How the Songs are Sung Different types of songs are sung for different events - grand entries, dance categories, honoring ceremonies, and songs are made for all manner of reasons. Although they differ in tempo, words and emotion, Powwow songs all follow similar structure. The lead singer selects the song to be sung. He may hit the drum once to let the dancers and others singers know the song is about to start. The lead singer, the first person heard, sings alone a phrase or a tune called a "lead" or "push up." The rest of the group repeats the lead (this is called a "second"), then all the singers sing the melody (first part), and repetition of the melody (second part) together. One rendition of the song can also be called a "push up," so if the announcer asks a drum for four push ups, they will sing the grouping of lead, second, first part and second part four times. There are three kinds of songs: all words, all melody (these songs are sung with "vocables," syllables without meaning used to carry the melody), and those with vocables for the lead, second and first part, and words for the second part. Many times, at the end of the second push up, four slow "honor beats" or "accent beats" are heard from the drum. At one time, it was said they represented a signal to the dancers and singers that a push up is about to begin or the song is about to end. There are songs for all occasions: Honor Songs, Veterans Songs, War Party Songs, but many of the pre-reservation songs have been put aside in favor of the flood of new songs being composed. Some singing groups sing nothing but their own songs; others borrow songs in addition to performing their own. The songs aren't written down, but tape recorded and learned from the recordings by singers and dancers, too. In the Northern Plains, the higher parts of the song are sung falsetto, and the melody gains energy and rhythm as the voice descends. The sound is produced at the back of an open mouth and throat with the volume and quality muscles. Singers are judged on the range, volume, strength and expressive quality of their voices and the way they blend with the rest of the group. Women sing an octave higher than the men and may sometimes join the latter part of each rendition. Women may also "trill" at special places in the song to indicate deep feelings such as joy or appreciation of the song. It should be noted that powwow practices vary from region to region in United States and Canada. Sincere thanks and acknowledgment to the American Indian Education Committee of the Minnesota State Board of Education who sponsored those who wrote the Ojibwe content of this unit.

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