The Music Of AfricaRhea Loewen

Band 12December 14, 2009

Mrs. Richardson

Egypt•Musicians from Upper Egypt play a form of folk music called Saidi and were chosen by the government to represent Egyptian folk music around the world.

•Egyptian music blends traditions with Turkish, Arabic, and Western elements. The tonal structure is based from Arabic music, defined by the maqamat, which is loosely related to the Western cultural modes.

•Music remains an important part of traditional Muslim and Coptic celebration. It’s found especially in mulids. Mulids are held in Egypt to celebrate the saint of a particular church. The Egyptian flute is the key instrument at these celebrations.

•The ikinimba is the most important musical tradition in Rwanda. The ikinimba dance tells the stories of Rwandan heros, accompanied by instruments like: •ikembe: a finger type instrument. A group of small tuned pieces of metal or wood placed together.•umuduri: a musical bow consisting of a string supported by a flexible wooden string bearer or bow that is 125-135 cm in length.•inanga: made from a piece of wood carved with a shallow bowl. A single string is woven across the instrument to form up to eight strings.

•Traditional songs are often accompanied by a lulunga, a harp-like instrument with eight strings.

•Celebratory dances have a drum orchestra, which usually has seven to nine members, and produce an exciting set of rhythms.

Rwanda

umuduri

lulungaikembe

South Africa•A popular type of music is marabi. It started out being played on pianos with people shaking pebble-filled cans, often in establishments that illegally served alcohol.

•By the 1930s, marabi had brought in new instruments: guitars/ banjos concertina: a free-reed musical instrument, like an accordion. It has a buttons on either side of it.

•New styles of marabi had started coming out. The most popular was the marabi/swing fusion called African jazz and jive.

•The first major style of South African popular music to emerge was pennywhistle jive. Farmers had played a three-holed reed flute, which became six-holed flute when they moved to the cities.

Nigeria•Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of African highlife and palm-wine music, which puts native rhythms together with techniques imported from the Congo.

•Traditional music from Nigeria is performed to mark a ritual such as a wedding or funeral and not for pure entertainment or artistic enjoyment. Music is used to celebrate births, marriages, circumcisions, and other important life events.

•Music is closely linked to agriculture, and there are restrictions on which instruments can be played during different parts of the growing season.

•The most common format for music in Nigeria is the call-and-response choir, in which a lead singer and a chorus interchange verses, sometimes accompanied by instruments that either shadow the lead text or repeat.

•Hausa ceremonial music is well known in the area, and is used by families of praise singers. The Hausa play percussion instruments such as the: tambora drum: an African drum that was most popular during the times of slavery kakaki trumpet: a 3 or 4 meter long metal trumpet.

“The African Music Encyclopaedia” 1995- 2001. Online. December 12, 2009. http://africanmusic.org/

Estrella, Espie. “African Music” 2009. Online. December 4, 2009. http://musiced.about.com/od/historyofmusic/a/africanmusic.htm

“History and Overview of African Music” Black Music Archives. Online. December 9, 2009 http://afgen.com/african_music3.html

Hassan, Ashraf. “Saidi Dance” Online. December 10, 2009. http://www.orientaldancer.net/guest-stories/saidi-dance.shtml

“Ingoma” 2006. Online. December 11, 2009. http://music.africamuseum.be/instruments/english/burundi/ingoma.html

“Music of Africa” Wikipedia. Online. December 4, 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Africa

Work Cited Page

“Music of Sudan - Modern popular music” Global Oneness. Online. December 11,

2009.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Music_of_Sudan_Modern_popular_music/id/5315594

Scaruffi, Piero. “A Brief Summary of African Popular Music.” 2002. Online. December 6, 2009 http://www.scaruffi.com/history/african.html

“Traditions of Rwanda” Rwanda Tourism. Online. December 10 ,2009. http://www.rwandatourism.com/culture.htm

Table of ContentsEgypt . . . . . . . . 1

Sudan . . . . . . . . 2

Rwanda . . . . . . . 3-4

Mozambique . . . . . . . 5

South Africa . . . . . . . 6

Namibia . . . . . . . . 7

Mali . . . . . . . . 8-9

Nigeria. . . . . . . 10-11

Work Cited . . . . . . . 12-13

Additional Information . . . . . 14-19

•Coptic music is the music of the Coptic Church. It consists of

chanted hymns with cymbals and a triangle.

