MUSIC OF AFRICA

M usic has always been an important part in the daily

life of the African, whether for work, religion,
ceremonies, or even communication. Singing, dancing, hand
clapping and the beating of drums are essential to many
African ceremonies, including those for birth, death, initiation,
marriage, and funerals. Music and dance are also important to
religious expression and political events.
However, because of its wide influences on global music that
has permeated contemporary American, Latin American, and
European styles, there has been a growing interest in its own
cultural heritage and musical sources. Of particular subjects of
research are its rhythmic structures and spiritual characteristics
that have led to the birth of jazz forms.
African music has been a collective result from the cultural
and musical diversity of the more than 50 countries of the
continent. The organization of this continent is a colonial
legacy from European rule of the different nations up to the
end of the 19th century, whose vastness has enabled it to
incorporate its music with language, environment, political
developments, immigration, and cultural diversity.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF AFRICA

African traditional music is largely functional in nature, used
primarily in ceremonial rites, such as birth, death, marriage,
succession, worship, and spirit invocations.
Some Types of African Music
Afrobeat
- is a term used to describe the fusion of West African with
black American music

Apala (Akpala)
- is a musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style
- used to wake up the worshippers after fasting during the
Muslim holy feast of Ramadan

Percussion instrumentation includes:

- rattle (sekere)
- thumb piano (agidigbo)
- bell (agogo)
- two to three talking drums

Axe
- a popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil
- it fuses the Afro-Caribbean styles of the marcha, reggae,
and calypso

Jit
- is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music
- played on drums with guitar accompaniment
- influenced by mibra-based guitar styles

Jive
- a popular form of South African music
 - features lively and uninhibited variation of the jitterbug (a
form of swing dance )

Juju
- a popular music style from Nigeria
- relies on the traditional Yoruba rhythms
- the instruments in Juju are more Western in origin
- A:
o Drum kit
o Keyboard
o Pedal steel guitar
o and Accordion
are used along with the traditional dun-dun (talking drum or
squeeze drum).

Kwassa Kwassa
- is a dance style begun in Zaire in the late 1980’s
- popularized by Kanda Bongo Man
- the hips move back and forth while the arms move
following the hips in this dance style

Marabi
- is a South African three-chord township music of the 1930s-
1960s which evolved into African Jazz
- Possessing a keyboard style combining American jazz,
ragtime and blues with African roots
- is characterized by simple chords in varying vamping
patterns and repetitive harmony over an extended period of
time to allow the dancers more time on the dance floor
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC INFLUENCED BY
AFRICAN MUSIC
Reggae
- a Jamaican sound dominated by bass guitar and drums
- refers to a particular music style that was strongly
influenced by traditional mento and calypso music, as well
as American jazz, and rhythm and blues
- The most recognizable musical elements of reggae are its
offbeat rhythm and staccato chords.

Salsa
- is Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian dance music
- comprises various musical genres including the Cuban son
montuno, guaracha, chachacha, mambo and bolero

Samba
- the basic underlying rhythm that typifies most Brazilian
music
- lively and rhythmical dance and music with three steps to
every bar, making the Samba feel like a timed dance
- There is a set of dances—rather than a single dance—that
define the Samba dancing scene in Brazil
- no one dance can be claimed with certainty as the “original”
Samba style

Soca
- a modern Trinidadian and Tobago pop music combining
“soul” and “calypso” music
Were
- Muslim music performed often as a wake-up call for early
breakfast and prayers during Ramadan celebrations
- Relying on pre-arranged music, it fuses the African and
European music styles with particular usage of the natural
harmonic series

Zouk
- is fast, carnival-like hythmic music, from the Creole slang
word for ‘party,’
- originating in the Carribean Islands of Guadaloupe and
Martinique and popularized in the 1980’s
- has a pulsating beat supplied by the :
o gwo ka and tambour bele drums

a tibwa rhythmic pattern played on the rim of the snare

drum and its hi-hat, rhythm guitar, a horn section, and
keyboard synthesizers.

VOCAL FORMS OF AFRICAN MUSIC

Maracatu
- first surfaced in the African state of Pernambuco, combining
the strong rhythms of African percussion instruments with
Portuguese melodies
- maracatu groups were called “nacoes” (nations)
o who paraded with a drumming ensemble
numbering up to 100
o accompanied by a singer, chorus, and a coterie of
dancers
Musical instruments used in Maracatu

The Maracatu uses mostly percussion instruments such as the alfaia,

tarol and caixa-deguerra, gongue, agbe, and miniero.

