Caribbean Music History Flashcards
Elements of Sub-Saharan music
Polyrhythm, responsorial forms, ostinato, use of percussion, background shimmer, music and language connection, nature of arts, performing arts
Explain Polyrhythm
Rhythms that occur simultaneously in two different meters with different staring points
Explain responsorial forms
Exhange between a single performer’s call and the groups response
Explain ostinato
Pattern that repeats over and over
Explain use of percussion
Using drums would be a major chracteristic (rattles, bells, xylophones)
Explain backgroung shimmer
They would attach beads, shells of all kinds to creating a constant buzzing or rattling thorughout the performance
Explain music and language
Drums executing a combination of ryhthms and pitches would reprsent spoken syllables and forms of speech creating association between music and words
Explain nature of the arts
Most traditions share the expectation that music is something everyone does
Explain performing arts connection
Every aspect of the arts could not have worked without the other. Many African languages have no separate word for music, and although there may be one for song, this may also imply poetry or dance.
Explain downbeats
the downward stroke of a conductor indicating the principally accented note of a measure of music
If most sub-Saharan music is tonal. Explain.
relating to the qualities or pitch of a sound or to the tonality of a piece of music. there is little variety.
Explain infelction
change in pitch or loudness of the voice
What is the talking drum
The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech.
Other than drums what are some intrsuments African musicians plays
Lutes, lyres, trumpets, flutes, zithers
Explain membranophones
instruments that produce sound by vibrating a membrane (drums)
Drummers use what play drums
Hands and sticks (elbow sticks being the most popular)
Explain idiophones
instruments that create sound through vibrating themselves
Explain aerophones
Aerophone, any of a class of musical instruments in which a vibrating mass of air produces the initial sound.
Areophones African singing styles are
Whisper singing and yodeling
Explain alternation playing
Large group of instruments would divide melody since instruments may have a limited range
Explain chordophones
any of a class of musical instruments in which a stretched, vibrating string produces the initial sound
Types of chordophones
The five basic types are bows, harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers.
What is the musical bow?
The musical bow is a simple string instrument used by a number of African peoples, which is also found in the Americas via the slave trade. It consists of a flexible, usually wooden, stick 1.5 to 10 feet long, and strung end to end with a taut cord, usually metal.
What is a bow harp?
long, curving neck and a shovel-shaped sound box
What is a triangular harp?
Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood
Drumming in West Africa
Ghana, they would learn music and dance after work and perform them in costumes.
The ewe clubs specialise in
playing atsia
What is atsia
drumming orchestra piece which is over 100 years old which means display or style
Explain the Jali and their music
Jali are members of a hereditary group of West African oral historians, musicians and singers. The Kora, a 21 string bridge harp, is the instrument most associated with the Jali because of its’ popularity and versatility.
What some African genres?
African music includes the genres amapiano, jùjú, fuji, afrobeat, highlife, Congolese rumba, soukous, ndombolo, makossa, kizomba, and others.
Who is Felt Kuti?
Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì, also famously known as Abàmì Ẹ̀dá, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the King of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz.
What is highlife in African music?
style of dance music of West African origin, influenced by rock and jazz.
What are the different textures?
monophonic, polyphonic, homophonic
Explain monophonic
using only one line of music, unaccompanied by any other voices or instruments.
Explain homophonic
music that has one sound or line of melody being played by multiple instruments at the same time
Explain polyphonic
the simultaneous combination of two or more tones or melodic lines
Who are the Gullah/ Geechee?
Black American ethnic group that chiefly inhabits a region stretching along the southeastern coast of the United States, from Pender county in southern North Carolina to St. Johns county in northern Florida.
Where did the Gullah come from?
Gullah African Americans are descendants of formerly enslaved Africans. Many came from the rice-growing region of West Africa.
What language did/do the Gullah speak?
English-based creole language
Why was the Gullah brought to Georgia, South Carolina and the South Sea Islands?
The Gullah/Geechee people were brought to this area primarily for their expertise in rice cultivation, as well as their familiarity with the vegetation, climate and conditions of the Lowcountry
What special skills did the Gullah have?
basket weaving, indigo dyeing, and a unique cuisine that consists largely of preparations of seafood, rice, and seasonal coastal vegetables, such as okra and field peas.
