Muisca music describes the use of

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

by the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan l ...

. The Muisca were organized in the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanish ...

before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of diff ...

of the central highlands (

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

) of present-day Colombia. The Muisca used music in their religious rituals, to welcome the new ''cacique'' and during harvest, sowing and the construction of the houses.

Muisca music

The music of the Muisca was produced in a magic-religious sense; music was played during

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

rituals where the Muisca people gathers to worship the Sun ( Sué), the Moon ( Chía) and other deities. The music served as hope for the

guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and p ...

s and to relieve the pain of the dead.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.230 According to the Spanish chroniclers, the music of the Muisca was sad and monotonous. The people could play music during events that took a full month to please their gods where they sang about the wars fought and begged the gods for victory in future wars. Everytime a war was fought, the Muisca danced and sang. Also during sowing and harvests in their

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, the people sang and danced continuously. While singing they removed the loose rocks of the farming fields. The sacrifices, sometimes

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

in character, were accompanied by music, dances and singing. Also when new ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a ...

s'' were installed as rulers of their territories music and dances were performed.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.231 When the Muisca were constructing their houses (''bohíos''), they sang and danced and moved the wood for their houses according to the rhythm of the music. They dressed up with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

diadem A diadem is a type of Crown (headgear), crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", fr ...

s and drank a lot of

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...

. During these rituals they were accompanied by their god of construction and drunkenness,

Nencatacoa Nencatacoa or Nem-catacoa was the god and protector of the mantle makers, artists and festivities in the religion of the Muisca. The Muisca and their confederation were one of the advanced civilizations of the Americas; as much as the Aztec, Ma ...

.Escobar, 1987

Instruments

For their music the Muisca used mainly flutes,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

and '' fotutos''; musical instruments made of shells or snails. They also used

ocarina The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from cl ...

s. The Muisca also used zampoñas and rattling cups with a pebble insideDuica, 2012, p.4 for their musical compositions.

Dance

The dances for the harvest and sowing periods of the Muisca calendar were performed with feathers and costumes representing

bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

s and other animals. The dances performed when they were constructing their houses were mixed-gender; women and men danced holding hands.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Muisca navbox, Topics, state=expanded

Music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

Indigenous music of South America

Muisca music

Instruments

Dance

See also

References

Bibliography