Studying the rarity of collective music-making in four indigenous societies

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– by Dor Shilton, Aniruddh D. Patel, Kim Hill, and Chris von Rueden

Many think that music evolved to promote or signal social cohesion. However, there are several societies in which group singing and dancing are extremely rare. Why is that the case, and what does it mean for our theories of music evolution? We examined four indigenous societies in which collective music-making is rare, assembling evidence concerning three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses:

  1. Collective action hypothesis: collective music-making is less likely where there is less collective action in general
  2. Musical expertise hypothesis: collective music-making is less likely if music is normally performed by people with special expertise or used to signal individual status
  3. Musical style hypothesis: collective music-making is less likely if the predominant musical styles are less suitable for coordinated singing and dancing

Our case studies

Using previous cross-cultural studies, we narrowed in on societies in South America and Siberia:

  1. the Tsimane of lowland Bolivia
  2. the Ache of eastern Paraguay
  3. the Ayoreo of Bolivia and Paraguay
  4. the Tuvans of the Russian Republic of Tyva

We aimed to create a detailed portrait of each society and its music-making practices using both ethnographic materials and first-hand reports. The latter were essential, since music-making practices are often not a major focus of ethnographies — especially in cultures in which music is not a central feature of collective behavior. Two of our co-authors had extensive relevant knowledge: Chris von Rueden, who worked with the Tsimane since 2005, and Kim Hill, who worked with the Ache from 1977 to 2020. We also corresponded with over a dozen anthropologists and other people familiar with these societies.

In the process of assembling these portraits, we became cognizant of the diverse histories underlying each culture and its musical customs. We did, however, find some convergent evidence for our hypotheses.

Collective action

This was the best supported hypothesis. In all the societies we examined, collective action related to subsistence was mostly limited to small groups and extended families, inter-tribal warfare was either non-existent or limited to small parties, and collective religious action was either suppressed significantly (limiting the scope of attendance) or was altogether absent.

Musical expertise

The influence of expertise was supported only in relation to religious activity. Among the Tsimane, Ayoreo, and Tuvans, the songs involved in religious rituals are potent and potentially dangerous, and require a level of expertise and knowledge.

Musical style

While we found evidence of solo-oriented musical styles (drone-overtone singing, ad-libbing), cases like the Tuvans made it clear that these do not prevent other singing styles from being used when circumstances encourage people to sing together. We therefore concluded that musical style is the consequent rather the antecedent of collective music-making prevalence.

Cultural loss

Cultural loss is a factor we haven’t initially considered, but which surfaced as a result of our study. Whether religious practices were suppressed by external forces (which is the case with the Tsimane, Ayoreo, and Tuvans), or were lost along with other cultural traits (as is the case with the Northern Ache), it certainly seemed to influence the overall prevalence of collective music-making.

Key Takeaway

Overall, our findings suggest that the scale and religiosity of collective action may be the most important explanatory factors for the prevalence of collective music-making, but other factors, like cultural loss and religious expertise, also play a role. While collective music can benefit social well-being, it is evidently not essential, as the four societies we studied sustained many key aspects of their social life with little to no collective music-making. One important takeaway from this study is that music evolution theories need to look more deeply into the relationship between music and religion, which could turn out to be a big part of the puzzle.

Finally, we invite readers to listen to some of the songs of the Tsimane, Ache, and Tuvans:

  1. A female Tsimane singer (link), from McDermott, J. H., Schultz, A. F., Undurraga, E. A., & Godoy, R. A. (2016). Indifference to dissonance in native Amazonians reveals cultural variation in music perception. Nature, 535(7613), 547–550. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18635
  2. Northern Ache songs (link), from Singh, M., & Hill, K. (2025). Loss of dance and infant-directed song among the Northern Aché. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.018
  3.  An album of Tuvan singing (link), audio companion to Levin, T. (2010). Where Rivers and Mountains Sing: Sound, Music, and Nomadism in Tuva and Beyond (PAP/COM edition). Indiana University Press.

Read the original paper here: Dor Shilton, Aniruddh D. Patel, Kim Hill, Chris von Rueden. (2025) Why collective music-making is sometimes rare: A study of four indigenous societies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 46(4), 106695.