Title: A Survey of Traditional Music of West Africa
1A Survey of Traditional Music of West Africa
- A look at the musical practices of the people of
Ghana
2African Map
3The map of Ghana
4Regional map
5SocioCultural Influences/Issues
- External influence Europeans.
- Western Classical Music Practiced and enjoyed by
very small segment of various societies. - Western derived music a preponderance of African
musical elements married to certain foreign
elements especially those of the Western musical
practices. - Music performed on tribal basis and which if it
transcended its boundaries did so because people
who belonged to that tribe had travelled outside
their tribe and had cause to use their music as a
means of communication and social interaction. - This tribal music which has for most part
successfully resisted the impact of acculturation
and is still performed in its traditional
contest is what is classified as traditional
African music. Example Adowa Bewa Agbadza
Kete Fontonfrom etc. - After independence African nations began to
emphasize the projection of African personality
and traditional cultures. Concert promoters were
encouraged to put traditional African music in
the theatre. Example is the Yoruba folk opera
Oba Koso The king did not hang performed by
Duro Ladipo and his cultural group from Nigeria
in the 1970s. This kind of music has been
designated Neotraditional by Akin Euba.
6Organization1.Societies
- Africans have lived in distinct societies what
we might think of as ethnic groups or tribes or
clans. - There are over seven hundred languages spoken and
within these languages are thousand more
dialects. - Ghana alone has over 45 ethnic groups each with
its own language and dialects. - Separates societies and diverse geographical
locations and occupations along with differences
in languages led to diverse musical practices. - Either through economic trade political
conquest or social interaction Africans have
experienced cultural exchange between tribes. - We can divide Ghana into four broad categories
- Southeastern Ghana occupied by the Ewes and Gas
- Northwestern Ghana occupied by Dargarti Lobi
Wala and Sissala people - Southern and Central Ghana dominated by various
Akans - Northeastern Ghana Dagombas Mamprusi Frafra.
Talking drums.
7Organization2.Music
- In Africa music is life that is it permeates
all daily activities. Music is the soul which is
ultimately concerned with various customs and
religious practices. - Some types of music or certain instruments might
be restricted to specific events only. Adabatram
music of the Asogli of Ghana Kete of the Ashanti
royal Mmenson etc. There are also specified
modes of music men do not sing dirges women do
not play drums. - Because music forms an integral part of
sociocultural behavior it may be organized as a
form of entertainment as an outlet for mass
expression of sentiments and in connection with
events of national significance. - Organization of music may be classified thus
- Recreational
- Incidental
- Ceremonial
8- Performing Medium Musical Instruments
- Africans use musical instruments that vary
greatly in construction and tone color. - We have five scientific classification of
instruments idiophones menbranophones
chordophones aerophones and electrophones.
Electrophones however do not form part of the
African music tradition. - Idiophones
- Instruments the sound of which is produced by
the vibration of the body of the instrument.
These are usually solids that produce sound when
beaten and they are most widespread instruments
in African musical environments. - Musical roles of the Idiophones include
- Provision of rhythmic accompaniment
- Some like the mbira and xylophone are used to
generate songs in addition to the rhythmic
accompaniment they provide - Used to provide signalsceremonies and rites etc.
9- Division of the Idiophones
- Primary include rattles bells clappers and
xylophones their sound are produced directly by
hitting or shaking the instrument. - Secondary include jingles ankle/knee/wrist
bells. The body of these instruments are set in
vibration by the motion of something else e.g.
dancers leg. - Tuned Idiophones xylophones and thumb piano are
tuned to definite pitches and are therefore
capable of producing melodies. - Nontuned Idiophones produce only indeterminate
pitches and cannot be used to play singable
melodies they are used to provide rhythmic
accompaniment. - The basic role of the idiophone is to provide
rhythmic patterns in accompaniment of music but
in some instances idiophones may be used as
talking drumsthe slit drum is used to carry
message from one person to the other.
10No Transcript
11- Membranophones instruments the sound of which is
produced by the vibration of a stretched membrane
or skin over a frame. These are generally known
as drums they may be made out of - Logs of wood
- Strips of wood bound together by iron hoops
atimevu of the Anlo people - Earthenware vessels
- Gourds etc.
- Modes of Drumming
- Signal short repetitive rhythmic patterns meant
to carry messages to the community - Speech characterized by steady flow of beats
often lacking in regularity of phrasing but
distributed between/among a number of tones frame
work. - Dance drumming is characterized by selective use
of rhythms and tone patterns in recurring and
contrasting sequences manipulated unilinearly
and/or multilinearly. Unlike the signal and
speech modes of drumming the dance mode is
founded on regularity of pulse crystallized by
some of the rhythms of the subordinate
drums/instruments in the ensemble.