•Music in Egypt dates back to the Predynastic Period when harps, flutes and double clarinets were

played.

•Western classical music was introduced to Egypt at the

beginning of the 19th century. Instruments such as the piano and

violin were adopted.

Egypt

Sudan•When the Sharia law was introduced in Sudan in 1989, many poets and musicians were either imprisoned or fled to Cairo. Traditional music suffered too. Zar ceremonies were abruptly ended and drums were taken.

•When the Europeans invaded the country, they brought their music along with them. The Scottish bagpipes were an important and vital instrument.

•The folk music of the Dinka people includes poetry, while the Azande are known for stories in their music.

•Haqibah is a harmonic a cappella and vocal style music, with percussion coming from the tambourine-like riq.

•The Sufi Dervishes are a mystical sect that use music and dance to achieve an altered state of consciousness in a tradition called

zikr.

Sudan

Rwanda•Traditional music and dance are taught in amatorero dance groups.

•During the civil war in 1994, music became almost extinct. The Tutsis were too busy running from the Hutus to be able to make or listen to any kind of music.

•Rwandan music has had many influences especially from the Congo, as well as Caribbean zouk and reggae.

Mozambique•The Chopi people are known for a unique kind of xylophone called mbila. The mbila has nineteen keys on it and up to eight can be played at one time.

•Ensembles have around ten xylophones of four different sizes and accompany ceremonial dances with songs called ngomi which have an overture and ten movements of different tempos and styles.

•The ensemble leader is the poet, composer, conductor,

and performer. They create a text and improvise a melody based on the Chopi language.

•Marrabenta is the best-known form of music from Mozambique. This style was meant for dancing. It was born as a mixture of European music played on instruments made out of tin cans and pieces of wood. Lyrics were in their original language.

•By the time independence came in 1975, Mozambican bands had abandoned their previous attempts at European-style music, and began making new forms that were influenced by countries like Zaire and Zimbabwe.

Mozambique

•Zulu music was mostly influenced by Dutch folk styles, along with French and German influences. Zydeco-type string bands led by a concertina were popular. American country music made it’s way in there as well.

South Africa

Namibia

•Folk music emulated animal sounds, and accompanied storytelling or dancing. The Namaqu people use various strings, flutes and

drums, while the Bantu people added marimba, gourds and horn trumpets.

•The Herero people of Namibia are known for their traditional form of music called Oviritje, popularly known as Konsert. This is a

praise and worship type of music that is becoming more modern and very popular around the country.

 •Hikwa is a combination of hip hop and kwaito. Kwaito songs are characterized by singing, chant, rhythmic-screaming, repetitive

verses and chorus, and occasional rapping.

•The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards and the Namibian Music Awards are two separate shows that give out annual

awards at shows.

Mali•The common instruments of the Maninka jeli (musician) ensemble are the: kora: a 21-24 string lute-harp bala: a slat idiophone, similar to a xylophone n'goni: a 4-7 string lute jeli dununba: a large drum hung from one shoulder and played with a curved stick in one hand and a bell in the other n'taman: a tension drum, often called a talking

drum tabale: a tall conga-shaped drum played with long, thin flexible sticks

•The traditional music of the Bamana people is played by the percussion instruments: fileh: one-half hand drum gita: bowl with seeds or cowrie shells attached to

give a clacking sound when moved karignyen: metal scraper bonkolo drum: played with one open hand and a thin bamboo stick kunanfa: large bowl drum covered by a cowskin and played with the open hands

•Maninka music incorporates major and minor scales, as well as some semi-tone scales used

in different regions.

•The traditional form of the jenbe ensemble, there is one jenbe soloist. A jenbe soloist plays the pattern throughout any one piece of music as well as the addition of the jeli dununba, and the n'taman.

•The Music of Mali is dominated by forms from the ancient Mande Empire. The musicians are called jeli.