robbing it of sweetness, increases the
difficulty of distinguishing the music concealed within the noise,--a
difficulty still further aggravated by the habit of pulsating the
voice, creating a rhythm within the rhythm of the song.

Emotion also affects the rendering of Indian music. This is especially
noticeable in solos, as love-songs, where the singer quite
unconsciously varies from a quarter to a whole tone from the true
pitch. On the contrary, emphasis sharps the tone. If, however, these
peculiarities are imitated to him, the Indian immediately detects, and
declares them to be wrong, thus betraying his unconsciousness of his
own inaccuracies in endeavouring to strike a plain diatonic interval.

Our difficulty in hearing the music of the Indian is equalled by the
trouble he has with our instruments. His attention is engaged by the
mechanism. He hears the thud of the hammer, "the drum inside" the
piano, the twanging of the metal strings, and the abrupt, disconnected
tones. Until he is able to ignore these noises he cannot recognise the
most familiar tune. Even then, if his songs are played as an
unsupported aria, they are unsatisfactory to him. His ear misses
something it heard in the unison singing of his people, and which the
addition of a simple harmonic accompaniment supplies, making the
melody, as he says, "sound natural." The discovery of the Indian's
preference in the rendition of his songs upon the piano led to many
experiments, in which Professor Fillmore took part, and that brought
to light many interesting facts. Among these facts may be mentioned
the complexity of rhythms, one played against the other; the
modulation implied in some of the melodies; the preference for a major
chord in closing a minor song; and the use of certain harmonic
relations which have been deemed peculiar to the modern romantic
school.

As these melodies are the spontaneous utterances of a people without
any theory of music or even a musical notation, they throw light upon
the structure, development, and freedom of natural expression in
music.

THE RELATION OF STORY AND SONG.

The rise of our music and poetry is lost in an irrevocable past; but,
as the operation of psychical laws is universal, it may be that some
of the influences that have been operative in the growth of these arts
can be discovered through the study of native American story and song,
born of a race living in a state of culture antecedent to that in