UNIT II

Lesson 5 African Music

Afro, Latin American, Jazz, and Popular Music

Afro, Latin American, Jazz, and Popular music ae testaments to the fact that music is both shaped by and
gives shape to cultural setting in which it is performed.

Music plays an important role in the society. People use music in their everyday life, in work,
entertainment, festivities, rituals, ceremonies, and even for communication. After appreciating the
different musical styles during the 20 th century, you are now going to explore the beauty of music from
the other Afro, Latin American, Jazz, and Popular music. The distinct characteristics and musical styles of
each from will be discussed. You will be able to understand how sone of this musical styles become a
product of intercultural exchange and amalgamation. Also, the different musical instruments used on
sone od the musical forms will be featured in this unit.

The music of Africa is as interesting, unique, and diverse as the groups of people living in this content.
Africa has a rich ancient musical history. Their music was orally transmitted from generation to
generation. The European colonization of Africa and the African slave trade paved the way to the spread
of African music to different parts of the world.

As a result of forces of colonization, independence, and globalization, African music and society has
changed. They learned to adopt to the new situation in which they found themselves. African music
remains very important until now despite some changes in the forms of music including the infusion of
instruments, musical styles, and genres from outside the African continent. Their music and dance forms
have influenced a number of international music styles and provided the foundation of musical tradition
behind African American music including the Caribbean and Latin American genres such as the reggae,
salsa, and rumba.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What are the characteristics of African music?

Traditional Music of Africa

Music in Africa plays an important role in their daily life, from birth until death. They use music in their
work, in their religious ceremonies, rituals, festivities, and even as a mode of communication. It is also
become their instruments to express their sentiments and emotions. Their songs, dance, and
instrumental playing are also used in their personal celebrations including birth, baptism, marriage, and
death. African people believed in their power of music to cure the sick, cast away evil spirits, paying
respect to good spirits, the dead, and the ancestors.

Traditional African forms share the same common traits despite its diversity. Its emphasis is placed more
strongly and rhythms than the melody or harmony. They used repetition as an organizing principle on
top of which an improvisation is built. It is mostly performed by group of musicians, frequently
employing polyphony (the simultaneous combination of several music parts), polyrhythm (two or more
different rhythms simultaneously), and a conversational style of music in which different voices,
instrumental parts are bought into lively exchange.
African Styles of Music
Afrobeat

Afrobeat combines West African musical styles such as Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, frunk rhythms, and
fused with African percussion and vocal styles. It features chants, call-and-response vocals, and complex
rhythms.

Apala (Akpala)

Apala is a musical style developed in the late 1930 from Nigerian people of Yoruba. This style was used
during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to wake the worshippers after fasting. The apala rhythms
were influenced by Cuban music that grew more complex and later become quite popular in Nigeria.
The instruments used in Apala include a rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo) and a bell (agogo), and
talking drums.

Axe

Axe is a popular style of music fused with Afro-Carribean styles of Marcha, Reggae, and Calypso. This
word came from Yoruba religious greetings which means soul, light, spirit, or good vibration.

Jit

Jit is a popular style of Zimbabwean dance music that features quick and fast rhythm played on drums
and accompanied by a guitar. It was popularized by Chazezesa Challengers, The Four Brothers, and
Bhundu Boys band in 1980s.

Jive

Jive is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug (a form of Swing dance) which was originated in
the United States in the early 1930s from African-Americans.

Juju

Juju is a popular style of music from Nigeria that derives from traditional Yoruba percussion. It is
characterized by the use of the African talking drums, agogo, sekere, bata, omelet along with other
western instruments such as the guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums that can be performed in any
occasion, events, and concerts.

Kwassa Kwassa

Kwassa Kwassa is a dance style which begun in Zaire and developed by Kanda Bongo Man in the late
1980s and early 1990s. it is a dance rhythm from Congo, where the dancers move their hands in a
motion that corresponds to the movement of their hips.

Marabi

Marabi, was a name given to a keyboard style similar to American ragtime and blues with roots of
African tradition originated in the 1920s. It is characterized by repeated harmonic patterns and a few
simple chords in different improvised patterns to let the people dance for an extended period of time.
CRITICAL IDEA Music plays a very significant role in the life of the African people, permeating
practically every aspect of their life.

