CHAPTER 10 STUDY GUIDE Study Items Timeline 192 Progressive colonization and foreign domination of sub Saharan Africa collapse of traditional African nations Slave trade African diaspora National independence movements emerge Ghana becomes independent Mali becomes independent Dahomey Benin becomes independent Apartheid ends Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa musical guided tour 4 199 200 go to the textbook publisher s website guided listening experience 201 02 for CD 3 14 guided listening experience 209 11 for CD 3 16 guided listening experience 213 15 for CD 3 17 guided listening experience 217 19 for CD 3 18 Akan people 191 193 A large ethnic group of West Africa concentrated principally in the modern nation of Ghana drum speech 193 Linguistic use of certain types of West African drums e g atumpan in certain contexts e g reciting proverbs which is made possible by the use of tonal languages tonal language 193 Languages in which the meaning of words is determined not just by the actual sounds of their syllables but also by the specific patterns of pitch rhythm and timbral inflection with which they are articulated Many West African languges such as the Akan language Twi are tonal so too are other languages including Mandarin Chinese atumpan 193 A set of two large drums used by the Akan for drum speech and also in other contexts such as in Fontomfrom music The path and the river 193 The river and the path are literal parts of the Akan world They are also metaphors with multiple levels of meaning Just as the path mus meet the river the Akan must cut their own paths toward communion with the sources of their creation divine ancestral familial and natural They also must aim to follow their individual pathways toward intersection with one another and mutual support polyvocality 194 Comprising many voices in the chapter relates to the conversational dimension of much West African music wherein many voices vocal and or instrumental may speak and be heard all at once expressing a unified diversity of views and perspectives kora 194 21 string Made spike harp chordophone jeli instrument Sidiki Toumani and Mamadou Diabate represent one of the great lineages of kora players Mande peoples 194 Major ethnic group of Western Africa concentrated in areas of Mali Senegal Guinea Guinea Bissau and Gambia Principal subgroups are the Maninka mali Guinea and Mandinka Senegal Gambia jeliya 194 The artistic culture of the jeli including its praise songs and instrumental music traditions griot 194 Generic term from French covering a diverse range of African hereditary praise song music traditions including that of the Mande jeli Isicathamiya Ladysmith Black Mambazo 195 South African a cappella vocal genre largely identified with the iconic group Ladysmith Black Mambazo south African vocal group size population of African 196 Second in sixe only to Asia covering more than 11 million square miles and accounting for more than 20 percent of the earth s land surface 1 6 of the world s population resides in Africa African diaspora 196 The dispersal of millions of people from Africa the majority from West Africa to other parts of the world especially the Americas the United States Brazil the Caribbean etc largely a result of the Euro American slave trade at least initially Today the African Diaspora is global in scope and its worldwide musical impact cannot be overestimated sub Saharan Africa 196 The majority of the African continent is located south of the Sahara West Africa enslaved people 196 Selected musicultural traditions originating in western regions of sub Saharan Africa that is in West Africa form the main subject matter of this chapter West African musical traditions are rich and varied in and of themselves and have and a profound impact on the course of musical developments worldwide over the past several centuries This was the region of the continent from which most African slaves were brought to the Americas In the Americas African and European derived musics blended to from the foundations of many new types and styles of music dawuro 198 Steady repeating rhythmic pattern ostinato on an iron bell Fontomfrom 198 Akan royal drum ensemble featuring several drums from atumpan eguankoba and the dawuro iron bell Matrilineal 198 Means that they trace their descent lines through the side of the mother Musical Africanisms 202 Identifiable musicultural characteristics that are widely shared across sub Saharan Africa and are prominent in musics of the African diaspora as well complex polyphonic textures 202 2 3 polyrhythm Textures featuring multiple layers of instruments voices are common in sub Saharan Africa The Fontomfrom music of CD ex 3 14 and all of the other music we will explore later in the chapter exemplify this feature layered ostinatos with varied repetition 202 A standard device for creating polyphony in sub Saharan African music is the layering of multiple recurring patterns ostinatos one on top of another This was well illustrated in CD ex 3 14 in which as is common the ostinato patterns tend to recur in varied forms rather than in the same form each time varied repetition conversational element 203 call and response Sub Saharan African musics are frequently conversational in character whether literally figuratively or metaphorically The musical converstaions come in many forms They may have a call and response format as in the river and path drum proverb and certain sections of the Fontomfrom piece or they may be more in the mode of having many voices all speaking at once complementing and commenting upon one another s utterances again as in some passages of the Fontomfrom piece The relationship between music and dance that is so central to much sub Saharan African performance also is frequently defined by a conversational character a dialogue of sound and movement improvisation 203 Improvisation is a hallmark of sub Saharan African musical expression Even in relatively set compositions that have been passed down through the generations or that are now transmitted via music notation the incorporation of improvisation sometimes subtle sometimes pronounced is usually expected The lead drumming part of the from in CD ex 3 14 features much improvisation The prominent place of improvisation in sub Saharan African musics is likewise characteristic of African American musical traditions such as blues jazz and hip hop timbral variety 203 burred timbre percussive aesthetic Musicians in
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