The birth of ethnomusicology has aided the development of many concepts and

practices in areas such as fieldwork, theory and methodology in music research;

one of which is the idea of studying and analyzing music as part of a cultural
framework or in simpler terms, analyzing music as used in cultural contexts. This
idea, pioneered by Alan Merriam and enshrined in his The Anthropology of
Music, was aimed at dissuading the more musicological facet of the discipline
from their rather sonic approach to interpreting music and to encourage a more
anthropological approach to the subject. For in Merriams words music is a
product of man and has structure, but its structure cannot have an existence of
its own divorced from the behavior which produces it[for] in order to
understand why a music structure existswe must understand why and how the
behavior which produces isand why and how the concepts which underline
that behavior are ordered in such a way as to produce the particularly desired
sound.1
From examining the framework of several scholarly researches
conducted towards the understanding of music, it would seem that this
anthropological idea has taken a more prominent place in the discourse of nonWestern music than it has in Western music; for many believe Western music to
be somewhat devoid of a contextual background, hence allowing for a more
concentrated analysis which is focused on the music-proper while analysis of
non-Western music is often marred by a bias that conforms to context.2 This is

Alan Parkhurst Merriam. The Study of Ethnomusicology, The

Anthropology of Music. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1964, p. 7.
2 Victor Kofi Agawu. African Music as Text, Representing African
Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions. New York: Routledge, 2003, p. 98.
1

not to say that a contextual understanding of music is not important, but rather
to highlight its often predominance in non-Western music analysis.
African music typifies this class of non-western music because it is an art
form embodied in a myriad of contexts and functions. As such, it is almost
impossible (and even required) that its analysis be done hand-in-hand with
frequent reference to said context and function. Be it as it may that analysis of a
play song, for instance, cannot be complete without first considering the type of
game, gender and even the geography of the society in question, and a dirge
cannot be unraveled without bearing in mind the social status of the deceased,
gender of both deceased and performer(s) and the age of the deceased, should
this warrant a more prominent place for social/contextual analysis of African
music over other potential analytical mediums that abound therein? The
question that comes to mind is what then are some of these analytical
possibilities? And how do we access them? Why have they been avoided? Can
sound exist outside a context?
In his Representing African Music, Kofi Agawu answers some of these
questions as he speaks to the idea of functional and contemplative as applied to
African traditional music and Western art music respectively. It is interesting to
note however, that per the general definitions of functional as useful, practical,
purposeful and handy, both Western art music and African traditional music fall
under these terms, but some music scholars have always committed the latter to
a more functional realm than the former. To the functions of Western art music,
as used in musical drama, Agawu notes that in opera, for example, music for a
specific dramatic purpose may be provided by the composer to advance the

action, but it never ceases to be music for contemplation.3Agawus argument in

this text, however, raises more queries in that, his use of contemplative music
suggests a concert hall setting, a conductor, music scores that guide performers
and inhibit improvisation to a large extent and a tier-like seating arrangement
for audience who do not participate in the ongoing music performance. This
picture is uncommon in Africa traditional music. Could he be referring to a
different approach to contemplation that does not subject African traditional
music to European listening standards and ethos? For after all, styles like
Damba-Takai, Akom, Kete and Kpanlogo of Ghana do merit contemplative
properties, but it does so outside these European confinements and more so as
accompanying music to events such as naming ceremonies, processions and
state festivities; where the historical and functional context of the form are
accorded a partial and momentary replacement with a sole appreciation and
enjoyment of the music-proper as a part of the event or event music, if you may.
Therefore, approaching African music with this idea of contemplation
affords the listener the opportunity to analyze the music from other perspectives
such as language and musical analysis, for the point of departure for any serious
study of African music ought to be its linguistic dimension.4 It stands to reason
then, that language presents the listener the chance to understand the
composers intent and to properly breakdown and assimilate deeper poetic
nuances as well as the many proverbial affiliations employed in transferring
privileged data and conveying hidden meanings in songs. To this idea Merriam
writes not only are music and language interrelated in the formation of song

3
4

Victor Kofi Agawu. Op. Cit. p. 104.

Ibid. p. 108.

texts, but alsothe language of texts tend to take special forms.5 The poetic and
proverbial nature of African languages is therefore a source for contemplative
materialnot forgetting the tonal quality of African languages and their impact
on speech meanings and in an extension its determination of pitches as
employed in songs.
By approaching African traditional music in this light, we realize that it
doesnt just serve a function or aid one, however, it has the potential to stand on
its own as an art form deserving of appreciation and analysisan appreciation
not subjected to anthropological biases or the tussle of its function in culture, but
to its qualities guided by text and musical units such as rhythm, pitch and
harmony.

Alan Parkhurst Merriam. The Study of Song Texts, The

Anthropology of Music. Illinois: Northwestern University, 1964, p. 190.
5

Thoughts on Analyzing African Music: Functional, Contemplative and linguistic

examinations.

Samuel Boateng

Seminar In Ethnomusicology: African Music

Kent State University
Dr. Kazadi wa Mukuna
October 16, 2014
Paper 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Agawu, Victor Kofi. African Music as Text, Representing African Music:

Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions. New York: Routledge, 2003, pp.
97-116.
Merriam, Parkhurst Alan. The Study of Song Texts, The Anthropology of Music.
Illinois: Northwestern University, 1964, pp. 187-208.
_______________.The Study of Ethnomusicology, The Anthropology of Music.
Illinois: Northwestern University, 1964, pp. 3-16.