CRITICAL IDEA Music styles in Africa is as diverse as the different ethnic groups in the 54 countries
that comprise it.

LESSON 6 Vocal Forms of African Music

As Africa changed in response to the European colonization and globalization, the role of music changed
as well. Also, as a result of the African slave trade and migrations, the music and dance of Africa have
influenced a number of musical styles and genres.

Maracatu

Maracatu is an ancient carnival tradition found in Pernambuco in the Northeastern Brazil. It has rooted
from the music and tradition of African slaves who worked in sugar farms and Pernambuco states.

The maracatu was formed by the African slave’s religious brotherhood to preserve their culture
and tradition. The Maracatu performs by parading with 80 to 100 drum ensemble, singer, chorus, with a
coterie of dancers. The instruments used in Maracatu include the alfaia, Caixa, agbe, gongue and ganza.

Blues

Blues is a style of music in the late 19th century, originated from African-American in the southern US
that often expresses a wide range of emotions. The words often mirrors the deep emotion of black
American from injustices or a feeling of sadness, longing, and lost. It is usually distinguished by a strong
four-time meter, typically in a twelve-bar structure, a three-line stanza in which the second line repeats
the first, with frequent minor intervals and blue notes.

Some of the famous rhythm and blues singers include: Alicia Keys, Adele, Anastacia, Anita Baker,
Aretha Franklin, B.B King, Bill Withers, Bobby Brown, Bruno Mars, Charles Brown, Christina Millian, Demi
Lovato, Etta James, Diana Ross, Faith Evans, Florence Ballard. Alicia Keys is a popular modern-day blues
singer in the US.

Soul

Soul music is a popular music genre in the late 1950s and early 1960s originated in the United States. It
incorporates the elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and jazz and
characterized by a strong beat and emphasis on singing. Other characteristics include the call-and-
response, the use pf improvisation, twirls, and auxiliary sounds. Soul music became popular in the US for
dancing and listening and directly influenced rock music and African music all over the world. Some
important features of soul music are its catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous
body movements. It is associated with Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Otis Redding.

Spiritual

Spiritual music is a religious folk songs of the African-American derived from the King James Bible’s
translation of Ephesians 5:19, “Speak to one another with palm, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord.” It was created by African slaves in the United States imparting
Christian values and hardships of slavery.

Call-and-Response

Call-and-Response is a style of music composition wherein a vocalist or instrumentalist sings or plays a

phrase and another vocalist or instrumentalist echoes with another phrase. It is a musical style where
the leader sings a line and answered by a chorus. The soloist usually improvises while the chorus stays
the same. Kye Kye Kule is an example of call-and-response song.

African Musical Instruments

Aside from the vocal music, the Africans are well-known for a wide variety of musical instruments
ranging from different kinds of drums, strings, wind instruments, xylophones, and lamellaphones,
idiophones, aerophones, and membranophones.

