Using Multimedia to Expand the Audience of ... - Richard Repp

Using Multimedia 39
Over time, Huichol musicians more frequently employed several European
instruments, especially violin and guitar, in sacred rituals. As Greenwood observed, while
music had become well developed as an essential part of Huichol religious ceremonies,
the musicians also utilized the aforementioned instruments in an ever-increasing body of
secular music. This reinforces the use of music as an essential, cultivating element
enriching both sacred and secular Huichol society.
A civilization’s way of life incorporates the musical element as part of the whole.
Nettl elaborates on the nature of this:
…the overriding determinant must be that special character of a culture. The ways
in which people live, relate to each other, see themselves in relation of their
natural and human environment, control energy, and subsist determine the kind of
music they have. (p. 347)
For the Huichol, music is an integral part of societal communication, for it consecrates
beliefs, tells stories, and expresses emotions. The interrelationship of music in Huichol
culture is dualistic: music as prayer to the force that sustains life and as an expression of
joy in social settings.
Secular