What cultural traditions did the Gullah bring with them?
basket weaving, quilting and the knitting of fish nets to name a few.
Why was the Gullah able to retain these traditions better than other slave populations in America?
Since the Gullah was mostly isolated from the ever-changing society they were able to retain most of these indigenous African traditions.
What is the significance of Bance Island?
Bunce is a 1600 feet uninhabited island lying approximately 20 miles up the Sierra Leone River from Freetown. Bunce Island was established as a slave trading station in 1670. At its slave trading heights British traders shipped tens of thousands of African slaves to the Americas from this place. It was however in 1840 that the Bunce Island fort was finally abandoned. Bunce Island was declared a National Monument in 1948.
Describe the ring shout associated with the Gullah people
Usually in a call and response format, the ring shout can be described as a chant, prayer or song, not dissimilar in style to a modern-day rap that is accompanied by dancing, clapping and shuffling of feet to the beat. Each ring shout would be specific in their meanings as also selective to particular families or areas. Participants would dance in a ritual fashion in a circle amidst the rhythmical pounding of sticks and then, at the culminating moment, experienced possession by the Holy Spirit while shouting expressions of praise and thanksgiving.
Describe praise houses which were associated with the Gullah people
This can be known as a surviving example of the slaves’ secret meeting places. These were mostly barns and small frame houses of which they would praise, worship and meetings with privacy.
Who are the Black Seminoles?
Black Seminoles are a group of free blacks and runaway slaves (maroons) that joined forces with the Seminole Indians in Florida from approximately 1700 through the 1850s. They were celebrated for their bravery and tenacity during the three Seminole Wars.
What are spirituals?
The spirituals are the religious folk songs created and first sung by African Americans in slavery.
What a spiritual sorrow songs ?
This begins with sadness and despair reflecting the emotional transformation from despair to hope and joy.
What are songs of joy?
Almost the same as special songs of sorrow these would express deep faith and triumph
What are the different types of spirituals?
Singing as an expression of democratic values and community solidarity, singing as a source of inspiration and motivation, singing as an expression of protest, singing as coded communication
Explain spirituals and expression of democratic values and community solidarity
These expressed alienable rights like life liberty and happiness, reflecting the strength of their convictions in their songs
Explain spirituals as its source of inspiration and motivation
These were to inspire the ongoing struggle for freedom often using stories of ancestors’ bravery and victories
Explain spirituals as an expression of protest
Well direct expressions of protest with dangerous some served as clear messages although the creators conceal the true meanings
Explains spirituals as coded message
These were utilised for secret communication they would tell imminent escapes from plantations or directing people along the underground railroad routes
Who are the Jubilee singers?
In the 1870s the Jubilee singers from Fisk University embarked on two major tours they brought songs of spirituals to the stage expanding the cultural and geographical reach
Explain the mixture of cultures in Cuba by 1600’s
native Tiano and Cibonry Indians perished with music, language and culture. European settlers brought classical music dance and folklore sons. West African slaves kept culture alive
Historical events with dates
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The difference of slavery in Cuba from the United States
Cuba involved more racially diverse enslaved population including Africans indigenous people and mixed races working on sugar plantations. Unlike the US when slavery was based on racial hierarchy and legal segregation.
What is Santeria
Largest Afro Cuban villager, mixes yoruban spirituality with the Roman Catholicism
What are Orishas
Spirits that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare, worshipped in Santeria
What is Oshun
Goddess of love and fertility
What are the sacred drums of Santeria called
Bata
Explain the bata
Set of three hourglass shaped drums, said to hold an indwelling deity called Ana, played for funeral ceremonies
What are the different types of bata
Iya (mother; calls rhythms), Itotele (follows completely), Okonkolo (plays ostinato)
What is torque de santo
Santeria event which takes place in a devotees home with an altar for Arisha secret day, anniversary of initiation, honouring spirits. It is comprised of drums singing dancing and spirit possession .
What is the claves
5 note pattern which serves as a function of rhythmic style in salsa
What is the conga
Solid log, hallowed with nailed on skin, eventually was made of fibreglass and wood with the ability to tune
What is the bongo
Pair of an equal sized drums, in Cuba around 1900
What is the rumba
Most influential Afro-Cuban secular music and dance genre
