Africa Ewe, Dagbamba, Shona, BaAka

Placing Africa Why is it misleading to consider the question—“Where is Africa’s beginning and end?”— as simple and straightforward. Musically, Africa spills over its geographic borders; people from Africa have always shaped world history. Why is the answer to another apparently straightforward question—“What music is African?”—also not so simple and clear-cut? The answer must go beyond merely considering music from the African continent, and music performed by people descended from Africans living in other parts of the world, the African diaspora—[“the breaking up and scattering of a people” -Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, p. 320]. “[M]usic-cultures are always changing and being shaped by many outside influences.” Music-cultures interact and influence each other, especially with the almost instantaneous global dissemination of music through electronic media.

Where is Africa? What are the two broad (geographic) zones of the African continent? the Maghrib, north of the Sahara Desert and sub-Saharan Africa These two geographical areas have not remained culturally and historically isolated. In spite of the uniqueness of these two areas, there has been much contact between the two, and also between these areas and outside regions/cultures. For example, “North Africa and the Horn of Africa have much in common with the Mediterranean and western Asia . . . Africa south of the Sahara has never been isolated from the Old World civilizations of Europe and Asia.”

When is an African? “In everyday circumstances, people in Africa do not usually think of themselves as ‘African’ [WOM citing Mphahele, 1962].” “Identity arises from local connections of gender, age, kinship, place, language, religion, and work. Ethnicity comes into play only in the presence of people from a different group. For example, one ‘becomes’ . . .” an ‘African’ only when among people from another continent, a ‘white’ when near to a ‘black,’ etc. [WOM citing Senghor, 1967] “Although physical appearance and genetic inheritance do not determine culture, the bogus concept of ‘race’ persists . . . These ethnic terms suggest relationships among people more than they mark essential characteristics of individuals.” “Africa is a psychic space, not just a physical place.” Africa has symbolic and psychological meaning to different people, in addition to being a physical (geographical) land. For example, people of African descent may view Africa as their ancestral homeland and place of empowerment, while “industrialized citizens of ‘information societies’” may view Africa as a “pastoral Eden or the impoverished third world.”

Generalizations About African Music Music-Making Events (1): “African music often happens in social situations where people’s primary goals are not artistic” (not art for art’s sake). CD 1:1 is an example of work music, that is, not a musical performance as such, but rather music that helps coordinate the efforts of the workers and lifts their spirits. Expression in Many Media (2) African music may also be associated with other expressive media (drama, dance, poetry, etc). “Music . . . is also enjoyed at other times for its own sake.” Musical Style (3) CD 1:1 illustrates European musical qualities—duple-metered melodies based on a seven-note major scale (G A B C D E F# G) and related Western harmony, as well as African stylistic features—polyrhythm, repetition, and improvisation. History (4) “The music-cultures of Europe, Asia and the Americas have strongly affected those in Africa.” This cultural interaction is seen, for example, in the incorporation of European musical features into the sounds of CD 1:1. Participation (5) Musicians in Africa often welcome participation in the music-making process. The postal workers feel free to join in with simple musical parts to create a sophisticated and satisfying music. Training (also define enculturation) (6) Music education or learning how to perform music in Africa depends on a “society-wide process of enculturation—that is, the process of learning one’s own culture gradually during childhood.” The music being so casually created by the postal clerks seems effortlessly “beautiful.” Beliefs and Values (7) “Often Africans conceive of music as a necessary and normal part of life . . . music fuses with other life processes.” The music of the postal workers accompanied and coordinated their work, but they didn’t quite think of themselves as musicians performing “music” in a “musical show.”

Assumptions About Music Culture A person from a concert-music-culture (most Westerners) is used to thinking of music as an event separate from daily life and often created as art for art’s sake. Such a person might plan to attend concerts of art music performed by musicians who may have had years of specialized conservatory training. An African going about his daily life, on the other hand, may make musical sounds with his community that are the voices of his ancestors.

