Conga, When The Drum Speaks

When the Drum Speaks: The Rhetoric of Motion, Emotion, and Action in African Societies
Author(s): Michael J. K. Bokor

Source: Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric , Vol. 32, No. 2 (Spring 2014), pp.
165-194
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the International Society for the
History of Rhetoric
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/rh.2014.32.2.165
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
University of California Press and International Society for the History of Rhetoric are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Rhetorica: A Journal of the
History of Rhetoric
This content downloaded from

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Michael J. K. Bokor
When the Drum Speaks: the Rhetoric

of Motion, Emotion, and Action
in African Societies
Abstract: This article explores the instrumentality of traditional
African drums in influencing human behavior, and debunks view-
points held by some critics that these drums are mere instru-
ments for entertainment, voodoo, or rituals. It argues that as cul-
tural artifacts, the drums are a primal symbol (a speech surro-
gate form qualified as drum language) used for rhetorical pur-
poses to influence social behavior, to generate awareness, and to
prompt responses for the realization of personhood and the for-
mation of group identity. This ascription of rhetorical function-
ality to the African drum-dance culture provides interesting in-
sights into the nature of rhetorical performance in the non-Western
world.
Keywords: African drum dance, drum language, non-western rhet-

oric, war songs, fontomfrom, kpanlogo, traditional drum culture
“If you are such a competent dancer, the drummer can have a
conversation with you.”
African Proverb
Introduction
cholars have investigated drumming and dancing in

S Africa as an important socio-cultural phenomenon; but
they have paid little attention to the influence of drum
Rhetorica, Vol. XXXII, Issue 2, pp. 165–194, ISSN 0734-8584, electronic ISSN 1533-
8541. ©2014 by The International Society for the History of Rhetoric. All rights re-
served. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article
content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website,
at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/RH.2014.32.2.165.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
166 RHETORICA
language on the practice of non-Western rhetoric.1 Some have often

regarded the drums (membranophones) as cultural artifacts that are
used for entertainment and voodoo (or religious and social rituals).
To them, drum rhythms are nothing more than an impetus for the
celebration of life at that level. This impression doesn’t help us ap-
preciate the deep-seated rhetorical functions that the drums perform.
I argue that the drum-dance enactment is a primal symbol that serves
important rhetorical purposes—to influence the people’s psychoso-
cial behavior, to generate public awareness, and to prompt responses
for the realization of personhood and the formation of group identity
in the various communities.
Functioning as a speech surrogate form, drum language com-
prises coded rhythmic messages, which is the impetus for stirring
up emotions in the people and rousing them for action in the par-
ticular rhetorical situation that necessitates the use of drums. My
main argument, then, is that the drum rhythms are highly developed
mechanisms for creating meaning to shape both personal and group
behavior in traditional African societies. The ascription of rhetori-
cal functionality to drum language raises several interesting ques-
tions about the nature of rhetorical performance in traditional (non-
Western) African communities, the agents and mechanisms of the
rhetoric, and the processes through which innovative elements in
the drum-dance cultures gain acceptance and authenticity as such.
The tradition of drum language is still alive.
Before proceeding any further, I want to clarify the main issue
around which my discussion is woven. Controversy exists among
linguists on whether drum beats qualify as language. Arguing from
the traditionalist perspective on what constitutes language, some lin-
guists (e.g., Bolton) insist that the concept of language traditionally
applies only to human speech habits.2 Bolton maintains that only
human speech (oral or written texts) should qualify as language, and
proposes 16 principles (e.g., arbitrariness, dualism, productivity, and
discreteness) that characterize such a language. He does not accept
“body language” (or “kinesics” as he calls it) as language and in-
stead refers to it as a form of human communication. Proponents
of Bolton’s perspective opine that drum rhythm may be nothing
1
J. H. K. Nketia, “Traditional Music of the Ga People,” Universitas 3.3 (1958):21–
27; J. H. K. Nketia, The Music of Africa (New York: W.W. Norton, 1974):55; W. Anku,
“Structural Set Analysis of African Music,” Adowa 1 (Legon, Ghana: Soundstage
Production, 1992):25.
2
W. F. Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English (New York:
Random House, 1982):4–5.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
When the Drum Speaks 167
more than communication because language differs from communica-

tion. I acknowledge this language-communication dichotomy but will
not discuss it. I note, however, that despite the traditionalist stance
on what constitutes language, it cannot be denied that drum beats
constitute language.3 As Crystal explains, drum language is accept-
able in linguistics as “a term used to characterize a type of language
in which a drum is used to simulate selected features of speech.”4
Supporting Crystal’s stance, Jahn observes that “drum language
is the immediate and natural reproduction of speech; it is a ‘script’
intelligible to every trained person.”5 McWhorter also says that “The
drum language is not ordinary conversation, but a poetic, formu-
laic level of speech.”6 To Rothenbuhler and Coman, language in-
cludes information on signaling devices (e.g., fire, smoke, blinker,
semaphore), signal codes (e.g., drum language, flag codes, Morse
code), and cryptography.7 Aitchison also affirms that the concept of
language can be transferred to other media such as drum beats, sign
language, or writing.8 She adds that “A ‘talking drum’ reproduces
the tones and rhythms of spoken language. Ten or more syllables of
‘drum language’ may be needed to express unambiguously a drum
language.” Ethnomusicologists agree with this perspective.9 If we in-
fer from the foregoing viewpoints that language is a system of signs,
symbols, gestures, or rules that are used for communication, then, we
can agree with the above-referenced linguists that drum rhythm is
a form of language. I will, therefore, use the terminology to establish
3
J. Jahn, Muntu: African Culture and the Western World (New York: Grove/Atlantic,
1990):188; J. Aitchison, The Language of the Web: The Power and Problem of Words—
1996 BBC Reith Lectures (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996):30–31; T.
Klower, The Joy of Drumming: Drums & Percussion Instruments from Around the World
(Amsterdam, Holland: Binkey Kok, 1997); E. W. Rothenbuhler and M. Coman, eds.,
Media Anthropology (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000):40; D. Crystal, A Dictionary of
Linguistics & Phonetics 5th ed., (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003):151; E. Friedland, Bass
Grooves: Develop Your Groove and Play Like the Pros—In Any Style (San Francisco: CA:
Blackbeat, 2004).
4
Crystal, cited in n.3 above.
5
Jahn, cited in n.3 above.
6
J. H. McWhorter, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music
and Why We Should, Like, Care (New York: Penguin, 2003):7.
7
Rothenbuhler and Coman, cited in n.3 above.
8
Aitchison, cited in n.3 above.
9
J. H. K. Nketia, “Traditional Music of the Ga People,” Universitas 3.3 (1958):31;
J. H. K. Nketia, Drumming in Akan Communities of Ghana (New York: Thomas Nelson,
1963):23; J. H. K. Nketia, The Music of Africa, (New York: W.W. Norton, 1974):21; W.
Anku, “Structural Set Analysis of African Music,” Adowa 1 (Legon, Ghana: Sound-
stage Production, 1992):15.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
168 RHETORICA
that drum language is a culture-specific symbolizing system that is

