Inuit Folk Music Traditions in Greenland

Several Inuit traditional games revolve around song as well, including hide-and-seek, string game, juggling and rhymes and riddles. The katajjaq tradition is also popular; this is a vocal competition between two women, standing facing each other. They sing song, using throat-singing and reproducing animal cries or other sounds. Katajja is a game, but is often banned because both women begin laughing.

In addition to the drum dance and game song, Greenlandic Inuit have a tradition of piseq (piserk, personal song) songs. These are expressive, superstitious, spiritual or narrative and may be composed for drum dances. Piseq and other vocal traditions aside from songs games include a series of patterns and tones, which vary depending on the social setting of the performance. For instance, a soft vocal tone is used both for character demonstration in a narrative song and for personal songs in private settings. Many songs use only a few real words, scattered among series vocals, or non-lexical syllables like ai-ya-yainga. Inuit songs are strophic and mostly use six distinct pitches; written and melodic themes are common. A song’s word length and prominence determines the rhythm, giving the songs a recitative-like pattern.