Frances Densmore

Frances Densmore was born on May 21, 1867 in Redwing, Minnesota. Her father was a surveyor and civil engineer. Densmore loved music from an early age. She attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1884 to 1886. After attending the Conservatory, she studied the piano under the direction of Carl Baermann. She attended Harvard University for two years where she studied counterpoint and, in 1893, Densmore began her study of American Indian music while discontinuing formal piano performances.

American Indian music was something Densmore was familiar with. As a child she and her mother, Sarah Greenland, would listen to the Sioux Indians as they played drums and sang late into the night. Densmore grew to love and enjoy the music of the American Indians. She first began recording music when a tune hummed by Geronimo caught her attention. She recorded that tune and then went on to record the music of the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota. Densmore described the Chippewa music in two volumes published between 1910 to 1913. The Teton Sioux Music is another collection of Densmore's; it was published in 1918. It is among the best ethnographies of the Sioux. She also wrote The Indians and Their Music in 1926. This work brought her attention from a wide range of readers.

Frances Densmore wanted listeners to understand that all music needs to be heard and understood in its cultural context. She also wanted to point out that Native American music does not differ much in melody, tempo, and pitch from the Western music that is well known in the United States. Today, Frances Densmore is well known as a pioneer of the study of Native American music.

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