Kdrath] IROQUOIS MUSIC AND DANCE 33 



main tone and shift to the lower level during the second section, thus 

 presenting two quartal blocks one above the other. 



Composite Scales: 



This shift of focus may, however, be less obvious. Chauncey's 

 adonwe repeats its theme on three overlapping levels and furthermore 

 modulates from minor to major. Towisas and ga'daso-t songs carry 

 through a recurrent formula of tonal shift by raising or lowering the 

 main tone by one interval in part B. The former usually lowers 

 part B, the latter always raises it. They invariably return to the 

 original main tone during a recapitulation of part A. As we have seen, 

 ga'daso-t accompanies this phenomenon with a shift in dance direction, 

 but towisas does not. Both cycles are antiphonal. 



Other cycles show scattered and more subtle instances of over- 

 lapping, in Coldspring Feather Dance 16, Drum Dance 14, Eagle 

 Dance 3, War Dance 1, Quavering 3, Fish Dance 5. Bear Dance 

 10 hops between the fifth and second of the scale and finally stretches 

 from the fifth down to the tonic. Shaking-a-bush descends from C 

 down a seventh to D, then concludes on melodic play from E to A, 

 thus overlapping two schemes of thirds. 



Progressions — Intervals : 



The scales show that the majority of songs start on a high note and 

 end on a lower note; in focused melodies commonly on a fifth below 

 the initial tone, in diffuse melodies commonly an octave below. Con- 

 sequently, the majority of intervals tend downward. But this is 

 far from a uniform rule. In the first place, some songs begin on the 

 main tone. In the second place, many cycles prefer an initial state- 

 ment on a lower level than the development, particularly the Yeidos 

 round and ga'daso-t. Less regular rising trends occur in Coldspring 

 Eagle 3, Bear Dance 4, Quavering 14, Drum Dance 14, and others. 

 In the third place, melodic oscillation is as prevalent as descent. 

 The theme wavers up and down most noticeably in Feather, Men's 

 Medicine, towisas, ga'daso-t, Garters, less evidently in Buffalo, 

 Bear, Robin, and Fish type. Consistent descents characterize most 

 introductory chants, wasase War Dance, New cskanye. Hand-in- 

 hand Dance. A combination of long descents and subsequent rise 

 and fall brings variety into women's rites and shuffle dances. 



These progressions are effected by means of intervals preferably 

 between a second and a fourth, by a fifth or sixth as part of the melody 

 only in the bolder stomp-type songs, in most instances between the 

 conclusion of a low phrase and the recapitulation on a high level. 

 In general, the songs with limited scales prefer small intervals, and 

 melodies with extended scales add large intervals. In summary the 



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