Overview of African Music
The African continent has dozens of countries, hundreds of languages ??and countless ethnic groups and tribes. The black Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa are divided into two major ethnic groups ( North of the equator, west of Ethiopia to the Atlantic coast, the dark-skinned Sudanese; south of the equator, the light-skinned Bantu) and four ethnic minorities (the Hamites in the Horn of East Africa; the Malays and blacks in Madagascar tribes descended from; Khoisan tribes in Southwest Africa; Pygmies scattered in the tropical jungles of Central Africa). ?
Due to the many complicated tribes and various external influences, African music culture is not only diverse and rich, but also has the unique characteristics of black African national music. It is interconnected and has unique characteristics. tradition. For example, the unique characteristics of the music of various African tribes are the complex and changeable rhythms of West Africa and Central Africa, and the common progression of third intervals in the melody; the relatively stable tonality of East and South Africa, and the various forms of polyphony. Singing, playing, and love and worship of drums, etc. ?
Black African music has an extremely direct and close connection with social life. Music accompanies almost all people's activities and has become an indispensable and organic part of life. In Africa, most musical activities are carried out along with daily life, many labors are often accompanied by music, and music plays an important role in many important ceremonies. During festive festivals or slack seasons, various musical activities often have a social nature. They are usually performed in an open-air environment, either a square, a market, a forest, a courtyard, or a mausoleum. In such public events, those who gather spontaneously are generally people from the same tribe or speaking the same language. Through collective music and dance performances and carnivals of singing and dancing, they strengthened their feelings for each other and strengthened the connection between tribal members. At this time, everyone, regardless of age or gender, is both an audience and an actor. They can all participate in chorus, instrumental ensembles and dance. Even where professional musicians perform, there is no clear separation between them and the audience. In short, in Africa, music is a social activity. It not only focuses on artistry, but also emphasizes social, political and religious aspects; it can be used purely for entertainment, and can also be a means of transmitting information. It is also an important channel for tribal members to express their sympathy and will; it is both It can be used to praise gods and people, and it can also be used to exorcise demons and diseases. ?
3. Characteristics of African music?
First, Africa has many special types of scales. The melody of African music usually revolves around one or several backbone sounds. , sometimes it simply consists of the constant repetition of a certain sound pattern. The range of African music is narrow, the phrases are relatively short, and they are often repeated. It is rare to hear long melody lines, rich decorative sounds and various variations. ?
Second, African music has a natural polyphonic tendency. You can often see songs and instrumental music with a two-part structure, some of which are polyphonic and polyphonic. ?
Third, special rhythm is the most important factor in black African music. The rhythm of African music is strong and unrestrained, complex and changeable. African music rhythms can be divided into two types: free rhythm and fixed rhythm. The former has no clear and regular rhythm, and laments, hymns and a few religious and historical songs in some areas belong to this category; while the latter has a regular rhythm and can be played with the help of clapping, stamping and percussion instruments. Its rhythmic structure is reflected and emphasized. The rhythms of African music come in two forms: single-line and multi-line. The rhythm of African music has a rich and unique expressive power. It can produce symphonic sound effects and express a variety of different connotations through various changes in single and multi-line lines and the light and dark contrast of the timbre of instruments. Sometimes, it even has semantic meaning and becomes a drum language used by some tribes to convey information. Therefore, African rhythms can be considered a major contribution of black Africans to world music culture. Modern Western popular music and some art music works have obtained rich nutrition and inspiration from the rhythm of African music.
4. Modern African Music
After the Second World War, the influence of Western music formed two trends in Africa. On the one hand is professional music for churches, schools and concert halls. On the other hand is modern pop music, which appears in different forms on the African continent and is popular throughout Africa together with Western pop music. For example, a modern dance music in West Africa is called "High Life", which combines local traditional sounds and characteristics of African American music, uses traditional rhythms, uses various jazz instruments, and sometimes adds traditional xylophones and African drums. Under the impact of Western music, traditional African music has been preserved and developed. Since the 1960s, the world's tendency to pay more attention to African traditional music has been strengthened, and African music has attracted more international attention. ?
1. The concept of African music
As a geographical concept, Africa undoubtedly refers to the entire African continent. But from a cultural perspective, including music, it often refers to areas south of the Sahara Desert. Namely: what is commonly referred to as "Black Africa". This is because North Africa and West Asia belong to the Arab region. Regardless of history, ethnicity, language, religion, or culture, North Africa and West Asia are more closely connected than Black Africa.
