AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
is a vast continent and its
regionsThe continent of Africa can be conceptually subdivided into a number of regions or subregions.-Directional approach:One common approach categorises Africa directionally, e.g., by cardinal direction :...
and
nations have distinct musical traditions. Most importantly, the
music of north Africa (red region on map) has a different history from that of
Sub-Saharan African music.
- North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
is the seat of the Mediterranean culture that built EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
and CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
before being ruled successively by Greeks, Romans and Goths and then becoming the MaghrebThe Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the...
of the Arab worldThe Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast...
. Like the musical genres of the Nile Valley and the Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
(sky-blue and dark green region on map), its music has close ties with Middle Eastern musicThe music of the Middle East and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of Greece and India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...
.
- East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and the offshore islands in the Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
(light green regions on map) have been slightly influenced by Arabic music and also by the music of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and, developed over several eras, it remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
, IndonesiaThe music of Indonesia demonstrates its cultural diversity, every one of the 17,508 islands having its own cultural and artistic history and character. This results in hundreds of different forms of music, which often accompanies dance and theater...
and PolynesiaPolynesia is a group of island chains spread across much of the Pacific Ocean, and includes many countries and territories. Internationally, Polynesian music is mostly associated with twinkling guitars and grass skirts, Hawaiian hula and other tourist-friendly forms of music...
. However, the region's indigenous musical traditions are primarily in the mainstream of the sub-Saharan Niger Congo-speaking peoples.
- Southern
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
, CentralCentral Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
and West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
(brown, dark blue and yellow regions on map) are similarly in the broad sub-Saharan musical tradition, but draw their ancillary influences from Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
and North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. The music and dance forms of the African diasporaThe African Diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world - predominantly to the Americas, then later to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe....
, including African American musicAfrican-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of music and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
and many CaribbeanThe music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences. Some of the styles to gain wide popularity outside of the Caribbean include reggae, zouk, salsa, calypso, reggaeton and punta.Caribbean, Central American...
and Latin American musicLatin American music is the music of all countries in Latin America and comes in many varieties. Latin America is home to musical styles such as the simple, rural conjunto music of northern Mexico, the sophisticated habanera of Cuba, the rhythmic sounds of the Puerto Rican plena, the symphonies of...
genres like rumbaRumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance. It originates in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Spanish colonizers and of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves. It is secular, with no religious connections...
and salsaSalsa music is a diverse and predominantly Cuban Caribbean genre that is popular across Latin America and among Latinos abroad that was brought to international fame by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the term has been used to describe most any...
, were founded to varying degrees on the music of African slavesThe slave trade in Africa existed for thousands of years. The first main route passed through the Sahara, tying in to the Arab slave trade. After the European Age of Exploration, African slaves became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, Western conception of slavery as...
, which has in turn influenced African popular musicAfrican popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from...
.
North African music
The music of northern Africa has a considerable range, from the
music of ancient EgyptThe music of Egypt has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians credited one of their Gods Thoth with the invention of music, which Osiris in turn used as part of his effort to civilize the world...
to the
BerberThe Berbers are an ethnic group in North and West Africa. Their music is widely varying across the area they inhabit, but is best known for its place in Moroccan music, the popular Kabylian and chawi music of Algeria and the widespread Tuareg music of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Niger and...
and the Tuareg music of the desert nomads. The region's art music has for centuries followed the outline of Arab and
Andalusian classical musicAndalusian classical music is a style of Arabic music found across North Africa, though it evolved out of the music of Andalusia between the 9th and 15th centuries, during a period known as Al-Andalus....
: its popular contemporary genres include the
AlgerianAlgerian music is virtually synonymous with raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on...
RaïRaï is a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture...
. For further details see:
Music of EgyptThe music of Egypt has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians credited one of their Gods Thoth with the invention of music, which Osiris in turn used as part of his effort to civilize the world...
,
Music of LibyaLibya is a North African country. Arabs are the most populous ethnic group and various kinds of Arab music are popular such as Andalusi music, locally known as Ma'luf, Chabi and Arab classical music....