12Bada Donno Dagomba
13Fontonfrom Set Akan
14Kete Set Akan
15Atsiagbekor Set Ewe
16Kpalongo Set Ga
17- Chordophones
- Instruments whose sound generator is a stretched
string. Chordophones come in different types and
sizes most are plucked or struck perhaps
reflecting the African musicians predilection for
percussive sounds. - Suitable for solo singing or accompanying
recitation of poetry praise songs or narrative
songs Griots. - When found in heterogeneous ensembles the
accompanying instruments are usually played soft
since string instruments are soft tuned. - Number of strings may vary from one instrument
ranging from one string to as many as twentyone
strings. - Types
- The musical bow the mouth bow and the earth bow.
- Fiddles includes the gonje played with a
horsetail bow harps and lutes zithers. - Harplutes The kora of Mandingo people of
SeneGambia and the seprewa of Ghana are good
examples of the Harplute.
18Gonje
19Kora
20- Aerophones
- Musical instruments whose sound is produced by
the vibration of an aircolumn. - This category of instruments is less common in
Africa. - The most common found includes flutes made out of
bamboo husks of cane stalks of millet or the
tip or horn of gourd or they may be carved out
of wood. - Some flutes are made out of clay while others are
fashioned out of the shell of fruits or sea
shells. - They may be played in transverse or endblown
position - There are also horns and trumpets which are made
from animal horns elephant tusks wood bamboo
and gourds. - Mmenson of Ghana may be carved out of horns
ivory tusks of elephants or out of woods.
21Choric Organization of African songs
- The simplest form of African songs is the
callandresponse form. It consists of a phrase
of two sections a b sung alternately by a
cantor or lead singer and a chorus and may be
repeated over and over. - These songs are mostly featured in
- Children songs
- As interludes to intersperse story telling with
the sole aim of creating activeness to and
interest in the narration - Asafo warrior songs
- In the context of such songs the primary focus
is on the movement accompanied by the songs the
action of the game the procession of the match
the music merely provides the stimulus its
musical considerations are subservient to the
movement and/or actions the music accompanies.
22- Despite the shortness and simplicity of these
types of songs interest is sustained and boredom
eliminated by the employment of various
techniques. The following are a few of such
techniques. - Variation in text melody of the cantor may
remain the same but the text sung to the melody
may be varied. - Variation in the melody text remain the same
but the melody to which the text are sung are
varied. - Variation in both melody and texts appropriate
modifications are made in the melodic line if the
structure of the texts so demand. This is
necessary so that the curve of the melody
reflects the pitch inflections and rhythms of the
text - Solo and
Chorus - Solo and chorus form is the construction of songs
of two to eight or more phrases of strophic or
verserepeating stanzaic character. - Solo and chorus form are not conceived on the
same principle of alternation. In this form the
cantor merely introduces the song which is then
repeated by the chorus.
23- This may be done in one of two ways.
- The cantor may sing the entire verse of the song
once through the chorus repeating after him. - The cantor may sing a short introductory phrase
after which the chorus sings the main song. - For sustaining interest in the performance of
songs in solo and chorus form the following
techniques are employed. - A cantor may sing a short leading phrase before
the entry of the chorus after he has sung his
part an addition to the introduction - A cantor may interrupt the main chorus at
appropriate points forcing the chorus to go back
to the beginning or to begin a new episode. - A number of cantors may take turns in leading the
chorus. - Cantors may lead in twos.
- Sporadic Pitch Combination
- In this style choric organization the ensemble
sings a given melody in unison. Occasionally
when a choice of melodic direction is possible
a song may break into twopats and quickly return
to the basic linear form.
24Rhythmic Organization In African Music
- African Music can generally be termed music of
the dance that is to say each musical piece is
a synthesis of many fabrics one or two of which
dictate dance steps and movements. - There are however a few exception to this
generalization and these are manifested in the
few isolated cases of nondanceaccompanied and
nondance prompting music which has designated
contemplative music. - When a piece of music is associated with dance
it has elements of musical texture which can be
articulated in bodily movements or at can excite
the dance tendencies of an indigene. - Since dance is very elemental to African musical
traditions rhythm is much more emphasized than
other musical elements.
25- It is the rhythmic organization in a piece of
music that defines and in most cases dictates
the patterns of movements of the dancer. - In African music movement has rhythmic
implication that is both instrumental and vocal
music have not only patterns of tone but patterns
of definite rhythmic organization. - Because of the predilection for rhythmic
sophistication a number of rhythmic devices and
techniques for producing them are employed in
African musical practices. - Ostinato short pattern or figure that is
repeated over and over - Time line to help crystallize the foundation
pulse by maintaining a rhythmic ground for the
music. - Rhythmic accompaniment. Participated mediary
drums functioning not only as accompanying drums
but also adding to the richness and density of
the rhythmic design. - The Hemiola The regular divisions of the time
span in alternating sections of duple and triple
meter. A combination of two equal duple and
triple sections.
26- Formation of Rhythm Patterns
- Divisive rhythms are those rhythms in which the
regular divisions of the time span are
articulated the notes in the time span are
grouped so that they follow the scheme of pulse
structure. They follow the internal divisions of
the time span. - Additive rhythms the durational values of some
notes are extended beyond the regular divisions
within the span. Instead of note groups or
sections of the same length different groups are
combined in the span.