Alfaia : a large wooden drum that is rope-tuned

Tarol : a shallow snare drum
Caixa-de-guerra : a war-like snare
Gounge : a metal cowbell providing the clanging sound
Agbe : a gourd shaker covered by beads
Miniero or ganza : a metal cylindrical shaker filled with
metal shot or small dried seeds called “Lagrima fre Nossa
Senhora.”
Blues
- a musical form of the late 19th century that has had deep
roots in AfricanAmerican communities so-called “Deep
South” of the United States
- The slaves and their descendants used to sing as they
worked in the cotton and vegetable fields
- The notes of the blues create an expressive and soulful
sound
- feelings that are evoked are normally associated with slight
degrees of misfortune, lost love, frustration, or loneliness
- From ecstatic joy to deep sadness, the blues can
communicate various emotions more effectively than other
musical forms

Noted Performers :
1. Ray Charles 8. Erykah Badu
2. James Brown 9. Eric Clapton
3. Cab Calloway 10. Steve Winwood
4. Aretha Franklin 11. Charlie Musselwhite
5. John Lee Hooker 12. Blues Traveler
6. B.B. King 13. Jimmie Vaughan
7. Bo Diddley 14. Jeff Baxter

Examples of Blue music are:

- Early Mornin’
- A House is Not a Home
- Billie’s Blues

Soul
- was a popular music genre of the 1950’s and 1960’s
 - originated in the United States
- combines elements of African-American gospel music,
rhythm and blues, and often jazz
- The catchy rhythms are accompanied by handclaps and
extemporaneous body moves which are among its important
features
- Other characteristics include “call and response” between
the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense and
powerful vocal sound

Some important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s

contributed to the emergence of soul music included :
1. Clyde McPhatter
2. Hank Ballard
3. Etta James
4. Ray Charles
5. Little Richard (who inspired Otis Redding)
6. James Brown

James Brown – “Godfather of Soul”

Sam Cooke & Jackie Wilson – “Soul Forefathers”
Examples of Soul Music :
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
- Ben
- All I Can Do is Cry
- Soul to Soul
- Becha by Golly Wow

Spiritual
 - normally associated with a deeply religious person, refers
here to a Negro spiritual, a song form by African migrants
to America who became enslaved by its white communities
- musical form became their outlet to vent their loneliness and
anger, and is a result of the interaction of music and religion
from Africa with that of America
- texts are mainly religious, sometimes taken from psalms of
Biblical passages, while the music utilizes deep bass voice
- The vocal inflections, Negro accents, and dramatic dynamic
changes add to the musical interest and effectiveness of the
performance.

Examples of Spiritual Music :

- We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder
- Rock My Soul
- When the Saints Go Marching In
- Peace Be Still

Call and Response

- is a succession of two distinct musical phrases usually
rendered by different musicians, where the second phrase
acts as a direct commentary on or response to the first
- Much like the question and answer sequence in human
communication, it also forms a strong resemblance to the
verse-chorus form in many vocal compositions
Examples of Call and Response :
- Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters
- School Day – Ring, Ring Goes the Bell by Chuck Berry

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF AFRICA

A
 frican music includes all the major instrumental genres of
western music, including strings, winds, and percussion, along
with a tremendous variety of specific African musical instruments for
solo or ensemble playing.

Classification of Traditional African Instruments

A. Idiophones
These are percussion instruments that are either struck with
a mallet or against one another.

1. Balafon – The balafon is a West African xylophone. It

is a pitched percussion instrument with bars made from
logs or bamboo.

The xylophone is originally an Asian instrument that

follows the structure of a piano. It came from
Madagascar to Africa, then to the Americas and
Europe.

2. Rattles - Rattles are made of seashells, tin, basketry,

animal hoofs, horn, wood, metal bells, cocoons, palm
kernels, or tortoise shells. These rattling vessels may
range from single to several objects that are either
joined or suspended in such a way as they hit each
other.

3. Agogo - The agogo is a single bell or multiple bells that

had its origins in traditional Yoruba music and also in
the samba baterias (percussion) ensembles. The agogo
may be called “the oldest samba instrument based on
West African Yoruba single or double bells.” It has the
highest pitch of any of the bateria instruments.
4. Atingting Kon - These are slit gongs used to
communicate between villages. They were carved out
of wood to resemble ancestors and had a “slit opening”
at the bottom. In certain cases, their sound could carry
for miles through the forest and even across water to
neighboring islands. A series of gong “languages” were
composed of beats and pauses, making it possible to
send highly specific messages.

5. Slit drum - The slit drum is a hollow percussion

instrument. Although known as a drum, it is not a true
drum but is an idiophone.

It is usually carved or constructed from bamboo or

wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most
slit drums have one slit, though two and three slits (cut
into the shape of an “H”) occur. If the resultant tongues
are different in width or thicknesses, the drum will
produce two different pitches.

