African music

Today I will be talking about African music, right from the roots of tradition, all the way up to how the old ways have impacted today's music and also the way in which people act in today's society.

African music comes from tribal chants, and every tribe had a different chant to differentiate them from each other. I think African folk music pretty much refers to western African music, where the old cultures are very much still a common practice, the chants could refer to one of a mixture of things like,

Chanting to the gods to thank for the crops or pray for a better harvest, but sometimes it is because of ceremonies like coming of age or celebrations such as births, deaths, weddings etc.

Music is very much a way of life for the tribal parts of Africa as they believe in feeling rhythm and using your body and being at one with the earth, so essentially using all your body and your senses and natural rhythm in everything you do. 

Musical style is not really learned by individuals in this part of the world, it is very much passed down through the families, and traditional techniques within that particular family will be unique to them, these will then be passed down from generation to generation, Africa is all about tradition, rhythm and the basics in life as they have very little so they cherish all that they have.

 Village and folk music essentially means music of a local orientation for want of a better phrase, traditional folk music that we know of comes from the small Irish villages where the local people all got their instruments and played together, but no two villages no matter how close or far apart would ever play exactly the same style, as all villages are slightly different, So village A may play with a violin lead, where as village B may play with a banjo lead. So imagine the same in Africa but instead of violins and banjos its most likely vocal harmonies and percussion

There are many different regions within the different communities, which then gives space for many types and styles of music, although covering all of the different styles and regions would be quite difficult purely because of the vastness of the content.

Here is an example of just how large the different regions of Africa actually are, as you can see to cover all of Africa's music would take more than a blog. 

Here we have a set of of Djembe Drums, which are one of the main instruments used within most of the African communities, the reason why these are used so much, are for the beat and the sounds that one piece of percussion can provide, with the different ways of playing, not only with the drum itself, there is also the different extra pieces, known as ears, that can be added to the drum itself. Here is an example of a traditional Djembe being played, here you see the before mentioned ears, that make a shaker sound, this gives a more percussive sound to a performance.    Usually music was played by anyone in a community, but sometimes at specific ceremonies only 'Professional' Musicians were aloud to play, this was to ensure a performance was perfect for that occasion. Other than just physical instruments, the voice is one of the most powerful instruments used within all of the different cultures, it is often known as 'Talking drums' with the native language that is used, there is a percussive air to the way they speak, which leads them to be able to use this in there music, a lot like the vocal percussionist (beat box) of western music today. A few other instruments that are widely used are are things such as the lamellophone thumb piano or mbira, as you can see these are very basic, made from the ends of forks and some wood, with the added extra of a few bottle caps as well. The music of each African culture differs greatly, even the instruments do not stay the same from one 'tribe' to the next, this makes it a very full place of music, one thing that does stay the same throughout is the use of antiphony (call and response), this technique has been used for many years, this was a way of communication from person to person or even tribe to tribe. Not forgetting Dance, dance is to African people just as important as the music, here is an example of the musicianship and also the dance and showmanship that is put into a routine, this one though is a little exaggerated in comparison to what would usually be done, but this gives you the image in your head of how a traditional tribes would be. And please if you have a few minutes spare I Highly recommend watching this short documentary, showing a traditional African tribe, using every step and and every word as rhythm, it also shows how some traditional instruments are hand made from natural resources. Life has a rhythm, it is constantly moving. Reference list (top to bottom) Camilla Dodson , (2009), Photo of Djembe Drums [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.camillaproductions.com/instruments.html [Accessed 03 December 13]. Jeremy Chevrier. (2007). Traditional Djembe Playing in Senegal. [Online Video]. 04 April. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-5mwwjYvmg. [Accessed: 03 December 2013]. Matthias Materné , (2007), Regions of Africa [ONLINE]. Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Afrika_MO.jpg [Accessed 03 December 13]. Alex Weeks, (2005), Image of an Mbira Dzavadzimu, taken with an Olympus C-770 digital camera [ONLINE]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mbira_dzavadzimu.jpg [Accessed 03 December 13]. Daniel Arellano. (2009). Akwaaba Traditional African Drum and Dance Ensemble. [Online Video]. 08 December. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xQtpLU-NvI. [Accessed: 03 December 2013]. thomas roebers. (2010). FOLI (there is no movement without rhythm) . [Online Video]. 25 October. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVPLIuBy9CY&list=RD-xQtpLU-NvI. [Accessed: 03 December 2013].