Transcendence

An interview with musician Shabaka Hutchings, leader of the bands Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming and Shabaka and the Ancestors. The conversation starts with a discussion of multiplicity and unity, and the imperial habit of reducing multiplicity down to a single dominant unity, whether through imposing one religion, one view of empire, or one recognised form of art music. It looks at the different ways of viewing culture in the West and in African countries. And it discusses the relationship between jazz and classical music; improvisation; musical dialogue; South African music; transcendence through music; and musical healing.

Musica Reservata: Two Initiatory Chants for the Vòdún Worship Society in Benin. By Gilbert Rouget. Translated by Cari Friesen.

Rouget analyzes the recordings of two pieces for vòdún initiation ceremonies for the deities of Xɛvyòsò (thunder and lightning) and Sakpàtá (the Earth), which he recorded near Porto Novo, Benin (formerly Dahomey), in 1958 and 1969, respectively. These pieces are performed in great secrecy and differ significantly in form and style from the drumming, dancing, and singing performed for the public “coming-out” ceremonies at the end of the initiates’ period of seclusion. Using staff and sonogram transcriptions, Rouget focuses on melodic and strophic repetition, as well as the function of chromaticism, a rarity in African music. These pieces reflect how the initiates move from a state of “dispossession,” or self-alienation, which the author chronicles in his photographs, before they are symbolically reborn in the public portion of the ceremony. Rouget argues for the pieces’ status as sacred works of art, originating from before colonization, that are worthy of aesthetic appreciation. Citation: Rouget, Gilbert. Musica Reservata: Two Initiatory Chants for the Vòdún Worship Society in Benin. Translated by Cari Friesen. Ethnomusicology Translations, no. 12. Bloomington, IN: Society for Ethnomusicology, 2021. Originally published in French as Musica Reservata. Deux chants initiatiques pour le culte des vôdoun au Bénin. Paris: Palais de l’Institut, 2006.

African Piano Tutor – Pianoforte Tutor Beginners Level 1

Music is an integral part of African society and the life of an African revolves around music. Musical instrument play is part and parcel of African music. Thus, learning a musical instrument is part of the African culture. The piano although not African in origin, has been adopted in Africa through globalization and glocalization. This book introduces the learner to piano playing using African rhythm as its theme. It introduces the learner to basic rhythms and basic finger positions to play the simple pieces that are in the book. This book is a result of the author’s many years of teaching piano to beginners. The author hopes that this book forms a foundation for students to learn African rhythms and to love African music for further progression.

Africanness in Action

This book discusses how musicians from Bahia, an emblematic African diasporic location in northeastern Brazil, think about, discuss, compose, rehearse, perform, and stage music inspired by what they perceive to be their own African ancestry. It argues that these musicians assert Afro-Brazilian identities and connect to the African continent and other diasporic places by creatively engaging essentialized notions about African music and culture: instead of mechanically reproducing these tropes, they emphasize them or downplay them. The book theorizes these preconceived notions about African music, culture, and performance as tropes of Africanness, emphasizing that they exist in two interrelated realms: as essentialist ideas in discourse and as concrete practices and sounds. Six commonly encountered tropes of African music are analyzed: the notions that its most important parameter is rhythm and that it is dominated by percussion; that it is meant to be danced to or deeply embodied rather than intellectualized; that it always touches on the sacred; that it is spontaneous and improvisatory; and that it reflects communalism rather than individualism. Through four case studies from Bahia (a jazz big band called Orkestra Rumpilezz, a symphony orchestra called the Orquestra Afrosinfônica, and two berimbau orchestras led by capoeira practitioners), the book demonstrates the nuances of musical creation in the African diaspora, acknowledging the genuine impact that essentialisms have on Bahian music while showing that they may not be an essential part of the musicians’ African roots.

The Nature of Ghanaian Music and Dance Syllabus and the Challenges of Teaching its Contents in Tamale International School

This paper examined the nature of the Junior High School (JHS) music and dance syllabus in the context of growing cultural education and current socio-cultural transitions in Ghana. It also sought to highlight the challenges of teaching the syllabus in the schools. The design used was a case study while archival document analysis and interview incorporated the data collection instruments to collect the appropriate data to answer the research questions. The content of the syllabus was analyzed while two main participants of the study were also interviewed. The study reveals a mismatch in the relationship between the content of the music and dance taught in the classroom and what actually exists in the syllabus to be taught. It is recommended that music teachers properly align their instructional content to the syllabus since it contains enough African music content that can prepare the pupils to appreciate their musical culture.

Rejection of Indigenous Music? Reflections of Teaching and Learning of Music and Dance in Tamale International School

Culturally responsive teaching and learning in schools creates an engaging and accessible learning environment that ensures continuity in the traditions of the people. One of the aspects of culture which engages students effectively in the learning process is music and dance. However, the instructional delivery of Music and Dance in Tamale International School scarcely includes the indigenous music content to a broader perspective. The paper was an investigation to find out how music and dance was taught in Tamale International School. It also highlights the attitudes of students towards the teaching and learning of Music and Dance. Using the cultural theory of Education as the theoretical framework, and a case study research design, participants were drawn from the pupils, the music teacher as well as the headteacher of the school. Interview and observation were the main instruments for the data collection. It was revealed that teaching of music and dance in the Tamale International School was a problem due to the fact that the school is one of the Western colonized schools with much historical orientation on Western music thereby relegating African music to the background. Attitudes of pupils towards the study of African music component of the music and dance syllabus being negative due to their religious background and the orientation received from their parents. Situated within the cultural education theory, the paper concludes that when students are given the opportunity to learn traditional music very often at school, it will help them to know theirs as Africans and embrace it in spite of their orientations from their religious background.