How is the Sioux Grass Dance on CD 1:3 organized metrically (grouping of beats, if any)? Explain. What is the tempo of the selection (slow, medium, or fast)?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Sioux Grass Dance has a steady beat, but does not have a regular meter—that is, the music is not based on continually recurring groups of beats with specific beats consistently emphasized more than other beats.
• For example, compare CD 1:3 to CD 1:7, "Folsom Prison Blues"—a country western song, which can be counted in either a slow duple (two-beat) meter | 1 2 | 1 2 | . . . or a fast quadruple (four-beat) meter | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | . . . In each grouping of beats (called a measure and divided by vertical lines), the first beat, the downbeat, is automatically accented (stressed) more than the rest of the beats in each grouping. "Folsom Prison Blues" is obviously organized around a strong meter that is being reinforced by the drum (trap set). Tap along with "Folsom Prison Blues" to get a feel for the meter. In contrast the Sioux Grass Dance and other traditional Native-American musical examples are not normally organized around such meters.
• Sioux Grass Dance has a fast tempo. Notice how the drum beat does not coincide exactly with the singing part.