The music of the Muisca was produced in a magic-religious sense; music was played during
religious 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 warriors and to relieve the pain of the dead. 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. 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
golden
diadems and drank a lot of
chicha. During these rituals they were accompanied by their god of construction and drunkenness,
Nencatacoa.
Instruments For their music the Muisca used mainly
flutes,
drums and
fotutos; musical instruments made of shells or snails. They also used
ocarinas. and rattling cups with a pebble inside 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,
jaguars and other animals. The dances performed when they were constructing their houses were mixed-gender; women and men danced holding hands. == See also ==