,
Music of TunisiaTunisia is a North African country with a predominantly Arabic-speaking population. The country is best-known for malouf, a kind of music imported from Andalusia after the Spanish conquest in the 15th century...
,
Music of AlgeriaAlgerian music is virtually synonymous with raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on...
,
Music of MoroccoThe music of Morocco ranges and differs according to the various areas of the country.-Andalusian classical music:Morocco is home to Andalusian classical music that is found throughout North Africa. It probably evolved under the Moors in Cordoba, and the Persian-born musician Ziryab is usually...
and
Music of MauritaniaThe music of Mauritania comes predominently from the country's largest ethnic group: the Moors. In Moorish society musicians occupy the lowest caste, iggawin. Musicians from this caste used song to praise successful warriors as well as their patrons. Iggawin also had the traditional role of...
.
With these may be grouped the
music of SudanSudan has a rich and unique musical culture that has been through chronic instability and repression during the modern history of Sudan.Beginning with the imposition of strict sharia law in 1989, many of the country's most prominent musicians and poets, like poets Mahjoub Sharif, were imprisoned...
and of the Horn of Africa, including the
music of EritreaEritrea is a Northeast African country. Perhaps the most famous Eritrean musicians in history are Eng. Asghedom W.Micheal,Bereket Mengisteab, Yemane Baria & Ato Abirha Segid, some of whose music were banned by the Ethiopian government in the 1970s. Also of note is Bereket Mengistab, who has had a...
,
EthiopiaThe music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of Ethiopia's ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. However, Ethiopian religious music also has an...
,
DjiboutiThe music of Djibouti includes various styles which are the product of a number of musical influences. Djibouti is a small African country on the Horn of Africa, which has had contributing to the development of local music styles and preferences...
and
SomaliaSomalia has the distinction of being one of only a handful of countries in Africa that are composed almost entirely of one ethnic group, the Somalis. Traditional bands like Waaberi and Horseed have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, like Ahmed Cali Cigal, Maryam Mursal, have...
.
Sub-Saharan music
African
traditional musicTraditional music is the term now used in the terminology of Grammy Awards, for what used to be called "folk music". Full details of this change can be found in the article World music terminology...
is frequently functional in nature. Performances may be long and often involve the participation of the audience. There are, for example, many different kinds of
work songA work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s, songs accompanying
childbirthChildbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
,
marriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
,
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and political activities, music to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good spirits, the dead and the ancestors. None of this is performed outside its intended social context and much of it is associated with a particular dance. Some of it, performed by professional musicians, is
sacral musicReligious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
or ceremonial and courtly music performed at royal courts.
The emphasis upon communal singing in Sub-Saharan African music has, as in Europe and Oceania, led to the development of
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches, or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
and the homophonic texture. Formally, a lot of music uses a
call and responseIn music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
structure with elaborate improvisation,
variationIn music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition: reiteration with changes. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre or orchestration.-Variation form:...
and development based on rhythmic cycles of varying lengths, of
backbeatThe beat is the basic time unit of music, the pulse of the mensural level, also known as the beat level. However, since the term is in popular use, it often connotes the tempo of a piece or a particular sequence of individual beats, the meter, rhythm or groove...
and
syncopationIn music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be stressed...
. Musically it may be divided into four regions:
- The eastern region includes the music of Uganda
The African country of Uganda has had a turbulent history in the 20th century, and music has been an integral part of the nation's development.The first form of music genre in Uganda was kadongo kamu ....
, KenyaOut of all the African countries, Kenya has perhaps one of the most diverse assortment of popular music forms, in addition to multiple types of folk music based on the variety over 40 regional languages....
, RwandaThe music of Rwanda largely consists of African folk music sung by its people.Traditional music and dance are taught in "amatorero" dance groups, which are to be found across the entire country. The most famous of those is Ballet National Urukerereza, which was created in the early 1970s to...
, BurundiBurundi is a Central African nation that is closely linked with Rwanda, geographically, historically and culturally. Internationally, the country has produced the music group Master Drummers of Burundi, the former royal percussionists....
