The song is cast in the scale of B minor. It is not pentatonic. The singers would employ, so an interrogation-mark is; placed below that be either A♮ or A♯, according to whether the scale is the natural minor or the harmonic minor, it is not possible to determine which tone the singers would employ, so an interrogation mark is placed below that note. The raised fourth (E♯), shown in the fifth measure of four out of the six verses, is perfectly intentional on the part of the singers, but musically, is to be interpreted as an accidental, and does not affect the scale of the song.
In this song we again have the interval of a fourth without the sixth above. It occurs four times, each time followed immediately by the less primitive and more harmonious interval of a minor third. The minor third harmony also occurs in three other measures,—in these without preparation.
These minor thirds are all the same,—B–D, the foundation of the tonic chord of the key,—evidence that the singers have a keen sense of the minor tonality.
The tempo alternates between 96 and 108. The first half of each line is given at 96, but the second half is taken more rapidly at 108 beats per minute. Each of these rhythms is very evenly preserved, the time being well marked by accented notes and pulsations of the Page 470voice as shown in the score. The figures at the ends of the lines indicate the number of beats rest actually taken by the performers. Twice they take the normal number four, which, if preserved throughout, would place the song in the regular eight-measure form. Some of the measures are 4/4, and some are 3/4.
In each verse of this song we find an example of the characteristic which I have termed a “jog.” It is seen in each next-to-last measure with special sign beneath. The jogs in the 2nd, 4th, and 6th measures are the best defined (see table of special signs under Introduction, p. 444).
There are three qualities in this song, which indicate that it is of more modern origin than either of the other two which belong to the same ceremony. The frequent and undoubtedly intentional use of the raised fourth giving the half step E♯ to F♯; the persistent recurrence of the hardly primitive, minor-third harmony; and the fact that the song is not cast in the pentatonic scale, as are the other two records of the same ceremony, point to a more modern origin.
It may be that in the earliest practice of this ceremony the girls or women did not participate, their parts having been a later addition. This could not be determined musically, however, without examining more records of songs from this or similar ceremonies.
Bogoyas
Record K. Sung by a woman.
This is a woman's song of praise, complimentary to the host at a party.