Although Native tribes in North America and specifically what is now Arizona and the Southwest had a fully developed and unique style of music, much of this has been lost due to the lack of development of written notation for music (Bakkegard, p.67). How we understand early indigenous music styles comes from either the preserved instruments and artifacts, or through oral native tradition. Without notation however, much of the actual music is left to speculation. Through examining tradition lived on through current Indigenous tribes, and what was historically preserved, we can come to an educated assumption on what this music was and, in some cases, still is today.

It is difficult to speak on tribes of Arizona, as state-borders are not based on Native American tribal borders. Not only did their borders often cross state-lines, but they were also more fluid. Furthermore, when we speak on indigenous people in general it is very easy to forget that we are talking about a vast period of time with many cultural and societal changes over these periods. It was around 9000 BCE that the first peoples migrated to the Southwest area of what is now the United States. It wasn’t for another 10,000 years that Athabaskan-speaking tribes, now known as the Apache and Navajo tribes would arrive (Southwest Culture Area, para.3). However, most of what we will be examining will be from after the migration of these later tribes.

The first distinction we can draw between the diverse, but often lumped together, indigenous tribes of Arizona is between the Pueblo tribes and the migratory or transhumant tribes. The Puebloans include the Hopi, Zuni, and mostly non-Arizonan tribes. The transhumant tribes include the Apache and Navajo tribes (Levine, para 22). With this information, we can begin making musical distinctions between these two ways of life.

In terms of vocals, transhumant singers favor a more nasal and stiffer staccato inflection, showcasing a higher vocal range than that of their Puebloan neighbors (Levine, para 23). Apache and Navajo tribes follow a structure of melodic chorus sometimes breaking into the falsetto range, followed often by a staccato chant-like vocal styling in the verse, and then back to the chorus. During the Mountain Spirits dance, an Apache dance often accompanying the puberty rite of a girl in the tribe, men wear masks and headdresses as well as letting out owl and turkey calls rhythmically. During events such as this, Apache players will shake fawn-hoof rattles; a rattle which ties many fawn-hoofs adjacent to each other, as so that when shaken the hoofs will gently clack together (“Apache”, para 2-6). The ethnomusicologist David McAllester writes about other forms of Apache music: “the traditional Apache repertory includes social dance-songs, songs honoring great warriors of the past, and joking songs to accompany small drinking parties as well as the “forty-niner” songs sung on many reservations in part to mock the White Man.” (para. 5). Another common theme of Apache music McAllester notes are songs honoring horses (para. 4).

The Apache are noted for creating a stringed instrument, known as the Apache Fiddle. The Apache name for the instrument is Tsii’edo’a’tl (wood that sings). or or Ki’zh Ki’zh Di’hi (buzz-buzz sound) (“An Apache Fiddle”, p.3). When played one can understand why it is sometimes referred to as “buzz-buzz sound.” It is unclear whether this was a pre-colonial invention of the Apache’s, or if it was inspired by Spanish stringed-instruments (“An Apache Fiddle”, p.1) (Bakkegard, p.68-69). The Apache Fiddle sometimes classified as a zither is a 1-2 stringed bowed instrument. It is noted for its’ plain look as it is made directly from the stalk of an agaze plant, it can range from 18 inches to much longer (“An Apache Fiddle”, p.3). The fiddle was known to be used in drinking gatherings, but it seems to be less commonly used (“Apache”, para 6).

The Puebloans tribes sang more open, legato melodies, often with larger instrumental accompaniment (Levine, para 22). The Hopi, on the other hand, may have had less of an emphasis on drums in their music (List, p.417). Like other Native peoples, Hopi song and ceremonies were deeply connected. Interestingly, most Hopi dance ceremonies feature songs that were written by the men of the tribe for that specific ceremony with only a few previously existing songs being played. During these ceremonies men dress as spirits come to bring or aid fertility. Rattles are an essential part of Hopi music. The Hopi used both gourd and turtle shell rattles. The turtle shell rattles, were attached alongside split deer hooves t ones’ leg as so that they would collide with each other in movement of the leg. With this, dance and song could be deeply connected in an entirely physical way (List, p.415-417). We can gain a greater understanding of Hopi music by understanding the structure of it. In one example that George List gathered in his time with the Hopi tribe, he gave us this a typical structure of a Hopi dance song:

Different sections could often change the rhythms or meters within the music. Through this, we can understand that the Hopi had quite complex song structures, with some Hopi songs going over 10 minutes in length. Lyrical themes often deal with Hopi values such as, ancestry, religion, nature, fertility, prayer, home, and gratitude (List, p.417-424). Hopi music can be described as warm, textured, and harmonious.

