MUSI 207 Africa Chapter 7

The Music of Africa Chapter 7 Presentation General Principles of African Music

Interlocking is the practice of fitting pitches into spaces between other parts, alternating pitches or phrases of one part with those of another to create a whole part. An example is the whole melody created by a mbira player’s two hands.

General Principles of African Music Call and response is the alternation or interlocking of leader and chorus, or of a vocal and instrumental part. Hocket is the interlocking pitches between two or more sound sources to create a single melody or part. An example is Pygmy vocal music.

General Principles of African Music Dense, overlapping textures and buzzy timbres manifested in a preference for overlapping drum and percussion rhythms. An example is Ewe drumming. Wind and string instruments incorporate percussive elements: strings are more often plucked than bowed and wind instruments are often played with a breathy sound quality. An example of a percussive string sound is the kora.

General Principles of African Music Cyclical and open-ended forms involving one or more repeated melodies/rhythmic patterns (ostinatos) as the basic foundation of a performance. Ostinato is a repeated melodic or rhythmic pattern that forms the basic foundation of a piece or musical section (sometimes called “melorhythm” or “ensemble thematic cycle”).

General Principles of African Music Community participation. The participation of non- specialists is facilitated by long performances with much repetition and by the close association of music with dance. Importance of rhythmic complexity. This can occur at many levels: juxtaposition of duple and triple patterns (hemiola), multiple layering of different rhythmic patterns, and interaction between core foundation and varied/improvised elaboration parts.

For next class Chapter Exam 7 is due Friday Comment on the D2L PowerPoint presentations Read Chapter 7 ( ) on African music Read Chapter 7 (pgs ) on African music

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture everyday of his life. - Goethe