Yiri part 2 AIMS: To learn more about African musical traditions and to begin to understand the set work YIRI

AFRICAN SONGS There is a belief that music serves as a link to the spirit world. Singing unites whole tribal communities It is a means of communication African languages are TONE LANGUAGES ie, the Pitch level determines actual meaning. This is useful as melodies can be made to fit to match meanings and speech rhythms of song lyrics.

Common Features of African Music One person sings a line and the group responds with a vocal reply Usually short and simple, repeated over and over Can therefore end in a theme and variations format Leads to polyphonic textures Basic form is call and response Melodies usually use a scale of only 4,5,6 or7 different notes Melodies can be changed at will by other singers Singers often improvise new melodies over existing ones

More features Music can be sung in rounds, often creating a very complex texture Harmony will vary from tribe to tribe Some communities sing in octaves or unison with a 4th or 5th added rarely Some tribes sing in 3rds and sixths, freely harmonising. Learnt by oral tradition

AFRICAN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IDIOPHONES AEROPHONES CHORDOPHONES Rattles Bells Mbira ( thumb piano) Xylophones/ Balaphones Clap sticks Slit gongs Stamping tubes Flutes Ocarinas Panpipes Horns ( animal tusks) Trumpets Pipes Whistle Zithers Lutes (kora) Lyres Musical bows

Extras Also common is the use of body percussion Hand clapping Foot stamping Vocables Vocal effects

Instrumental music of Africa

Instrumental music Common features of instrumental music Repetition Improvisation Cyclic structures Polyphonic textures Intertwining melodies

Vocab test Improvisation Djembe Repetition Dundun Polyphonic Donno Vocables Balaphones Call and response Tone language Aerophone Djembe Dundun Donno Yiri Cross rhythms Heterophonic Monophonic Membraphone

YIRI PLAYED BY GROUP NAMED KOKO Comes from Burkino Faso, West Africa Themes in music from here conjure up man kinds life battles, fight for survival and environmental issues Music focuses on creation, community celebrations and friendships

Yiri Three main strands Balafon ostinato, combined to make complex polyphonic texture Drum ostinato – relentless one bar pattern Vocal line, mainly call and response.

Other features in Yiri Tempo is unvaried Beat is regular and unvarying Improvisation Repetition Tempo is unvaried Beat is regular and unvarying Drum ostinato persists throughout with only small exceptions Pattern of voices followed by instrumental breaks Dynamics largely unvaried Cross Rhythms