Ewe/ Agbekor

The Ewe People History Important theme: triumph over adversity Exodus in the late 1600s from tyrannical king Agokoli Settled in new lands Each settlement independent from the other Extended families important Lineage, genealogy Rights and obligations Frequent military conflict with others Reputation as warriors

Religious Philosophy Sacred worldview “Se” is creator, important deity Certain substances have extraordinary power Ancestral spirits Doctrine of reincarnation Spirit world Significance of funeral ritual in sending off spirits Also have replaced war as appropriate occasion for war drumming such as Agbekor

Legends of Origin Hunters as spiritual leaders Monkey dance Forest as dangerous zone of supernatural forces Agbekor: History and Contemporary Performance

Agbekor as War Drumming Original occasion for performance of Agbekor was war Performed before combat to establish frame of mind Performed after battle to communicate what happened Meanings of Agbekor Signifies enjoying life Constitutes a sacred oath to the ancestors to fight bravely Compound word meaning “clear life” agbe means “life”; kor means “clear” The battle is over, danger is past, lives are clear Agbekor continued

Learning: Requires special training due to complexity Instruction includes demonstration and emulation Novices practice in seclusion for up to a year Requires gifted students Believe drummer may be reincarnated ancestor Protective ritual

Performing Organizations Cooperative societies have developed to preserve the Agbekor Mutual aid organizations, school and civic youth groups, theatrical performing companies Formal organizations with group identity, institutionalized procedures, recognized leaders Pooled resources to provide money and ceremony for funerals Anya Agbekor Society of Accra Value the traditional repertory as a cultural resource Since 1957 independence, Ghana has held competitions for amateur cultural groups provides social opportunities for young people

Features: In honor of a patron Performance area is a rectangle within a circle Drummers, dancers, and singers in formation Drummers at one end Dancers face the drummers Singers behind the dancers in a semicircle All drummers and most dancers were male Most singers were female A Performance at a Wake

Sequence of events Introductory section called adzo, short sections Summoning the spirits of departed ancestors Songs in free rhythm sung by dancers Main section, vutsotsoe, of fast drumming and fast dance Several dance selections Another section, adzokpi, of social dancing and individualistic display Processional section with slow drumming Up-tempo section Break from dancing during which water/libation is poured on the ground, asking the ancestors to drink More sections of group figures and individualistic display Final adzokpi section for elders, patrons, dignitaries to dance while dancers kneel out of respect Follows a pattern, but not rigidly formalized Sequence of Events/Liturgy

The gankogui (bell) Repeated phrase One beat serves as landmark Tempo, Pulsation, and Time-Feels Tempo remains steady Time-feels of four-feel beats and six-feel beats Music of the Drum Ensemble The axatse Dried gourd covered with net strung with seeds Several played at once Contributes to the ensemble’s energy The kaganu Articulates off-beats Other drums Kidi Kloboto Totodzi Playing techniques Bounces Presses Music of the Percussion Ensemble

Drum Language Drum phrases often carry unspoken word Meaning is secret and restricted Themes of courage and service Songs Texts Subject of war Inherited from the past Power derives from association with the ancestors Structural Features Song leader and singing group in call-and-response Tonal system derives from human singing voice Pitch areas rather than precise pitch points Melodic motion follows speech tones Songs add another layer to rhythm Listening examples Slow-paced songs Adzo songs rhythmically free longer texts Fast-paced songs

A Drummer of Dagbon

A Drummer of Dagbon The Dagbamba .Southern savannah of western Africa (Ghana) .Performers are lunsi (singular: luna) The Drums The gungon Cylindrical, carved drum with snare on each end, shoulder strap The luna Hourglass shape, leather cords squeezed between drumheads Pressure on cords changes the pitch of the tones Closely imitates Dagbanli, the spoken language Musicians are also storytellers Dagbon

Listening example “Nag Biegu” (“Ferocious Wild Bull”) Example of a salima (praise name dance) Two-part or verse-chorus form .Vocalists sing praise .Drummers punctuate phrases A Praise Name Dance

Life Story: Abubakari Lunna “My Education in Drumming” His family, ancestral line Drumming heritage Drumming training was handled by his family Schooling Learning drumming through oral tradition His father’s way of teaching The teaching master Respect for father and teacher Life Stories

Shona

The Shona who live in present-day Zimbabwe, are among the sixty million Bantu-speaking people who predominate in central and southern Africa. “The Shona [have] become a more decentralized, agricultural people.” At the turn of the twentieth century English-speaking settlers imposed colonialism on the Shona area (former Rhodesia). As a result of this colonialism, many local people “came to doubt the [traditional] ways of their ancestors.” History

Mbira mbira tradition shows another way African music can transform a group of separate individuals into a participatory polyphonic community—meaning that the participants simultaneously create many (“poly”) sounds (“phonic”) or independent voices that collectively fit together to create the music. Mbira music helps connect the living with their ancestral spirits who can help and advise the living. These spirits can enter the body of a living person through possession trances.

