MUSIC OF AFRICA Flashcards
is one of the most influential styles of music in the world. It has
greatly influenced the music of Contemporary America, Latin America and European
music. Its highly energetic and rhythmically challenging beats are quite universal.
African music
is mainly functional in nature which is used
primarily in ceremonial rites, such as birth, death, marriage, succession, worship,
and spirit invocations. Others are work related or social in nature, while many
traditional societies view their music as a form of entertainment.
African traditional music
It is a term used to describe the fusion of West African with Black
American music.
Afrobeat
It is a musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style to
wake up the worshippers after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of Ramadan.
Apala (Akpala)
It is a popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil. It fuses the
Afro-Caribbean styles of marcha, reggae, and calypso.
Axe
It is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music played on drums
with guitar accompaniment influenced by mbira-based guitar styles.
Jit
It is a popular form of South African music featuring a lively and
uninhibited variation of the jitterbug, a form of swing dance.
Jive
It is a popular music style from Nigeria that relies on the traditional
Yoruba rhythms. A drum kit, keyboard, pedal steel guitar, and accordion are
used along with the traditional dun-dun (talking drum or squeeze drum).
Juju
It is a music style that begun in Zaire in the late 1980s
popularized by Kanda Bongo Man. In this dance style, the hips move back and
forth while the arms move following the hips.
Kwassa Kwassa
It is a South African three-chord township music of the 1930s-1960s
which evolved into African Jazz. It is characterized by simple chords in varying
vamping patterns and repetitive harmony over an extended period.
Marabi
– It is the combination of strong rhythms of African percussion
instruments and Portuguese melodies. This form of music is being paraded along
the streets by up to 100 participants.
Maracatu
It is one of the most widely performed musical forms of the late 19th
century. The melodies of blues are expressive and soulful. The slaves and their
descendants used to sing these as they work in the fields.
Blues
It is a popular music genre of the 1950s and 1960s which originated in
the African-American community throughout the United States. It combines
elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz
Soul
It originated in the Unites States and created by African-American
slaves. It is also known as “Negro Spiritual”. It became a means of imparting
Christian values and a way of venting their hardships as slaves
Spiritual
– It is likened to a question and answer sequence in human
communication. The slaves used to sing these songs while simultaneously doing
all their tasks in a day.
Call and Response