meaningful to those for whom it is enunciated and regarded as the
provenience of the drum-dance culture.
I will examine the rhetorical functionality of traditional African
drum language and drum-dance culture from three angles. First, I
will address the socio-cultural milieus in which the drums function,
and identify the rhetorical situations that necessitate and validate
such functions. Second, I will discuss the elements that invest the
drums with the authority and ethos for rhetorical performance. Third,
I will explore some drum-dance genres to establish the efficacy of
drum language as a tool for achieving rhetorical impact. Where
possible, I will analyze dancers’ attitudes to the pathetic appeals
evoked by drum rhythms, using examples from Ghana (the Kpanlogo
of the Gas10 and Adowa of the Akans,11 respectively). My emphasis is
on Sub-Saharan Africa from where I will draw on the functionality of
the African drum language to advance my arguments that it provides
opportunities for non-Western rhetorical performances other than
entertainment, voodoo, or rituals. Although the Arabic North African
societies also use drums, they will not feature in my discussion.
Undoubtedly, a discussion of rhetorical performance raises is-
sues concerning canons, especially those associated with Aristotle
and Cicero, which have influenced Western notions of rhetoric for
centuries. Matsen and others identify these canons as: (i) invention
(the ingenuity or newness presented in the rhetoric); (ii) arrangement
(the ordering and structuring of the rhetoric); (iii) style (the manner in
10
Wikipedia provides a good description of this ethnic group: The Ga-Adangbe
are an ethnic group in the West African nation of Ghana and is part of the Dangme
ethnic group. The Ga people are grouped as part of the Ga–Dangme ethnolinguis-
tic group and speak Kwa languages. The Ga-Adangbe people inhabit mostly the
Greater Accra Plains. Some are found in the Eastern Region at Akuse, Somanya,
Dodowa, Akwamu, and surrounding areas in Ghana. The modern day Adangbe
include the people of Osu, Shai, La, Ningo, Kpone, Osudoku, Krobo, Gbugbla (Pram-
pram), Ada and Agotime who speak similar dialects. The Ga also include the Ga-
Mashie groups occupying neighborhoods in the central part of Accra, and other Ga
speakers who migrated from Akwamu, and surrounding areas. Most Ga live in the
southeastern coastal region of Ghana, around the capital of Accra, which the Ga
founded in the 16th century as a trading port. The traditional Ga kingdom of Nkran
gives Accra its name. Nkran state has been ruled by a succession of kings known
as Ga Mantse since its founding in 1510.
11
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominantly in Ghana and
the Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have
a population of 40 million people. The Akan speak Kwa languages. The Akan are
believed to have migrated to their current location from the Sahel between the 10th
and 12th Century; see Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akan people.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
which the delivery is made); (iv) memory (how well and in what man-
ner the rhetoric is delivered from memory); and (v) delivery (style and
approach to conveying the rhetoric to its audience).12 As Kennedy
explains, the rhetorical performance theories of the type proposed by
Aristotle and Cicero take a holistic perspective of the use of pathos
as one of the artistic modes of persuasion (the other two being ethos
and logos).13 Both Aristotle and Cicero define pathos as an “emotional
appeal,” although each has his peculiar perspective (and expecta-
tions) on how pathos should be used to influence the emotional state
of the audience.14 In the Rhetoric, Aristotle discusses broadly how the
audience’s emotions should be stirred, categorizing the kinds of re-
sponses of different demographic groups. His perspective on pathos,
by which he means “putting the hearer into a certain frame of mind,”
provides a good framework for the approach adopted in this article.15
Cicero also encourages the use of pathos, especially at the end of an
oration. 16 In this sense, then, emotional appeal can be regarded as
a necessary element in rhetorical performance that is used to evoke
the appropriate level of response in the audience. To be effective,
the emotional appeal must fit into the particular rhetorical situation
which necessitates its use. It must not be just of any nature or a sim-
ple one of passivity but one that has a close relationship with the
psychological state of the audience. In Kennedy’s explanation, pathos
is also the category by which we can understand the psychological
aspects of rhetoric. Within this context, then, I seek to focus on how
the drums evoke pathos in the audience, leading to changes in their at-
titudes. I argue that pathos manifests itself in African drum language
as an emotion of attraction or repulsion—mild or passionate—that
leads to a rhetorical achievement. As the drum beat is enunciated
to convey a message that the audience understands and relates to,
a clear relationship is quickly established and the audience acts in the
manner befitting and responding to the import of the drum language.
12
P. P. Matsen, P. Rollinson, and M. Sousa, eds., Readings from Classical Rhetoric
(Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990):45.
13
G. Kennedy, Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient
to Modern Times, 2nd ed. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1999):82;
see also G. Kennedy, Comparative Rhetoric: An Historical and Cross-cultural Introduction
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
14
Matsen et al, cited in n.6 above, p. 120.
15
Aristotle, Rhetoric of Aristotle (New York: Pearson College Division, 1960); see
also Aristotle, On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2006); Aristotle, Rhetoric Book II. 2–17.
16
M. T. Cicero, De Inventione (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2010):15.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
170 RHETORICA
Although the broad understanding of classical rhetoric derives

from Aristotle’s notion of “persuasion,” I defer to Cicero’s perspec-
tive because of its broadened emphasis on rhetoric as an instrument to
improve the lot of humanity. This perspective is implied by Cicero’s
references to the artes liberales in his rhetorical treatise on invention.
For the Roman Cicero and the Greek Isocrates, rhetoric also em-
braces the general concept of culture.17 As Kallendorf and Kallendorf
explain, rhetoric is not only a “pure technique” but is also a “car-
rier of values.”18 Cicero and Isocrates’ perspectives are instructive for
my purposes because they shed light on and authenticate the kind of
rhetorical performance that drum language effectuates in a particular
cultural context to affect the audience psychosocially. Consequently,
this kind of rhetoric becomes a symbolic action, as is conceivable in
its enunciation within the Burkean sense of language.19 For in his
definition of rhetoric, Burke tells us that it involves the use of words
by human agents to form attitudes or induce actions in other hu-
man agents or the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing
cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols.20
Perhaps, this conception of rhetorical function in relationship to
the drum-dance culture as I seek to do may startle those in the West
who are comfortable with the understanding of rhetoric as something
restricted to (human acts of) oratory and written communication.
Probably, already culturally conditioned and influenced by their
familiarity with canon-driven classical rhetorical standards, they
may be unsettled by what I am ascribing to the African drums and
drum-dance culture as a rhetorical performance deriving from drum
language. The questions to ask may be: Does drum language lend
itself to analysis within the context of those canons? If it does not, how
can we establish that it is capable of performing a rhetorical function
or that what it does to the audience qualifies as “rhetoric”? As I
will argue, drum language has that potential. A careful assessment
of its nature shows that it has a consistent pattern—a beginning,
17
Isocrates was a classical Greek rhetorician and philosopher who lived from
436–338 BCE and whose program of education on rhetoric stressed the ability to use
language to address practical problems.
18
C. Kallendorf, and C. Kallendorf, “Aristotle and the ethics of business com-
munication,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 3 (1989):54–69.
19
S. Foss, K. Foss, and R. Trapp. Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, 2nd ed.,
(Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 1990); see also <http://bradley.bradley.edu/~ell
/burke.html>
20
K. Burke, Language As Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method,
(Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1968):35.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
a middle, and an end—each segment providing a unique impetus

for rhetorical performance. Drum language is efficacious and the
need to appreciate its rhetorical import is great. The motive behind
the enunciation of the drum rhythm is to evoke response. Certainly,
rhetoric involves motives and is achieved through the use of symbols.
Human beings use rhetoric to achieve objectives and constantly turn
to anything that will help them do so. Since drum language also
evokes emotional appeal, its use is a rhetorical maneuver to influence
the behavior of people. Thus, there is a direct relationship between
drum language and people’s psychosocial behavior, which reflects
a rhetorical imperative.
Drums in African Socio-Cultural Milieus
Drums are ubiquitous in (Sub-Saharan) Africa. Historically, they

have always been an integral part of the culturally determined rhetor-
ical apparatus of the various societies, used to communicate mes-
sages that influence human behavior. As Dearling observes, “Africa
may be called the ‘Drum Continent’ because nowhere else in the
world has a greater range or number of drums than Africa does.”21
The sound of a drum is almost always an announcement of something
of interest to the community—declaration of wars and disasters,
meetings, and celebrations (of festivals, births, marriages, deaths,
religious and initiation rituals, rites of passage, and so on). And the
people respond to such a sound. The rhythms of the drums always in-
dicate a particular rhetorical expediency within the cultural system.
As Kennedy notes, “Within human history, rhetoric has culturally
evolved into more complex forms in conjunction with other aspects
of cultural evolution.”22 The complexity of the rhetoric issuing from
the African drum rhythm—and the intensity of its meanings for pa-
thetic appeal—is an integral part of the cultural evolution that African
communities have undergone over the years.
Considered as an integral part of the sociocultural heritage of
most traditional African societies, drums perform varying functions.
Some are status symbols, reflecting the political authority of the chief
or the community as a whole. They also reflect group identity and
21
R. Dearling, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments (Carlton, 1996):215;
see also <http://home.acceleration.net/clark/papervu/Rossiter.htm>
22
to Modern Times, 2nd ed. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1999):4.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
172 RHETORICA
portray the worldviews of the people. Examples are the Fontomfrom

