Music and Rituals

 I have heard a lot of ritual music in my life over the holidays, and on birthdays, and special occasions and religious events. At church or funerals or weddings or even around Christmas. I have never thought of specific songs being part of a "ritual" for certain events or holidays, but  because of the traditionality of ritual songs, it makes them similar to Andean or Native American ritual songs. The first ritual song I am going to talk about is not a common ritual song or anything most people have heard of, but Mexican tribal songs are probably the most unique "ritual" song I have heard before. It reminds me a lot of Native music in a lot of aspects, but also has a few things that are different about it;

I saw a bunch of performers doing dances and singing songs that were a lot like this in Cozumel Mexico. This video is the closest I could find to the ritual songs I saw, but some of them are a lot like this but also include singing. The singing is very similar to Native American music, where there is call and response, chanting, but instead of Navajo language, it is all Spanish instead. The singers and dancers all wear different regalia that differs based on their character. A lot of these dances are very ritualistic in that they are only performed during a certain time of the year or during a certain weather season. For example, one of the dances that I saw was a rain dance, where the singers dressed up like thunderbirds, and the song was about the rains and the gods. I chose to talk about these kinds of ritual songs because I think it is super meaningful when you compare traditional American "ritual" songs to songs from other countries. There are a lot of differences in them, but they both represent a seasonal activity of creating music that serves a certain purpose in the culture.

Another very meaningful genre of "ritual" music would definitely have to be American Christmas music. There is something so nostalgic and familiar about it. When you start hearing Christmas music on the radio you know the holidays are here, and that the weather is about to start getting colder, and you get to see all your family members. You get presents, and there is no school, life is so memorable and nostalgic when Christmas music is being played. My all time favorite is probably "The Christmas Song," by John Legend.