African music music of Africa The term African music is a collective concept that encompasses a variety of music cultures. It usually refers to various black traditional music originating from the sub-Saharan Desert (Black Africa). As for the music north of the Sahara Desert (North Africa), it belongs to the category of Arabic music. This article only outlines the former.

Classification

Africa has a vast land, rich resources, diverse ethnic groups and different beliefs, so African music is very complex. According to the classification of ethnomusicologists, African music can be divided into four major categories: 1 ) Ancient Egypt 2) Three North African countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) 3) Ethiopia 4) Sub-Saharan (East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, South Africa). 5) Black music

Detailed introduction 1) Egyptian music

Ancient Egyptian music can be traced back to 2700 BC. The ancient musical instruments that emerged from the ancient ruins of Egypt show the ancient music of Egypt. Second only to Mesopotamia, Egyptian music has a history of nearly 5,000 years. Egyptian music at that time was believed to be mainly ritual and court music. Egypt's traditional music has gone through the rule of Greece, Rome, Persia, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire, French Napoleon and the modern British Empire, religious changes, the influence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Egypt's traditional music and ancient Egyptian music , the relationship between the two cannot be tested.

2) Ethiopian Music Ethiopia Music

Ethiopia has the oldest church in Africa with a history of 1,600 years. Ethiopians believe that 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire persecuted the Church of Jesus, and many believers He fled to the mountains of Ethiopia and built numerous secret churches in mountain caves. Ethiopians still believe that the Ark of the Ten Commandments of Jesus is in a church on Mount Yiguo. In the Cathedral of Jerusalem, the Ethiopian Church still maintains a part of its exclusive parish.

3)Andalusia (Andaluse Music):

North African Moorish style Maghrib (Maghrib) Maghrib (Maghrib) refers to the 11th century in Morocco, North Africa The royal territory included Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya until 1465. The music of this area is characterized by Andalusian music and Sufi David (Darwish) music. The music of Andalusia, ancient Arabic Nawbah, originated from Andalusia in southern Spain. In the 8th century, the music of Baghdad merged the mixed music of Jews, Gypsies, Iberians and the rulers of North Africa, the Moors. In the 15th century, the Catholic Isabel conquered Andalusia in 1414. The Jews, Moors, and court musicians in Cordoba and Granada who were unwilling to surrender to the Catholics were expelled. He was forced to move to the Maghrib countries in North Africa and became the new home of Andalusian music.

4) Music south of Sahara -

West Africa

The African countries in West Africa include Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Mauritania, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and other more than ten countries. Music standards in West Africa are generally higher than those in East and South Africa.

Central Africa

The countries in the Central African region include the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Congo The music styles are similar in places such as

Countries in East Africa

Seven countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia.

The musical form of East Africa is not much different from that of West Africa and Central Africa. The only difference is that singing and dancing, clapping instead of drumming, and shouting to beat and cheer are the characteristics of this region. The musical instruments are also similar to those in South Africa.

This region In addition to the well-known South African Republic, Swaziland, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and other five countries. The music, dance, ritual style and use of musical instruments in this area are not much different from those in East, Central and West Africa. The musical instruments were slightly influenced by the materials and immigrants from India, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in the 16th century. For example, miners' music in South Africa. One of the most traditional musical instruments in this area is the Kora. This two-basketball-sized kora is placed in front of the abdomen and played by hand. It is an ancient African court instrument. The player is also a singer. In addition to performing at the royal court, this singer also traveled to villages singing, just like the troubadours in Europe. The sound of the piano is beautiful and melodious, and paired with the pure and thick troubadour singing, it has a special flavor and is very different from the form of drumming and shouting.