AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC

GA 2.2 G`10 MUSIC

MUSICAL FORMS/GENRES WITH STRONG AFRICAN INFLUENCES

MARACATU, BLUES, SOUL, SPIRITUAL MUSIC, AND CALL-RESPONSE

MARACATU

• Is an ancient carnival tradition found in Pernambuco in Northeastern Brazil

• It has its roots from the music and tradition from the music and tradition of African slaves who worked in sugar farms and Pernambuco states.

• It was formed by the African Slaves’ Religious Brotherhood to preserve their culture and tradition

• They perform this by parading with 80 to 100 drum ensemble, chorus, and with a coterie of dancers. 

BLUES

• Is a style of music in the late 19th century.

• Originated from African-Americans in Southern United States

• This often expresses a wide range of emotion.

• The name of this genre often mirrors the deep emotion of Black Americans from injustices or a feeling of sadness, longing, and lost.

FAMOUS SINGERS OF THE R&B (BLUES) GENRE

• Alicia Keys, Adele, Anastacia, Aretha Franklin, B.B King, Bruno Mars, Demi Levato, Diana Ross

SOUL

• This was a popular music genre in the late 1950s and the 1960s.

• Originated from the United States.

• Incorporates elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and jazz characterized by a strong beat and emphasis on singing, call-and-response, improvisation, twirls, auxiliary sounds.

FAMOUS SINGERS OF THE SOUL GENRE

• Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Otis Redding. 

SPIRITUAL MUSIC

• Is a religious folk song that existed outside an established Church. 

• Also known as the Negro Spirituals.

• These are Christian songs created by the African people to express their Chrisitian faith through spiritual songs.

CALL-AND-RESPONSE

• Is a style of music composition wherein a vocalist or instrumentalist sings or plays a phrase and another vocalist or instrumentalist echoes with another phrase.

• It is a musical styles where the leader sings a line and answered by a chorus. The soloist usually improvises while the chorus stays the same. 

AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

• Africans are well-known for a wide variety of musical instruments ranging from different kinds of drums, strings, wind instruments, xylophones, and lamellaphones.

• These instruments are classified in groups

KINDS OF CLASSIFICATIONS OF AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Chordophones, Membraphones, Idiophones, Aerophones

IDIOPHONES

• Are musical instruments that produce sounds by striking, shaking, or scraping

KINDS OF IDIOPHONES

Djembe, Shekere, Agbe

DJEMBE (ZHEM-BAY)

• Is a single-headed open goblet drum played with bare hands.

• It has a unique and distinctive design carved and hollowed out of a tree trunk and covered with goat skin. 

SHEKERE

• Is a beaded handmade rattle.

• It consists of a hollow gourd or calabash, covered with a net of seeds, beads, shells, or any available materials from West Africa.

• It is played with a variety of styles and comes in different shapes and sizes. 

AGBE

• Is a very large beaded calabash.

• Traditionally owned and played by professional musicians in Nigeria.

• It is an instrument that can never be shared with the family members. However, it can be inherited by a son from his father if he is a professional musician.

CALL-AND-RESPONSE

• Is a style of music composition wherein a vocalist or instrumentalist sings or plays a phrase and another vocalist or instrumentalist echoes with another phrase.

• It is a musical styles where the leader sings a line and answered by a chorus. The soloist usually improvises while the chorus stays the same. 

MEMBRAPHONES

• Are musical instruments which have vibrating animal membranes.

TALKING DRUM

• Is one of the respected drum in Southern Nigeria.

• Similar to the Kalangu drum of Northern Nigeria.

• Is played with a beater and can imitate a speech pattern or be used as signals for warnings and announcements.

• This leads most of the musical instruments. 

• Its sound gives the dancers the direction on what to do at a given time. 

CHORDOPHONES

• Are musical instruments that produce sounds from the vibration of strings.

KORA

• Is one of the famous stringed-instrument.

• Similar to the guitar. 

• It is a long-necked harp with 21 strings placed on a gourd with a skin of an animal.

• This is used to accompany worship songs. 

MUSICAL BOW

• Is the oldest 

• Widely used string instrument in Africa.

• Consist of a flexible wooden stick with strings attacked on both ends. 

• Similar to a bow and arrow. 

• It can be played either plucking, or by striking using a wooden stick. 

AEROPHONES

• Are musical instruments that produce sounds by a vibrating air.

KUDU HORN 

• Comes from the horn of kudu antelope, hollowed out as a wind instrument. 

• Used for signals. 

• This instrument comes in a set of six horns which mirrors the propagation of Africa’s musical tradition. 

• The Kudu horn releases a mellow and warm sound that has the ability to add a unique accent to the African music.

TRUMPETS 

• These are widely spread in Africa. 

• Are made from a variety of materials such as wood, metal, horns, tusks, and gourds. 

• They are ceremonial in nature and used in different functions such as for giving signals and announcements. 

• Some African tribes believed that this had the power to cast away evil spirits, cure diseases, and to give the warriors and hunters protection from harm. 

LAMELLAPHONE

• Any of a class of musical instruments played by whose sound is generated by plucking, flexible tuned tongues of METAL, WOOD, CANE, or any material attached in a board resonator. 

MBIRA

• Thumb piano or finger xylophones 

• Is one of Zimbabwe’s most imporant instrument. 

• Played in social and religious celebrations. 

• Is a lamellaphone percussion instrument consisting of a series of tuned metal or bamboo tongues attached on a sound board or box resonator. 

• Called “thumb piano” because the thumbs play the wooden or metal tongues.