Take A Musical

Safari To Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LWUAQsB4AY
 Characteristics of Africa
2nd largest continent with a population of
approximately 700 million people
Geography – deserts (Sahara), rain forest
jungles, mountains, rivers & lakes, & the
Great Rift Valley
Mostly tropical climate
Animals – elephants, gorillas,
chimpanzees, monkeys, crocodiles,
rhinoceroses, giraffes, and lions
Over 800 languages and cultures
 African Music

Call & Response

– generation to generation
Alternates between a soloist and a
group
Call (leader) changes and the
response (group) remains the same
Purpose of Music
Recreation
- singing, dancing, drumming, and
concerts
Rituals & Ceremonies
– celebrating

Occupational
- work songs, preparing food
 Social
- child care, story telling, social
games, and parties
Language
- drumming and signaling are
used to send messages
Gives birth to many forms of music
Jazz & Rock

African Musical style and practice

Taught and learned orally
Sing & play together easily (teamwork)
- rhythmic singing & clapping children’s
games
Most common form
- call & response
 Texture is complementary
- many rhythms occurring at the same time
Syncopation – off-beat phrasing
Music is part of most activities
- music and movement are linked to each
other
Buzzy tone quality
 History of Slavery & Music
 African music existed in simple and complex forms thousands of years
before white settlers came to the country.
 Each song had a purpose and was associated with tradition, events, etc.
 African musical beats and styles have vastly influenced music in the U.S.
 By 1620s, African people had been sold to white men in Jamestown.
 By 1980s, entire economy of what would become the United States
depended entirely upon slave work. Over 600,000 of these people were
native Africans who had arrived to the “New World” via ship.
 Slave music was outlawed after it was discovered that the slaves could
communicate through their music; fear of uprising.
 English was later adapted to many of the slave songs, creating the
foundation for what we call “spirituals,” which were mostly about
freedom.
 End of 1800s: work songs & spirituals begin to evolve into other forms of
music, eventually resulting in ragtime, soul, rhythm & blues, rock and roll,
scat, jazz, reggae, and rap.
 New perspectives on tempo, syncopation, and improvisation =
characteristic “American music” sound known worldwide today.   
 History of Spirituals
 Spirituals & Work Songs: (a.k.a. “chain gang” songs)
Expression and emotional support.
 The Underground Railroad: Helped slaves escape to “free”
country; songs of this period include “Wade in the Water,”
“Gospel Train,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
 Slavery was abolished in 1865; worship in churches with roots
in African traditions.
 1925-1985: Spirituals considered traditional songs –
performed at church, on stage, movies, theater, etc. 1930s –
nightclubs; 1950s-60s – Civil Rights (“This Little Light of
Mine”)
 First Dr. Martin Luther King Day celebrated in 1985, became
a national holiday in 1992. Since first celebration of holiday,
African American spirituals have been considered pieces of
American heritage.
African Instruments

Classified into these categories

- Idiophones (main parts vibrate)
- Membranophones (membrane vibrates)
- Chordophones (Strings vibrate)
- Aerophones (Blow into instrument)
 Aerophones

Musical instruments which produce their sound by

using air as the principal vibrating factor: air may
be unconfined by the instrument or enclosed
within a tube

Flute, Horn Trumpet, Pan Pipes, Side Blow Ho

 Idiophones
Musical instruments which produce sound from
their own substance: can be struck, plucked,
blown, or vibrated by friction

Rattles, Bells, Sistram, Thumb Piano, Xyloph

 Membranophones

Musical instruments which produce sound

from tightly stretched membranes, either
struck or 'singing'
Drums and Tamborine
 Chordophones

Musical instruments which produce sound by

means of strings stretched from one point to
another

Berimbau, Harps, Lute, Ly

 African Drums
Widely Used in African Music
-Communication & Celebration
Language of the drum takes years of
practice

Master Drummer holds the most

honored position in African
societies
 Bata Drum
Nigeria
Two headed drum played with both hands
or struck with a flexible piece of leather
Part of the religious life of some of the
Yoruba people

Characteristics
 Syncopation
Type of rhythm in which stressed sounds occur
between beats instead of on beats.

Example:
 Messages in Sound
Master Drummer
- Children begin studying to become master drummers at a very
early age. Has the highest position in African societies

African Proverb
- Wise sayings passed down from generation to generation.
Important in many parts of Africa

Griot
- Talking regional newspaper. Wandering musician/storyteller
responsible for passing along news about what has happened in the
community.
 Harmony
Two or more pitches sounding at the same time
 African Art & Culture

Museum of African Art

 Resources
http://echarry.web.wesleyan.edu/africother.html

http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/africasong.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~debrajet/list.html

http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/afrst/outreach/k-12.html

http://www.thepothole.com/soukous/

http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts//509.html

http://wus.africaonline.com/AfricaOnline/music/

http://wus.africaonline.com/AfricaOnline/music/Safrica.html