, TanzaniaThe music of Tanzania stretches from traditional African music to the string-based taarab to a distinctive hip hop known as bongo flava.-National anthem:...
, MalawiMalawi is a country in Southern Africa, inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic groups; the Chewa being the single largest group. Malawians have long been travelers, and as a result their music has spread across the African continent...
, MozambiqueThe native folk music of Mozambique has been highly influenced by Portuguese forms. The most popular style of modern dance music is marrabenta. Mozambican music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil, like maxixe , and Cuban music like Mozambique.Culture was an integral part of the...
and ZimbabweZimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries. An annual Zimbabwe Music Festival is held each year in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. People from all over the world attend...
as well as the islands of MadagascarThe music of Madagascar evinces a blend of cultural influences and can be roughly divided into three categories: traditional, contemporary, and popular music.-Traditional Instruments:...
, the Seychelles, MauritiusThe music of Mauritius is known for sega music, alongside the nearby Réunion island, though reggae, soukous and other genres are also popular. Sega is an evolved form of polka and quadrilles from Europe, fused with local rhythms and instruments...
and Comor.
- The southern region includes the music of South Africa
The South African music scene includes both popular and folk forms. Pop styles are based on two major sources, Zulu isicathamiya singing and harmonic mbaqanga...
, LesothoLesotho is a Southern African nation surrounded entirely by South Africa. The largest ethnic group is the Basotho. The Basotho culture is immersed in musical traditions.-National Anthem:The national anthem of Lesotho is "Lesotho Fatse La Bontata Rona"...
, Swaziland, BotswanaBotswana is an African country made up of numerous ethnic groups, though the Batswana are the most numerous. Music is an omnipresent part of Botswana culture, and include popular and folk forms. Batswana church choirs are common across the country. Music education is an integral part of the...
, NamibiaThe music of Namibia boasts a number of folk styles, as well as pop, rock, reggae, jazz, house and hip hop. The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards and the Namibian Music Awards are two separate institutions that give out annual awards at shows on December 2 and May 6 respectively...
and AngolaThe music of Angola has been shaped both by wider musical trends and by the political history of the country. In the 20th century, Angola has been wracked by violence and political instability. Its musicians have been oppressed by government forces, both during the period of Portuguese...
.
- The central region includes the music of Chad
Chad is an ethnically diverse Central African country. Each of its regions has its own unique varieties of music and dance. The Fulani people, for example, use single-reeded flutes, while the ancient griot tradition uses five-string kinde and various kinds of horns, and the Tibesti region uses...
, the Central African RepublicThe music of the Central African Republic includes many different forms. Western rock and pop music, as well as Afrobeat, soukous and other genres have become popular nation-wide. The sanza is a popular instrument....
, the Democratic Republic of the CongoDescribing the music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, due to vagaries surrounding the meanings of various terms. The country itself was formerly called Zaire and is now sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo...
and ZambiaThe music of Zambia has a rich heritage which falls roughly into three categories: traditional, popular and Christian.- Traditional music :Traditional Zambian music is rooted in the beliefs and practices of Zambia's various ethnic groups and has suffered some decline in the last three decades...
, including Pygmy musicThe Pygmies are a broad group of people who live in Central Africa, especially in Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Music is an important part of Pygmy life, and casual performances take place during many of the day's events...
.
- The western region includes the music of Senegal
Senegal's musical heritage is better known than that of most African countries, due to the popularity of mbalax, which is a form of Wolof percussive music; it has been popularized by Youssou N'Dour...
and the GambiaThe Gambia is a West African country closely linked musically with its neighbor, Senegal. Griots, , a kind of hereditary praise-singer, are common throughout the region, a legacy of the ancient Mande Empire...
, of GuineaGuinea is a West African nation, composed of several ethnic groups. Of these, the music of the Mande has been particularly popular, and internationally well-known, even outside of West Africa and the Mande of Mali....
and Guinea-BissauThe music of Guinea-Bissau is usually associated with the polyrhythmic gumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil unrest and a small size have combined over the years to keep gumbe, and other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist African...
