african music wayne sheppard

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african music

the role of african music within it’s society is that of a diverse manner. african
cultures use their music for communication, celebration, the marking of events and many
much more. the styles for this are varied as you travel across the many regions of the great
continent. africa is thought to be the birth place of human kind which is possibly the reasons
for its primitive responsibility in certain aspects.

where western music is typically based on a standard of tonality and melodic context,
african music possesses a similar trait with an often found use of a repeated riff (ostinato).
this repeating and normally slowly varying melody is mostly played on a metallic, non-
percussive instrument such as an karimba (thumb piano). the karimba is a hand held
instrument which is made up of different lengths of metal. the metal strips lay next to each
other for ease of access and vibrate by the user plucking the non secured ends with his
thumb.

however, cultural music in africa tends to centre around the rhythm and also the
dynamics. rhythm is generally the main part, this is shown by the variety of drums known to
be of use in africa. these drums include the djembe and the talking drum. the talking drum
illustrates the way african cultures use music, this drum can be used to create significant
sounds, very similar to that of vocal syllables. the talking drum is played in the same
manner an a normal drum however, its structure allows the musician to change the sound by
squeezing it under his arm. this in turn changes how tight the drum skin is. the djembe on
the other hand is much more focused towards emphasis of the rhythm. the sound it produces
is constant in relation to its tuning and size. it is played by hitting it with a bare hand
however can be hit in different fashions to change dynamics and tone.

within the rhythmic beauty of african music there is a display for a varied use of
timing, creating different feels to that expected in western culture. especially as a six over
four time signature is considered more standard than our usual four over four.

a important part of african music is the use of voice. unlike western singing, african
voice is used to focus on rhythm and structure. it is often heard to repeat simple vocal lines
which demonstrate hierarchy within a musical group. the ‘leader’ is referred to as the master
drummer, he/she tends to be responsible for starting chants and controlling the way they are
expressed.

africa is renowned in the music world for it’s cultural involvement on many levels.
often, you will see that african music as an expression to mark an event, for instance death
or marriage, will involve specific clothing, dancing and also vocal lines. this is very
influential to the rest of the world and can be found everywhere along with their sense of
rhythm and communicational methods, after all music is a world wide language.