History

Africa
 African Music History
 Africa
has a rich ancient musical history. Their music was orally
transmitted from generation to generation.
 TheEuropean colonization of Africa and the African slave
trade paved the way to spread of African music to different
parts of the world.
 Asa result of forces of colonization, independence , and
globalization , African music and society has changed.
 Foundation of their Music
 Theirmusic and dance forms have influenced number
of musical styles and provided foundation of musical
tradition behind African American music including the
Caribbean and Latin American genres such as the
reggae, salsa, samba, and rumba.
 Traditional Music of Africa
 Music in Africa plays an important role in their daily life, from
birth to death.
 They use music in their
 Work
 Religious ceremonies
 Rituals
 Festivities
 Mode of communication
 Their music is also an instrument for them to express
their emotions and sentiments.
 Their song is also used in their personal celebrations
such as Birth, baptism, marriage, and death.
 They also believed that of music it can cure the sick,
cast away the evil spirits, paying respect to good
spirits, the dead and the ancestors.
 Traditional African forms share the same common
traits despite its diversity.
 Its emphasis is placed more strongly on rhythms than
melody or harmony
 They used repetition as an organizing principle on top
of which an improvisation is built.
 It is mostly performed by group of musicians,
frequently employing polyphony , polyrhythm and a
conversational style of music in which different voices,
instrumental parts are brought into lively exchange.
1.Afrobeat
Combines West African musical styles such as Yoruba music,
jazz, highlife, funk rhythms, and fused with African percussion and
Africanchants,
vocal styles. It features style of Music
call-and-response vocals, and
complex rhythms.
2.Apala (Akpala)
Is a musical style developed in that 1930 from
Nigerian people of Yoruba. This style was used during
the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to wake the
worshippers after fasting. The Apala rhtyms were
influence by Cuban Music that grew more and later
became quite poplular in Nigeria. The instruments used
in Apala include a rattle (sekere), thumb piano
(agidigbo) and a bell (agogo), and the talking drums.
3.Axe
Is a popular style of music fused with
Afro-Carribean styles of Marcha,
Reggae, and Calypso. This word came
from Yoruba religious greetings which
soul, light, spirit, or good vibration.

4.Jive
A lively and uninhibited variation of
the jitterbug (a form of Swing dance)
which was originated in the United
States in the early 1930s from African-
Americans.
5.Jit
A popular style of Zimbabwean dance music that
features quick and fast rhythm played on drums and
accompanied by a guitar. It was popularized by
Chazezesa Challenges, The Four Brothers, and Bhundu
Boys band in the 1980s.
6.Juju
Is a popular style of music from Nigeria that derives from
traditional Yoruba percussion. It is characterized by the use
of the African talking drums, agogo, sekere, bata, omelet
along with other western instruments such as the guitars,
bass, keyboards, and drums that can be performed in any
occasion, events, and concerts.
7.Kwassa Kwassa
Dance style which begun in Zaire and
developed by Kanda Bongo Man in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. It is a dance rhythm from Congo,
where the dancers move their hands in a motion
that corresponds to the movement of their hips.
8.Marabi
Was a name given to a keyboard style similar to American
ragtime and blues with roots of African tradition originated in the
1920s. It is characterized by repeated harmonic patterns and a
few simple chords in different improvised patterns to let the
people dance for an extended period of time.