and Atumpan (or “Talking Drums”) of Ghana. Other drums are des-
ignated for specific religious, medical, and social purposes, among
other functions. In such cases, herbalists and diviners use them to
influence people toward their specialized vocations. Participation in
drum-dance culture is highly regarded as a demonstration of the in-
dividual’s cultural literacy, commitment to the community’s values
and aspirations, and membership of that particular society. At a very
early stage in life, therefore, the African child takes an active role in
drum music, making efforts to learn how to play drums in prepara-
tion for participation in all areas of adult activity that are influenced
by the drum language—including dating, fishing, hunting, farming,
attending festivals and funerals, and responding to the call for action
to protect the community’s interests.23
The varieties of drums are associated with particular regions of
the continent. For example, the Fontomfrom, Atumpan, Kete, Berekete,
Atsimevu, Kpanlogo are found in Ghana. Others such as Djembe and
Balafon are found in Senegal, Niger, Mali, and other West African
countries. These drums consist of the goblet, conical, barrel, cylin-
drical, and frame types. Specifically, the drum family is made up of
a standard drum set and may be congas, Ashiko, Doumbek, ipu, pahu,
songba, powwow, Taos, Bodhran, hang drum, and Alutiiq hoop drum
(tuned mallet percussion). Africans perceive drums (and the roles
they play) in an entirely different way from what those in the West
ascribe to them. In all their renditions, the drums emit rhythms that
constitute a pattern of intelligible structures akin to human speech
and capable of influencing human behavior.
Drums span various tonal frequencies to imitate voices and some
(like the Atumpan) are actually tuned to produce rhythms similar
to the human voice. Ethnomusicologists agree that it is actually
possible to tune an instrument so that the music it produces is
linguistically comprehensible.24 They admit that much as speech
does, most rhythms from traditional African drums have evolved
over the years and from place to place. This similarity between
rhythm and speech development is an important feature of African-
influenced music, generally (whether by drum language, human
voice, or other means). Babatunde agrees: “The original instrument
23
C. K. Ladzekpo, “Exploring African Civilization through Dance-Drumming”
(1990) online at <http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/ ladzekpo/Kusum/Celebrate%20
Life%20Cycle.htm>
24
J. H. K. Nketia, “Traditional Music of the Ga People,” Universitas 3.3 (1958):23.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
was the human voice. All the other instruments were held against
this ideal and were contrived with the intention to mimic these
speech forms. The rhythms were often remembered in terms of
what they said and meant to the people producing them. In this
manner they were passed down and preserved.”25 Jackson also tells
us that traditional African music is the phonic expression of psychic
experiences generated within the spiritual framework of traditional
institutions which, in turn, constitute the basis of society.26 Dearling
sheds more light on the issue: “African languages operate on two
levels: rhythmic speech and tonal inflexion. Combined, these may be
interpreted by differently pitched drums or single log drums capable
of producing more than one pitch, any ambiguities becoming clear
by intelligent appreciation of the context.”27
These viewpoints are confirmed by reality. The Yorubas of Nige-
ria believe that trees in close contact with humans—especially those
found close to the village—will be able to speak the best when made
into drums. The Yorubas are famous for their double-skinned “Talk-
ing Drums,” which can broadcast “actual spoken messages” through-
out a village. They possess a tonal language in which the meaning of
a word changes with the pitch in which it is spoken. Blum notes that
the drums are shaped like an hourglass with cords running across in
such a way that they can be manipulated with the forearm to change
the tone and “reproduce all the nuances of the spoken language,”
including slurred notes and onomatopoeias.28
Among the Anlo-Ewe of Ghana, a legendary metaphorical ex-
pression—“ela kuku dea ‘gbe wu la gbagbe” (which roughly translates
into English as “A dead animal ‘cries’ louder than a live one”)—
is commonly used to explain the human experience that inspired
the origin of the drum.29 The explanation for this perception is
that a human being (perceived as an animal) has a tendency to
attract a lot more attention when dead than when alive; so, when
the need arises to communicate louder, a super voice surrogate is
built out of the skin of a dead animal that can deliver the mes-
25
O. Babatunde, “Historical Perspective on African Drumming” (1958), <http:
//home.acceleration.net/clark/papervu/ensomme.htm>
26
I. Jackson, More Than Drumming, (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985):37.
27
R. Dearling, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments (Carlton, 1996):215.
28
J. Blum, “More than Drums: Questions of Cultural Awareness” (2005), <http:
//www.ku.edu/ kasc/programs/teacher institutes/2005/blumafricadrum.doc>
29
C. K. Ladzekpo, “Exploring African Civilization through Dance-Drumming,”
(1990), <http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/ ladzekpo/Kusum/Celebrate%20Life%20
Cycle.htm>

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
174 RHETORICA
sage louder and clearer. As Ladzekpo explains, in Anlo-Ewe cul-

tural understanding, a drum is a super projection of the human
voice. In this sense, the role and power of the drum in play em-
bodies the Sub-Saharan African concept of combining natural forces
of the universe to form the supernatural. In the composition of this
conscious experience, human force is combined with other natural
forces—skin of an animal, hollowed solid tree-trunk, and thongs—
as a medium for reaching out to the people. Thus, in a variety
of tonal properties (including pitch, timbre, intensity, and intricate
rhythms), the drum and the drummer, in mutual cooperation, create
patterns of consciousness that give a moment of inspiration to those
they touch.
According to Uzukwu, the African world—as its people expe-
rience it—is a world full of activity: action, reaction, and interaction.
Two important traits which characterize the African world are oral-
ity and gestural behavior.30 Gunner says that orality in the African
context, particularly, needs to be seen as the means by which African
societies of varying complexities have over the years regulated them-
selves, organized their present and their past, made formal spaces
for philosophical reflections, and pronounced on power.31 Accord-
ing to Gunner, orality has also enabled Africans to question and
(in some cases) to contest power, and generally to pay homage to
“the word” or language as the means by which humanity was made
and constantly refashioned. Orality was the means by which Africa
made its existence—its history—long before the colonial and impe-
rial presence of the west manifested itself on the continent. In this
sense, orality needs to be seen not simply as “the absence of literacy”
but as something that is self-constitutive, sui generis. African orality
manifests as types of formal speech communication, in some circum-
stances coexisting with music in the form of song or with instruments
and dance; and it generates an almost unimaginable range of genres
that enable and empower the socio-cultural, political, and spiritual
existence of the people.
Gestures are also highly developed to reinforce orality. This ges-
tural behavior (whether verbal or non-verbal) is body language—a
way by which any community creates meaning, using gestural be-
30
E. E. Uzukwu, Worship as Body Language: Introduction to Christian Worship: An
African Orientation (Collegeville, MN: The Order of St. Benedict/Liturgical Press,
1997):3.
31
L. Gunner, “Africa and Orality,” in A. F. Irele and S. Gikandi, eds., The Cambridge
History of African and Caribbean Literature 1 (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University
Press, 2004):8–10.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
havior as a symbol.32 It is not only repetitive but is also a pattern that

establishes a way of doing things and, above all, of social commu-
nication that ensures group identity. There is a connection between
the message conveyed through the rhythm of the drum and gestural
behavior. As an instrument for symbolic action, the drum is at the
junction between human speech (serving as a surrogate form) and
body motions (resulting from its impact on the audience). Niango-
ranbouah observes that the drum is a unique symbol or instrument
of communication in black Africa that is comparable to the Bible or
Qur’an because it both carries the primordial word and is identical
with the primordial word.33 He claims, for instance, that the language
of the drum, accompanied by ritual texts, is best revealed in the en-
thronement of kings, at funerals, initiation rites, celebration of New
Year, and new yam festivals in the West African sub-region. To him,
then, the drum and its sound play the important role of both generat-
ing and calling for adequate gestures to reflect the religious, social,
moral, and other attributes for the recreation of the individual and
society. Drum language consists of intricate rhythms—congenial and
meaningful to the target audience, but confounding to the uninitiated
outsider—which I next discuss.
Patterns of Traditional Drum Rhythms
The rhythms of African traditional drums are usually in two

forms—polyrhythm, referring to multiple layers of complex, in-
terweaving, and contrasting rhythms; and the “call-and-response”
rhythm in which a “master drummer” issues forth “calls” or pat-
terns that are recognizable to the other drummers and the dancers.34
This “call-and-response” performance is what promotes “dialogue”
between the drummers, dancers, and the audience, generally.35 Thus,
the master drummer, supporting drummers, and the audience inter-
act through rhythms and improvisations, which evoke pathetic ap-
peal in the audience. When the supporting drummers hear a specific
call from the master drummer, they have to change the drum beats to
32
E. E. Uzukwu, cited in n.24 above, p. 3.
33
Cited in E. E. Uzukwu, p. 12.
34
(1990), <http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/~ladzekpo/Kusum/Celebrate%20Life%20
Cycle.htm>
35
J. L. Hanna, “Dance,” in H. Myers, ed., Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, (Lon-
don: Macmillan, 1992): 321.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
176 RHETORICA
correspond to the substance of the “call” so that all their rhythms