, Sierra LeoneSierra Leone's music is a mixture of native and French influences. Palm wine is representative, and is played by an acoustic guitar with percussion in countries throughout coastal East Africa...
and LiberiaThe music of Liberia involves several different genres. Liberia is a West African country. Its musical heritage includes several important genres of pop derived from neighbors like Ghana and Nigeria. Liberia also boasts an array of indigenous folk music, Christian music and influences from its...
, of the inland plains of MaliThe Music of Mali is dominated by forms derived from the ancient Mande Empire. The Mande people make up most of the country's population, and their musicians, professional performers called jeliw , have produced a vibrant popular music scene alongside traditional folk music...
, NigerThe music of Niger has developed from the musical traditions of a mix of ethnic groups.-Traditional musical styles:Hausa, Beriberi, Songhai, Djerma, Dendi, Fula, Wodaabe, and Tuareg traditions, most of which existed quite independently in the colonial period, have begun to form a mixture of styles...
and Burkina FasoBurkina Faso is home to some 60 different ethnic groups, each with their own variety of folk music. The country has produced very little popular music compared to its neighbors, which includes African musical giants like Nigeria and the Ivory Coast...
, the coastal nations of Cote d'Ivoire-Traditional music:Each of the more than sixty ethnic groups of Côte d'Ivoire have their own folk music traditions, most showing strong vocal polyphony , especially the Baoulé. Talking drums are also common, especially among the Appollo, who are also known for their abissa purification dance, part...
, GhanaGhana has many varied styles of traditional and modern music, due to its vibrant ethnic groups and geographic position in West Africa, enjoying cosmopolitan cultures...
, TogoTogo has produced a number of internationally known popular entertainers including King Mensah, Bella Bellow and Jimi Hope. The country has a diverse folk tradition, with more than forty ethnic groups, each with their own styles....
, BeninBenin has played an important role in the African music scene, producing one of the biggest stars to come out of the continent in Angélique Kidjo. Post-independence, the country was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene, where native folk music combined with Ghanaian highlife, French...
, NigeriaThe music of Nigeria includes many kinds of Folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs...
, CameroonThe best-known Music of Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and various...
, GabonGabon is an African country whose musical output is little-known in comparison with regional giants like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The country boasts an array of folk styles, as well as pop stars like Patience Dabany...
and the the Republic of the CongoThe Republic of the Congo is an African nation with close musical ties to its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
as well as islands such as Sao Tome and PrincipeSão Tomé and Príncipe is an island country off the coast of Africa. Culturally, the people are African but have been highly influenced by the Portuguese rulers of the islands....
.
Musical instruments
Besides using the voice, which has been developed to use various techniques such as complex
melismaMelisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic , where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.Music of ancient cultures used...
and yodel, a wide array of
musical instrumentA musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making the sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture...
s are used. African musical instruments include a wide array of drums,
slit gongA Slit gong, sometimes also called "slit drum", is a log drum used throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. It is usually called a boungu in Africa. A whole log is hollowed out through a narrow slit running the length of the log. Slit gong players use padded sticks to produce a range of...
s,
rattleRattle may mean:* Rattle * RATTLE magazine, an American poetry journal* Bird-scaring rattle, a Slovene device used to drive birds off vineyards and a folk instrument* Ratchet , a percussion instrument* Death rattle...
s, double bells as well as melodic instruments like
string instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola,...
s, (
musical bowThe musical bow is a simple string musical instrument consisting of a string supported by a flexible string bearer, usually made out of wood. Often, it is a normal archery bow used for music rather than as a weapon....
s, different types of
harpA harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. As many other non-percussion instruments, it can also be used as a percussion instrument. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar;...
s and harp-like instruments like the
KoraThe kora is a 21-string harp-lute used extensively by peoples in West Africa.-Description:A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge like a lute or guitar...
as well as
fiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, including the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
s), many types of
xylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Slovakia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch of the musical scale...
and lamellophone such as the
mbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
and different types of
wind instrumentA wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
like
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s and
trumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
s.