6. Djembe - The West Africandjembe (pronounced zhem-

bay) is one of the best-known African drums is. It is
shaped like a large goblet and played with bare hands.
The body is carved from a hollowed trunk and is
covered in goat skin.

Log drums come in different shapes and sizes as well:

tubular drums, bowl-shaped drums, and friction drums.
Some have one head, others have two heads. The bigger
the drum, the lower the tone or pitch. The more tension
in the drum head, the higher the tone produced. These
drums are played using hands or sticks or both; and
sometimes have rattling metal and jingles attached to
the outside or seeds and beads placed inside the drum.
They are sometimes held under the armpit or with a
sling.
 7. Shekere - The shekere is a type of gourd and shell
megaphonefrom West Africa, consisting of a dried
gourd with beads woven into a net covering the gourd.
Theagbe is another gourd drum with cowrie shells
usually strung with white cotton thread. The axatse is a
small gourd, held by the neck and placed between hand
and leg.

8. Rasp - A rasp, or scraper, is a hand percussion

instrument whose sound is produced by scraping the
notches on a piece of wood (sometimes elaborately
carved) with a stick, creating a series of rattling effects.

B. Membranophones

Membranophones are instruments which have vibrating

animal membranes used in drums. Their shapes may be
conical, cylindrical, barrel, hour-glass, globular, or kettle,
and are played with sticks, hands, or a combination of both.
African drums are usually carved from a single wooden log,
and may also be made from ceramics, gourds, tin cans, and
oil drums.

Examples of these are found in the different localities :

 entenga (Ganda),
 dundun (Yoruba),
 atumpan (Akan),
 and ngoma (Shona),
while some are constructed with wooden staves and
hoops.
1. Body percussion - Africans frequently use their bodies
as musical instruments. Aside from their voices, where
 many of them are superb singers, the body also serves
as a drum as people clap their hands, slap their thighs,
pound their upper arms or chests, or shuffle their feet.

This body percussion creates exciting rhythms which

also stir them to action. Moreover, the wearing of
rattles or bells on their wrists, ankles, arms, and waists
enhances their emotional response.

2. Talking drum - The talking drum is used to send

messages to announce births, deaths, marriages,
sporting events, dances, initiation, or war. Sometimes it
may also contain gossip or jokes. It is believed that the
drums can carry direct messages to the spirits after the
death of a loved one. However, learning to play
messages on drums is extremely difficult, resulting in
its waning popularity. An example of the talking drum
is the luna.

C. Lamellaphone

One of the most popular African percussion instruments is

the lamellaphone, which is a set of plucked tongues or keys
mounted on a sound board. It is known by different names
according to the regions such as mbira, karimba, kisaanj,
and likembe.

Mbira (hand piano or thumb piano) - The thumb piano or

finger xylophone is of African origin and is used throughout
the continent. It consists of a wooden board with attached
staggered metal tines (a series of wooden, metal, or rattan
tongues), plus an additional resonator to increase its volume.
It is played by holding the instrument in the hands and
plucking the tines with the thumbs, producing a soft plucked
sound.
D. Chordophones

Chordophones are instruments which produce sounds from

the vibration of strings. These include bows, harps, lutes,
zithers, and lyres of various sizes.

1. Musical bow - The musical bow is the ancestor of all

string instruments. It is the oldest and one of the most
widely-used string instruments of Africa.

It consists of a single string attached to each end of a

curved stick, similar to a bow and arrow. The string is
either plucked or struck with another stick, producing a
per-cussive yet delicate sound. The earth bow, the
mouth bow, and the resonator-bow are the principal
types of musical bows.

The earth bow, ground bow, or pit harp consist of a

hole in the ground, a piece of flexible wood and a piece
of chord. The musician plucks the taut string to
accompany his singing. When the half gourd is not
buried, the performer holds the instrument very tightly
under his knee flat side down, so that the chord puts
enough tension on the wood to bend it into the shape of
a hunting bow.
A more advanced form of ground bow is made from a
log, half a gourd, a flat piece of wood, and cord. The
wooden strip is driven firmly into one end of the log
and the half gourd is fastened to the log about 2 feet
away from the wooden strip. The cord, fastened from
the wooden strip to the gourd, is stretched so tightly
into the shape of a bow. The player holds the
instrument on the ground by placing one leg across the
log between the resonating gourd and the wooden strip.
 2. Lute (konting, khalam, and the nkoni) - The lute,
originating from the Arabic states, is shaped like the
modern guitar and played in similar fashion. It has a
resonating body, a neck, and one or more strings which
stretch across the length of its body and neck. The
player tunes the strings by tightening or loosening the
pegs at the top of the lute’s neck.

West African plucked lutes include the konting,

khalam, and the nkoni.

