DCHP-3

chin music

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — Newfoundland, social customs

wordless singing that substitutes for dance music played by fiddles or other instruments.

Type: 4. Culturally Significant — When making chin music, nonsensical vocals (e.g. da, la, diddle) are sung to mimic the sounds of popular instruments like fiddles or accordions (see the 1879 quotation) to facilitate dancing (see NFL Heritage). Thus, chin music is defined as a type of 'ditty', or 'non-serious song' in the Newfoundland vernacular (see the 1991 quotation). Chin music is most often made among friends and family at social events, such as times, as a form of entertainment.
The term chin music likely derives from the British term "chin", which is commonly defined as 'to talk' or 'to chatter' (see EDD, s.v. "chin" (1)(3), see DARE, s.v. "chin" (n)). This origin coincides with the province's settlement history, as Newfoundland was settled by many people from the southwest counties of England during the 18th and 19th centuries (Clarke 2010b: 7). As seen in the 2014 quotation, alternative names for chin music include "cheek music", "mouth music" or "gob music"(see Canadian Encyclopedia reference).
See also DNE, s.v."chin" (n) and (n) supp.
See: time

Quotations

1879
Fisheries of U S iv, 79 One of the favorite pastimes of a crew, while 'in baitin,' is a dance... There was no fiddler, but only a boy who sang for them, or, according to the Newfoundland vernacular, made 'chin-music.'. . When I entered, the host was leading off with an opening break-down... The orchestra furnished 'chin-music.' The musician was a young man who hummed in a sort of grunting nasal tone various tunes of proper time for square dances ... it was a succession of nasal tones in the key of C ... Their dances were all the square dances, and generally the well-known lancers. The various figures were called off by one of the crew.
1899
In my last letter, when recording that incident where some men preserved their lives by dancing on the ice, I did not write that they danced to "cheap music" but to "cheek music," i.e., music made by inflating the cheeks when whistling, or lilting a dance tune. The expression is common among the peasantry in many parts of Newfoundland.
1937
Someone would play the fiddle, or a Jew's harp bright and new / And sometimes - not so often - they'd have "chin music" too.
1955
JUKE BOX PREFERRED Chin music is said by some to be better than that which comes from a juke box. At times, however, we would prefer a handy juke box.
1979
Sometimes, if a group of mummers did not have an instrument with them, one of the hosts might sing "chin music" (Q67-B13) or a mnemonic rhyme to one of the accordion or fiddle tunes, so that the mummers and the family could dance.
1991
The term "ditty" is used in the Newfoundland folksong tradition to refer to non-serious songs including bawdy songs, satirical lyrics, chin music and children's songs.
2002
"It's chin music. You know, when communities had no instruments, the people sang for the dancing. And, of course, we have our own dancers for this."
2009
In parties in Newfoundland, when a fiddle or accordion aren't handy, singers will sometimes imitate an instrument with their voices. They call it "chin music," and you'll hear examples in a few tunes CoroVivo Ottawa will present under director David Chin Friday and Saturday in fundraising concerts for CHEO.
2014
Another form of song used for entertainment purposes is the wordless folksong otherwise known as "chin music", "gob music", "mouth music", or "dribbling". In this type of song, the voice imitates the sound of dance music when a fiddler or accordian player is not available. The most common vocalization is da, la, and diddle, hence the term "diddling". The wordless folksong is not unique to Newfoundland and its relatives can be found in Alpine and Cowboy yodelling, Afro-American church "moaning" or "humming", "eephing", "hoodling", and "scat singing" in jazz.

References