Special occasions owned a distinctive type of African music. The African Diaspora, West African music, and music of the Colonies all had various musical instruments. West African music was representative, or the head of African music before the slave trade to America. It was incomparable to any other music in the style of which it was played as well as the motivation as to why it was played. West African music was documented around the 1600's when explorers kept note of what had been found when traveling.
Koko: Yiri Western African music spread to USA and Caribbean through the slave trade. Professional musician is called a griot. A griot family passes it's knowledge through the generations through mouth to mouth oral tradition. Has had influence on genres such as blues, jazz and rock music. Key features used in western African music - repetition: melodies and rhythms being played over and over again - improvisation: melodies and rhythms being made up as they go along - call and response: usually a solo performer signs something and a larger group then repeats what has just been sung Layered textures: music built up from independent lines that are designed to be heard together All these are used in Yiri, Yiri is performed by koko.
Ethan Gundry FOLK-F301 Week 11 Journal Drum Gahu by David Locke (Chapter 1) Week 11’s reading, Chapter 1: Introduction from the book Drum Gahu, provides great insight as to how the author became interested in African music. The first two sections provided a lot of great background about the author’s first trip to Ghana and his teaching experiences that have evolved to form his book, Drum Gahu. The influence of Ewe percussion on American jazz music is certainly a surprise, but it makes sense considering that Ewe performers began to teach their drumming in the United States in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This reading is especially interesting because it is from the perspective of a musical teacher, and not the outside opinion of a traditional writer. The author truly wishes to educate the readers, “… I make no overt attempt to modify your underlying attitude and motivation” (Drum
In the 4th century BC, Yoruba people we not initially known as Yoruba although they have common sentiments and share a common ethnicity and language group. Both archeology and traditional Yoruba oral historians confirm the existence of people in the same region for several millennia. The name “Yoruba” is most likely an adaptation of ‘Yo ru ebo’, which means, “Will venerate.” The Yoruba civilization remains one of the most technologically and artistically advanced in West Africa to this time. To add, some contemporary historians contend
A slave can be inherited, moved or sold with no regard to slaves’ feeling. Slave trade route: GB Africa[with metal, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, cloths, guns, wine & ppl]West IndiesGB. African Solution: Gold Coast. For the first part of the fifteen century, Portuguese explorers visited the western African coast. By 1471, they reached what came to be known as the “Gold Coast” or what is how largely modern day Ghana.
By examining several examples of Benin ritual objects we are going to show what their functions are in the ritual practices of the Edo people. These functions will elucidate the sustained continuity of the divine power of the Oba and the Ancestors. List of Illustrations. Figure 1.- Benin bronze plaque, sixteenth century, National Museum of African Arts, Washington, D.C. (Curnow 1997: 77) Figure 2. - Ukhure rattle staff, 64 in, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Blumenthal Fund, 1974.5 (Mullen Vogel 1978:88-89) 1-Full length picture, 2-Top showing rattle chamber, 3-Top showing Oba’s thumbs and elephant, 4-Bottom front, 5-Bottom back..
This author from Howard University is the outstanding specialist in this field-particularly with respect to the social relationships. Marsh was not the first to compile spirituals (the Allen anthology of 1867 is included in Black Cultural Leaders in Music, cited below), nor was he the only one to deal with the Fisk University chorus. Other early examples of the music are in Barton, including jubilees (the post-slavery expressions of joy). Ballanta was a native of Sierra Leone ~vhocaptured versions of the songs tenaciously retained in this coastal area. After Fisk, the major site for continuing the tradition was Hampton, particularly under the guidance of Dett, and this anthology had already undergone editions in 1874 , 189 1, and 1909 before Dett's rvork.
Since this is the first narratives written by a former slave, the first-hand accounts of his life are a vital aspect of the story. Douglass used the point of view to demonstrate, through his own intelligence, that slaves are not incapable of learning. Motifs are also widely used throughout the book. He uses the
The conch is also compared to a tusk; a tusk is large, and strong. It also belongs to a huge, prominent animal. The reader gets a mental image of what the conch looks like; the image is of an amazing, large shell. The other way we see the power of the conch is through the sound it generates. The quotation describing the sound the conch made after many fails at making it work is,
Capoeira history is passed through word of mouth, folklore and most commonly through music. All have made similar claims that Capoeira developed in all three states around the same time. The argument of whether Capoeira is African or Brazilian, though it may be controversial, is just a simple as the statements above. The art of Capoeira was developed over a half of a millennium ago in colonial Brazil, making it Brazilian and not African. The lack of written documentation will always prohibit the one hundred percent sureness of Capoeira being Brazilian but understanding what is known and a little common sense can give one enough evidence to support that statement.