In this section I (Andrew) present my own analysis of the Corn Dance songs, as I hear them, acknowledging that this is only my perspective, not part of the oral tradition, and undoubtedly shaped by my own Eurocentric training.

As with other social dances, the songs for Corn Dance bear a strong family resemblance to each other even though they contrast in many ways. Every live and recorded performance that I have heard includes the same first two songs (or to label it another way, the same introduction and first song). That is notable because all the other songs seem to be related to one or the other of those first two songs. The first song is in unison, uses a pitch collection with a minor third above the final, and has a three-phrase structure, a bc dc. The second song is antiphonal (call and response), uses a pitch collection with a major third above the final, and has a different kind of three-phrase structure where the first phrase is repeated after the second, aa b aa. Many songs follow either song 1 or 2 closely, like variations on a theme; some take only one element like the pitch collection or phrase pattern; but all the songs in the recordings I studied show some link back to those opening songs. These patterns create a sense of continual alternation that seems to fit with the back-and-forth movement of the dance.

Songs 1–2 as Model for the Others

The first two songs lay out the patterns that recur throughout. The opening song, or introduction, is in free tempo, with no steady beat (music example 1). The lead singer starts with the first phrase (Eyo:h ha:dine:h) and then the other singers join in unison for the continuation. Their melody follows a descending outline. In the 2002 Allegany Singers recording with Kyle Dowdy singing lead, Kyle begins on approximately C₄. The phrases move down from C to B♭ and B♭ to A♭, outlining a stepwise major third. Then the last phrase jumps down to F, dips down to low C, and back up to end on F (outlining a perfect fifth), before the concluding Yo:ho:h on C. To borrow a term from Western plainchant we could say it has a final on F (and perhaps even something like a reciting tone on C). It outlines the pitch collection /0 3 5 7/, which for convenience I will call minor because the bottom third (F–A♭) is a minor (smaller) third.

After this slow, solemn, minor-sounding introduction in unison, the next song contrasts in every way (music example 2). There is now a steady beat supported by the horn rattles; the melody is now a call-and-response between leader and the other singers, and the melody now outlines a major-sounding collection, /0 2 4 7/. Though as usual Seneca singers do not have to maintain a steady pitch level, in most versions the final stays the same, so the effect to my ears is of shifting from minor to major keys. The mood shifts with the change of scales, becoming lighter, more energetic, and more conducive to dancing or marching. In phrase structure, there is now a first pair of phrases, repeated, ending on the F final; followed by a contrasting middle phrase on G (̂2), and then multiple repeats of the first pair of phrases.

Pitch Collections

The set of pitches used in an Earth Song (its pitch collection) forms part of the palette distinctive to that dance and is one element that creates the sense of family relationships within the songs. All the other songs in Kyle Dowdy’s recording can be grouped as being more similar to one of these two songs, distinguished by having a base of either a minor (/0 3 5 7/) collection, or major (/0 2 4 7/), with other pitches added in some songs (table 1). (I’ll refer to these pitch collections as minor and major referring only to the size of the third above the final, not implying any kind of Western-style tonality.) Song 11 is the only one that mixes major and minor collections, including both A♭ and A♮.

The Corn Dance songs are distinguished by using a limited number of pitches. Eight of the seventeen songs have only four pitches; five are pentatonic. Only four songs have more than five pitches, and of those, only song 11—the one that mixes major and minor—has seven pitches (music example 3). Though the songs based on the collection sound minor, no songs in this set include ♭̂6.

This is a higher proportion of songs with five or fewer pitches than in Gayo:waga:yöh (Old Moccasin Dance, mostly six-tone), and much higher than the mostly diatonic Ë:sgä:nye:’ (New Women’s Shuffle Dance) songs. Among dances I have studied, only Jö:yaik oënö’ (Robin Dance) has more songs with five or fewer pitches (out of six Robin Dance songs on the recordeding studied, four have four tones and 2 have five). There is more variation in the Ga’da:šo:t (Standing Quiver Dance) songs, which include a similar alternation between major- and minor-sounding collections. Comparison of pitch collections may be one data point that could eventually be used to establish relative dates of the Earth Songs—could those with fewer pitches perhaps be older?—though vastly more research is needed.

Phrases and Formal Structure

As with pitch collections, songs 1 and 2 set the model of phrase structures that many of the other songs follow (table 4). Nine songs use a three-phrase structure, a bc dc, like song 1. Three songs use a structure more similar to song 1, a ternary form with repeated first phrase: aa b aa (though usually with more repetitions). There is also one other phrase structure not apparently based on song 1 or 2: four songs have four phrases in two parallel groups: a b c b. Corn Dance is like Old Moccasin Dance in using a limited set of distinct patterns, and unlike Robin Dance where the songs all follow the same form or Standing Quiver where there is more variety.

