Music · Lesson 13

Roles, characteristics, scales, rhythm, folksongs, instruments, festivals and traditional musicians

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: types, forms, characteristics; festivals and dances; traditional instruments by class; African traditional musicians). WAEC/NECO: African modes (pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic); Traditional and Contemporary African Music; History and Literature A (traditional musicians/composers of Nigeria and Ghana).

WAEC: types, forms, characteristics; festivals and dances; traditional instruments by class; African traditional musicians). WAEC/NECO: African modes (pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic); Traditional and Contemporary African Music; History and Literature A (traditional musicians/composers of Nigeria and Ghana).

NECO: types, forms, characteristics; festivals and dances; traditional instruments by class; African traditional musicians). WAEC/NECO: African modes (pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic); Traditional and Contemporary African Music; History and Literature A (traditional musicians/composers of Nigeria and Ghana).

What you will learn

Explain the roles of music in traditional Nigerian society.
List and illustrate the characteristics of African traditional music.
Identify tritonic to heptatonic scales.
Define time line, cross-rhythm, hemiola and polyrhythm.
Classify folksongs by type and by form.
Classify Nigerian instruments by the Hornbostel–Sachs system.
Describe major festivals, dances and traditional musicians.

Key points

Traditional music is functional and contextual.
Call and response; leader improvises, chorus repeats.
Polyrhythm over a time line; cross-rhythm 3:2; hemiola.
Non-metric chants follow speech rhythm.
Pentatonic d r m s l has no semitones.
Melody follows speech tones; talking drums imitate them.
Folksong types by function; forms by structure.
Idiophone, membranophone, aerophone, chordophone.
Dundun, bata (Yoruba); kakaki, algaita, kalangu, goje (Hausa); ogene, ekwe, udu, oja (Igbo).
Festivals: Osun-Osogbo, Argungu, Eyo, Ofala, Iriji, Ekpo.
Dances: bata, atilogwu, swange, bori, ekombi.
Musicians: Shata, Dan Maraya Jos, Haruna Ishola, Omowura, Olatunji, Ogunde.

Start here: Music in African society

African music is not one style. It is the music of hundreds of peoples, and Nigeria alone has more than 250 ethnic groups, each with its own songs, dances and instruments. Yet music across the continent shares some deep habits, and examiners want you to know both the shared features and good named examples from Nigeria and Ghana.

In traditional society, music is rarely “just for listening”. It is tied to an occasion and a function: a child is named, a farm is cleared, a chief is installed, a hunter dies, a girl comes of age, a wrestling match is held. The song, the drum pattern and even the instruments allowed are chosen to fit the event. For this reason scholars describe African traditional music as functional and contextual. A Yoruba proverb is sometimes quoted: there is no festival without drumming.

Five roles of music examiners commonly ask about:

Religious and ritual: worship of deities (Sango, Ogun, Osun among the Yoruba; Amadioha among the Igbo), ancestral masquerades, initiation.
Social and recreational: moonlight games, wrestling, age-grade dances, weddings, naming ceremonies.
Political: praise of rulers, court music (the Hausa emirs’ rok’on fada with kakaki trumpets and drums), announcing the king’s movement.
Economic: work songs that coordinate farming, pounding, rowing and building; professional praise singers earn a living.
Educational and moral: folk-tale songs teach children values; satirical songs shame wrongdoers and correct behaviour publicly.

Music also communicates. Because Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and many other Nigerian languages are tonal (pitch changes word meaning), a talking drum such as the Yoruba dundun can imitate speech tones and “speak” praise names, proverbs and messages. The Igbo ekwe slit drum and ikoro large slit drum were used to summon people and announce events.

Worked example: Linking music to function. A question asks: “State four functions of music in a traditional Nigerian community, with an example of each.”
Model answer. (1) Religious: bata drumming for Sango worship among the Yoruba. (2) Political: kakaki trumpets herald the emir at the Sallah durbar in Kano. (3) Economic: Igbo farmers sing work songs to keep the hoes moving together. (4) Social control: satirical songs sung during festivals expose thieves and lazy people. Each point names the function, the people and a specific example, which is what earns the full mark.

Music through the life cycle. Follow one person through life and you meet music at every stage. A baby is named on the eighth day (Yoruba) with drumming and praise chants; she grows up with lullabies and moonlight game songs; she learns work songs on the farm and in the market; at puberty, rites such as the Ebira Ovia Osese include special songs; at marriage there are bridal songs, sometimes the bride’s own lament as she leaves home; as an adult she joins an age-grade or women’s group with its own dances; and at death the dirges and drums honour her and send her to the ancestors. Answering a “role of music” question by following the life cycle is an easy way to produce many points in a logical order.

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Practice questions

1. A typical feature of African music is

call and response
basso continuo
twelve-tone rows
sonata form

Show answer

A: call and response
Leader and chorus.

2. The talking drum (dùndún) of the Yoruba is classed as a

idiophone
chordophone
aerophone
membranophone

Show answer

D: membranophone
It has skin heads.

3. A bell (agogo or gong) is an

chordophone
aerophone
idiophone
membranophone

Show answer

C: idiophone
The body itself vibrates.

4. The kora is a

aerophone
chordophone
membranophone
idiophone

Show answer

B: chordophone
A 21-string harp-lute.

5. The algaita of the Hausa is an

aerophone
idiophone
chordophone
membranophone

Show answer

A: aerophone
A double-reed wind instrument.

Key words

Call and response: Leader sings, chorus answers.
Time line: Fixed bell or clap pattern guiding an ensemble.
Cross-rhythm: Conflicting divisions of the same span, e.g. 3 against 2.
Hemiola: 3+3 regrouped as 2+2+2.
Pentatonic: Five-note scale, often d r m s l.
Idiophone: Instrument whose body vibrates.
Membranophone: Instrument with a vibrating skin.
Aerophone: Instrument with a vibrating air column.
Chordophone: Instrument with a vibrating string.
Oriki: Yoruba praise poetry.
Dirge: Funeral song.
Ululation: High rapid trilling sound of celebration.

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