MUSIC OF

AFRICA
GROUP 1
■ Music has always been an important part in the daily life of the
African, whether for work, religion, ceremonies, or even
communication. 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.
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 ceremonial 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 Musician
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
• Jit is a hard and fast
percussive Zimbabwean
dance music played on
drums with guitar
accompaniment,
influenced by mbira-based
guitar styles.
Jive
• Jive is a popular form of
South African music
featuring a lively and
uninhibited variation of
the jitterbug, a form of
swing dance.
Juju
• 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
• 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

• 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.
LATIN AMERICAN
MUSIC
INFLUENCED BY
AFRICAN MUSIC
Reggae

• 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 is Muslim music

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.
VOCAL FORMS OF
AFRICAN MUSIC
Maracatu

• 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.

Maracatu Dance
Musical instruments
used in Maracatu
• The Maracatu uses mostly percussion
instruments such as the alfaia, tarol and
caixa-de-guerra, gongue, agbe, and
miniero. Alfaia Drum Tarol
• The alfaia is a large wooden drum that is
rope-tuned, complemented by the tarol
Agbe Sakere
which is a shallow snare drum and the
caixa-de-guerra which is a war-like
snare. Providing the clanging sound is
the gongue, a metal cowbell. The shakers
are represented by the agbe, a gourd
shaker covered by beads, and the miniero
or ganza, a metal cylindrical shaker filled
with metal shot or small dried seeds
called “Lagrima fre Nossa Senhora.” Caixa Miniero or Ganza Gongue
Blues
• The blues is a musical form of the
late 19th century that has had deep
roots in AfricanAmerican
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.

• The notes of the blues create an

Ray Charles
expressive and soulful sound. The
feelings that are evoked are
normally associated with slight • Noted performers of the Rhythm and Blues genre are Ray
degrees of misfortune, lost love, Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and
John Lee Hooker; as well as B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Erykah
frustration, or loneliness. From
Badu, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Musselwhite,
ecstatic joy to deep sadness, the Blues Traveler, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff Baxter. Examples of
blues can communicate various blues music are the following: Early Mornin’, A House is Not
emotions more effectively than other a Home and Billie’s Blues.
musical forms.
Soul
• 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 James Brown Etta James
catchy rhythms are accompanied
by handclaps and • Some important innovators whose recordings in the
extemporaneous body moves 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music
which are among its important included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta
features. Other characteristics James. Ray Charles and Little Richard (who inspired
include “call and response” Otis Redding) and James Brown were equally
between the soloist and the influential. Brown was known as the “Godfather of
chorus, and an especially tense Soul,” while Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also
often acknowledged as “soul forefathers.” Examples of
and powerful vocal sound.
soul music are the following: Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough, Ben, All I Could Do is Cry, Soul to Soul, and
Becha by Golly, Wow.
 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.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF
AFRICA
■African music includes all the major
instrumental genres of western
music, including strings, winds, and
percussion, along with a tremendous
variety of specific African musical
instruments for solo or ensemble
playing.
Classification of Traditional
African Instruments

A. Idiophones
These are percussion instruments that are
either struck with a mallet or against one
another.

1. Balafon - The balafon is a

West African xylophone. It is a
pitched percussion instrument
with bars made from logs or
bamboo.

