A Survey of Traditional Music of West Africa A look at the musical practices of the people of Ghana

African Map

The map of Ghana

Regional map

Socio-Cultural Influences/Issues External influence- Europeans. Western Classical Music- Practiced and enjoyed by very small segment of various societies. Western derived music- a preponderance of African musical elements married to certain foreign elements, especially those of the Western musical practices. Music performed on tribal basis and which, if it transcended its boundaries, did so because people who belonged to that tribe had travelled outside their tribe and had cause to use their music as a means of communication and social interaction. This tribal music, which has, for most part, successfully resisted the impact of acculturation and is still performed in its traditional contest, is what is classified as traditional African music. Example, Adowa, Bewa, Agbadza, Kete, Fontonfrom etc. After independence, African nations began to emphasize the projection of African personality and traditional cultures. Concert promoters were encouraged to put traditional African music in the theatre. Example is the Yoruba folk opera, Oba Koso, (The king did not hang), performed by Duro Ladipo and his cultural group from Nigeria in the 1970s. This kind of music has been designated “Neo- traditional” by Akin Euba.

Organization 1.Societies Africans have lived in distinct societies, what we might think of as ethnic groups or tribes or clans. There are over seven hundred languages spoken and within these languages are thousand more dialects. Ghana alone has over 45 ethnic groups, each with it’s own language and dialects. Separates societies and diverse geographical locations and occupations, along with differences in languages led to diverse musical practices. Either through economic trade, political conquest, or social interaction, Africans have experienced cultural exchange between tribes. We can divide Ghana into four broad categories: – Southeastern Ghana- occupied by the Ewes and Gas – Northwestern Ghana- occupied by Dargarti, Lobi, Wala and Sissala people – Southern and Central Ghana- dominated by various Akans – Northeastern Ghana- Dagombas, Mamprusi, Frafra. Talking drums.

Organization 2.Music In Africa, music is life; that is it permeates all daily activities. Music is the soul which is ultimately concerned with various customs and religious practices. Some types of music or certain instruments might be restricted to specific events only. Adabatram music of the Asogli of Ghana, Kete of the Ashanti royal, Mmenson etc. There are also specified modes of music- men do not sing dirges, women do not play drums. Because music forms an integral part of socio-cultural behavior, it may be organized as a form of entertainment, as an outlet for mass expression of sentiments and in connection with events of national significance. Organization of music may be classified thus: – Recreational – Incidental – Ceremonial

Performing Medium: Musical Instruments Africans use musical instruments that vary greatly in construction and tone color. We have five scientific classification of instruments: idiophones, menbranophones, chordophones, aerophones, and electrophones. Electrophones however do not form part of the African music tradition. Idiophones Instruments the sound of which is produced by the vibration of the body of the instrument. These are usually solids that produce sound when beaten, and they are most widespread instruments in African musical environments. Musical roles of the Idiophones include: – Provision of rhythmic accompaniment – Some, like the mbira and xylophone are used to generate songs in addition to the rhythmic accompaniment they provide – Used to provide signals-ceremonies and rites etc.

Division of the Idiophones: – Primary: include rattles, bells, clappers and xylophones- their sound are produced directly by hitting or shaking the instrument. – Secondary: include jingles, ankle/knee/wrist bells. The body of these instruments are set in vibration by the motion of something else, e.g. dancers leg. – Tuned Idiophones- xylophones and thumb piano are tuned to definite pitches and are therefore capable of producing melodies. – Non-tuned Idiophones produce only indeterminate pitches and cannot be used to play singable melodies: they are used to provide rhythmic accompaniment. The basic role of the idiophone is to provide rhythmic patterns in accompaniment of music, but in some instances, idiophones may be used as talking “drums”-the slit drum is used to carry message from one person to the other.

Membranophones- instruments the sound of which is produced by the vibration of a stretched membrane or skin over a frame. These are generally known as drums; they may be made out of – Logs of wood – Strips of wood bound together by iron hoops- atimevu of the Anlo people – Earthenware vessels – Gourds etc. Modes of Drumming: – Signal- short repetitive rhythmic patterns meant to carry messages to the community – Speech- characterized by steady flow of beats often lacking in regularity of phrasing but distributed between/among a number of tones frame work. – Dance –drumming is characterized by selective use of rhythms and tone patterns in recurring and contrasting sequences, manipulated unilinearly and/or multilinearly. Unlike the signal and speech modes of drumming, the dance mode is founded on regularity of pulse, crystallized by some of the rhythms of the subordinate drums/instruments in the ensemble.

Bada & Donno (Dagomba)

Fontonfrom Set (Akan)

Kete Set (Akan)

Atsiagbekor Set (Ewe)

Kpalongo Set (Ga)

Chordophones- – Instruments whose sound generator is a stretched string. Chordophones come in different types and sizes most are plucked or struck perhaps reflecting the African musicians predilection for percussive sounds. – Suitable for solo singing, or accompanying recitation of poetry, praise songs or narrative songs, Griots. – When found in heterogeneous ensembles, the accompanying instruments are usually played soft since string instruments are soft tuned. – Number of strings may vary from one instrument ranging from one string to as many as twenty-one strings. Types: – The musical bow: the mouth bow and the earth bow. – Fiddles, includes the gonje played with a horsetail bow; harps and lutes, zithers. – Harp-lutes: The kora of Mandingo people of Sene-Gambia and the seprewa of Ghana are good examples of the Harp-lute.

Gonje

Kora

Aerophones: – Musical instruments whose sound is produced by the vibration of an air- column. – This category of instruments is less common in Africa. – The most common found includes flutes made out of bamboo, husks of cane, stalks of millet or the tip or “horn” of gourd, or they may be carved out of wood. – Some flutes are made out of clay while others are fashioned out of the shell of fruits or sea shells. – They may be played in transverse or end-blown position – There are also horns and trumpets which are made from animal horns, elephant tusks, wood, bamboo and gourds. – Mmenson of Ghana may be carved out of horns, ivory tusks of elephants or out of woods.