Within each of these groups, the songs follow similar melodic outlines. The three-phrase songs follow the basic descending pattern of the opening song: ̂5–̂4–̂3–̂1(–low ̂5–̂1). Notably both minor and major songs with this phrasing follow that same descending outline. The four-phrase songs, all minor, also outline the same descent but their parallel phrase structure requires them to repeat the last part of it: ̂5–̂4–̂3–̂1–̂3–̂1(–low ̂5–̂1). One could certainly hear these four-phrase songs as just the same pattern as the three-phrase songs, extended by repeating the final phrase. The other group, the three-section call-and-response songs, use a different outline, stressing ̂1 in the first and last sections, and a contrasting ̂2 in the middle section.

Call and Response

One of the most distinctive features of Corn Dance is that many of the songs are antiphonal, with a call-and-response texture seen also in Standing Quiver Dance but not in most others (table 5). After the opening song in Dowdy’s set, the next four songs (all with major collections) all feature short call-and-response phrases with the response hai:wihah. In Dowdy’s version, the following songs are all unison except song 7, until the final song closes with an antiphonal section (wigoh/aheh).

Are there traces, though, of antiphonal texture in the other songs? Several of the unison songs feature repetitive phrases and response-like phrases that suggest these songs might once have been sung antiphonally, or that they descend from earlier antiphonal versions. Dowdy’s songs 6 and 7 are intriguing in this respect: they contain the same melodic and rhythmic material, but song 6 is unison and song 7 is call-and-response (music examples 4 and 5). In song 7, the melody that was used in song 6 is now broken up into phrases sung by the lead singer, to which the others respond hai:eh ya:hah in quarter notes (one-beat notes) on F (the final). That response was already present in song 6 but there it was part of the unison melody. Other songs include the same kind of phrase, what we might call an implied response: song 12 (hai:eh ga:ha-ah), 13 (same as previous), 14 (ya:ha-ah), and 15 (hai:eh ga:ha-ah). Could these songs once have been antiphonal, or are there antiphonal versions of them?

Similarly, in the later Allegany Singers recording (2022) with Jake George singing lead, the group sings a variant that is identical in every way to Dowdy’s song 9, except antiphonal instead of unison. In the later version, all the repeated phrases are sung as call and response, where Dowdy had the groups sing both call and response together.

In response to my questions about these different versions, Bill said It’s just a different way of singing it. Variation like this depends on who the teachers are. It also depends on the other singers: if they know the songs well, they could certainly jump in on the responses. After all, sometimes the songs have to be sung by a single singer without antiphonal responses, for example when Bill does a presentation without other singers, or when Jesse Cornplanter recorded Corn Dance for William Fenton.

Conclusions and Questions

The Corn Dance songs contrast with each other in different aspects:

• following the melodic pattern of song 1 vs. 2
• minor vs. major pitch collections
• different three-phrase vs. four-phrase structures
• call-and-response vs. unison

These contrasts become clearest in the case of several hybrid-like songs that combine contrasting elements. Song 11 is the only one that includes both major and minor elements within the same song (music example 3). Dowdy’s songs 6 and 7 present the same melodic and rhythmic material but with different phrase structures and textures: song 6 is in unison with four phrases while song 7 is antiphonal, with three phrases (music examples 4 and 5). Songs 15 and 17 are also closely similar, but song 15 has four phrases and song 17 has three. Since the songs in each of these pairs repeat the same musical ideas, it highlights the other differences between them. The final song begins like a three-phrase song in unison but then ends with a repeated antiphonal section that recalls song 2, reinforcing the contrast between unison and call-and-response textures. The one song with both major and minor emphasizes the principle of contrast that holds elsewhere.

With further research, including comparing variant versions and older recordings, it may be possible to use this kind of analysis to identify historical patterns of development among these songs. Could the prevalence of limited-collection, four-pitch songs perhaps be an indication of the age and longevity of Corn Dance? Could this or any other musical feature be used to establish relative dates of different Corn Dance songs?

Is it possible that Corn Dance was originally all antiphonal? Even most of the unison songs contain elements that sound like responses, or feature repetitive phrase endings that may derive from responses. In any case, is the use of call-and-response connected to the idea of the community going out into the fields, similar to Standing Quiver with its concept of going on a journey? Are there vestigial or embedded responses in other Earth Songs that are now sung as unison? Are the antiphonal vs. unison shifts related to Corn Dance’s shifting status as a ceremonial vs. social song?