mesh to convey specific messages to the audience. Correspondingly,
the audience members have to alter their gestural behavior in re-
sponse to the messages that they receive.
This change in gestural behavior is the direct consequence of the
“call.” Both motion and emotion mesh at this level. Eventually, the
dynamics of this “call-and-response” mechanism make participation
in these drum-dances exciting for the performers and invigorating
for the audience. What we see here is a clear evidence of how the
drum rhythm is used to evoke pathetic appeal in the hearers. This
tendency to effect rhetoric through the drum-dance performance
relates to the use of the classical rhetorical technique of figures of
pathos for stirring up emotions in the audience. Burton explains that
such figures of pathos as “excitatio” (to excite an audience, especially
out of a stupor or boredom) and “energia” (the vigor with which
one expresses oneself) are important for a rhetorical performance
that seeks to evoke pathos.36 Kennedy also makes strong claims for
the presence of “energy” in any rhetorical performance, which is
fundamental to the arousal of pathos in the audience.37 Drum language
emits energy for this purpose.
Let’s now turn to the different genres of the drum-dance culture
to see how they evoke pathos for different rhetorical purposes. This
distinction is important for arguing that the African drum-dance
culture transcends entertainment. The drum-dance culture can be
categorized into different genres, based on several considerations
such as types of drum-dances, the rhetorical situation, techniques for
enunciating the drum language, and the purposes to be achieved.
Categorizing the drum-dance culture this way resonates with Aris-
totle’s division of rhetoric into epideictic, deliberative, and forensic
on the basis of particular domains and exigence or the need for the
rhetorical performance. As Anku tells us, each drum-dance genre
differs from the other and has its own peculiarities, demands, and
implications. According to him, the African drum-dance culture can
be classified into three broad polyrhythmic divisions—ritual music,
mystic music, and recreational music. Each performs its own specific
rhetorical functions beyond the superficial layer of entertainment,
voodoo, and rituals.38
36
G. O. Burton, “Silva Rhetoricae,” (Brigham Young University, 2003), <http:
//rhetoric.byu.edu/>
37
38
W. Anku, “Structural Set Analysis of African Music,” Adowa 1 (Legon, Ghana:
Soundstage Production, 1992):45.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
The ritual drum rhythm is associated with war situations and

initiation ceremonies, among others. To be found in this group are
the various rhythms that were actually used for war purposes in the
past but are nowadays played on special occasions for the people to
reminisce over the heroic deeds of their ancestors.39 An example is
Adzogbo, created by the Fon people of Benin.40 This war drum-dance is
meant to show the prowess of the tribal warriors. Today, it has spread
westward among the Ewes of Togo and Ghana and is used as a means
for men and women to display their strength, grace, and agility.41
Pantaleoni provides a deep insight into this genre of the drum-dance
culture.42 He establishes that traditionally, Adzogbo is done in two
parts. The first part, Kadodo, shows the women gathering, singing,
and performing rituals while the warriors are preparing spiritually
for the war. The second part (called Atsia) is done by the warriors
before their departure to the battlefield. A unique feature of Adzogbo
is that in the Atsia section, every sequence of the dance is a spoken or
sung text, which is then reproduced in the rhythm patterns of the
leading drum. Many of the dance movements represent scenes from
the battlefield. This representation grips the audience.
The second category of drum-dance (mystic music) is part of
traditional African religion and is a rhythm that is produced for
spiritual activities at fetish shrines, for example. It is a specialized
genre that is restricted to specific ceremonies. Anku tells us that the
last type of rhythm—which is recreational—is used for any social
event like weddings, funerals, name-giving ceremonies, and when-
ever people gather to celebrate something, be it a date, a season, or
an accomplishment.43 A good example is Kpanlogo, which is a drum-
39
(1990), <http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/~ladzekpo/Kusum/Celebrate%20Life%20
Cycle.htm>
40
The Fon people, or Fon nu, are a major West African ethnic and linguis-
tic group in the country of Benin, and southwest Nigeria, made up of more than
3,500,000 people. The Fon language is the main language spoken in Southern
Benin, and is a member of the Gbe language group. The Fon are said to originate
from Tado, a village in south east Togo, near the border with Benin. See Wikipedia,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fon people>
41
The Ewe are a people located in the southeast corner of Ghana, east of the
Volta River, in an area now described as the Volta Region, in southern Togo and
southwest Benin. They speak the Ewe language and are related to other speakers
of Gbe languages, such as, the Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and the Aja people of Togo and
Benin. See Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewe people>
42
H. Pantaleoni, “The Rhythm of Atsia Dance Drumming Among the Anlo (Ewe)
of Anyako,” (Ph.D. Dissertation, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University, 1972):25.
43
W. Anku, cited in n.38 above.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
178 RHETORICA
dance of the Ga people of Ghana to celebrate youthfulness. Another

is Bawa, which is organized by the Dagarti/Lobi people of Northern
Ghana for celebrations and thanks-offerings to the Supreme Deity
for a good harvest, a good fishing or hunting season, and many other
blessings in the year.44
The interesting thing about the drum-dance culture is that the
techniques of drumming are learned through oral tradition and
passed on from generation to generation as captured in the drum
language and demonstration, which is contrary to the practice in
the West, where such skills are passed down via notation and for-
mal instruction in music. Through observation and imitation, the
African child learns drum language and gradually hones his skills
under the influence of master drummers. Eloquence and knowledge
of proverbs are good tools for the learner because these proverbs con-
stitute the native wisdom (worldviews, cultural precepts, linguistic
abilities, and socio-political aspirations of the society) around which
the enunciation is woven and conveyed. The learner must know
what these proverbs mean and articulate them through the drum
rhythm. Undoubtedly, proverbs play a significant role in orality in
Africa—which is amply demonstrated in the literary works of such
African writers as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Mariama Ba, Ama
Ata Aidoo, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o, among others. The drum-dance
culture of every society has its own norms and any violation can have
dire consequences for the culprit. For example, it is unacceptable for
anyone to play the Fontomfrom or Atumpan without the permission
of the custodians. It is regarded as an abomination for a non-member
of the community to participate in the Fontomfrom drum-dance, re-
gardless of the level of pathetic appeal that might have been wrought
in him or her by the drum language during a performance.
By their very nature, the drums have an inherent ethos and
authority, which positions them to control human behavior. Skilled
44
The group known to French writers, following the usage of Labouret (1931)
and Père (1988), as the “Lobi” are found distributed between 9°00’ and 11°00’
N and 2°30’ and 4°00’ W. They are divided among three contemporary nations:
Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), in South-West Department; Ghana (formerly
Gold Coast), in the districts of Lawra, Wa, and Bole; and Ivory Coast, in the
districts of Bonduku and Buna. The terms “LoDagaa” and “Lobi-Dagarti” (or
Dagara) are used for a cluster of peoples situated across the frontier of Burk-
ina Faso and Ghana, originally grouped together by Labouret, following the us-
age of Delafosse and other francophones. See Orientation and ethnonyms—Lobi-
Dagarti Peoples, <http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Lobi-Dagarti-
Peoples-Orientation-and-Ethnonyms.html#ixzz1waIYQd1K>

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
drummers know the rules underlying the rhythmical structures and

feel empowered to use them for effect. They also endeavor to train
others through practice. As an Ovambo proverb says, “The drum
knows its owner’s hands.” Such informal training is important for
the sustenance of the drum-dance culture. The general belief is that
“the life and energy of the drummer lives half within his soul and
half within the drum he plays.”45 When he dies, so does his style
of drumming because no one can relive the soul of the original
drummer. I now turn to some specific instances to explain how the
drum rhythms evoke pathetic appeals to influence the psychosocial
behavior of the people.
Drum Language and Pathos
Classical rhetorical theory identifies certain figures of pathos that

an orator can use to stir the emotions of the audience. Burton names
some of them as: (i) “conduplicatio” (“doubling” or “repetition,”
which is the repetition of a word or words, especially in adjacent
phrases or clauses); (ii) “pathopoeia” (from Greek pathos, or “feeling,”
and poiia, or “a making”—which is a speech or figure designed
to arouse emotion); (iii) “energia” (which is the vigor with which
one expresses oneself); and (iv) “excitatio” (to excite an audience,
especially out of a stupor or boredom).46 Although these concepts
traditionally apply to the classical rhetorical model for oratory (as
understood in the conception of rhetoric in the West), they can also
be used to appreciate the workings of the drum-dance culture and
the ensuing surrogate speech form which influences the audience
psychosocially. Emitting the drum rhythm to stir the emotions of
the audience involves energetic (body) movements, amplification of
rhythms, and repetition. These techniques impel performance even
if the drum-dancers themselves are unaware of them as essential
elements in the West’s conception of classical rhetoric.
Drum language, as I have already established, is a surrogate
for human speech through which interactions between participants,
media, and content are often initiated. Sebeok and Umiker note that
speech surrogates are forms of cultural expression in which non-
45
J. Kahn, “Drumming, the Backbone of African and Reggae Music,” <http:debate.
uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/kahn.html>
46
G. O. Burton, “Silva Rhetoricae,” (Brigham Young University, 2003); <http:
//rhetoric.byu.edu/>

