– Western Music is, broadly speaking, expressed with emphasis on the downbeat, whereas
African music seems to emphasise the rhythm on the upbeat
. Sometimes, to the untrained ear, African music appears deceptively easy to reproduce, but once you try it, there seem to be layers beneath layers of rhythm.
What are characteristics of African music?
Among the qualities of African music which may be considered characteristic, then, we may include the following:
an emphasis on rhythmic and metric complexity expressed throughout the musical system
; the use of extended syncopation, or off- beat phrasing of melodic accents, as a melodic device; the antiphonal call and …
What is the difference between Western and non-Western music?
Non-Western music will have a recognizably exotic sound to those who listen to Western Music. … When Western Music is compared with Non-Western music a number of very different concepts are identified. Among the differences are the use of
rhythm, dynamics, melody, harmony, Tone color and texture
.
What are the different African music?
- Soukous. Soukous is a form of music that stems from rumba. …
- JuJu. …
- Mbalax. …
- Zilin. …
- Gnawa. …
- Mbaqanga. …
- Chimurenga. …
- Majika.
How do you define African music?
African music,
the musical sounds and practices of all indigenous peoples of Africa
, including the Berber in the Sahara and the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoin (Hottentot) in Southern Africa. The music of European settler communities and that of Arab North Africa are not included in the present discussion.
What are the 4 types of musical form?
Four basic types of musical forms are distinguished in ethnomusicology:
iterative, the same phrase repeated over and over
; reverting, with the restatement of a phrase after a contrasting one; strophic, a larger melodic entity repeated over and over to different strophes (stanzas) of a poetic text; and progressive, in …
What type of meter is most common in Western music?
There are three which are the most common:
duple
(2/2, 2/4, 6/8), triple (3/4, 9/8, 3/2), and quadruple (4/4, 12/8, 4/2). A duple meter has two beats per measure, a triple meter has three beats per measure, and a quadruple meter has four beats per measure.
What is the most important element of African music?
Throughout Africa, there are four distinct categories of musical instruments:
drums
, wind, self-sounding and string instruments. The African drum (called the heart of the community) is the most significant instrument as it reflects people’s moods and emotions, and its rhythm holds dancers together.
What are the three characteristics of African music?
African music most closely adheres to
Western tetratonic (four-note), pentatonic (five-note), hexatonic (six-note), and heptatonic (seven-note) scales
. Harmonization of the melody is accomplished by singing in parallel thirds, fourths, or fifths (see Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony).
What makes African music unique?
African singers use a wide variety of sounds. The melodies are short, repeated over and over, also include
whistles and yodels
which is peculiar to African style of music. Soloist often improvises new melodies while the chorus continuous with the original melody creating a polyphonic structure.
What are the 5 most important features of African music?
- Flutes (bamboo, horn)
- Ocarinas.
- Panpipes.
- Horns from animal tusks.
- Trumpets wood or metal.
- Pipes being single or double reeds.
- Whistle.
What are the three basic elements of music?
A working definition of music for our purposes might be as follows: music is an intentionally organized art form whose medium is sound and silence, with core elements of
pitch (melody and harmony), rhythm (meter, tempo, and articulation), dynamics
, and the qualities of timbre and texture.
What is West African music called?
Afrobeat
is a music genre with major popularity throughout West Africa. … Afrobeat is influenced by palm-wine music and Ghanaian highlife, as well as jazz, funk and fuji. Fela Kuti devised the term ‘Afrobeat’ as early as 1968 in his home country of Nigeria.
How important is music in African culture?
Music is an integral part of the African culture, with various ceremonies being preceded by some sort of music.
Music is used to communicate, pass literature, welcoming heroes among other ritual functions
. There are diverse genres of music in Africa like hymns, dirge, that create mood and feel for the occasion.
What are the functions of African music?
Also, music
plays an important part in political, religious, and ceremonial life
. Music has roles in healing, at trials, announcing the presence of very important people like chiefs and kings, weddings, funerals, and visits of important people. The person who plays the instruments often is the maker.
What are the main features of African drumming?
- polyrhythms are created by layering different rhythms together.
- dynamics are changed depending on the force with which the drum is hit.
- dynamics are not written down on a score – the leader signals changes in dynamics during the performance.