• The xylophone is originally an

Asian instrument that follows
the structure of a piano. It came
from Madagascar to Africa, then
to the Americas and Europe.
2. Rattles - Rattles are
made of seashells, tin,
basketry, animal hoofs,
horn, wood, metal bells,
cocoons, palm kernels, or
tortoise shells. These
rattling vessels may
range from single to
several objects that are
either joined or
suspended in such a way
as they hit each other.
3. Agogo - The agogo is a
single bell or multiple bells
that had its origins in
traditional Yoruba music and
also in the samba baterias
(percussion) ensembles. The
agogo may be called “the
oldest samba instrument
based on West African
Yoruba single or double
bells.” It has the highest pitch
of any of the bateria
instruments.
4. Atingting Kon - These are
slit gongs used to
communicate between
villages. They were carved
out of wood to resemble
ancestors and had a “slit
opening” at the bottom. In
certain cases, their sound
could carry for miles through
the forest and even across
water to neighboring islands.
A series of gong “languages”
were composed of beats and
pauses, making it possible to
send highly specific
messages.
5. Slit drum - The slit drum is
a hollow percussion
instrument. Although known as
a drum, it is not a true drum
but is an idiophone. It is
usually carved or constructed
from bamboo or wood into a
box with one or more slits in
the top. Most slit drums have
one slit, though two and three
slits (cut into the shape of an
“H”) occur. If the resultant
tongues are different in width
or thicknesses, the drum will
produce two different pitches.
6. Djembe - The West Africandjembe
(pronounced zhem-bay) is one of the best-
known African drums is. It is shaped like a
large goblet and played with bare hands. The
body is carved from a hollowed trunk and is
covered in goat skin.

• Log drums come in different shapes

and sizes as well: tubular drums,
bowl-shaped drums, and friction
drums. Some have one head, others
have two heads. The bigger the
drum, the lower the tone or pitch.
The more tension in the drum head,
the higher the tone produced. These
drums are played using hands or
sticks or both; and sometimes have
rattling metal and jingles attached to
the outside or seeds and beads
placed inside the drum. They are
sometimes held under the armpit or
with a sling.
7. Shekere - The shekere is a
type of gourd and shell
megaphonefrom West Africa,
consisting of a dried gourd
with beads woven into a net
covering the gourd. Theagbe
is another gourd drum with
cowrie shells usually strung
with white cotton thread. The
axatse is a small gourd, held
by the neck and placed
between hand and leg.
8. Rasp - A rasp, or
scraper, is a hand
percussion instrument
whose sound is
produced by scraping
the notches on a piece
of wood (sometimes
elaborately carved)
with a stick, creating
a series of rattling
effects.
Antique wooden rasp
B. Membranophones
Membranophones are instruments which have
vibrating animal membranes used in drums. Their
shapes may be conical, cylindrical, barrel, hour-
glass, globular, or kettle, and are played with
sticks, hands, or a combination of both. African
drums are usually carved from a single wooden
log, and may also be made from ceramics,
gourds, tin cans, and oil drums. Examples of
these are found in the different localities –
entenga (Ganda), dundun (Yoruba), atumpan
(Akan), and ngoma (Shona), while some are
constructed with wooden staves and hoops.

1. Body percussion - Africans frequently use

their bodies as musical instruments. Aside This body percussion creates exciting rhythms
from their voices, where many of them are which also stir them to action. Moreover, the
superb singers, the body also serves as a drum wearing of rattles or bells on their wrists,
as people clap their hands, slap their thighs, ankles, arms, and waists enhances their
pound their upper arms or chests, or shuffle emotional response.
their feet.
2. Talking drum - The talking drum
is used to send messages to
announce births, deaths, marriages,
sporting events, dances, initiation, or
war. Sometimes it may also contain
gossip or jokes. It is believed that
the drums can carry direct messages
to the spirits after the death of a
loved one. However, learning to play
messages on drums is extremely
difficult, resulting in its waning
popularity. An example of the
talking drum is the luna.