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
180 RHETORICA
verbal aural units substitute for speech, just as written phonemes

correspond with spoken ones. 47 According to them, a pair of semiotic
systems may be “. . . substitutive systems, such as . . . drum and whis-
tle surrogates . . . which are dependent on spoken language to such
an extent that persons wishing to use them must share a common
base language if they are to make themselves understood.” Quot-
ing Jakobson, they suggest that substitutive systems “. . . instigate a
particular process of . . . transmutation, or intersemiotic translation,
which is the ‘interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of non-
verbal sign systems’.”48 This process corresponds to Nketia’s concept
of “speech mode of drumming” in which he claims that the listener
who understands the base language identifies key features in the
drumming, transmutes them into their base language signifiers, and
comprehends these as speech.49 The composers often use drum lan-
guage to encapsulate proverbs, which are important and emotionally
affecting linguistic resources of these oral societies.
In a broad sense, therefore, the drum language does more than
merely send out entertainment-oriented rhythmic messages to peo-
ple. It invites them to take action as it influences their choice-making
decisions. For instance, the signature tune that the Ghana Broadcast-
ing Corporation (GBC) plays before the transmission of news bul-
letins on radio is in the Atumpan drum language. This signature tune
is interpreted as “Ghana Muntie,” or “Ghanaians, Listen.” (“Muntie”
is an Akan word, meaning “Listen”). This drum language is rhetor-
ically purposeful for every Ghanaian who hears it. The listener reacts
in only one way—to draw near the radio emitting the signature tune
and be ready for what follows. Rhetorical performance in this sense
is achieved through the symbolic action of the drum language.
To achieve this linguistic effect, the drum language is composed
and emitted through slight changes in the positioning, pressure, and
accentuation of each stroke by the drummer. By creative loading of
the common traditional tunes with appropriate messages, the drum-
mer manipulates rhythm to deliver specific messages to which the lis-
teners react. The energetic sound of many drums pounding together
(as would be achieved through the pathetic figure of “energia”) is also
47
T. Sebeok, and D. J. Umiker, Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Systems, (The
Hague: Mouton, 1976):xiii.
48
R. Jakobson, “Language in Relation to Other Communication Systems,” (1970:
261), in T. Sebeok and D. J. Umiker, eds., Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Systems
(The Hague: Mouton, 1976):xiv.
49
J. H. K. Nketia, Drumming in Akan Communities of Ghana (New York: Thomas
Nelson, 1963):28.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
a necessary enactment to stir up emotions or to inspire excitement and

passion for one form of communal activity or the other. In some com-
munities, certain drum rhythms are used to mobilize people for an
activity such as defense of the territory against enemy incursion. This
inducement through drum language is a rhetorical act. In the same
sense, the reaction of the audience to the pathetic appeal evoked by
the drum language is a personal struggle to create meaning through
cognition and body movement as each person assimilates the impact
of the influence and displays adequate responses.
This psychological and physical response is a designed and
learned pattern of behavior (or culture)—a pattern that is rooted
in the experience of life in the ethnic community that is accustomed
to the peculiar drum language enunciated. In this situation, human
consciousness of what is emotionally affecting makes human gestu-
ral activity a design, not just a simple instinctual response to external
stimuli for entertainment. There is style or strategy in the rhythm of
human body movement, which is a measured motion intimately con-
nected with the language—or what Uzukwu calls “verbal gesture”—
emanating from the drum beats.50 This body motion is thus a rational
activity in which repetition (of both drum beats and gestural be-
havior) becomes the norm that guides the run of human affairs.
Each drum-dance community designs its own gestures to express its
experience of life in the universe.
The experiences expressed in these gestures can span several
themes, ranging from the ordinary and daily routine of greeting,
bidding farewell, and showing deference to the elderly, to the more
complex patterns of making a pact or making war, healing, pray-
ing, or dancing. As Uzukwu notes, “There is a rhythmic sharing of
experience through music and dance, and dancing is a rhythmical
order in the universe of sound. All activities of life manifest that
rhythmical order.” According to him, each particular drum rhythm
can prompt the audience to enact a particular gestural behavior,
whether accompanied by words or not, to establish communication
among the group and to display the operation of group identity.
There is always a reference to the pattern of gestural behavior set
up by the society’s norms on how to respond to the drum lan-
guage. To enact a gesture that is out of tune with the import of
the drum language may bring public shame or cause embarrass-
50
E. E. Uzukwu, Worship as Body Language: Introduction to Christian Worship: An
African Orientation (Collegeville, MN: The Order of St. Benedict/Liturgical Press,
1997):11.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
182 RHETORICA
ment. Depending on the level of interaction involved, such a profa-

nation of a way of doing culture-specific things may require a correc-
tive process (e.g., ritual purification, a fine, or any other penalty),
according to the code of the society whose drum-dance norm is
infringed.
The use of drum language to realize personhood through pathetic
appeal is also an important rhetorical function. Anyanwu sees a con-
nection between drum-dance and knowledge-making. According to
him, “since knowledge is never experienced in total detachment in
Africa, sound is a model for expressing the participant-performer
dynamics of knowing.”51 The meaning here is that each individual
needs to be initiated into the rhythm of interaction in order to arrive
creatively at “personhood.” Participation in this communal activ-
ity is regulated and the enactment of gestural behavior restricted
to only in-group members. Any violation of the norm is heavily
sanctioned. Basically, there are two main points at which the drums
evoke pathetic appeal—visual and auditory. The pathetic appeal may
be evoked and felt at each disparate point, but it can have a more
overarching impact at the gestalt level if evoked at both points si-
multaneously. I will now turn to specific instances to show how the
drums evoke pathos.
Drums and Visual Rhetoric

Iconography or images on the physical body of the drums evoke
pathos. These icons or symbols (common animals and human fig-
ures in the locale) are imprinted on some types of drums to reflect
the people’s worldviews and experiences. Such a purposeful use of
iconography invests the drums with an aesthetic force with which to
evoke pathetic appeal. As Hanna explains, the icon represents most
properties or formal characteristics of a thing, event, or condition
and is responded to as if it were what it represents.52 Uzukwu also
explains that Africans take note of the pattern of motion, which char-
acterizes some animals, and employ these observations for purposes
of instruction, education, or entertainment . On a continent where
orality is cherished and the people’s worldviews are influenced by
51
C. K. Anyanwu, “Sound as Ultimate Reality and Meaning: The Mode of Know-
ing Reality in African Thought,” in E. E. Uzukwu, Worship as Body Language: Intro-
duction to Christian Worship: An African Orientation (Collegeville, MN: The Order of
St. Benedict/Liturgical Press, 1997):11 (p. 25).
52
J. L. Hanna, “Dance,” in H. Myers, ed., Ethnomusicology: An Introduction (Lon-
don: Macmillan, 1992):321.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
proverbs, legends, and myths, the depiction of such images on drums

