tayil

The term "tayil" refers to a musical genre performed exclusively by women among the Mapuche people of the Southern Cone region of South America. These songs are integral to healing rituals led by female shamans and serve to recall a man's ancestral lineage.1

Each lineage has its own distinct style of vocal production, melodic contour, and song texts, making the performance of tayil unique to each singer. Women perform tayil with minimal lip movement and clenched teeth, distinguishing it from other song types. The melodies typically descend, and duple meters are common. A form of polyphony occurs as each woman sings her own melody independently in terms of speed and pitch. The song texts detail the attributes, powers, and sacred history of a specific lineage.1