Music of Acoma, Isleta, Cochiti, and Zuñi Pueblos - Flutopedia.com

80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BnLi,. 165
SONGS FOR CHILDREN
Two songs for children are here presented. Lucero said that his
mother sang them to him when he was a child, to put him to sleep.
The first song of the group was said to be the song with which the
horned toad put her children to sleep. It was said "the song has no
words because the horned toad cannot talk." The records of both
songs are slower and softer at the close, this being the customary
manner of singing the songs.
(Catalog No. 2002)
No. 57.
Song of the horned toad when putting her children to sleep
J i 108
slower and softer
Analysis.—The chief interest of this melody lies in the treatment of the rhythmic
unit. After two occurrences the second measure of the unit is changed from
double to triple time, thus changing the accent on a quarter note. The melody
contains the tones of the fourth (major) 5-toned scale and has a generally descending
trend. The opening phrase is based on the descending tetrachords E-D-B,
D-B-A, and A-G-D. The fifth above the keynote is a particularly prominent
tone, occurring in both the upper and lower octaves.
In the next song a woman sings to her child about a situation that
would be famihar to the little listener. A crane has stolen some com.
The sound supposed to be made by the departing crane is
heard in
the first four measures and at the close, this being a syllable resembling
tui, tui on the quarter notes with shorter syllables on the shorter
tones. The words occur with the descending phrases, which have a
beseeching quality. These phrases have the same compass but each
is in a different Vhythm.