Music of Africa

Given the vastness of the continent, the traditional music of Africa is historically ancient, rich, and diverse, with the different regions and nations of Africa having distinct musical traditions. Traditional music in much of the continent is passed down orally (or aurally) and is not written. In Sub-Saharan African music traditions, it also frequently relies heavily on percussion instruments of every variety, including xylophones, drums, and tone-producing instruments such as the mbira or "thumb piano Music by regions[edit] North Africa and the Horn of Africa[edit] With these may be grouped the music of Sudan and of the Horn of Africa, including the music of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. West, Central, Southeast and South Africa[edit] Geo-political map of Africa divided for ethnomusicological purposes, after Alan P. African traditional music is frequently functional in nature. Musicologically, Sub-Saharan Africa may be divided into four regions:[6] Musical instruments[edit]

African musical instruments Performing music and making African musical instruments is an integral part of most communities and it varies not only from country to country but from village to village. Sanza mbira, CongoAfrican musical instruments, Tervuren There are common features though and much like the other forms of African art, most traditional African music is more than just aesthetic expression. It permeates African life and has a function, a role to play in society; songs are used for religious ceremonies and rituals, to teach and give guidance, to tell stories, to mark the stages of life and death and to provide political guidance or express discontent. It also serves to entertain and is used in ceremonial festivals and masquerades to work up fervour from the spectators and participants alike. Fulani fluteSaharan vibe blog The impact of the music is tantamount, the beauty of it, just like African sculpture, is secondary to the primary function. African Musical instruments Anthromorphic harpTervuren museum

African People and Culture -Dance, Music and Musical Instruments Indigenous African musical and dance expressions that are maintained by oral tradition and that are stylistically distinct from the music and dance of both the Arabic cultures of North Africa and the Western settler populations of southern Africa. African music and dance, therefore, are cultivated largely by societies in sub-Saharan AfricaAll sub-Saharan traditions emphasize singing, because song is used as an avenue of communication. Because many African languages are "tone languages," in which pitch level determines meaning, the melodies and rhythms of songs generally follow the intonation contour and rhythms of the song texts. In the precolonial period, trade, wars, migrations, and religion stimulated interaction among sub-Saharan societies, encouraging them to borrow musical resources from one another, including peoples exposed to Islamic and Arabic culture, who had integrated some Arabic instruments and techniques into their traditional music.

List of African musicians List of African musicians From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of African musicians and musical groups. Contents [hide] Algeria[edit] Angola[edit] Benin[edit] Botswana[edit] Burkina Faso[edit] Burundi[edit] Khadja Nin Cameroon[edit] Cape Verde[edit] Cesaria Evora Côte d'Ivoire[edit] Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)[edit] Youlou Mabiala extra musica, Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire)[edit] Ethiopia[edit] Gambia[edit] Ghana[edit] Sakodie Guinea[edit] Guinea-Bissau[edit] Kenya[edit] Liberia[edit] Mali[edit] Mauritania[edit] Dimi Mint Abba Mozambique[edit] Niger[edit] Nigeria[edit] Rwanda[edit] Senegal[edit] Sierra Leone[edit] South Africa[edit] See: List of South African musicians Togo[edit] Bella Bellow Uganda[edit] Zambia[edit] JK Slap D Alabama Chef 187 Macky 2 B1 MKV Selma Mampi Muhammed Kapandula Afunika Dandy Krazy Zimbabwe[edit] See also[edit] Retrieved from " Categories: Hidden categories: Navigation menu Personal tools Variants