Therefore, in general ethnomusicology and comparative musicology research, North African music and music from the Arab region are connected together. In addition, the music of some white people in South Africa is not included in the category of African music. Therefore, this textbook defines African music within the scope of black music in the sub-Saharan region. ?
2. Overview of African Music
The African continent has dozens of countries, hundreds of languages ??and countless ethnic groups and Tribes, black Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa are divided into two major ethnic groups (the dark-skinned Sudanese north of the equator, west of Ethiopia to the Atlantic coast; the light-skinned Bantu south of the equator) and four ethnic minorities (East Africans). Hamites in the Horn of Africa; tribes descended from Malays and blacks in Madagascar; Khoisan tribes in Southwest Africa; Pygmies scattered in the tropical jungles of Central Africa).
?
Due to the many complicated tribes and various external influences, African music culture is not only diverse and rich, but also has the same characteristics of black African national music. It is interconnected and has unique characteristics. Tradition. For example, the unique characteristics of the music of various African tribes are the complex and changeable rhythms of West Africa and Central Africa, and the common progression of third intervals in the melody; the relatively stable tonality of East and South Africa, and the various forms of polyphony. Singing, playing, and love and worship of drums, etc. ?
Black African music has an extremely direct and close connection with social life. Music accompanies almost all people's activities and has become an indispensable and organic part of life. In Africa, most musical activities are carried out along with daily life, many labors are often accompanied by music, and music plays an important role in many important ceremonies. During festive festivals or slack seasons, various musical activities often have a social nature. They are usually performed in an open-air environment, either a square, a market, a forest, a courtyard, or a mausoleum. In such public events, those who gather spontaneously are generally people from the same tribe or speaking the same language. Through collective music and dance performances and carnivals of singing and dancing, they strengthened their feelings for each other and strengthened the connection between tribal members. At this time, everyone, regardless of age or gender, is both an audience and an actor. They can all participate in chorus, instrumental ensembles and dance. Even where professional musicians perform, there is no clear separation between them and the audience. In short, in Africa, music is a social activity. It not only focuses on artistry, but also emphasizes social, political and religious aspects; it can be used purely for entertainment, and can also be a means of transmitting information. It is also an important channel for tribal members to express their sympathy and will; it is both It can be used to praise gods and people, and it can also be used to exorcise demons and diseases. ?
3. Characteristics of African music?
First, Africa has many special types of scales and melodies of African music. It is usually performed around one or a few backbone sounds, and sometimes it is simply composed of the constant repetition of a certain sound pattern. The range of African music is narrow, the phrases are relatively short, and they are often repeated. It is rare to hear long melody lines, rich decorative sounds and various variations. ?
Second, African music has a natural polyphonic tendency. You can often see songs and instrumental music with a two-part structure, some of which are polyphonic and polyphonic. ?
Third, special rhythm is the most important factor in black African music. The rhythm of African music is strong and unrestrained, complex and changeable. African music rhythms can be divided into two types: free rhythm and fixed rhythm. The former has no clear and regular rhythm, and laments, hymns and a few religious and historical songs in some areas belong to this category; while the latter has a regular rhythm and can be played with the help of clapping, stamping and percussion instruments. Its rhythmic structure is reflected and emphasized. The rhythms of African music come in two forms: single-line and multi-line. The rhythm of African music has a rich and unique expressive power. It can produce symphonic sound effects and express a variety of different connotations through various changes in single and multi-line lines and the light and dark contrast of the timbre of instruments. Sometimes, it even has semantic meaning and becomes a drum language used by some tribes to convey information. Therefore, African rhythms can be considered a major contribution of black Africans to world music culture. Modern Western popular music and some art music works have obtained rich nutrition and inspiration from the rhythm of African music.
?
4. Modern African Music
After the Second World War, the influence of Western music formed two trends in Africa. On the one hand is professional music for churches, schools and concert halls. On the other hand is modern pop music, which appears in different forms on the African continent and is popular throughout Africa together with Western pop music.
For example, a modern dance music in West Africa is called "High Life", which combines local traditional sounds and characteristics of African American music, uses traditional rhythms, uses various jazz instruments, and sometimes adds traditional xylophones and African drums. Under the impact of Western music, traditional African music has been preserved and developed. Since the 1960s, the world's tendency to pay more attention to African traditional music has been strengthened, and African music has attracted more international attention.