TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF AFRICA

African traditional music is largely functional in nature,

used primarily in ceremonial rites, such as birth, death,
marriage, succession, worship, and spirit invocations.
Others are work related or social in nature, while many
traditional societies view their
c music as entertainment.

African music has a basically interlocking structural

formal, due mainly to its overlapping and dense texture
as its rhythmic complexity. Its many sources of influence
have produced such varied styles and genres.
Afrobeat is a term used cto describe the fusion of
West African with black American music.
 Apala (Akpala)
Apala is a musical genre from
Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal
style, used to wake up the
worshippers after fasting
c
during the Muslim holy feast
of Ramadan. Percussion
instrumentation includes the
rattle (sekere), thumb piano
(agidigbo), bell (agogo), and
two or three talking drums.
 Axe
Axe is a popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and
c
Brazil. It fuses the Afro-Caribbean styles of the marcha,
reggae, and calypso, and is played by carnival bands.

c
 Jit
Jit is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance
c
music played on drums with guitar accompaniment,
influenced by mbira-based guitar styles.
 Jive is a popular form
of South African music
featuring a lively and
c
uninhibited variation of
the jitterbug, a form of
swing dance
 Juju is a popular music style from Nigeria that relies on the
traditional Yoruba rhythms, where the instruments are more
c
Western in origin. A drum kit, keyboard, pedal steel guitar, and
accordion are used along with the traditional dun-dun (talking
drum or squeeze drum).
 Kwassa kwassa

Kwassa kwassa is a dance

style begun in Zaire in the late
c
1980s, popularized by Kanda
Bongo Man. In this dance
style, the hips move back and
forth while the arms follow
the hip movements.
 Marabi Marabi is a South
African three-chord township
music of the 1930s-1960s
which evolved into African
jazz. It makes use of a
keyboard style that combines
American jazz, c ragtime, and
blues with African roots. It is
characterized by simple chords
in varying vamping patterns
and repetitive harmony over
an extended period of time to
allow the dancers more time
on the dance floor.
 LATIN AMERICA MUSIC
INFLUENCEDc BY AFRICAN
MUSIC
Reggae is a Jamaican musical
style that was strongly
influenced by the island's
traditional mento music, as
well as by calypso, African
c
music, American jazz, and
rhythm and blues. One of
reggae's most distinctive
qualities is its offbeat rhythm
and staccato chords.
Salsa Salsa music is
Cuban, Puerto
Rican, and
Colombian dance
music. Itccomprises
various musical
genres including the
Cuban son
montuno, guaracha,
chachacha, mambo,
and bolero.
Samba is a Brazilian musical genre and dance style. Its roots can be traced
to Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions
particularly in Angola and the Congo. Samba is the basic underlying
rhythm that typifies most Brazilianc music. It has a lively and rhythmical
beat with three steps to every bar, making the samba feel like a timed
dance. There is a set of dances rather than a single dance that define the
samba dancing scene in Brazil. Thus, no dance can be claimed with
certainty as the "original" samba style.
Soca is also known as the
"soul of calypso." It
originated as a fusion of
calypso with Indian
rhythms, thus combining
the musical traditions of
the two major
c ethnic
groups of Trinidad and
Tobago. It is a modern
Trinidadian and
Tobagonian pop music
combining soul and
calypso music.
Were is Muslim music often performed as a wake-
up call for early breakfast and prayers during
Ramadan celebrations. cRelying on pre-arranged
music, it fuses the African and European music
styles.
 Zouk Zouk is fast, carnival-
like rhythmic music, from
the Creole slang word for
"party." It originated in the
Caribbean Islands of
Guadaloupe and
Martinique and was
popularized inc the 1980s. It
has a pulsating beat
supplied by the gwo ka and
tambour bele drums, a
tibwa rhythmic pattern
played on the rim of the
snare drum, a rhythm
guitar, a horn section, and
keyboard synthesizers.
VOCAL FORMS OF AFRICAN
c
MUSIC
 Maracatu Maracatu first
Maracatu
surfaced Maracatu
in the first of
African state
surfaced in the combining
Pernambuco, African state
theof
Pernambuco,
strong rhythmscombining the
of African
strong rhythms
percussion of African
instruments with
percussion
Portuguese instruments
melodies. Thewith
Portuguese
maracatu c were called
melodies.
groups The
maracatu c were called
groups
nacoes (nations) who paraded
nacoes
with a(nations)
drumming who paraded
ensemble
with a drumming
numbering ensemble
up to 100,
numbering by
accompanied up atosinger,
100, a
accompanied
chorus, and abycoterie
a singer,
of a
chorus, dancers
and a coterie of
.

dancers .
 The alfaia is a large
wooden drumc that is
rope-tuned
tarol which is a
shallowc snare
drum
 caixa-de-guerra
which is ac war-like
snare.
 Providing the
clangingcsound is
the gongue, a metal
cowbell
 The shakers are
represented by the
c
agbe, a gourd shaker
covered by beads
miniero or ganza, a
metal cylindrical
shaker filled
c with
metal shot or small
dried seeds.
Blues The blues is a musical form of the late 19th century that had deep roots in African-
American communities. These communities were located in the so-called "Deep South" of
the United States, where the slaves and their descendants used to sing as they worked in
the cotton and vegetable fields.

The notes of the blues create an expressive and soulful sound. The feelings that are evoked
are normally associated with misfortune, lost love, frustration, or loneliness. From extreme
joy to deep sadness, the blues can communicate various emotions more effectively than
c forms.
other musical

Noted performers of the blues genre are Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha
Franklin, and John Lee Hooker, as well as B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton,
Steve Winwood, Charlie Musselwhite, Blues Traveler, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff Baxter.
Examples of blues music are the following: Early Mornin', A House is Not a Home, and
Billie's Blues.
 Soul Soul music was a popular music genre of the 1950s and 1960s. It
originated in the United States, and combined 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. Other characteristics include "call
and response" between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially
intense and powerful vocal sound. Some important innovators whose
recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music
c
include Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles, Little
Richard, Otis Redding, and James Brown were equally influential. Brown is
known as the "Godfather of Soul," while Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are
also often acknowledged as "soul forefathers."
Soul music continued to be popular into the 1970s. Examples of soul hits
from that era are: Aint No Mountain High Enough, Ben, All I Could Do Was
Cry, Soul to Soul, and Betcha by Golly Wow.
 Spiritual The term spiritual is normally associated with a
deeply religious person. In music however, it refers to a song
form, known as the "Negro spiritual," sung by African slaves
in America who became enslaved by its white communities.
This musical form became their outlet to express their
loneliness and anger, and was a result of the interaction of
music and religion from Africac with that of America. The
texts are mainly religious, sometimes taken from Biblical
psalms or passages, while the music utilizes deep bass
voices. The vocal inflections, African accents, and dramatic
changes in dynamics add to the musical interest and
effectiveness of the singing. Examples of spiritual music are
the following: We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder, Rock My
Soul, When the Saints Go Marching In, and 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. Much like the question and answer
sequence in human communication,
c it also forms a
strong resemblance to the verse-chorus form in
many vocal compositions. Examples of call and
response songs are the following: Mannish Boy, one
of the signature songs by Muddy Waters; School
Day - Ring, Ring Goes the Bell by Chuck Berry; and
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.