achieves much rhetorical effect.
In another instance, Uzukwu says that Africans know that an-
imals display particular motions at play or during mating—in as-
serting territoriality, sensing danger, or expressing aggression—and
learn lessons from this behavior, which they convey through rep-
resentations on objects, including drums. These representations are
often conveyed in the form of proverbs through the medium of drum
language. For example, the image of a chameleon on a ceremonial
drum has meaning for particular communities. Uzukwu explains that
in most African societies, the chameleon is legendary and its measure
of movement conveys cultural knowledge to the people. According
to myths, this gesture goes back to the time of creation when God
sent the chameleon to inspect the earth He had created. On earth,
the chameleon saw that the earth was not yet firm and consequently
adopted that measured movement on it, portraying an attitude of
carefulness. Imprinted on drums, this icon bears important lessons
for the people. Additionally, a ceremonial drum with the icon of a hen
may reflect worldviews of the particular community that owns the
drum. As Uzukwu explains, the hen has an almost reckless motion
of scattering earth when scavenging for food, which the people in-
terpret to influence their mindset. According to a Yoruba myth, this
is a gesture bestowed on the hen when “Oduduwa” or “Obatala”
(the Yoruba creator divinities) sent it down to the earth at the time of
creation. The hen’s motion of scattering earth made firm land appear.
This gesture has become an integral part of the hen’s pattern of life.
Another example of the use of iconography comes from the
Adinkra symbols of the Asantes of Ghana who first used them as
decorative elements in one of the most highly valued, hand-printed
and hand-embroidered cloths of West Africa in the 19th century.
Traditionally, the cloth was used exclusively by royalty and spiritual
leaders for very important sacred ceremonies and rituals. These
symbols have been extended to drums. Each of the motifs that make
up the corpus of Adinkra symbolism has a name and meaning derived
either from a proverb, a historical event, human attitude, animal
behavior, plant life, or forms and shapes of inanimate and man-
made objects. From the examples regarding the use of iconography
alone, it is possible to speak of imagistic rhetoric through the physical
appearance of the drums. The images serve as symbols-in-action to
be used for informative or transactional work such as constructing
cultural identity and evoking pathos.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
184 RHETORICA
Drums and Auditory Rhetoric
The pathetic effect of the drum language is most felt at the au-
ditory level because the primary purpose of the drum beat is to
communicate messages to the people through sound. Such messages
include the announcement of war, the celebration of festivals, fu-
nerals, and religious rites, or the observance of traditional rituals
such as puberty rites for girls and initiation rituals for boys. In-
fluencing social behavior is the main rhetorical purpose for which
drum language is used in this situation. Throughout many ceremo-
nial occasions, the drum language is used as a speech surrogate
to “talk” to the people. The drum language for this purpose re-
lies on meaningful codes, which the people interpret and act on.
A skillful player of the Fontomfrom, for example, can exert much in-
fluence on the people through what he enunciates. This rhythmic
procedure has communicative obligations, which the listeners must
meet. Even if stripped of the physical aspects of singing and danc-
ing, African traditional drumming (unlike drumming in the West)
is not detached (nor is it detachable) from the lives of the people
because it is a spontaneous enactment of their entire personality and
socio-cultural and political traits. With its emotive power, the lan-
guage of the African traditional drum translates the people’s every-
day life experiences into serious issues that surpass the level of mere
entertainment.
The emotion evoked by the drum language becomes the impetus
for motion that compels action to get things done in the rhetorical
situation—solving problems or celebrating an occasion or event. As
O’Meara and Patrick say, “For many Africans, playing or listening
to drums and singing or dancing moves them to do things, calms
them if they are overwrought with grief, and stirs them to communal
action if threatened by apathy.”53 It is difficult to describe the emotions
stirred by the drum language because words fall short of capturing
the entire gamut of feeling or the affective aspects of the people’s
experiences. These affective aspects are more important to them than
the mechanics of the drum rhythm—the mere nuts and bolts that
some may see at the surface as entertainment. African drum music is
characterized by a communal pull; it is dynamic and animates the life
of the entire community, which makes it one of the most revealing
forms for expressing the people’s experiences.
53
M. O’Meara, and P. M. Patrick, eds., Africa: Third Edition, (Indianapolis, IN:
Indiana State University Press, 1995):269.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
The Structure of Two Drum-Dance Performances
This section discusses specific examples of drum-dancing from

two performancesin two different genres in Ghana (Kpanlogo of the
Gas and Adowa of the Akans). These examples show that there is a
dialogic relationship between drum language and the gestural be-
havior of the audience. The entire structure of these drum-dance
performances is complex but systematic. By the nature of their archi-
tecture, these drum-dance performances are well organized to move
methodically from one stage of performance to the other, evoking
different shades of pathetic appeals at each stage. The systematic
order of the African drum-dance culture can be predicted if only one
knows the techniques for the performances and carefully monitors
the sequences of the rendition. This structural congruency is evident
in Kpanlogo, for example.
Example from the Kpanlogo Drum-Dance

According to Nketia, three forms of drumming can be distin-
guished in Ga drum music (including Kpanlogo). They are “signal
mode,” “speech mode,” and “dance mode.”54 He explains that in the
“signal mode” of drumming, a short rhythm pattern or restricted
numbers of such patterns are played by a single drummer. These
rhythms are not intended for dancing. They are played over and
over again for about a minute after which the drummer has to wait
until some considerable time has elapsed before continuing. It is
difficult to explain the reason for this norm; but it may be that the
drummer wants to assess the impact of his production on the au-
dience before accentuating more messages. In the “speech mode”
of drumming, attempts are made to imitate speech by reproducing
the rhythm as an intonation of verbal texts, which the audience has
to interpret. Many people are able to interpret only a few rhythm
patterns, usually those used in the dancing arena, as a joke or for
congratulating people. Rentink explains: “To be able to interpret the
rhythms, one has to learn them as a ‘restricted’ language.”55 Any
drum capable of pitch variation such as Oblente and the master drum
54
J. H. K. Nketia, “Traditional Music of the Ga People,” Universitas 3.3 (1958):80.
55
S. Rentink, “Kpanlogo: Conflict, Identity Crisis and Enjoyment in a Ga Drum
Dance,” (MA Thesis, University of Amsterdam, 2003); see <http://www.musicology.
nl/WM/scripties/ScriptieSR.htm# ftn7>

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
186 RHETORICA
(Asafo) can be used, although the drum most commonly used for this
mode is the Atumpan.
The “dance mode” is by far the most frequently used. In this
mode of drumming, single drums and idiophones may be used
for emitting the required dance rhythms as happens in Adowa and
Bawa, or the drum-dance performed in story-telling sessions at vigils
(“wake-keeping”), for example. The usual ensemble for performing
drum-dance music consists of three drums that vary in pitch. The
tuning of the drums is not absolute. Supporting rhythms are played
on the drums with low pitch, and the master drummer plays on the
high pitched drum. The drumming is accompanied by a bell, or a
rattle and a bell combination to enhance the rhetorical impetus.
In the Ga society, Kpanlogo is a drum-dance that is performed for
recreation, although it could also feature in funeral ceremonies and
be used for political purposes.56 As Rentink explains, it owes much
of its popularity to the reinvention of traditional music in postcolo-
nial Ghana when the political leaders and the people promoted the
concept of the “African Personality” through their own music and
culture as a rejection of the dehumanizing tendencies of colonialism.57
As part of this self awareness, Ghana’s first President (Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah) attached bands to brigades, and sponsored traditional
music and dance contests. A political group, called the “Tokyo Joes”
later used Kpanlogo music in their demonstrations against Nkrumah’s
government. Members of the “Tokyo Joes” used to shave their heads
bald, except for a small circle of hair on top. For their meetings, ral-
lies, and marches, they sometimes invited Kpanlogo drummers and
dancers to create atmosphere.
In its traditional element, Kpanlogo has a consistent repertoire,
which makes it possible for it to occur at any location. As Nketia
notes, “since the traditional approach to music making makes it a
part of the institutional life of a community, the physical setting
for performances can be any spot suitable for collective activity.”58
Such moments include funerals or parties. Performers likewise make
choices in regard to which styles are appropriate for specific audi-
ences and occasions, and in deciding what, where, and for whom
they will perform. According to Coplan, such judgments of appro-
priateness are based on the capacity of specific styles to embody or
express the social position of particular communities or categories of
56
J. H. K. Nketia, cited in n.45 above, p. 78.
57
S. Rentink, cited in n.55 above.
58
J. H. K. Nketia, The Music of Africa, (New York: W.W. Norton, 1974):31.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
listeners.59 Musical performances “often provide a clear impression of

the structure of emerging African communities and their distinctive
cultures.”
Rentink explains that the Kpanlogo ensemble consists of drum-
mers, dancers and singers.60 Usually, there is a master drummer lead-
ing two or three supporting drummers, a lead dancer leading the
dance group, and a lead cantor (or lead singer). The master drum-
mer plays the solo drum part, which goes along with the dance
movements. The other percussionists play the supporting rhythms
on drums and the rattle and the bell. Hanna observes that for the
Kpanlogo dance, only the hand technique containing three different
strokes is used.61 First is the “open stroke,” played with the fingers
at the rim of the drum. This stroke gives the sound of a high and
“open” tone. The second technique is the “bounce” in which the full
hand is dropped at the middle of the skin, which makes a bass sound.
The third one is the “slap” which can be made “open” or muted. The
slap is also played in the middle of the membrane, but then only
with the tips of the fingers. The muted slap is played softly and is
used as “filler” for the basic rhythm. It decorates the rhythm, but is
also important for correct timing. The open slap is forced and gives a
loud sound which is regularly used in solos in many different ways,
although there is a certain basic concept.
According to Rentink, Kpanlogo can be played according to a
musical structure comparable to the classical canonical notion, es-
pecially in the case of arrangement (of the rhythms to which the
audience must respond). She explains the structural arrangement
of Kpanlogo and notes that the first supporting drum (Kpanlogo 1)
constantly plays on the off-beat. The other two supporting drums
(Kpanlogo 2 and 3) play a pattern on the on-beat. The supporting
drums are usually played on the male drums (low tuning) and the
master drummer plays the drum with the highest pitch. The ensem-
ble can vary in size. If only two drums or percussionists are available,
then, only one supporting rhythm is played, or one drummer plays a
combination of the second and the third part. The supporting drums
do not need special tuning; they only have to sound lower than the
master drum to register their impact on the performance.
59
J. Coplan, The Urbanization of Ghanaian Highlife: Some Theoretical Observations, in
S. Rentink, “Kpanlogo: Conflict, Identity Crisis and Enjoyment in a Ga Drum Dance,”
(MA Thesis, University of Amsterdam, 2003):114; see n.55 above.
60
61
J. L. Hanna, “Dance,” in H. Myers, ed., Ethnomusicology: An Introduction (Lon-
don: Macmillan, 1992):321.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
188 RHETORICA
The second drummer (Kpanlogo 2) is the most important support

