2. Music of Africa
• Historical and Cultural Background of African Music
Singing, dancing, hand clapping, and the beating of drums are
essential to many ceremonies : birth, death, initiation, marriage and
funerals.
Important to religious expression and political events.
It has great influences on global music ( contemporary American,
Latin American, and European styles)
3. Traditional Music of Africa
• Apala
Musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba
tribal style to wake up the worshippers
after fasting during the Muslim holy feast
of Ramadan. Instrumentation includes the
rattle(sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo), bell
( agogo) and two or three talking drums.
4. Traditional Music of Africa
• Axe
Popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia and Brazil. It
fuses the Afro-Carribean styles of the marcha, reggae and
calypso.
• Jit
Hard and fast Zimbabwean dance music played on drums
with guitar accompaniment.
5. Traditional Music of Africa
• Jive- Lively and uninhibited variation of jitterbug
• Juju
Popular style from Nigeria that relies on the
traditional Yoruba rhythms.
• Kwassa Kwassa
Shake your booty dance style begun in Zaire in the
late 80’s.
6. Music of Africa
• Marabi
Characterized by simple chords in varying vamping
patterns and repetitive harmony over an extended period
of time to allow the dances more time on the dance floor.
• Reggae- Jamaican sound dominated by bass and guitar
chops associated with Rastsafarian religion.
7. Music of Africa
• Salsa- Afro-Cuban music.
• Samba- Typifies most Brazilian music
• Soca- Modern Trinidadian and Tobago pop music
combining “soul” and “calypso” music.
8. Music of Africa
• Were- Muslim music performed often as a wake-up call
for early breakfast and prayers during Ramadan
celebration.
• Zouk- Fast, carnival-like rhythmic music from the Creole
slang word for “party” Originating in the Carribean
Islands of Guadalupe and Martinique.
9. Vocal Forms of African Music
• 1. Maracatu
Surfaced in the African state of Pernambuco,
combining the strong rhythms of African percussion
instruments with Portugese melodies. It uses mostly
percussion instruments such as the alfaia, tarol, and
caixa-de-Guerra, gongue, agbe, and miniero.
10. Vocal Forms of African Music
2. Blues
Musical form of the late 19th century that has had
deep roots in African-American communities ( “Deep
South” of the United States). Slaves used to sing as
they worked in the cotton and vegetable fields.
11. Vocal Forms of African Music
The form of the blues is characterized by specific
chord progression. The twelve-bar blues is the most
common form. The notes of the blues are normally
flattened or gradually bent.
12. Vocal Forms of African Music
• 3. Soul
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.
13. Vocal Forms of African Music
Other characteristics include call and response
between soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense
and powerful vocal sound.
14. Musical Instruments of Africa
• IDIOPHONES
1. Xylophone: Balafon
2. Rattles( made of shells, tin, animal hoofs, horn,
wood, metal, bells, cocoons, palm kernels, or tortoise
shells)
3. Agogo(bell)- has the highest pitch of any of the
bacteria instruments.
15. Musical Instruments of Africa
4. Rasps- a hand percussion instrument
whose sound is produced by scraping a
group of notched sticks with another stick,
creating a series of rattling effects.
16. Musical Instruments of Africa
5. Drums ( slit or log)
Slit drum- hollow percussion instrument,
although known as a drum, it is not a true drum.
Long drum- best known is the West African
djembe, log drum.
17. Musical Instruments of Africa
6. Atingting Kon (Slit gong)- They were used to
communicate between villages.
18. Musical Instruments of Africa
B. MEMBRANOPHONES
Examples of these are found in the different
localities:
Entenga ( Ganda)
Dundun (Yoruba)
Atumpan (Akan)
Ngoma (Shona)
19. Musical Instruments of Africa
B.1 Body Percussion
B.2 Talking Drum
C. LAMELLAPHONE- a set of plucked keys mounted
on a sound board, known by different names according to
the regions such as mbira, karimba, kisaanj, likembe.
20. Musical Instruments of Africa
• D. CHORDOPHONES-
• D1. Musical bow- Earth bow, mouth bow and the resonator-
bow are the principle types of musical bows.
• D2. Harp
• D3. Lute ( konting, khalam, and the nkoni)
• D4. Zither
21. Musical Instruments of Africa
• AEROPHONES- Flutes in various sizes and shapes (
Fulani flutes ). Panpipes and Horns( Kudo horns)
