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    African Music

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    PauSomerhalder
    The traditional music of Africa is highly diverse across regions, with different nations and areas having distinct musical traditions that are often passed down orally rather than through written notation. Traditional African music heavily incorporates percussion instruments like xylophones, drums, and instruments like the mbira or thumb piano. Many modern genres of music around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, have roots in the musical traditions of enslaved Africans. Some notable traditional African instruments discussed in the text include the talking drum, kashaka, rainstick, mbira, and kora.

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    African Music

    Uploaded by

    PauSomerhalder
    107 views5 pages
    The traditional music of Africa is highly diverse across regions, with different nations and areas having distinct musical traditions that are often passed down orally rather than through written notation. Traditional African music heavily incorporates percussion instruments like xylophones, drums, and instruments like the mbira or thumb piano. Many modern genres of music around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, have roots in the musical traditions of enslaved Africans. Some notable traditional African instruments discussed in the text include the talking drum, kashaka, rainstick, mbira, and kora.

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    The traditional music of Africa is highly diverse across regions, with different nations and areas having distinct musical traditions that are often passed down orally rather than through written notation. Traditional African music heavily incorporates percussion instruments like xylophones, drums, and instruments like the mbira or thumb piano. Many modern genres of music around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, have roots in the musical traditions of enslaved Africans. Some notable traditional African instruments discussed in the text include the talking drum, kashaka, rainstick, mbira, and kora.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    107 views5 pages

    African Music

    Uploaded by

    PauSomerhalder
    The traditional music of Africa is highly diverse across regions, with different nations and areas having distinct musical traditions that are often passed down orally rather than through written notation. Traditional African music heavily incorporates percussion instruments like xylophones, drums, and instruments like the mbira or thumb piano. Many modern genres of music around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, have roots in the musical traditions of enslaved Africans. Some notable traditional African instruments discussed in the text include the talking drum, kashaka, rainstick, mbira, and kora.

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    AFRICAN MUSIC

    The traditional music of Africa is historically ancient, rich, and diverse, with
    the different regions and nations of Africa having distinct musicaltraditions.
    Traditional music in much of the continent is passed down orally (or aurally)
    and is not written. In Sub-Saharan African music traditions, it also frequently
    relies heavily on percussion instruments of every variety,
    including xylophones, drums, and tone-producing instruments such as
    the mbira or "thumb piano."
    The music and dance of the African diaspora, formed to varying degrees on
    African musical traditions, include American music and
    many Caribbean genres, such as Soca,Calypso (see kaiso) and Zouk. Latin
    American music genres such as
    the Bachata, Danzn, Samba, Rumba, Salsa, Tango, Cumbia, Bomba del
    Chota, Mambo, Merengue,Reggae, Compas, Milonga, Son, Guaracha, Punta,
    Cha-Cha-Cha, Plena, Conga, and other clave (rhythm)-based genres, were
    also founded on the music of enslaved Africans, and have in turn
    influenced African popular music.

    Talking Drum

    The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch
    can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has
    two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player
    to modulate the pitch of the drum by squeezing the cords between his or her
    arm and body. A skilled player is able to play whole phrases. Similar
    hourglass-shaped drums are found in Asia, but they are not used to mimic
    speech, although the idakka is used to mimic vocal music.

    Kashaka

    The kashaka is a simple percussion instrument consisting of two


    small gourds filled with beans (essentially, two small maracas connected by
    a string.) One gourd is held in the hand and the other is quickly swung from
    side to side around the hand, creating a "clack" sound upon impact. It
    originated in West Africa, but has been reproduced in various countries under
    different names: Patica (Japan), Kosika (USA). Other names include Asalato,
    Kes Kes, Tchangot Tche, and many others.

    Rainstick

    A rainstick is a long, hollow tube partially filled with small pebbles or beans
    that has small pins or thorns arranged helically on its inside surface. When
    the stick is upended, the pebbles fall to the other end of the tube, making a
    sound reminiscent of rain falling. It is designated 112.1+133.1 in
    the HornbostelSachs classification system.
    The rainstick is believed to have been invented by the Aztecs and was
    played in the belief it could bring about rainstorms. A sound like falling water
    is made when the rainstick has its direction changed to a vertical position.

    Mbira

    The mbira or thumb piano is an African musical instrument consisting of a


    wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered
    metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the
    tines with the thumbs. The mbira is usually classified as part of
    the lamellaphone family, and part of the idiophone family of musical
    instruments.

    Kora

    A kora is a mandinka harp built from a large calabash cut in half and covered
    with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is
    supported by two handles that run under it, and it supports a notched double

    free-standing bridge. It doesn't fit into any one category of musical


    instruments, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridgeharp-lute." The strings run in two divided ranks, making it a double harp.
    They do not end in a soundboard but are held in notches on a bridge, making
    it a bridge harp. They originate from a string arm or neck and cross a bridge
    directly supported by a resonating chamber, making it a lute too.

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