Music, dance and story telling are among the forms of art that have been kept century after century in Africa. Everyday life activities in traditional Africa included music and many other cultural experiences. Music and dance were traditions that characterized an African musical expression and played an important role in the lives of the people.The traditional music of Africa possessed a distinguishing feature of rhythmic complexity like no other continent. Music was highly functional in ethnic life, accompanying birth, marriage, hunting and even political activities.Before the 20th century, music was very different when compared to the 21st century music. Special occasions owned a distinctive type of African music.
Since the dawn of civilization, storytellers have crafted tales to entertain and enthrall audiences, sharing lessons about life and offering glimpses into their cultural heritage along the way. From time immemorial, two of the most popular forms of storytelling to have evolved include those of the myth and the legend. Typically, a legend is comprised of a semi-true story, one which has been passed on from person-to-person and embodies a deeper meaning or symbolism related to the culture from which it originated. Legends have an element of truth to them or are otherwise based on historic facts melded with mythical qualities. They customarily involve heroic characters or fantastic places and often encompass the spiritual beliefs indigenous to their culture.
In general, folk music was viewed as a window into the cultural life of these groups. Folk songs communicated the hopes, sorrows and convictions of ordinary people's everyday lives. Increasingly, music made by other groups of Americans such as Native Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Cajuns came under the umbrella of "folk music." The term "roots music" is now used to refer to this broad range of musical genres, which include blues, gospel, traditional country, zydeco, tejano, and Native American pow-wow. Over the years, “roots music” has been globalized all over America and the world and has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry.
In section one it’s in E minor - the chords change between Em and G and in section two it’s in G major. The harmonic rhythm describes the way the chord progression moves below the tune in a piece of music. The chords make the piece irregular because they keep changing and this affects the mood of the piece. Instruments and Texture: Capercaillie is a Celtic folk band and they play traditional folk instruments like Uilleann pipes, flute, fiddle, accordion and bouzouki, over the top of more modern instruments like drums, piano/keyboard and bass guitar. It has a polyrhythmic texture - lots of different rhythms are being played at the same time.
They made Totem poles thinking they were religious carvings. Story telling was very important to their culture. They often told stories about legends and fairy
Cajun Music Cajun music is the symbolic music of Louisiana. Cajun Music arose in Louisiana around the early 1920’s. In 1764, the Acadians fled from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to west Louisiana, they settled in the bayou and prairie areas. These areas were exceptionally secluded but nevertheless the customs united and gave rise to the new style of music; called “French Music.” The Acadians brought with them a unique type of music; mostly ballads, that were in French. These Ballads were the foundation and root of the Cajun music we hear today.
Country music began in the 1920’s in the Southern states of the USA (Wikipedia, 2012). It continues to be a popular musical genre today; however, it no longer has one specific style. Country music has developed over the years and branched out into many different types and subgenres. Even though country music has grown it still must follow certain guidelines to fall under the category of Country Music. Country music tells a story usually dramatic to a harmonious tune.
The oral tradition passed on spiritual beliefs of the people and the lineage of families. It also recorded the ownership of property and territory, political issues, legal proceedings and survival skills. It also mapped the geography of an area and it recorded history. Stories and Narratives Stories:
Throughout history, people can not exist without storytelling because of its great power and the materials that shapes every human endeavour. Storytelling satisfied need to explain surrounding physical world, the novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an intriguing tale that could easily be classified as a children's story, but beneath its surface it shows one man's struggle to overcome censorship and religious persecution. In today's society, people have to defend literature against tyranny so humans have the right to express freedom of speech. Literature is a communication is a soul engine of democracy, literary expression's an unconscious product of the collective experience of the entire human species, and literature has the ability to reveal the truth people have fail to see. First of all, the reason why one must defend literature against tyranny communication is because a soul engine of democracy.
What is Community Theatre? Community theatre has different roots and functions related to its cultural, social and political setting and its purpose in those specific environments. In some cases it may be that community rituals and stories, often deeply embedded in cultural traditions, are performed as an integral part of defining and celebrating a community’s cultural and spiritual identity. Some of the latter date back for many centuries but continue to be performed in spite of the fact that the factors dealt with within the drama have become objects of heritage rather than contemporary life . Other forms of community theatre have political intent, to inform and energise a community in bringing change or in asserting human rights, Theatre for Development in Africa for example or Purna Chandra Rao’s work in Hyderabad, India supporting peasants’ land rights against rapacious landowners.