A Survey of Traditional Music of West Africa


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A Survey of Traditional Music of West Africa

• A look at the musical practices of the people of
  Ghana

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African Map
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The map of Ghana
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Regional map
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Socio-Cultural 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 Neo-traditional by Akin Euba.

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Organization1.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.

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Organization2.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
  socio-cultural 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

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• 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 signals-ceremonies and rites etc.

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• 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.
• Non-tuned 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 drums-the slit drum is used to carry
  message from one person to the other.

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• 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.

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Bada Donno Dagomba
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Fontonfrom Set Akan
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Kete Set Akan
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Atsiagbekor Set Ewe
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Kpalongo Set Ga
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• 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 twenty-one
  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.
• Harp-lutes The kora of Mandingo people of
  Sene-Gambia and the seprewa of Ghana are good
  examples of the Harp-lute.

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Gonje
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Kora
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• Aerophones
• Musical instruments whose sound is produced by
  the vibration of an air-column.
• 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 end-blown
  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.

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Choric Organization of African songs

• The simplest form of African songs is the
  call-and-response 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.

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• 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
  verse-repeating 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.

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• 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 two-pats and quickly return
  to the basic linear form.

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Rhythmic 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 non-dance-accompanied and
  non-dance 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.