Luna
C.
Lamellaphone
One of the most popular African
percussion instruments is the
lamellaphone, which is a set of
plucked tongues or keys mounted
on a sound board. It is known by
different names according to the
regions such as mbira, karimba,
kisaanj, and likembe.
Mbira (hand piano or thumb piano) - The
thumb piano or finger xylophone is of
African origin and is used throughout the
continent. It consists of a wooden board with
attached staggered metal tines (a series of
wooden, metal, or rattan tongues), plus an
additional resonator to increase its volume. It
is played by holding the instrument in the
hands and plucking the tines with the
thumbs, producing a soft plucked sound.
D. Chordophones
Chordophones are
instruments which produce
sounds from the vibration
of strings. These include
bows, harps, lutes, zithers,
and lyres of various sizes.
1. Musical bow - The musical bow is the
ancestor of all string instruments. It is the
oldest and one of the most widely-used
string instruments of Africa. It consists of a
single string attached to each end of a curved
stick, similar to a bow and arrow. The string
is either plucked or struck with another stick,
producing a per-cussive yet delicate sound.
The earth bow, the mouth bow, and the
resonator-bow are the principal types of
musical bows. The earth bow, ground bow,
or pit harp consist of a hole in the ground, a
piece of flexible wood and a piece of chord.
The musician plucks the taut string to
accompany his singing. When the half gourd A more advanced form of ground bow is made from a log, half
is not buried, the performer holds the a gourd, a flat piece of wood, and cord. The wooden strip is
instrument very tightly under his knee flat driven firmly into one end of the log and the half gourd is
side down, so that the chord puts enough fastened to the log about 2 feet away from the wooden strip.
tension on the wood to bend it into the shape The cord, fastened from the wooden strip to the gourd, is
of a hunting bow. stretched so tightly into the shape of a bow. The player holds
the instrument on the ground by placing one leg across the log
between the resonating gourd and the wooden strip.
2. Lute (konting, khalam, and the
nkoni ) - The lute, originating from
the Arabic states, is shaped like the
modern guitar and played in similar
fashion. It has a resonating body, a
neck, and one or more strings
which stretch across the length of
its body and neck. The player tunes
the strings by tightening or
loosening the pegs at the top of the
lute’s neck. West African plucked
lutes include the konting, khalam,
and the nkoni.
3. Kora - The kora is Africa's
most sophisticated harp,
while also having features
similar to a lute. Its body is
made from a gourd or
calabash. A support for the
bridge is set across the
opening and covered with a
skin that is held in place with
studs. The leather rings
around the neck are used to
tighten the 21 strings that
give the instrument a range of
over three octaves. The kora African kora

is held upright and played

with the fingers.
4. Zither - The zither is a
stringed instrument with
varying sizes and shapes
whose strings are
stretched along its body.
Among the types of
Raft zither
African zither are the raft
or Inanga zither from
Burundi, the tubular or
Valiha zither from
Malagasy, and the harp
or Mvet zither from
Cameroon.
Zeze - The zeze is an African
fiddle played with a bow, a
small wooden stick, or
plucked with the fingers. It
has one or two strings, made
of steel or bicycle brake wire.
It is from Sub-Saharan
Africa. It is also known by
the namestzetze and dzendze,
izeze and endingidi; and on
Madagascar is called lokanga
(or lokango) voatavo.
E. Aerophones
Aerophones are instruments which are
produced initially by trapped vibrating air
columns or which enclose a body of
vibrating air. Flutes in various sizes and
shapes, horns, panpipes, whistle types, Atenteben (Ghana) Fulani Flutes
gourd and shell megaphones, oboe,
clarinet, animal horn and wooden
trumpets fall under this category.

