments, but Inuits also perform drum dancing, which uses a drum made of skin (or nylon) stretched across a large, round, wooden frame. Drum dancing took place at almost all gatherings to celebrate a successful hunt or to honor someone who had died. Drum dancing was also performed as part of shamanic rituals.
Classroom Implementation
Throat singing is often a game, and lends itself easily to a child's game. Mimicking the call and response style of throat singing, teach your students a game in which they pair up, choosing one member if the pair to lead and the other to follow. The leader chooses a syllable (syllables like "ah" or "loo" are easy for children) and begins chanting. the follower copies, just as in throat singing. Be sure to start the students off at a slower tempo, so they can keep up until they get the hang of it. To try to make the follower mess up, the leader can change the syllable, or change the volume. Whatever they do, the follower must do too. This game is a vocal "follow the leader" of sorts, and is sure to help students understand the difficulty of throat singing and the focus that it requires.