AFRO-LATIN

AMERICAN
AND POPULAR
MUSICMAPEH 10
SECOND QUARTER
MUSIC OF AFRICA
Music 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
 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.
Others are work related or social in nature, while many
traditional societies view their music as entertainment. It
has a basically interlocking structural format, due mainly
to its overlapping and dense textural characteristics as
well as its rhythmic complexity. Its many sources of
stylistic influence have produced varied characteristics
and genres.
Some Types of African Music

• Afrobeat • Jive
• Apala (Akpala) • Juju
• Axe • Kwassa Kwassa
• Jit • Marabi
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a term used to
describe the fusion of West
African with black American
music.
Apala (Akpala)
Apala is a musical genre from Nigeria in the
Yoruba tribal style to wake up the worshippers
after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of
Ramadan. Percussion instrumentation includes
the rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo), bell
(agogo), and two or three talking drums.
 Axe
Axe is a popular musical genre
from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil.
It fuses the Afro-Caribbean styles
of the marcha, reggae, and
calypso.
 Jit
Jit is a hard and fast percussive
Zimbabwean dance music played
on drums with guitar
accompaniment, influenced by
mbira-based guitar styles.
 Jive
Jive is a popular form of South
African music featuring a
lively and uninhibited
variation of the jitterbug, a
form of swing dance.
 Juju
Juju is a popular music style from Nigeria that
relies on the traditional Yoruba rhythms,
where the instruments in Juju are more
Western in origin. A drum kit, keyboard, pedal
steel guitar, and accordion are used along with
the traditional dun-dun (talking drum or
squeeze drum).
Kwassa Kwassa
Kwassa Kwassa is a dance style
begun in Zaire in the late 1980’s,
popularized by Kanda Bongo Man.
In this dance style, the hips move
back and forth while the arms move
following the hips.
 Marabi
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, it 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.
VOCAL FORMS
OF AFRICAN
MUSIC
Maracatu
Maracatu first surfaced in the African state of
Pernambuco, combining the strong rhythms of
African percussion instruments with Portuguese
melodies. The maracatu groups were called
“nacoes” (nations) who paraded with a
drumming ensemble numbering up to 100,
accompanied by a singer, chorus, and a coterie
of dancers.
Musical instruments used in Maracatu
 Blues
The blues is a musical form of the late 19th
century that has had deep roots in African-
American communities. These communities
are located in the 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.
 Blues
The notes of the blues create an expressive
and soulful sound. The 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.
 Soul
Soul music was a popular music genre of the 1950’s
and 1960’s. It originated in the United States. It
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.
 Spiritual
The term 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. This 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.
 Spiritual
The texts are mainly religious, sometimes taken from
psalms of Biblical passages, while the music utilizes
deep bass voices. The vocal inflections, Negro
accents, and dramatic dynamic changes add to the
musical interest and effectiveness of the
performance. Examples of spiritual music are the
following: We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, Rock
My Soul, When the Saints Go Marching In, and
Peace Be Still.
 Call and Response
The call and response method 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 songs are the following: Mannish Boy, one of the
signature songs by Muddy Waters; and School Day - Ring,
Ring Goes the Bell by Chuck Berry.