AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN AND POPULAR MUSIC

Music of Africa

− Singing, dancing, hand clapping and the beating of drums are essential to many African ceremonies.
− African music has been a collective result from the cultural and musical diversity of the more than 50 countries
of the continent.

Traditional Music of Africa

− African traditional music is largely functional in nature, used primarily in ceremonial rites, such as birth, death,
marriage, succession, worship, and spirit invocations.

Some Types of African Music

Afrobeat
Apala(Akpala)
Jit
Jive

Afrobeat

-term used to describe the fusion of West African with black American music

Apala (Akpala)

-a musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style to wake up the worshippers after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of Ramadan

Jit

-hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music played on drums with guitar accompaniment, influenced by mbira- based guitar styles.

Jive

- a popular form of South African music featuring a lively and uninhibited variation of the jitterbug.

JAZZ

➢ An offshoot of the music of African slaves who migrated to America, where it is considered a therapeutic outlet for human feelings.
➢ Africans used music to recall their nostalgic past in their home country as well as to voice out their sentiments on
their desperate condition at that time.

Examples of Jazz

• Ragtime
• Big Band
• Bebop/Bop
• Jazz Rock

Some Latin-American Music Influenced by African Music

Reggae
Salsa
Samba

Reggae

- a Jamaican sound dominated by bass guitar and drum.

Salsa

- uses Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian dance music and comprises various musical genres.

Samba

- the basic underlying rhythm that typifies most Brazilian music.

Vocal Forms of African Music

Maracatu
Blues
Soul
Spiritual
Call and Response Method

Maracatu

- a form of Latin- American music that first surfaced in the African state of Pernambuco, combining the strong rhythms of African percussion instruments with Portuguese melodies.

Blues

-a musical form of the late 19th century that has had deep roots in African-American communities
− The notes of the blues create an expressive and soulful sound and can communicate various emotions more
effectively than other musical forms.

Notable performers of Blues

✓ Ray Charles
✓ James Brown
✓ Eric Clapton

Soul

-originated in United States and was a popular music genre of the 1950s and 1960s which combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz
− Also includes “call and response” between the soloist and the chorus.

Notable performers Of Soul

✓ James Brown (Godfather of Soul)
✓ Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson (Soul Forefathers)

Spiritual

- a song form by African migrants to America who were enslaved by its white communities.
− It became their outlet to vent their loneliness and anger.
− The texts are mainly religious, sometimes taken from psalms of Biblical passages, while the music utilizes
deep bass voices, Negro accents, and dramatic dynamic changes add to the musical interest and
effectiveness of the performance.

Examples of Spiritual Music

We are Climbing Jacobs Ladder
When the Saints Go Marching In
Peace Be Still

Call and Response Method

-Much like the question-and-answer sequence in human communication, it also forms a strong resemblance to the verse-chorus form in many vocal compositions

African Musical Instruments from the Environment

✓ Many instruments of Africa are made from natural elements like wood, metal, animal, skin and horns, as well as
improvised ones like tin cans and bottles.
✓ Modern Africans make use of recycled waste materials such as strips of roofing metal, empty oil drums, and tin
cans.

Examples of call and response songs

• Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters
• School Day - Ring, Ring Goes the Bell – Chuck Berry