1. Flutes - Flutes are widely Panpipes consist of cane pipes of

different lengths tied in a row or in a
used throughout Africa and bundle held together by wax or cord,
either vertical or side-blown. and generally closed at the bottom.
They are blown across the top, each
They are usually fashioned providing a different note.
from a single tube closed at
one end and blown like a
bottle.
2. Horns - Horns and trumpets,
found almost everywhere in Africa,
are commonly made from elephant
tusks and animal horns. With their
varied attractive shapes, these
instruments are end-blown or side-
blown and range in size from the
small signal whistle of the southern
cattle herders to the large ivory
horns of the tribal chiefs of the
interior. One trumpet variety, the
wooden trumpet, may be simple or
Kudu horn - This is one type of horn made from the horn of the
artistically carved, sometimes kudu antelope. It releases a mellow and warm sound that adds
resembling a crocodile’s head. a unique African accent to the music. This instrument, which
comes in a set of six horns, reflects the cross of musical
traditions in Africa. Today, the kudu horn can also be seen in
football matches, where fans blow it to cheer for their favourite
teams.
3. Reed pipes - There are
single-reed pipes made
from hollow guinea corn
or sorghum stems, where
the reed is a flap partially
cut from the stem near
one end. It is the
vibration of this reed that
There are also cone-shaped double-reed instruments
causes the air within the similar to the oboe or shawm. The most well-known is
the rhaita or ghaita, an oboe-like double reed instrument
hollow instrument to from northwest Africa. It is one of the primary
vibrate, thus creating the instruments used by traditional music ensembles from
Morocco. The rhaita was even featured in the Lord of the
sound. Rings soundtrack, specifically in the Mordor theme.
4. Whistles - Whistles found
throughout the continent may
be made of wood or other
materials. Short pieces of
horn serve as whistles, often
with a short tube inserted into
the mouthpiece. Clay can be African whistle
molded into whistles of many
shapes and forms and then
baked. Pottery whistles are
sometimes shaped in the form
of a head, similar to the Aztec
whistles of Central America
and Mexico.
5. Trumpets - African
They are mostly
trumpets are made of ceremonial in nature,
often used to
wood, metal, animal announce the arrival or
horns, elephant tusks, departure of important
guests. In religion and
and gourds with skins witchcraft, some tribes
believe in the magical
from snakes, zebras, powers of trumpets to
frighten away evil
leopards, crocodiles spirits, cure diseases,
and protect warriors
and animal hide as and hunters from
ornaments to the harm.

instrument.
 African Musical Instruments from the Environment
■ African Musical Instruments from the Environment Many instruments of Africa are
made from natural elements like wood, metal, animal, skin and horns, as well as
improvised ones like tin cans and bottles. These are mainly used to provide rhythmic
sounds, which are the most defining element of African music. Africans make musical
instruments from the materials in the environment, like forest areas from where they
make large wooden drums. Drums may also be made of clay, metal, tortoise shells, or
gourds. Xylophones are made of lumber or bamboo, while flutes can be constructed
wherever reeds or bamboo grow. Animal horns are used as trumpets while animal hides,
lizard skins, and snake skins can function as decorations as well as provide the
membranes for drum heads. Laces made of hides and skins are used for the strings of
harps, fiddles, and lutes.
■ On the other hand, bamboo was used to form the tongues of thumb pianos, the frames
of stringed instruments, and stamping tubes. Strips of bamboo are even clashed together
rhythmically. Gourds, seeds, stones, shells, palm leaves, and the hard-shelled fruit of the
calabash tree are made into rattles. Ancient Africans even made musical instruments
from human skulls decorated with human hair while singers use their body movements
to accompany their singing.
■ Modern Africans make use of recycled waste materials
such as strips of roofing metal, empty oil drums, and
tin cans. These people, bursting with rhythm, make
music with everything and anything. At present, new
materials that are more easily accessible, such as soda
cans and bottles, are becoming increasingly important
for the construction of percussion instruments. Some
rhythmic instruments like scrapers, bells, and rattles
also provide the pitch and timbre when played in an
ensemble to provide contrasts in tone quality and
character.
WHAT TO KNOW
Direction: Identify what is being asked on the following question. Write your answers on your
1/2 crosswise and answer it directly. Answer it silently.

1. WHAT IS OUR LESSON FOR TODAY? (complete title (2pts)

2. GIVE ATLEAST 2 EXAMPLES OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF AFRICA . (2pts)
3. GIVE ATLEAST 2 EXAMPLES OF LATIN AMERICA MUSIC INFLUENCED BY
AFRICAN MUSIC (2pts)
4. It is a Jamaican sound dominated by bass guitar and drums. It is a Jamaican musical
style that was strongly influenced by the island’s traditional mento music, and others.
(2pts)
5. Give atleast 2 performer of the blues genre . (2pts)
6. ENUMARATE ALL 5 OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF TRADITIONAL AFRICAN
INSTRUMENTS. (5PTS)
 END OF
PRESENTATION
THANKYOU!