In American indigenous tribes, business was not intrinsically necessary to music as it is now in the United States. Although the instruments did need to be created by a craftsman, it was likely not an ownership-based purchase. Ethnomusicologist at Indianna University, George List explains, “Some men are more interested in composing these songs than others, and certain men have developed a reputation for skill in this art;” (List, p.418). Professor List describes Hopi villages as a “self-contained socialistic community,” based around individualized roles and social responsibility (List, p.414). Interestingly, in Hopi villages there was a sort of chain of production, however, it functioned very differently from the modern American music production chain. Instead of a chain of contracts or payments for services, it was more a series of requests. First the person who wanted a song composed would request a composition, then the composer would have to request the song to be played by the band (List, p.426). While this is very disparate from modern American music production, there is a similarity in the relationship-based dichotomies. One can obviously pay their way into the music industry, however often there is better efficacy in building a career in the music industry through relationships with promoters, producers, labels, and other bands.

Since the arrival of colonists Native Americans have continued to make music and create new forms of music. Colonists brought with them new musical instruments, techniques, and concepts. Indigenous American have incorporated some of these ideas into non-traditional music as well as staying closer and updating traditional music. As Alex Maldonado, Apache fiddle maker states “Traditional, is in constant change” (“Native American Musical Heritage”, 1:48)

Waila, otherwise known as chicken-scratch, is an instrumental dance music formed by the Tohono O’odhamnation. While it is not known exactly when Waila developed, due to it being an insular music genre to the indigenous peoples of Southern Arizona, it was likely developed only shortly over one-hundred years ago. Waila is the result of multi-cultural or transnational interaction sometimes indirectly between indigenous peoples, colonial Spanish, eastern Europeans, Colombians, indigenous Mexicans and more. Waila puts to use guitar, bass guitar, saxophone, the accordion, a drum kit, and has recently started exploring keyboards and vocals. Dance is an essential part of Waila with a variety of dances being put to use: “The dances performed in the waila tradition are the waila (polka), the chote (schottische), the cumbia, and the mazurka. Regardless of the beat, all waila dances are performed while rotating around the floor in a counter-clockwise direction” (McCain, para. 2). Waila lives on today. Aside from attending a local Waila concert or festival, one of the best ways to discover Waila is through Canyon Records. (Titus, p.149–167)

Country music is one of the more popular forms of music for the indigenous of the southwest, and Arizona. Dr. Kristina Jacobson, states on her extended time in the Navajo nation in her book "The Sound of Navajo Country," “Navajo country bands focus on the performance of country music from the 1960s to the 1980s. Country musicians and bandleaders are primarily Navajo men in their forties and older, along with their younger immediate family and clan members. Native, “rez” or “rez country” bands, as they are called in the vernacular, are dance bands, and, while playing predominantly country and rock songs, they perform exclusively up-tempo songs to which dancers can do the two-step, a partner dance that goes in a counterclockwise direction. This scene is particularly active on the Arizona side of the Navajo reservation, where well-known bands such as Aces Wild and Stateline perform regularly every weekend inside packed gymnasiums, community centers, chapter houses, converted airplane hangers, under rodeo bleachers, and in a multitude of other make-do structures” (Jacobson, p. 6). Here we can see the popularity of country music within the Navajo nation, and understand the nature of indigenous country music, as dance music. Whether it be traditional Hopi ceremonies with dance, or the more recent Waila, we can see that the indigenous people of Arizona have love for live music made for dance. Young artists such as One Way Sky, and Dirt Rhodes are still pushing indigenous country forward.