because the rhythm he accentuates is always apparent in Kpanlogo
playing. The third support (Kpanlogo 3) can as well be used as an
improvisation by the master drummer, who is free in playing as long
as he wants, as long as he stays within the rules of the community.62
He can also enact a solo as a free improvisation or make it a musical
interpretation of the dance movements. The latter happens when the
master drummer follows the movements of the dancers. There is
room for experimentation and innovation. If the master drummer
thinks of a rhythm that will strengthen the physical movement of the
dancers (or vice versa) or when the dancers adjust their movements,
he can accentuate rhythms to correspond to what must be done.
In addition to showing his versatility on his instrument, the master
drummer may add other techniques to his drumming apart from
the basic ones. For example, Rentink identifies the “glissando” (an
open tone that is changed in pitch with the finger of the other hand),
muting a tone with the elbow, and “flames” (two notes following
each other very fast) as some of the instances of accentuation of
additional rhythms.63 In these examples, the master drummer plays
the rhythm and the singers respond with the matching gestural
behavior.
These various drum rhythms have their diverse influences on
the audience and their dancing styles. According to Younge, themes
of the drum rhythms and songs generally relate to issues of every-
day life, historical topics, political issues, and social happenings.64
Although the Kpanlogo drum is not a “Talking Drum,” the master
drummer can say things in his solo enunciation through the so-called
“drum talk.” Some rhythms have been associated over time with cer-
tain sayings. Those sayings are spoken in Pidgin English and usually
refer to an anecdote, as many songs do. In this way, the master drum-
mer can joke and interact with the audience. Unlike other types of
drum-dances, especially the ritual and mystic ones, participation in
Kpanlogo is usually “free-for-all.” The “free” in Kpanlogo dancing also
means that everybody could join, especially during social gatherings
like funerals and weddings when the drummers play and visitors
could react to the invitation to dance.65
62
W. Anku, “Principles of Rhythm Integration in African Drumming,” Black
Music Research Journal 17.2 (1997):211–238.
63
64
P. Y. Younge, Musical Traditions of Ghana Vol. 1 (Accra, Ghana: University of
Ghana, 1987):98.
65
J. H. K. Nketia, The Music of Africa, (New York: W.W. Norton, 1974):68.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
Example from the Adowa Drum-Dance

Traditionally used as a funeral dance among the Akan people of
Ghana, Adowa drum-dance is now found in recreational situations;
but its original graceful, dignified walking movement is preserved.
As a dance, it is popular among the Asante, Fante, and Ga peo-
ple. According to Flood, the Asante version of Adowa currently has
about eight forms derived from other drum-dances like Kete.66 The
graceful and dignified walking movement is usually preceded by
a chorus of voices, two boat-shaped bells and two drums joining
later. The drumming is also noted for the complexity of the inter-
locking rhythms and the two Atumpan drums, which are used as
the lead or master drum. When a particular mood is suggested in
song, the Atumpan drums join in the rendition. Various changes
in the rhythms played by the lead drummer compel changes in
the gestural behavior of the dancers and members of the audience,
generally.
The Atumpan drums play exclusively in “speech” mode. For
example, the opening phrase enunciated by the drummer—“tome
kume menie, tome kume adampa”—literally translates into English as “I
am at your mercy” or “I am at your disposal; do whatever you wish
with me.”67 This enactment does not only convey specific messages
but it also demonstrates the mutual respect between the drummer
and the drums. Various parts of the body pick up specific rhythms
from particular drums for motivation while the dancer turns or spins
his/her body and bows as dictated by the melody in the drum
rhythm and song. From all indications of what happens when the
drum language influences the dancers, there is a shared knowledge
or “commonplaces” between the drummers and the audience about
what to do or not to do.
Flood establishes that according to the kind of rhythm the drum-
mer enacts, the messages conveyed can influence the dancers in sev-
eral ways, including the following:
• Making a circle with the hand in the palm, which means that the
dancer is asking the chief for permission to dance. This message is
initiated by the rhythm of the drum and becomes the commonplace
with which to evoke pathos. Both the dancer and onlookers must look
up to the drum beats for what to expect next.
66
J. Flood, “Ho-Asogli Traditional Drumming and Dance of Ghana,” (SDSU
African Ensemble Instruments, 2002); see <http://dance.sdsu.edu/african/flood.ht>
67
J. Flood, cited in n.66 above.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
190 RHETORICA
• Hand-over-hand, top hand palm pointing up, which means that

the drummer is asking the dancer to move something (imaginary)
about; and the dancer responds as such.
• Turning round with one’s elbows up, which conveys the message
that “I am somebody,” or “I am also an important person.” This
posture is regarded as stately because its meaning goes beyond what
is ordinarily visible to the audience.
• For the footwork, the Adowa drum says clearly these three
sound segments: “da dum da dum / da dum da dum / da dum,” to
which the dancer responds with varying postures, regarded as the
most beautiful part of the dance. The dancer can add his or her
own beats to it or incorporate other foot movements from other
dances into it, provided he or she can keep pace with the Adowa
rhythm.
• Bringing together the index fingers as one goes forward and
backwards, facing sideways to the drummers, which means “Unity”
or “Togetherness.” The dancer can introduce other hand gestures
such as pointing and signaling to someone to come toward him or
her (although the person is not likely to obey; but if the message is
from the drum language, it must be obeyed).
• Moving in a circle, facing the middle with fists meeting in front
of one on strong Adowa beats, which means “Togetherness.”
• Swishing the right hand in front and one’s back with the feet
swishing side to side, or moving in a circle to a straight line, which
means that the dancer is showing off his or her beauty.
• Raising one’s arms in a manner of grabbing something with one’s
right and left hands alternatively or with both at the same time, which
means “Gye Nyame” or “Fear no one except God.”
• Placing one fist on the other, moving the body down-up-down-
up while shaking the hips, which means “We are among chiefs.”
• Biting the index finger of one’s right hand, which means “I am
hurting.”
• Shaking one’s hands as if there is something in them, which
means “There is something bothering me that I want to let go.”
• Waving good-bye, which signifies the end of the performance
and that the audience must get ready to leave the scene as soon as
the drumming ends.
What we see happening here is a direct connection between the
drum language and human behavior. The drum beats are culture-
specific and make meaning to only those for whom they are meant.
The drums themselves serve not so much as cultural artifacts or an
end in themselves but more importantly as a communication process
leading to a rhetorical end.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
The Influence of the Drum Language Beyond Africa
Space will not permit me to discuss extensively the influence

of African drum language on the rhetorical practices of societies in
other parts of the world. Nonetheless, I want to cite its use by the
former African slaves in the Americas to mobilize themselves to con-
front their oppressors and its contributions to consciousness raising
among African Americans in the era of the Civil Rights Movement.
The African drum language also facilitated the struggle against en-
slavement and colonization in the Caribbean. Murrell explains, for
example, that the Haitian Revolution began with a priest of Voudon
called Boukman, who called forth his fellow Africans to the hills
of Haiti with drum rhythms.68 This use of the drum had immedi-
ate consequences even for those who didn’t understand the drum
language. Aware of this African ‘telegraph’ system, American plan-
tation owners, fearing revolt, destroyed most of these “potentially
dangerous instruments”; and they put music and dance among the
slaves under strict controls. Cartwright also tells us that in 1775, the
State of Georgia outlawed drums as a result of attempts by slaves to
revolt.69 As Ortiz says, this American prohibition of drums, although
politically founded, “account[s] for the single most important de-
velopment of Afro-American music transfer [of] the function of the
drum to the feet, hands and body, by way of the Spirituals.”70 This
varying use of the drum certainly reduces to absurdity any claim that
the drums are purposely meant for entertainment, voodoo, and ritu-
als. Perhaps, further research into this issue could help us appreciate
more the value of the African drum language and shed more light on
its immense contributions to the field of non-Western or comparative
rhetoric, generally.
The impact of African drum language is evident in areas outside
the African traditional domain, where some scholars are using it to
promote formal education. One such project is the African Drums and
Ratios Curriculum (AD&RC) being developed in the Department of
Electrical Engineering at the Duke University in the United States
by the Algebra Project, Inc., founded in the 1980s by Bob Moses, a
mathematics teacher who is also known for his work in the Civil
Rights Movement on the voter registration drives in Mississippi in
68
J. A. Murrell, “The African Drums and Ratios Curriculum” in Africa Update
Online 2.4, (1995); see <http://web.ccsu.edu/afstudy/upd2-4.html#top>
69
J. Cartwright, “The Sign of the Blues,” in Larry Fisher, ed., Jazz Research Papers,
th
13 ed., (International Association of Jazz Educators, 1993):19.
70
W. Ortiz, Music: Black, White and Blue, (New York: William Morrow, 1972):20.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
192 RHETORICA
the 1960s.71 The AD&RC is an initiative aimed at developing impor-

