“Grandmother Song” is an introduction to the Mohican tradition of “sung syllables,” or what Native Americans call “vocables.” Combining them with traditional wood flute songs, composer Brent Michael Davids offers a fresh look at the “sound”of Native American songs. Band instruments are performed less as musica l instruments and more as talking sticks, singing reeds, rustling winds and shooting thunder. Through this beautiful ballad, students are given the materials to understand how Native Americans celebrate the world around them through the blending of words and song. (Includes score and parts.)