1. VOCAL FORMS OF AFRICAN
MUSIC & (INTRUMENTS)
MAPEH:
10-LANZONES
2. Musical Instruments Of Africa
African music incorporates all the major
instrumental genres of Western music,
including strings, winds, an percussion,
along with a tremendous variety of specific
African musical instrument's for solo or
ensemble playing.
3. ‘Classification of Traditional African
Instruments’
Idiophones: These are percussion instruments that
are either struck with a mallet or against one another.
Balafon-The balafon is a West African xylophone. Is originally an Asian
instrument that follows the structure of a piano.
Rattles- rattles are vessels made of seashells, tin, basketry, animal hoofs, horn,
wood, metal, cocoons, palm kernels, or tortoise shells.
Agogo- The agogo may be called “the oldest samba instrument based on
Western African Yoruba single or double bells”. It has the highest pitch among
the bacteria instruments.
5. Membranophones- are instrument's, usually drums, which have vibrating
animal membranes. Their shapes may be conial, clindrcal, 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; while some are
constructed with wooden staves and hoops.
1. Body percussion- African peope frequently use their bodies as musical
instruments. Aside from using their voices since many of them are superb singers
they also clap their hands, slap their thights, pound their upper arms or chests, or
shuffle and stomp their feet.
2. Talking drum- The talking drum is used to send messages to announce births,
deaths, marriages, sporting events, dances, initiation, or war. Sometimes, the
messages may even contain gossip or jokes. An example of the talking drum is the
luna.
6. 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.
The mbira(thumb piano or finger xylophone) is from Zimbabwe that is used
throughout the continent. It consists of a wooden board with attached metal
tines(a series of wooden, metal, or rattan tongues) of graduated sizes. It may
also have an added resonator like a calabash(gourd) to increase its volume. It
is played by holding the instrument while plucking the tines with the thumbs,
producing a soft plucked sound.
7. Chordophones- chordophones are instruments which produce ounds 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. The principal types are the
mouth bow, the resonator bow, and the earth bow.
The mouth bow consists of a single string attached to each end of a curved strick, similar to
a bow and arrow. The string is held in the mouth and the string is either plucked or struck with
another stick, producing a percussive yet delicate sound.
The resonator bow is a form of the mouthbow with a calabash resonator attached at its mid-
point. In different parts of Africa, this bow is known by other names. In Rwanda, it is known as
munahi; in Dahomey, tiepore; and in Madagascar, jejolava.
The earth bow also called ground bow or pit harp-consists of a flexible pole which is planted
in the ground. A string is attached to one end of the pole, while the other end of the string is
attached to a stone, a piece of bark, or a small piece of wood which is then planted in a hole
dug in the grpund, thus bending the pole. The hole in the ground acts as a resonator and the
sound comes from under the earth. This tpe of bow is often used in ceremonies involving
magic.
8. Lute- 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.
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.
Zither- the zither is a stinged 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 Malagasi, and the harp or Mvet
zither from Cameroon.
Zeze-The zeze is a fiddle from Sub-Saharan Africa 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 also known by the names tzetze or dzendze, izeze and endingidi; and
in Madagascar it is called lokanga voatavo.
9. Aerophones- are musical instruments that produce sound
primarily by trapping or enclosing a body or column of air and
causing it to vibrate. The air vibrates without the use of strings or
membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself—
thus adding to the quality of sound produced. Flutes in various
sizes and shapes, panpipes, horns, whistles, gourd and shell
megaphones, and animal horn and wooden trumpets fall under
this category.
10. Flutes - Flutes are widely used throughout Africa. They are usually
fashioned from a single tube closed at one end and blown, while being
held either vertically or side-blown. Atenteben is a bamboo flute from
Ghana. It is played vertically like the European recorder. Fulani is the
traditional flute of the Fulani people. It is also known as fula or
tambin which is the traditional Fulani flute of the Fouta Djalon
highlands of Guinea.
11. Afro-Latin and Popular Music
This instrument, which comes as a set of horns,
reflects the mix of musical traditions in Africa.
Today, the kudu horn is also used in football
matches, where fans blow on to cheer for their
favorite teams.
12. Reed pipes - These 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 create the sound. There are also
cone-shaped double-reed instruments similar to the oboe
or shawm. The most familiar 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 likewise
featured in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, specifically
in the Mordor theme.
13.
14. Whistles - Whistles are found throughout the
continent and may materials. Short pieces of horn
serve into the mouthpiece. be made of wood or
other as whistles, often with a short tube inserted
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.
15. Many instrument's of Africa are made from
natural elements like wood, metal, animal skin
and horns, as well as improvised from objects
like tin cans and bottles. These are mainly used
to provide rhythmic sounds, which are the most
defining element of African music. Materials in the
environment, like wood from forest areas, are
used for large drums. Other drums are also made
of clay, metal, tortoise shells, or gourds.
Xylophones are made of lumber or bamboo, while
flutes are constructed whenever 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.
“AFRICAN MUSICALINSTRUMENTS
FROMTHEENVIRONMENT”
16. On the other hand, bamboo is used to form the tongues of thumb pianos, the
frames of stringed instruments, and stamping tubes. Strips of bamboo are
even struck together rhythmically. Gourds, seeds, stones, shells, palm leaves,
and the hard-shelled fruit of the calabash tree are used in making rattles.
Ancient Africans even made musical instruments from human skulls decorated
with human hair, while singers used and continue to 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, tin cans, and wire.
Even new materials that are more easily accessible, such as soda cans and
bottles, are becoming increasingly important for the construction of
percussion instruments and other rhythmic instruments like scrapers, bells,
and rattles. These provide the pitch and timbre when played in an ensemble,
creating contrasts in tone quality and character
17. Whatisthevocalforms ofAfricanmusic?
The basic form of African Vocal Music is CHORAL
SINGING known as CALL AND RESPONSE where one
singer (SOLOIST) or small group of singers sings a line
and the whole group (CHORUS) makes a reply (often a
fixed REFRAIN)- like “musical conversation” – in
alternation with the “lead singer”. The soloist often
IMPROVISES.