Mbira The plucking of thin, long keys (“tongues”) produces the mbira’s tones. Since the keys of the instrument itself are plucked and vibrate to produce the tones, the instrument falls within the major classification of idiophone A Jew’s harp operates on a similar principle. The mbira is also called a linguaphone (from lingua or tongue) or a lamellaphone, a plucked idiophone. Other common names for the mbira are sansa and kalimba. Tuning (Chuning) The English term “tuning” or its modified form, chuning, refer broadly to the tonal qualities of the mbira including such aspects as sound projection, pitch level, and overtones.

Musical Components The main part, kushaura, is interwoven with a second part, kutsinhira. The interaction between these strikingly different melodies with their independent rhythms creates a richly multlayered (polyphonic) texture. At about 47 seconds another part, kutsinhira, enters that is distinctly independent, yet interlocked and interwoven with the opening part (kushaura) which continues to flow along. The music almost takes on the character of two different pieces of music being played at the same time, yet in spite of sounding very polymetric—that is, more than one metric grouping of beats occurring at the same time—the music sounds joined together through a subtle rhythmic undercurrent.

Mbira Constructions

BaAka

“The BaAka are one of several distinct ethnic groups who share certain physical, historical, cultural, and social features as well as adaptations to the natural world [WOM citing Turnbull, 1983].” Presently they are living in the forested areas of tropical central Africa (in the Central African Republic—locate this country on the map of Africa in WOM, p. 68.) These groups are referred to collectively as the Forest People (rather than by the ethnocentric, Western label, “Pygmies,” which refers to their smaller physical size). In earlier times the Forest People lived in small, close-knit groups of family and friends easily obtaining necessary food through cooperative hunting and gathering. As hunting bands with only portable material possessions, they would move in accordance with the availability of food. “The social system was informal and flexible . . .”

Three Images of Forest People --Primal Eden: a simple, unspoiled, and innocent utopia whose “music-culture evokes cherished values—peace, naturalness, humor, community,” an “idyllic paradise” --Primitive Savage: primitive savagery, an “earlier stage” in evolution; a way of life associated with the Stone Age. Such a pejorative view is ethnocentric and dangerous, because it can become a rationalization for the exploitation and “modernization” of the “primitive” group by another group who feels superior. --Unique Culture in a Global Village: This view is the least distorted and recognizes the Forest People as nonliterate, nonindustrial, with an unspecialized division of labor and a cashless barter/subsistence economy, in a homogeneous society with small-scale, decentralized social institutions and egalitarian social relations.

Makala, a Mabo Sonh Setting: a performance event (eboka) of Mabo, “a type of music and dance associated with net hunting.” The purpose of presenting this song was partly ritual (preparation for hunting) and partly for the pleasure of learning new songs and dances. Form and Texture: “sections of singing, drumming and dancing. Each song has a theme, that is, a text and a tune. By simultaneously improvising melodic variations, singers create a rich polyphony.” Timbre: Men and women of all ages sing “Makala,” using a great variety of vocal timbres—chest and head voices (two types of similar vocal-tone qualities) to create a variety of tone colors from “tense or raspy to relaxed or breathy.” Yodeling also occurs (“quick shifts between head and chest voices”). “[D]rum parts are played on drum skins that cover ends of carved, cone-shaped logs.” Theme: The song’s melodic theme is often obscured by the rich, complex-sounding polyphony (many different melodies sounding simultaneously); improvisation on the melodic theme is encouraged. There is much use of vocables.

Cultural Meaning Their communal singing “wakes the forest,” and restores their balance with nature. As their yodels echo “off the trees, the forest physically becomes one of the musicians.” “Improvised, open-ended polyphony” reinforces cooperation and other communal values while, at the same time, helping individuals “develop identity within a group.” (Enacting Values and Creating Self) Individuals within the BaAka community stand out; the identity of composers of particular songs and repertories is known, specific teacher-student transmission of the music-culture occurs, and individual performers standout. (Autonomy Within Community)

Conclusion Media images of chaos and despair African music-cultures of stability, resourcefulness, and respect Agbekor studied and recreated with passionate respect African music-cultures strongly humanistic Construction and playing of musical instruments Spontaneous performances Music serves society Fosters group participation Cross-cultural considerations: sensitivity to limits and contradictions Benefits of musical analysis Attitude of respect Understanding of inner structure of music Map for appreciative listening and informed performance Raises important questions .Inquiry can be an active process of self development