I chose to explore the musical world of Africa! I found that I enjoyed exceedingly everything that I heard. A lot of the music is quite upbeat, catchy, and really easy to dance to. In Africa, music and poetry are an incredibly big part of their culture and traditions. Music is often used in celebratory gatherings such as weddings, birth, rites of passage, hunting, and sometimes even political events. I can relate because music is very important in my life as well. Often times in the African culture, music is used to ward off evil spirits and also to pay respect to others.
"The most significant instrument in African music is the African drum. It expresses the mood of the people and evokes emotion. The beat of the African drum is the “heartbeat of the community” and its rhythm is what holds the dancers together." (Centuries of African Heritage)
Another significant instrument that is popular in the African musical culture is the Kora (pictured below). The reason I am mentioning the Kora, one of my songs that I chose features a very gifted Kora player. In the African culture mainly men play the Kora and when I discovered that Sona Jobarteh played the Kora and quite elegantly I must say, I was extremely impressed. I will go into more detail on Sona in a moment! The Kora sounds a lot like a guitar, it is truly BEAUTIFUL- it is so peaceful and calming.
I decided to introduce ya'll to the song Fatou Yo by Touré Kunda because of an album I use to listen to back when I was a child. When I was 6 years old, my Aunt bought me the CD "World Playground" which included songs in different languages from different cultures around the world. I chose this song specifically because it was one of my favorites on the album. Fatou Yo is a hopeful song about the children of the world growing up to be happy and eventually leaving childhood to become an adult. Fatou means 'beloved by all surrounded'.
The Tempo of the song is fairly fast, which would classify as Allegro. The Tempo of the song stays pretty consistent throughout the whole song and genuinely contributes to the dance factor of the song. I can remember as a child, dancing in the car (as much as you can in a car) with my aunt, while driving down the freeway. Such a sweet memory that I hold near my heart.
Meter
The meter in the song is a quadruple meter, though it may be difficult to hear with all the different syncopations throughout the song. Which seems to be extremely different from the musical culture than I am used to. I am usually pretty stingy about what I listen to- but the African musical culture has me really intrigued.
Gambia by Sona Jobarteh
The song Gambia by Sona Jobarteh is a song written about the country, Gambia. Gambia was written to honor and celebrate Sona's country's 50th independence anniversary. Sona is a very talented artist that was actually born in the UK, but is very rich in her Gambian roots. She came "from one of the five main Griot (traveling poet and storyteller) families, and her grandfather, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, born in 1915), was the Master Griot of his time." (Kimpton) The song Gambia really stood out to me because of its eloquent beauty.
The song Gambia honestly made such a tremendous impression on me and is one of the main reasons I chose to delve further into the African Musical Culture. I just love the way this song sounds, there are so many different beats and patterns going on in the background. Each time I listen to it I hear something different that I didn't hear the time before.
Sona has a truly angelic sound to her voice, not to mention being powerful.
Hi Candice, neat choice for your musical trip assignment. So neat, I have never known about the Kora and it is interesting that predominately, males play it. In your first song, I like the trumpet, it is very nonchalant in the song. And the second song, you're right, the Kora is played so beautifully, and I think it accompanies her soft beautiful singing voice. Great blog post! Thank you.
I also chose to explore the music of Africa and found it to be very rich and amazing! There were so many different sounds that I usually don’t hear in western music, and most of them were so uplifting and joyful. The extensive use of polyrthyms in the music was something that I found surprising but enjoyable. I agree wholeheartedly with the statements made in your post, this music is certainly inspiring and expressive. I especially loved the song Gambia; it had a wonderful rhythm and melody that made me want to move. The singer’s voice was also something that I really enjoyed; it was perfect for the mood of the song. This music style seems so carefree and loose, it is really enjoyable to listen too, and sounds fun to play as well! When I was doing research for my blog, I found an interesting article that contained 10 traditional African songs that won international acclaim. It found it interesting to go through and listen to them all, since they were really diverse and contained all different sounds. I actually used two of the songs from it in my own blog. Here is the link in case you want to explore some more amazing African music: https://face2faceafrica.com/article/10-traditional-african-songs-that-won-international-acclaim
I have long appreciated African music, but I had no idea there was such a thing as a Kora! I'm so glad you mentioned it. I think it's interesting that the culture believed music was capable of warding off evil spirits because, well... isn't it? Seriously! Whatever you want to call it, bad juju, negative energy, evil spirits, or just a bad day, music absolutely can help! Music has this way of lifting weight off of me, and as you mentioned, it just makes you want to dance. You've inspired me to check out more African music (particularly music featuring the Kora). Beautiful blog, and very informative. Thank you!
Hi Candice! I really enjoy listening to Traditional African music. After watching some documentaries on African music I can definitely say that the drum truly is the "heartbeat of the community". A lot of their music is not only spiritual, but also ceremonial and I think your blog went over that very well! Have you listened to "The Click Song"? It's pretty great and I totally recommend it! Great post, - Josh Foster
Hey Candice, I have always loved African music. The upbeat of the music is what really makes their music. My grandma actually leaned how to play the African drum when I was growing up. So I have always had African music in my life. Sadly though I never learned any of the names of the songs. But thoroughly enjoyed their music.
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Hi Candice, neat choice for your musical trip assignment. So neat, I have never known about the Kora and it is interesting that predominately, males play it. In your first song, I like the trumpet, it is very nonchalant in the song. And the second song, you're right, the Kora is played so beautifully, and I think it accompanies her soft beautiful singing voice. Great blog post! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI also chose to explore the music of Africa and found it to be very rich and amazing! There were so many different sounds that I usually don’t hear in western music, and most of them were so uplifting and joyful. The extensive use of polyrthyms in the music was something that I found surprising but enjoyable. I agree wholeheartedly with the statements made in your post, this music is certainly inspiring and expressive. I especially loved the song Gambia; it had a wonderful rhythm and melody that made me want to move. The singer’s voice was also something that I really enjoyed; it was perfect for the mood of the song. This music style seems so carefree and loose, it is really enjoyable to listen too, and sounds fun to play as well! When I was doing research for my blog, I found an interesting article that contained 10 traditional African songs that won international acclaim. It found it interesting to go through and listen to them all, since they were really diverse and contained all different sounds. I actually used two of the songs from it in my own blog. Here is the link in case you want to explore some more amazing African music: https://face2faceafrica.com/article/10-traditional-african-songs-that-won-international-acclaim
ReplyDeleteI have long appreciated African music, but I had no idea there was such a thing as a Kora! I'm so glad you mentioned it. I think it's interesting that the culture believed music was capable of warding off evil spirits because, well... isn't it? Seriously! Whatever you want to call it, bad juju, negative energy, evil spirits, or just a bad day, music absolutely can help! Music has this way of lifting weight off of me, and as you mentioned, it just makes you want to dance. You've inspired me to check out more African music (particularly music featuring the Kora).
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog, and very informative. Thank you!
Hi Candice!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy listening to Traditional African music. After watching some documentaries on African music I can definitely say that the drum truly is the "heartbeat of the community". A lot of their music is not only spiritual, but also ceremonial and I think your blog went over that very well! Have you listened to "The Click Song"? It's pretty great and I totally recommend it!
Great post,
- Josh Foster
Hey Candice,
ReplyDeleteI have always loved African music. The upbeat of the music is what really makes their music. My grandma actually leaned how to play the African drum when I was growing up. So I have always had African music in my life. Sadly though I never learned any of the names of the songs. But thoroughly enjoyed their music.