tant math concepts such as ratios and fractions by having 4th and
5th grade children learn, experience, and participate in the traditions
of African drumming. Along the way, concepts of drum language
and drum patterns and cycles are learned, and the numerical rela-
tionships of ratios, fractions, and multiples involved in the rhythms
and polyrhythms are observed and formulated into mathematical
language. Taken to this level, it is obvious that the influence of the
African drum language is gradually extending to other areas outside
mainland Africa. Such is the impact of drum language on human
endeavors.
Conclusion
I have argued in this article that in Africa, drums are not consid-
ered as mere musical instruments. They symbolize origins, identity,
and power, and cement ethnic bonds. In many African societies,
drums “speak actual languages” that the people hear, understand,
and use to guide their conduct. As an African proverb has it, “A
village without drum music is a dead village.” Drums transmit mes-
sages from the divinities to the people and are essential instruments
in the ritual of healing. Seeing the drum as their “heartbeat,” the
various communities do all they can to uphold the drum-dance cul-
ture despite the threat posed to its significance by modernization,
especially in the cities and towns. The influence of the drum is still
substantial, particularly in the rural (traditional) communities, where
the tendency is to see drumming as a call to duty. Unlike those
in the West and other parts of the world (e.g., the Indian tablas),
traditional African drummers do not seek to combine sounds in a
manner solely pleasing to the ear. Their aim is simply to express
life in all of its aspects through the medium of visual and auditory
renditions. The African drummer does not merely attempt to imi-
tate nature through drum-dance, but he also reverses the procedure
by taking natural sounds—including spoken language—and incor-
porating them into the drum rhythm. To the uninitiated, this may
qualify as cacophony; but, in fact, each drum beat has a particular
71
J. A. Murrell, “The African Drums and Ratios Curriculum” in Africa Update
Online 2.4 (1995); see <http://web.ccsu.edu/afstudy/upd2-4.html#top>; see also E.
Friedland, Bass Grooves: Develop Your Groove and Play Like the Pros—In Any Style, (San
Francisco: CA: Blackbeat, 2004).

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
functional meaning, which must not be discounted as an impetus for

entertainment, voodoo, or rituals.
This discussion reveals that the rhetorical functions of the African
drum-dance culture are immense. It establishes that in the Sub-
Saharan African understanding, a drum rhythm is a super projec-
tion of the human voice. Consequently, the role and power of the
drum epitomize the sub-Saharan African concept of combining nat-
ural forces of the universe to form the supernatural. In the compo-
sition of this conscious experience, human force is combined with
other natural forces—skins of animals, hollowed solid tree-trunk,
and others—as a medium for drawing attention and arousing re-
action from people. In a variety of tonal properties (pitch, timbre,
intensity, and intricate rhythms), the drum and the drummer mutu-
ally cooperate to create patterns of consciousness that give a moment
of inspiration to those they touch. Many African societies arrange
drums in “families,” and invest them with communicative functions
to influence their lives. Africans know the value of these drums,
recognizing them as the most representative of the traditional instru-
ments that they use for rhetorical purposes—a reality that outsiders
not conversant with the African drum language fail to notice.
If drums are not available, people use their bodies as improvisa-
tions. They tap their knees, chins, and foreheads with clasped hands;
they tap fingers together, and click with their tongues to produce
sounds and enunciate meaningful messages through them. Overall,
drum language is overarching and plays an important role in the life
of every African individual. Drum-dancing is the blood and bone
of sub-Saharan African cultural heritage and identity. Without it, the
collective, the emotional, and the cognitive life of the community will
be incomplete. In joy and in sorrow, the sub-Saharan African people
use their drums. Consequently, African drums suggest much about
the African vision of life. Its music and rhythms are not only calls
for entertainment but are also known to manipulate thousands of
people and to influence other genres where there is a population that
is of African descent.
As Jackson tells us, traditional African music is the “phonic ex-
pression of psychic experiences generated within the spiritual frame-
work of traditional institutions which, in turn, constitute the basis
of society.”72 To be meaningful, therefore, the import of traditional
African drum language must be studied within the context of a folk
system of African rhetoric, instantiated by rhetorical situations in
72
I. Jackson, More Than Drumming (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985):37.

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC
194 RHETORICA
which forensic, epideictic, and deliberative rhetoric has been prac-

ticed for many centuries, although not acknowledged by Western
scholars. Blake notes that African rhetorical systems have their pe-
culiar characteristics that can be appreciated only with the appro-
priate “rhetorical checklist” that will reflect the traditional forms of
discourse such as story-telling, parable, myths, dance, song, ritual,
forensic, and other convivial and deliberative forms of discourse,
where there is still a preponderance of what is left of traditional and
indigenous values.73
The structures, functions, tonalities, and performance techniques
employed in using the indigenous drums evoke pathos, which, ac-
cording to Kennedy, Aristotle identifies as an important entechnoi (or
an internal mode of persuasion).74 This artistic quality of the African
drum language is useful for influencing the psychosocial lives of
the people and must be acknowledged in any discussion of Africa’s
contribution to the field of comparative rhetoric. It is not too late to
recognize this fact because the African drum language is still being
used to accentuate rhetorical performances. As the African proverb
has it, “God is silent until the drum speaks.” The African drum con-
tinues to speak every day; and those who understand its language
act on what they hear. If this influence on human behavior is not a
rhetorical function, then, what else is? The African traditional drum
performs this function and must be acknowledged as such.
73
C. Blake, “Traditional African Values and the Right to Communicate,” Africa
Media Review 7.3 (1993):10.
74

151.230.168.51 on Fri, 09 Apr 2021 18:03:37 UTC

Conga, When The Drum Speaks

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Conga, When The Drum Speaks

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Conga, When The Drum Speaks

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

When the Drum Speaks: The Rhetoric of Motion, Emotion, and Action in African Societies

Author(s): Michael J. K. Bokor

This content downloaded from

When the Drum Speaks: the Rhetoric

Keywords: African drum dance, drum language, non-western rhet-

cholars have investigated drumming and dancing in

This content downloaded from

language on the practice of non-Western rhetoric.1 Some have often

This content downloaded from

more than communication because language differs from communica-

This content downloaded from

that drum language is a culture-specific symbolizing system that is

This content downloaded from

This content downloaded from

Although the broad understanding of classical rhetoric derives

This content downloaded from

a middle, and an end—each segment providing a unique impetus

Drums in African Socio-Cultural Milieus

Drums are ubiquitous in (Sub-Saharan) Africa. Historically, they

This content downloaded from

portray the worldviews of the people. Examples are the Fontomfrom

This content downloaded from

This content downloaded from

sage louder and clearer. As Ladzekpo explains, in Anlo-Ewe cul-

This content downloaded from

havior as a symbol.32 It is not only repetitive but is also a pattern that

Patterns of Traditional Drum Rhythms

The rhythms of African traditional drums are usually in two

This content downloaded from

correspond to the substance of the “call” so that all their rhythms

This content downloaded from

The ritual drum rhythm is associated with war situations and

This content downloaded from

dance of the Ga people of Ghana to celebrate youthfulness. Another

This content downloaded from

drummers know the rules underlying the rhythmical structures and

Drum Language and Pathos

Classical rhetorical theory identifies certain figures of pathos that

This content downloaded from

verbal aural units substitute for speech, just as written phonemes

This content downloaded from

a necessary enactment to stir up emotions or to inspire excitement and

This content downloaded from

ment. Depending on the level of interaction involved, such a profa-

Drums and Visual Rhetoric

This content downloaded from

proverbs, legends, and myths, the depiction of such images on drums

This content downloaded from

This content downloaded from

The Structure of Two Drum-Dance Performances

This section discusses specific examples of drum-dancing from

Example from the Kpanlogo Drum-Dance

This content downloaded from

This content downloaded from

listeners.59 Musical performances “often provide a clear impression of

This content downloaded from

The second drummer (Kpanlogo 2) is the most important support

This content downloaded from