Overview of African Music and Genres

African Music

• African traditional music is mostly used for ceremonies like birth, death, marriage, succession, worship, and spirit invocations
• Music is also functional for work and social gatherings
• African music is viewed as entertainment in many traditional societies
• The musical structure is interlocking, as a result of the overlapping and dense texture and rhythmic complexity
• The African music technique of "Call and Response" involves a leader singing a phrase and a group of singers answering
• African music is performed using singing, percussion instruments (played by hands or sticks), drums, and other instruments

Afrobeat

• Afrobeat fuses West African music with black American music

Apala (Akpala)

• A musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style
• Used to wake up worshippers after fasting during Ramadan
• Instruments include the rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo), bell (agogo) and two or three talking drums.

Axe

• Genre popular in Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil
• Fuses Afro-Caribbean styles of marcha, reggae, and calypso
• Played by carnival bands

Jit

• Hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music
• Played on drums with guitar accompaniment
• Influenced by Mbira-based guitar styles

Jive

• Popular form of South African music
• Lively and uninhibited version of the jitterbug, a form of swing dance

Juju

• Popular music style from Nigeria
• Uses traditional Yoruba rhythms
• Instruments are more Western in origin - drum kit, keyboard, pedal steel guitar, and accordion are used along with traditional drums

Kwassa Kwassa

• Dance style begun in Zaire
• Popularized by Kanda Bongo Man
• The hips move back and forth while the arms follow the hip movements

Marabi

• South African three-chord township music of the 1930s-1960s
• Evolved into African jazz
• Uses a keyboard style that combines American jazz, ragtime, and blues with African roots
• Characterized by simple chords in varying vamping patterns and repetitive harmony to give dancers more time on the dance floor

Reggae

• Jamaican musical style
• Strongly influenced by the island's traditional mento music, as well as calypso, African music, American jazz, and rhythm and blues
• One of the most distinctive qualities is the offbeat rhythm and staccato chords

Salsa

• Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian dance music
• Comprises musical genres including the Cuban son montuno, guaracha, chachacha, mambo, and bolero

Samba

• Brazilian musical genre and dance style
• Traced to Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, particularly in Angola and the Congo
• The basic underlying rhythm that typifies most Brazilian music
• Lively and rhythmical beat with three steps to every bar, making the samba feel like a timed dance

Soca

• Known as the "soul of calypso"
• Originated as a fusion of calypso with Indian rhythms
• Modern Trinidadian and Tobagonian pop music combining soul and calypso music

Were

• Muslim music often performed as a wake-up call during Ramadan celebrations
• Fuses African and European music styles

Zouk

• Fast, carnival-like rhythmic music from the Creole slang word for “party”
• Originated in the Caribbean Islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique
• Popularized in the 1980s
• Pulsating beat supplied by the gwoka and tambour bele drums, a tibwa rhythmic pattern played on the rim of the snare drums, a rhythm guitar, a horn section, and keyboard synthesize

Influences of Africa to Latin American Music

• The rhythm and styles of Latin-American music are influenced by the United States and other countries in Europe like Spain and Portugal
• Latin music is a combination of four musical elements: tango, bossa nova, merengue, salsa, and other genres such as reggae, jazz, rock, and latin pop
• Latin American music incorporates African music from slaves who were transported to the Americas by European settlers as well as music from the indigenous peoples of the America
• Latin American music is influenced by American music, which is the product of indigenous, Spanish-Portuguese, and African music

Characteristics of Afro-Latin American Music

• Conversation: The performance of voice interaction as an answer to the first chant (“Call and Response”)
• Improvisation: Non-scripted ways of singing that allow sincere conversations
• The voice as an instrument: The manipulation of a freely controlled piece where the artist can change the tone of voice, its tempo, the creation of moods, and even changing the range and voice power
• The instrument as a voice: The instrument serves as a “singer” along with the performer

Performance Task

• Select one Reggae song with lyrics for memorization
• Study and memorize the lyrics
• Record a video of your performance singing the song

Approaching Proficiency Rubric

• Focused and clear tone: Throughout the piece, with accurate rhythm and secure pitch and consistent, sensitive phrasing. Dynamic variations are well-defined
• Focused and clear tone: In the normal ranges, isolated errors in rhythm, pitch, and phrasing. More obvious dynamic variations
• Focused tone: Inconsistent, unstable ranges, some repeated errors in rhythm, pitch, and phrasing.
• Unfocused tone: Erratic rhythm, inconsistent pitch, and phrasing. Needs work on nuances and dynamics