MUSIC OF

AFRICA
 MUSIC OF AFRICA
Music has always been an important part
in the daily life of the African, whether for
work, religion, ceremonies, or even
communication. Singing, dancing, hand
clapping and the beating of drums are essential
to many African ceremonies, including
those for birth, death, initiation, marriage, and
funerals. Music and dance are also important
to religious expression and political events.
 However, because of its wide
influences on global music that has
permeated contemporary American,
Latin American, and European styles,
there has been a growing interest in
its own cultural heritage and musical
sources. Of particular subjects of
researches are its rhythmic structures
and spiritual characteristics that have
led to the birth of jazz forms.
 African music has been a collective
result from the cultural and musical
diversity of the more than 50 countries of
the continent. The organization of this
continent is a colonial legacy from
European rule of the different nations up
to the end of the 19th century,
whose vastness has enabled it to
incorporate its music with language,
environment, political
developments, immigration, and cultural
diversity.
 Traditional Music of Africa
African traditional music is largely functional in
nature, used primarily in ceremonia rites, such as
birth, death, marriage, succession, worship, and
spirit invocations. Others are work related or social
in nature, while many traditional societies view
their music as entertainment. It has a basically
interlocking structural format, due mainly to its
overlapping
and dense textural characteristics as well as its
rhythmic complexity. Its many sources of
stylistic influence have produced varied
characteristics and genres.
 Some Types of African Music
• Afrobeat- Afrobeat is a term used to describe the
fusion of West African with black American
music.
• Apala (Akpala)
Apala is a musical genre from Nigeria in the
Yoruba tribal style to wake up the worshippers
after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of
Ramadan. Percussion instrumentation includes
the rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo), bell
(agogo), and two or three talking drums.
Yoruba Apala Musicians
Afro-Latin American and Popular Music

• Axe
Axe is a popular
musical genre from
Salvador, Bahia, and
Brazil. It fuses the
Afro-
Caribbean styles of
the marcha, reggae,
and calypso.
• Jit- is a hard and fast
percussive
Zimbabwean dance
music played on drums
with guitar
accompaniment,
influenced by mbira-
based guitar styles.
• Jive - is a popular form
of South African music
featuring a lively and
uninhibited variation of
the jitterbug, a form of
swing dance.
• Juju- is a popular
music style from
Nigeria that relies on
the traditional Yoruba
rhythms, where the
instruments in Juju
are more Western in
origin. A drum kit,
keyboard, pedal steel
guitar, and accordion
are used along with
the traditional dun-
dun (talking drum or
squeeze drum).
• Kwassa Kwassa- is a
dance style begun in
Zaire in the late
1980’s, popularized
by Kanda Bongo
Man. In this dance
style, the hips move
back and forth while
the arms move
following the hips.
• Marabi- is a South African
three-chord township
music of the 1930s-1960s
which evolved into African
Jazz. Possessing a
keyboard style combining
American jazz, ragtime
and blues with African
roots, it is characterized by
simple chords in varying
vamping patterns and
repetitive harmony over an
extended period of time to
allow the dancers more
time on the dance floor.
 LATINAMERICAN MUSIC INFLUENCED
BYAFRICAN MUSIC
• Reggae -is a Jamaican
sound dominated by bass
guitar and drums. It refers
to a particular music style
that was strongly
influenced by traditional
mento and calypso music, as
well as American jazz, and
rhythm and blues. The
most recognizable musical
elements of reggae are its
offbeat rhythm and
staccato chords.
 Salsa
• Salsa music is Cuban,
Puerto Rican, and
Colombian dance
music. It comprises
various musical
genres including the
Cuban son montuno,
guaracha, chachacha,
mambo and bolero.
Samba
Samba is the basic underlying
rhythm that typifies most
Brazilian music. It is a lively
and rhythmical dance and
music with three steps to
every bar, making the Samba
feel like a timed dance. There
is a set of dances—rather
than a single dance—that
define the Samba dancing
scene in Brazil. Thus, no one
dance can be claimed with
certainty as the “original”
Samba style.
