Joik, Sámi Music, Ensemble Performance

Sámi music encompasses a broad range of musicians experimenting in different genres across the Nordic world. Since the cultural renaissance of the 1970s, Sámi musicians have employed Sámi languages, addressed issues significant to Sámi society, and drawn on the vocal tradition of joik. Artists, such as Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Mari Boine, Frode Fjellheim, and Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, have become famous locally and internationally, and their music has critiqued Nordic colonialism, promoted Sámi visibility, and articulated Sámi worldviews. Supporting this music scene are a range of festivals, record labels, media platforms (e.g. NRK Sápmi), formal and informal education programmes, and funding bodies (e.g. the Sámi Parliament).

This course will offer a practice-based introduction into Sámi music. Focusing largely on North Sámi joik, the course will be based around instrumental/vocal workshops that allow students to learn and engage with some of the foundational musical and aesthetic dimensions of the tradition. These workshops will be accompanied by discussions about some of the ethical, philosophical, and political aspects of joik and Sámi music. In particular, the course will emphasise Sámi perspectives on music and art, and nurture an appreciation of Indigenous methodologies. What is joik? How can a practice-based approach to joik inspire musical knowledge and creativity from Sámi perspectives? What are the ethics and politics of teaching and learning Indigenous traditions? The course will not teach students how to become a joik artist, but will provide a foundation for appreciating this unique vocal tradition and wider dynamic music scene.

Knowledge:

An examinee who successfully completes MUSV1108 will have

• Gained basic knowledge of joik and Sámi music.
• Learned about Sámi perspectives, ethics, and politics.
• Gained insights into practice-based learning methods.

Skills:

An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV1108 will have

• Developed skills in music ensemble performance and improvisation.
• Learned how to engage sensitively with Sámi perspectives and Indigenous ethics.
• Gained skills in integrating practice, theory, and reflection both in oral and written form.

The main form of teaching for this course is practice-base workshops with students’ chosen instrument/voice. There will also be seminars introducing wider aspects of joik and Sámi music. In between workshops and seminars, students will be expected to practice in groups. At the end of the course there will be an informal concert at which students share their own creative results from the course.

The workshops, seminars, group work, and concert are compulsory and demand minimum 80% attendance.