Classification of African Instruments

1. Idiophones are musical instruments that produce drum striking, shaking, or straping.
Djembe (Zhem-bay) is a single-headed open goblet drum played with bare hands. It is
one of Africa’s most functional and popular instruments because of the unusual range of pitches
that it can create. It has a unique and distinctive design carved and hollowed out of a tree trunk
and covered with a goat skin.
Shekere is a beaded handmade rattle. It consists of a hollow gourd or calabash, covered
with a net of seeds, beads, shells, or any available materials from West Africa. It is played in a
variety of styles and comes in many shapes and sizes. Agbe a very large beaded calabash
traditionally owned and played by professional musicians in Nigeria. It is an instrument that can
never be shared even with the family members but can be inherited by a son from his father if
he is a professional musician.
2. Membranophones are musical instruments which have vibrating animal membranes.
Talking drum is one of the most respected drum in Southern Nigeria similar to kalangu
drum of Northern Nigeria. It is played with a beater and can imitate a speech patterns or
use leads most of the warnings and announcements. The talking drum leads most of the
musical instruments and its sound gives the dancers the direction on what to do at a
given time.
3. Chordophones are musical instruments that produce sounds from the vibration strings.
Kora is one of the most famous stringed instrument similar to a guitar. It is a long-
necked harp with 21 strings placed on a ground covered with skin of an animal. This
instrument is played with the fingers in upright position and often used to accompany
worship songs.
Musical bow is the oldest and widely used string instrument in Africa. It consist of a
flexible wooden sticks with strings attached on both ends similar to a bow and arrow. It
can be played by plucking or by striking using a wooden stick. The types of musical bows
are the mouth-resonated bow, earth-resonated string bow, gourd-resonator string bow.
4. Aerophones are musical instruments that produce sounds by a vibrating air.
 Kudu Horn (Koodoo) comes from the horn of kudu antelope hollowed out as a wind
instrument used for signals. This instruments comes In a set of six horns which mirrors
the propagation of Africa’s musical tradition. The Kudu horn release a mellow and warm
sound that has the ability to add a unique accent to the African music.
Trumpets in Africa are widely spread and are made from variety of materials such as
wood, metal, horns, tusks, and gourds. The trumpets in Africa are ceremonial in nature
and used in different functions such as for giving signals and announcements. In some
African tribes believed that the trumpet has the power to cast away evil spirits, cure
diseases, and to give the warriors and hunters protection from harm.
5. Lamellaphone any of a class of a musical instruments played by the thumbs, whose sound is
generated by plucking flexible tuned tongues of metal, wood, cane or any material attached in a
board resonator.
Mbira, thumb piano, or finger xylophone is Zimbabwe’s most important instrument
played in religious and social celebrations. The Shona people in Zimbabwe use mbira to
communicate with their ancestors with “Bira” ceremony through a medium spirit or
“Trans,” it is a lamellaphone percussion instrument consisting of series of tuned metal
or bamboo tongues attached on a sound board or box resonator. It is called a thumb
piano because the thumbs plays the wooden or metal tongues.

CRITICAL IDEA African slaves brought to the different parts of the world the different vocal forms of
African music.

LESSON 7 Latin America Music

Latin American music refers to the music of Mexico, Central Ameirca, South America, and the entire
Caribbean colonized by Spain and Portugal. The music of Latin America varies from the region whre it
came from, the mixture of influence, fusion of races, religions, and cultural heritage from pre-Columbian
times to present. Different influences brought unique musical styles and instruments that developed in
every country and every island in the Caribbean. Latin America styles include some dance music that
ranges from cumbia, tango, chacha, rumba, bassanova, reggae, foxtrot, and paso doble.

When the Africans replaced the Indian in the laboring force, they greatly influenced the folk and
art music of the Caribbean island nations. They provided the foundation of musical styles mostly in the
Caribbean and Latin America. Some of the Latin America music with African influences include the
reggae, salsa, samba, soca and zouk. Some instruments that thought to be of African origin are the
marimbas of South Mexico and Guatamala and the leg drums in coastal Columbia and Ecuador.

Musical Instruments of Latin America

 Bongos is a percussion instrument of Afro-Cuban, consisting of a pair of small drums of different

sizes. It is the most widespread hand drum in Cuba commonly played in Cuban son, and Afro-
Cuban jazz style. The bongos are played with the fingers and hands to make a high, dry, and
tapping sound held between the knees.
  Marimba is a percussion instrument in Latin America consisting of a set of wooden bars, placed
over tuned metal resonators and played with two padded mallets. The marimba was developed
by the African slaves in Central America, and now considered as Guatemala’s national
instrument.
 Guiro is a Latin American percussion instrument commonly used in Puerto Rican, Cuban, and
other forms of Latin American music. It consists of a hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in
one side and played by rubbing the notches using a stick or tines.
 Maracas is a percussion instrument created and first used by the native Indians of Puerto Rico.
Maracas is used in pairs in Latin America and Puerto Rican music to create a unique sound. It is
made from gourd filled with seeds or pebbles and often use in pair as rhythm instrument.
 Quena is a traditional flute in South America mostly used by Andean musicians. It is made from
totora, which is open on both ends with six finger holes and one thumb hole.
 Zampoña is a South American wind instrument which belongs to the pan-piper or pan-flute
family. It is made from series of cane tubes, bound together, open at one end and closed on the
other end. It was originated in Peru and Bolivia, known as folk instrument and could be
considered as the first mouth organ.
 Charango is a South America stringed instrument of the lute family traditionally made from the
shell of an armadillo or tortoise.

