Customer Reviews

Blackfoot Musical Thought: Comparative Perspectives

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Blackfoot music is the most recorded and discussed North American Indian music.
This book discusses Blackfoot music and musical thought in relation to Blackfoot culture, less so to the larger Plains Indian musical culture, and, still less to musical thought in general.
This book is more than the opposite of useless books which inform you of the music of another culture without telling you anything beyond simplistic descriptions such as instruments used and vague descriptions of timbre, yet it is not a highly-specialized study requiring musicological training to understand. It walks the middle path, working as a great introduction for the non-Blackfoot, such as Nettl himself.
The book is also interesting for his discussions of attempting to gather information from native informants, often asking "stupid" questions, and their often frustrated responses.