What is Mouth Music?

    There's a kind of singing found in every culture-- rhythmic, traditional a cappella songs used during work, play, social gatherings, or for dancing when there are no instruments.  The most widely used term for this rhythmic traditional a cappella singing is mouth music.       

    Pam studies, performs, records and teaches mouth music from cultures all over the world, including Scotland, Ireland, Quebec, Africa, Appalachia, Arctic Canada, the Georgia Sea Islands, central Asia, and on and on and on...

    Click on the link called The CD to find out about her recording called Dance to Your Shadow; Mouth Music Around the World.  Pam recorded songs with tradition bearers from many cultures, including Inuit throat-singing, African American slave songs, Scottish waulking songs, Tuvan throat-singing and much more.

    Click on the link called Travel Writing to find out about the travel writing project that grew out of recording with these wonderful tradition bearers in the Scottish Hebrides, the Arctic and the Georgia Sea Islands.  The book uses music as a passport to explore these cultures, as she discovers how the history of a people is found in its songs. 

    Click on the link called Take a Workshop to find out where you can go to learn some of these great musical traditions.  Pam teaches informal group workshops in Northern California as well as mouth music classes at music camps and festivals.

    For information or registration call 9510) 530-7826 or e-mail pamswan@pamswan.com

Many types of Mouth Music are associated with particular cultures, here are a few examples:

     Puirt-a-beul

     Literally "tune from the mouth" in Scottish Gaelic, this combination of Gaelic words and syllable fragments (vocables) creates such a strong rhythm that it can be sung to familiar tunes and used for dancing without instruments.  

     Waulking Songs        Sample: Heman Dubh (2:01)   Pam Swan & Christine Primrose

     Waulking wool is the traditional process of rhythmically beating wet fabric on a table to tighten the weave.   Traditional songs are sung by the waulking group to pass time and to keep all the workers moving the cloth in a uniform way.  

      Kan Ha Diskan 

      In Brittany, the Celtic region in western France, this means "call and respond".  Primarily sung for dance, two singers overlap their voices in a way that allows for a steady stream of music for the dancer, with small intervals of rest for the singer. 

       Diddling

       Irish diddling, lilting, gobbing and other terms refer to the singing a dance tune instead of playing it on a fiddle or other instrument.  Instead of words, a series of syllable fragments (vocables) are used to accent the tune's rhythm.  Styles vary by region and individual.

        Khoomei  (or xoomei)

        In Central Asia, the Republic of Tuva is one culture that specializes in throat-singing.  Xoomei is one of many types of this traditional art, in which the singer holds a fundamental tone AND harmonizes in overtones at the same time.  Other types of Tuvan throat-singing include Sygyt and Kargyraa.

        Katajjaq

        In the Inuit culture, from Greenland through the Arctic islands of Nunavut and down through Southern Canada, this is a joyful tradition of throat-singing in which two women face each other, trading intricate overlapping vocal sounds and laughter.  Though it is known as Inuit throat-singing, it does not involve one person producing two sounds through overtones and should not be confused with the overtone type of throat-singing found in central Asia.

        Caoine  

        A cross between a musical lament and a plaintive wail, keening (or caoine) has been part of many cultures for centuries, unaccompanied by instruments. Rarely heard outside a funeral, it has also been found in Ireland, Asia, and Africa. 

         Reel-a-bouche 

         From the Acadian and French Canadian culture comes a tradition of singing dance tunes by vocables (and sometimes verses) accompanied with rhythmic foot percussion.   Reel-a-bouche, literally means "reel from the mouth".  It is closely related to Scottish puirt-a-beul and Irish diddling, two other types of mouth music for dancing.

        Play Songs

        Children around the world have always made up songs to sing while playing.  Counting songs, choosing songs, clapping songs, and ring or circle songs are just a few examples.  Nonsense songs also exist in most known languages. 

        Work Songs 

        Around the world rhythmic traditional songs have been used to pass the time and help bring structure to repetitive labor.  Specific mouth music has evolved for rowing, milking, sailing, hammering, sawing, stonecutting, flax-beating, and many other jobs.

       Lullabies

       The first mouth music we all hear are the instinctive rhythmic traditional songs used by mothers rocking their babies to sleep.  In each culture there are sounds and vocables from its language woven into the songs that rock us to sleep. It is usually the first type of mouth music people hear, no matter where they grow up in the world.

        Chin Music

        The Appalachian tradition of singing words (and nonsense syllables) to fiddle tunes is often referred to as chin music.  Closely related to Scottish puirt-a-beul and Irish diddling, silly words are often chosen for their rhythmic value. Often rhythmic nonsense words or tongue twisters are written to traditional fiddle tunes so that the tune can be sung as a show-off piece or an accompaniment for dancers. 

         Epenthetic Songs

         Epenthesis is inserting a sound in the body of a word.  Examples include the Pig Latin word "ook-Bay" for Book, or the Yiddish-influenced phrase "Book schmook".  Some Southern songs are built on repetitive use of epenthetic sounds, usually inserted into each line of a verse.      

         African Chants

         Call and response is a very strong tradition in the folk music of many African cultures.  Greeting chants, harvest chants, and many other songs include a strong harmonic overlap of one singer's call and another's answer.  This pattern has strongly influenced music of the Georgia Sea Islands, Caribbean songs and other mouth music that finds its roots in African music.

To book a class, workshop or presentation on mouth music, call (510) 530-7826 or e-mail pamswan@pamswan.com