3. Kora - The kora is Africa's most sophisticated harp,

while also having features similar to a lute. Its body is
made from a gourd or calabash. A support for the
bridge is set across the opening and covered with a skin
that is held in place with studs. The leather rings around
the neck are used to tighten the 21 strings that give the
instrument a range of over three octaves. The kora is
held upright and played with the fingers.

4. Zither - The zither is a stringed instrument with

varying sizes and shapes whose strings are stretched
along its body. Among the types of African zither are
the raft or Inanga zither from Burundi, the tubular or
Valiha zither from Malagasy, and the harp or Mvet
zither from Cameroon.

5. Zeze - The zeze is an African fiddle played with a bow,

a small wooden stick, or plucked with the fingers. It has
one or two strings, made of steel or bicycle brake wire.
It is from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also known by the
names tzetze and dzendze, izeze and endingidi; and on
Madagascar is called lokanga (or lokango) voatavo.

E. Aerophones
Aerophones are instruments which are produced initially by
trapped vibrating air columns or which enclose a body of
vibrating air. Flutes in various sizes and shapes, horns,
panpipes, whistle types, gourd and shell megaphones, oboe,
clarinet, animal horn and wooden trumpets fall under this
category.
1. Flutes - Flutes are widely used throughout Africa and
either vertical or side-blown. They are usually
fashioned from a single tube closed at one end and
blown like a bottle.
Panpipes consist of cane pipes of different lengths tied
in a row or in a bundle held together by wax or cord,
and generally closed at the bottom. They are blown
across the top, each providing a different note.
2. Horns - Horns and trumpets, found almost everywhere
in Africa, are commonly made from elephant tusks and
animal horns. With their varied attractive shapes, these
instruments are end-blown or side-blown and range in
size from the small signal whistle of the southern cattle
herders to the large ivory horns of the tribal chiefs of
the interior. One trumpet variety, the wooden trumpet,
may be simple or artistically carved, sometimes
resembling a crocodile’s head.

3. Reed pipes - There are single-reed pipes made from

hollow guinea corn or sorghum stems, where the reed is
a flap partially cut from the stem near one end. It is the
vibration of this reed that causes the air within the
hollow instrument to vibrate, thus creating the sound.

There are also cone-shaped double-reed instruments

similar to the oboe or shawm. The most well-known is
the rhaita or ghaita, an oboe-like double reed
instrument from northwest Africa. It is one of the
 primary instruments used by traditional music
ensembles from Morocco. The rhaita was even featured
in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, specifically in the
Mordor theme.

4. Whistles - Whistles found throughout the continent

may be made of wood or other materials. Short pieces
of horn serve as whistles, often with a short tube
inserted into the mouthpiece. Clay can be molded into
whistles of many shapes and forms and then baked.
Pottery whistles are sometimes shaped in the form of a
head, similar to the Aztec whistles of Central America
and Mexico.

5. Trumpets - African trumpets are made of wood, metal,

animal horns, elephant tusks, and gourds with skins
from snakes, zebras, leopards, crocodiles and animal
hide as ornaments to the instrument.

They are mostly ceremonial in nature, often used to

announce the arrival or departure of important guests.
In religion and witchcraft, some tribes believe in the
magical powers of trumpets to frighten away evil
spirits, cure diseases, and protect warriors and hunters
from harm.

African Musical Instruments from the Environment

M any instruments of Africa are made from natural elements

like wood, metal, animal, skin and horns, as well as improvised ones
like tin cans and bottles. These are mainly used to provide rhythmic
sounds, which are the most defining element of African music.
Africans make musical instruments from the materials in the
environment, like forest areas from where they make large wooden
drums. Drums may also be made of clay, metal, tortoise shells, or
gourds. Xylophones are made of lumber or bamboo, while flutes can
be constructed wherever reeds or bamboo grow. Animal horns are
used as trumpets while animal hides, lizard skins, and snake skins
can function as decorations as well as provide the membranes for
drum heads. Laces made of hides and skins are used for the strings of
harps, fiddles, and lutes.
On the other hand, bamboo was used to form the tongues of thumb
pianos, the frames of stringed instruments, and stamping tubes. Strips
of bamboo are even clashed together rhythmically. Gourds, seeds,
stones, shells, palm leaves, and the hard-shelled fruit of the calabash
tree are made into rattles. Ancient Africans even made musical
instruments from human skulls decorated with human hair while
singers use their body movements to accompany their singing.
Modern Africans make use of recycled waste materials such as strips
of roofing metal, empty oil drums, and tin cans. These people,
bursting with rhythm, make music with everything and anything. At
present, new materials that are more easily accessible, such as soda
cans and bottles, are becoming increasingly important for the
construction of percussion instruments. Some rhythmic instruments
like scrapers, bells, and rattles also provide the pitch and timbre
when played in an ensemble to provide contrasts in tone quality and
character.