The ethnographic context of

documenting minority languages III:

Ethnomusicology

Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny,

Salle de Conference
21st June, 2017
Roger Blench
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge
Department of History, University of Jos
Kay Williamson Educational Foundation
Visiting Professor, University of New England, Armidale
Academic Visitor, Museu Emilio Goeldi, Belem, Brazil
 Why document musical practice I?
All societies have music in one form or another
In oral societies, music is a key strategy in transmitting text,
through ritual chants, lyrics, dance-songs
However, in societies where tone languages are spoken
(i.e. almost all the languages of West Africa) tone and
music are intertwined
As it happens, Cote d’Ivoire has some of the most complex
tone languages in West Africa, the languages of the Dan
group
Speakers of tone languages ‘hear’ the tones as a type of
music and can then translate the tones to performance on
musical instruments
They can then use this transformation to ‘speak’
 Why document musical practice II?
One cliches about Africa is the ‘talking drum’ often used to
refer either to the large slit-gongs of Central Africa or to the
hourglass drums of the Hausa and Yoruba, where
squeezing the drum under the arm causes the pitch the
change
This gives the impression that this practice is mainly to do
with drums
In fact however, all instruments are perceived as ‘talking’. It
is just that the practice is more developed for some
instruments
This is just one example of how music and language are
intertwined, and that a description of a language should
also include some elements of musical practice
 What is ethnomusicology?
Ethnomusicology is no more than a description of musical
practice usually in reference to non-European, or European
folk culture
Typically it refers to oral cultures, though the study of
Chinese music, which does have ‘scores’ is usually
included.
The basic elements of ethnomusicology are as follows;
 Elements of ethnomusicology
Description of musical instruments. What are they called,
how are they made, who plays them, in what performances
are they used
Description of vocal elements. What is sung, is it solo or
chorus, with or without instruments?
Description of musical structure. This is the most difficult to
undertake without musical training, but also one of the most
important in relation to the tone system.
Social and spiritual context of musical performance. Who
plays it, when, why and how does it relate to religious
practice
Modernisation. All over Africa, traditional music is being
passively or actively degraded or eliminated. What are the
forces behind this?
Classification of musical instruments
Musical instruments are divided into four classes
Idiophones. Rattles, bells, xylophones, scrapers
Membranophones. Drums
Chordophones. Any instrument where a string is the
sounding element
Aerophones. Any wind instrument
Idiophones
Idiophones
Membranophones
Chordophones
Chordophones
Chordophones
Aerophones
Aerophones
Aerophones: Tradescant horn
 Working with tone I
Some questions to ask;
Do speakers of the language have ‘talking’ musical
instruments?
What are they?
Can you make an audio or video recording of a musician
(preferably in a quiet environment)
Can you transcribe or get help transcribing the music, or at
least the pitches of of the performance?
Can you transcribe the words ‘spoken’ by the musical
instrument, marking the tones as you understand them?
Does the general pitch contour of the two correspond? In
other words, when the musical pitch rises, does the tone go
up?
How many level tones does the musician represent?
 Working with tone II
How does the musician represent glide or contour tones?
Can the musician ‘say’ anything in the language or is
he/she restricted to set phrases
If it is only set phrases, why?
Is it because the tone system is too simple to carry enough
information to decode the utterance?
Or the instrument has limited tonal capacity?
Similarly, if you can transcribe a song melody, is it the case
that the relative contours of the song follow the rise and fall
of tone?
 THANKS
To the organisers, DAAD,
Universite Felix Houphouet-
Boigny, University of Bielefeld

And to the now hundreds of

people who have helped me over
more than thirty-five years in the
field