Soca
• Soca is a modern
Trinidadian and
Tobago pop music
combining “soul”
and “calypso”
music.
 Were
This Muslim music is performed often
as a wake-up call for early breakfast and
prayers during Ramadan celebrations.
Relying on pre-arranged music, it fuses
the African and European music styles
with particular usage of the natural
harmonic series.
 Zouk
• Zouk is fast, carnival-like
hythmic music, from the
Creole slang word for ‘party,’
originating in the Carribean
Islands of Guadaloupe and
Martinique and popularized
in the 1980’s. It has a
pulsating beat supplied by
the gwo ka and tambour bele
drums, a tibwa rhythmic
pattern played on the rim of
the snare drum and its hi-hat,
rhythm guitar, a horn section,
and keyboard synthesizers.
WEEK 2
VOCAL FORMS OFAFRICAN MUSIC
Maracatu first
surfaced in the African state
of Pernambuco, combining
the strong rhythms of
African percussion
instruments with
Portuguese melodies. The
maracatu groups were
called “nacoes” (nations)
who paraded with a
drumming ensemble
numbering up to 100,
accompanied by a singer,
chorus, and a coterie of
dancers.
 Blues
• The blues is a musical • The notes of the blues
form of the late 19th
century that has had deep
roots in African-
American communities.
These communities are
located in the so-called
“Deep South” of the
United States. The slaves
and their descendants
used to sing as they
worked in the cotton and
vegetable fields.
create an expressive and
soulful sound. The
feelings that are evoked
are normally associated
with slight degrees of
misfortune, lost love,
frustration, or loneliness.
From ecstatic joy to deep
sadness, the blues can
communicate various
emotions more effectively
than other musical forms.
• Noted performers of the
Rhythm and Blues genre are
Ray Charles, James Brown,
Cab Calloway, Aret
Franklin, and John Lee
Hooker; as well as B.B. King,
Bo Diddley, Erykah Badu,
Eric Clapton, Steve
Winwood, Charlie
Musselwhite, Blues Traveler,
Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff
Baxter. Examples of blues
music are the following: Ray Charles
Early Mornin’, A House is Not
a Home and Billie’s Blues.
 Soul
• music was a popular music
genre of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It
originated in the United States.
It combines elements of African-
American gospel music, rhythm
and blues, and often jazz. The
catchy rhythms are James Brown
accompanied by handclaps and
extemporaneous body moves
which are among its important
features. Other characteristics
include “call and response”
between the soloist and the
chorus, and an especially tense
and powerful vocal sound. Etta James
 Spiritual
The term spiritual, normally associated with a deeply
religious person, refers here to a Negro spiritual, a song
form by African migrants to America who became
enslaved by its white communities. This musical form
became their outlet to vent their loneliness and anger,
and is a result of the interaction of music and religion
from Africa with that of America. The texts are mainly
religious, sometimes taken from psalms of Biblical
passages, while the music utilizes deep bass voices. The
vocal inflections, Negro accents, and dramatic dynamic
changes add to the musical interest and effectiveness of
the performance. Examples of spiritual music are the
following: We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, Rock My Soul,
When the Saints Go Marching In, and Peace Be Still.
 Call and Response
The call and response method is a succession of
two distinct musical phrases usually rendered by
different musicians, where the second phrase acts
as a direct commentary on or response to the first.
Much like the question and answer sequence in
human communication, it also forms a strong
resemblance to the verse-chorus form in many
vocal compositions. Examples of call and response
songs are the following: Mannish Boy, one of the
signature songs by Muddy Waters; and School Day
- Ring, Ring Goes the Bell by Chuck Berry.
 WHAT TO KNOW
1. Which African music is usually heard on the
radios today?
2. Among the types of African music, which is usually
known as a type of music that has originated from
Brazil?
3. Which type of music was popularized by Bob Marley?
4. What is the music that is a New York Puerto Rican
adaptation of Afro-Cuban music?
5. What are the different musical instruments included
in the maracatu?