Latin American Music Influenced by African Music

 Salsa is a Latin American popular music blending, predominantly Cuban rhythm with elements
of jazz, rock, and soul music. It covers a wide range of styles from son, guaracha, cahcha mambo
to guajira.
 Samba is a Brazilian dance of African origin performed in groups, by couples, or as a solo. It is
considered the dance of joy in Rio’s Carnival celebration.
 Soca is a style of music derived from calypso and American soul music which originated in the
Caribbean islands if Trinidad and Tobago.
 Zouk is a sensual partner dance made popular in the French Caribbean with origins in Lambada
and Zouk dance rhythms. Also called the Zouk-Lambada, know for its flowing motion and upper
body movement which gave rise to a women’s dramatic “hair flick.” This dance has captured the
heart of many people around the world and generally attracts those who are strong,
established, and looking for a dance that emphasizes interdependent interaction.

Local and Dance Music in Latin America

Latin America produced a massive diversity of musical styles, instruments and performance practice.
Their music became one of the most popular music in the world and have influenced the styles and
genres of many countries. From the colonial era up to present, Latin American music has engaged in
cultural exchange and greatly affected the music making in Europe, US, Africa, as well as Asia.

 Cumbia is a Latin-American dance music similar to salsa of Columbian origin which is

accompanied by guitar, accordions, bass guitar, and percussion. It started as a courtship dance
practiced by the African slave population and was traditionally performed in the street by pairs
of men and women.
  Tango is one the most fascinating of all the dances. It originated in Buenos Aires in the late 19 th
century. It is a dance time, characterized by marked rhythms, long gliding steps, and abrupt
pauses. Tango became a popular ballroom dance in Europe and the US in 1920.
 Rumba is one of the most sensual Latin dance styles of Cuban origin. It is a dance of love and
passion in a slow, serious, romantic dance with flirtation between the partners. Rumba is in slow
rhythm in duple meter which combines complex footwork with a pronounced movement of the
hips. It is related to the Afro-Cuban music which was introduced by the African slaves in Cuba in
the 16th century.
 Cha Cha Cha is an energetic modern dance similar to mambo, which involves small fast steps
and swaying hip movements. It is a Latin American dance originated in Cuba where it evolved
from the older form of Cuban dance called danzon. In the 1950s, cha cha cha became a popular
social ballroom dance in the US.
 Bossa Nova is a Brazilian style music developed and popularized in the late 1950s in Rio de
Janeiro. The term “bossa” means “new trend” or “fashionable wave,” a fusion of samba and jazz
that became popular among the young musicians and college students in the 1960s. Bossa nova
music incorporate themes on women, love, longing, and loneliness and commonly accompanied
by a nylon-string classic guitar. Antonio Carlos Jobin is the most important famous behind the
development of Bossa nova style. He became famous which his bossa nova song The Girl from
Ipanema which became an international mega-hit and considered one of the most recorded
songs of all time. In the Philippines, Sitti Navarro was considered the “Queen of Bossa Nova.”
Bossa Nova in the Philippines became popular after her first debut album Café Bossa in 2006.
Some of her song which became famous include, Tattooed on My Mind, Hey Look at the Sun, I
Didn’t Know I Was Looking for Love, and Para sa Akin.
 Reggae is a style of popular African Caribbean music originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. it is
similar to rock music and characterized by a strong syncopated rhythm blending with blues,
calypso, and rock-n-roll. Reggae music usually express news, social protest, and political
comment. It became widely known through the work of Bob Marley and his band “The Wailers”
in 1970.
 Foxtrot is a ballroom in simple duple meter that combines short, quick, and long steps in
different patterns. It is a romantic dance consisting of fairly simple walking steps and side steps.
It is a combination of slow steps, which use two beats of music, and a quick step, which use one
beat of music (“slow, quick, quick” or “slow, slows quick, quick”). Foxtrot originated in 1914 in
the US by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox.
 Paso Doble is a Spanish folk dance which means “Two Steps.” It is a dance in duple meter which
was originally used during the procession at the beginning of a bullfight. This ballroom dance for
couples was created to dramatize the movements of the toreador at the bullfight. The male
often stamps his feet to represent the matador, while the female often wears a long, flowing
skirt represents the matador’s cape. It is a lively, dramatic, and fast paced dance with long
sweeping steps and aggressive movements which became quite popular in the 1920s but later
became the passion of the upper classes in Parus around 1930s.

CRITICAL IDEA With more than 20 countries the Latin American region boasts of a massive variety
of vocal and dance music.