Drums used in African traditional music include tama talking drums,
bougarabouA Bougarabou is a set of drums commonly used in West Africa. The drums are single headed , with an elongated goblet or roughly conical shape, usually placed on a single stand, and most commonly played in sets of three to four.Until the last few decades the Bougarabou was played only one at a time,...
and
djembeA djembe also known as djimbe, jenbe, jymbe, jembe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered hand drum shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands...
in
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
,
water drumWater drums are a category of membranophone characterized by the filling of the drum chamber with some amount of water to create a unique sound. Water drums are common in Native American music, and in some forms of African and Southeast Asian music....
s in
CentralCentral Africa is a core region of the African continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
and West Africa, and the different types of ngoma drums (or engoma) in Central and
Southern AfricaSouthern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
. Other percussion instruments include many rattles and shakers, such as the
kosikaThe Kosika is a simple Ghanese percussion instrument consisting of two small gourds filled with beans and connected by a string. One gourd is held in the hand and the other is swung from side-to-side around the hand, creating a "clack" upon impact...
,
rainstickA rainstick is a long, hollow tube which is filled with small baubles such as beads or beans and has small pins or thorns arranged helically on its inside surface. When the stick is upended, the beads fall to the other end of the tube, making a sound reminiscent of a rainstorm as they bounce off...
, bells and woodsticks.
Relationship to language
Many African languages are tonal languages, leading to a close connection between music and language in many African cultures. In singing, the tonal pattern or the text puts some constraints on the melodic patterns. On the other hand, in instrumental music a native speaker of a language can often perceive a text or texts in the music. This effect also forms the basis of
drum languagesDeveloped and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions.-Pressure drum:...
(talking drums).
Popular music
African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of popular music like
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
,
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
,
salsaSalsa music is a diverse and predominantly Cuban Caribbean genre that is popular across Latin America and among Latinos abroad that was brought to international fame by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the term has been used to describe most any...
and rumba derive to varying degrees from musical traditions from Africa, taken to the Americas by African slaves. These rhythms and sounds have subsequently been adapted by newer genres like
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
,
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
. Likewise, African popular music has adopted elements, particularly the musical instruments and
recording studioA recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally, the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties...
techniques of western music. African music is often determined by the region that it is practiced in.
Influence in American music
African music has been a major factor in the shaping of what we know today as
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
. These styles have all borrowed from African rhythms and sounds, brought over the Atlantic ocean by slaves.
Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter. He entered the public consciousness in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, along with longtime artistic partner Art Garfunkel. Simon solely wrote most of duo's songs, including such memorable songs as "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer",...
, on his album "
GracelandGraceland is an album released by Paul Simon in 1986. It was a hit in the UK topping the charts at #1. It also reached #3 in the US. The album won the Album of the Year Grammy award, while the title song won the Record of the Year Grammy award, for 1986 and 1987 respectively. The title track was...
" has used African bands and music, especially Ladysmith Black Mombazo along with his own lyrics.
As the rise of rock'n'roll music is often credited as having begun with 1940s blues music, and with so many genres having branched off from rock - the myriad subgenres of
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States...
,
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
,
pop musicPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
and many more - it can be argued that African music has been at the root of a very significant portion of all contemporary music.
See also
- Paul Berliner
Paul Berliner is a twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvisational systems. He is best known for his popular ethnomusicology book on the Zimbabwean mbira, The Soul of Mbira: music and traditions of the Shona people of...
- Gerhard Kubik
Born in Vienna on December 10th, 1934, Gerhard Kubik is a music ethnologist from the University of Vienna.Kubik studied ethnology, musicology and African languages at the University of Vienna. He published his doctoral dissertation in 1971 and achieved habilitation in 1980...
- International Library of African Music
The International Library of African Music is an organization dedicated to the preservation and study of African music. It is seated in Grahamstown, South Africa and is closely affiliated with Rhodes University....
- Ashenafi Kebede
Ashenafi Kebede was an Ethiopian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist, historical musicologist, music educator, novelist, and poet....
- African popular music
African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from...
- List of African guitarists
External links