Music Of Africa PDF
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This document provides an overview of various African music genres and styles. It details the characteristics of important musical forms, traditions and instrumentation, covering a wide range of styles. It also includes some examples of African music and famous artists within each style.
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# Music Of Africa - Music has always been an important part in the daily life of African. - Music and dance are also important to religious expression and political Events. ## Traditional Music of Africa - African music is largely functional in nature. Used primarily in ceremonial rites such as b...
# Music Of Africa - Music has always been an important part in the daily life of African. - Music and dance are also important to religious expression and political Events. ## Traditional Music of Africa - African music is largely functional in nature. Used primarily in ceremonial rites such as birth, death, marriage, succession, worship, and spirit invocations. ## Types of African Music ### Afrobeat - Term used to describe the fusion of West African and Black American Music ### Apala or Akpala - Musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style to wake up the worshippers after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of Ramadan. ### Axe - Popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil. - It fuses the Afro-Carribean style of Marcha, Reggae, and Calypso. ### Jit - A hard fast percussive Zimbabwean dance Music played on drums with guitar accompaniment, influenced by mbira - based guitar styles. ### Jive - A popular form of South African Music featuring a lively and uninhibited variation of the jitterbug, a form of swing dance ### Juju - A popular Music style from Nigeria that relies on the traditional Yoruba rhythms. ### Kwassa Kwassa - A dance style that begun in Zaire in late 1980s popularized by Kanda Bongo Man. ### Marabi - A south African three - chord township music of the 1930s - 1960s which evolved into African Jazz. ## Latin American Influenced by African Music ### Reggae - A Jamaican sound dominated by Bass guitar and Drums ### Salsa - Music is Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian Dance Music. - It comprises various musical genres including the Cuban son montuno, guaracha, chachacha, mambo and Bolero. ### Samba - Is the basic underlying rhythm that typifies most Brazilian Music. ### Soca - A modern Trinidadian and Tobago pop music combining "Soul" and "Calypso" music. ### Were - A Muslim music performed often as a wake up call for early breakfast and prayers during Ramadan Celebrations. ### Zouk - A fast carnival - like rhythmic music, from Creole slang word for Party. ## Vocal Forms of African Music ### Maracatu - First surfaced in the African State of Pernambuco, combining the strong rhythms of African percussion instruments with Portuguese melodies. ### Blues - A musical form of the late 19th century that has deep roots in African - American communities. - The notes of blues create expressive and soulful sound. - The feelings that are evoked are normally associated with slight degrees of misfortune, lost in love, frustration, or loneliness. #### Known Performers of the Blues Genre - Ray Charles - James brown - Calloway - Aretha Franklin - John Lee Hooker ### Soul Music - Was a popular music genre of the 1950s and 1960s. - It originated in the United States. 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. #### Soul Music Examples - Ain't no Mountain High Enough - All I Could do is cry - Soul to soul - Ben ### Spiritual - The term Spiritual, normally associated with a deeply religious person, refer here to a Negro Spiritual, a song form by African Migrants to America who became enslaved by its white community. - The texts are mainly religious, sometimes taken for Psalms of biblical passages. #### Examples of Spiritual Music - We are climbing Jacobs Ladder - Rock my soul - When the saints go marching in - Peace be still ### Call and Response - The call and Response method is a succession of two distinct musical Phrases usually rendered by different musicians where the second phrase acts as a direct commentary on or response to the first. - It also forms a strong resemblance to the verse - chorus form in many vocal compositions. #### Call and Response Songs - Mannish Boy- a signature song by Muddy Waters - School Day- Ring, Ring goes the bell by Chuck Berry. ## Musical Instruments of African Music ### Balafon - The balafon is a West African Xylophone. It is a pitched percussion Instrument with bars made from logs or bamboo. ### Rattles - Rattles are made of seashells, tin, basketry, animal hoofs, horn, wood, metal bells, and cocoons. ### Agogo - It is a single bell or multiple bells that had its origins in traditional Yoruba music and also the samba baterias ensembles. ### Atingting Kon - These are slits gongs used to communicate between villages. They were carved out of wood to resemble ancestors and had a "slit opening" at the bottom. ### Slit Drums - The slit drum is hollow percussion instrument. Although known as a drum. It is not a true drum but is an idiophone. ### Djembe - It is one of the best-known African Drums is. It is shaped like a large goblet and played with bare hands. - The body is carved from a hollowed trunk and is covered in goat skin. ### Shekere - The shekere is a type of gourd and shell megaphone from west Africa, consisting of a dried gourd with beads woven into a net covering the cowrie shells usually strung with white ### Rasp - A rasp or Scraper is a hand percussion instrument whose sound is produced by scraping the notches on a piece of wood with a stick creating a series of rattling effects. ### Talking Drum (Luna) - Used to send messages to announce births, deaths, marriages, sporting events, dances, initiations, or war. - It is believed that the drums can carry direct messages to the spirits after the death of a loved one. ### Mbira - The thumb piano or Finger Xylophone is of African origin and is used throughout the continent. - It is played by holding he instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs, producing a soft plucked sound. ### Musical Bow - The Musical bow is the ancestor of all string instruments. It is the oldest and one of the most widely used string instruments of Africa. - The string is either plucked or struck with another stick producing a percussive yet delicate sound ### Lute (Nkoni) - The lute originating from the Arabic states, shaped like the modern guitar and played in similar fashion ### Kora - Africa's most sophisticated harp while having similar features to a lute. ### Zither - Stringed instrument with varying sizes and shapes whose strings are stretched along its body. ### Zeze - African Fiddle played with bow a small wooden stick or plucked with the fingers. ### Anteben (Ghana) - ### Fulani Flutes - ### Panpipes - ### Kudu Horn - Made from the horn of Kudu Antelope. - Releases a mellow and warm sounds that adds a unique African accent to the Music ### Reed Pipes - The most well known Reed pipe is the Rhaita or ghaita. ### Whistle - ### Trumpets -