Music of Sub-Saharan Africa
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Transcript of Music of Sub-Saharan Africa
Music of Sub-Saharan Africa
“Senzenina”
In This Unit, We Will…
Explore the geography of areas with African music
Explore the instruments used in African music
Listen to music from different African cultures, populations, and religious groups
Sing a traditional song from the Zulu people, “Senzenina”
Create a polyrhythmic song as a class and in small groups
“What Will I Be Doing?”
You will be doing three different things…
#1: Creating connections between content areas – Geography, History, Art, Technology, and Music
#2: Listening to new music that you may never have heard before
#3: Learning melodies, harmonies, and rhythms from different cultures
Geography
Sub-Sahara Africa is a geographical term that refers to the area of Africa that lies beneath the Sahara desert
Sub-Sahara Africa includes... Kenya Rwanda Uganda Sudan Over 49 countries! Ethiopia Zimbabwe Madagascar
Languages Spoken
Sub-Saharan Africa displays the most linguistic diversity of any region in the world.
The region contains over
1,000 languages, which is 1/6
of the world's total!
Religions
Sub-Saharan Africa is largely Christian
North African (not part of Sub-Sahara Africa) is Islamic and considered part of the Arab world
Characteristics of Sub-Saharan African Music
Polyrhythm: Rhythms that occur at the same time in two different meters
Responsorial Forms: An exchange between a performer’s vocal or instrumental call and a group response
Ostinato: A short pattern that repeats over and over again
Use of Percussion: Reflects the emphasis of music making with drums, rattles, bells, xylophones, and the mbira (we’ll discuss this more later)
polyrhythm Rhythms that occur at the same time in two different
meters
Grand Master Djembe Player – Polyrhythm The Jamani Drummers Djemba Drummers in Cape Town
Responsorial forms An exchange between a performer’s vocal or
instrumental call and a group response
Thula Sizwe Singers (6:00 minute clip) ABC News Clip on Ensigo
Ostinato A short pattern that repeats over and over again
AUCB Acting Course – Senzenina Blackburn Choir – Senzenina
Use of percussion Reflects the emphasis of music making with drums,
rattles, bells, xylophones, and the mbira
Ogene (solo instrument) Ogene Igbo (group performance)
Mbira An instrument made up of metal
rows that are plucked by the player’s thumbs
Metallic, ringing sound
Song on the Mbira
Traditional African instruments
There are three classifications; Membranophones Idiophones Aerophones
Traditional African Instruments cont… Membranophones: A big, fancy word for… DRUMS!
Drums are by far the most famous of the African instruments and come in many different forms
Drummers use either their hands or sticks (sometimes one of each) to hit the drum head. They may also use something called an “elbow stick”
Drummers from Rwanda
TRADITIONAL AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS CONT…
Idiophones: Anything from large xylophones
to tiny bells, shakers, wooden sticks, or rattles
Xylophones made of wood, metal, gourds, pottery
Sometimes a solo instruments, but usually
an ensemble instrument
African Marimba Group
TRADITIONAL AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS CONT… Aerophones: The human voice or any instrument that
amplifies the human voice
Opening-throat singing is used in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is a husky or nasally sound
Other distinct kinds of African singing include whisper singing, which is a soft, breathy, almost growling tone
Yodeling may also be used
(Pygmies of Central Africa)
Welcome chloe renea croweMay 9th, 2012 @ 2:33 pm
Music as a livelihood
Burundi Drummers
Kenyan Boy Choir
“There is No Movement Without Rhythm”
Documentary on Rhythm and Daily Life in South Africa (10:51 minutes)
Apartheid in Africa “Senzenina” came out of the Apartheid in Africa. The
Apartheid was a national law that segregated white citizens and black citizens in Africa and denied blacks citizenship
It was officially established in 1948 and ran until… 1994
The origin of the song is unclear, but it has been used in many different movies and documents highlighting the Apartheid and is now a popular choral piece in the United States and Great Brittan
The Rain Stick, the Wooden frogs, and the maracas
Music and rhythm can be created just by hitting two sticks together, the idea for the simple percussive instrument
RHYTHM STICKS
Additional percussion instruments include shakers, like the maracas, or something more elaborate, like the African rain stick
Carved wooden frogs with ridges cut into their backs produce a sound similar to the “ribbit” of a frog. A wooden dowel is drug across their spines to produce the sound
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