MUSIC OF

AFRICA
• Music has always been important part in the
daily life of Africans

• Whether for work, religion, ceremonies, or even

communication

• Its music has been a collective result from the

cultural and musical diversity of more than 50
countries of the continent
 TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF
AFRICA
• African traditional music is largely
functional in nature, used primarily
in ceremonial rites, such as birth,
death, marriage, succession,
worship, and spirit invocations
 4
AFROBEAT
» The fusion of West African with black

American music
APALA(AKPALA)
» Is a musical genre from Nigeria in the

Yoruba tribal style to wake up the

worshippers after fasting the Muslim holy
fest of Ramadan
AXE
» A popular music genre fron Salvador,

Bahia and Brazil. It fuses the Afro-

caribbean styles of the marcha, reggae
and calypso
 5

JIT
» Is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean

dance music played on drum with guitar,

influenced by mbira-based guitar style
JIVE
» A popular form of South African music

featuring a lively and uninhibited variation of

the jitterbug, a form of swing dance.
JUJU
» A popular music genre Nigeria that relies on

the traditional Yorumba rhythms, where the

instruments in Juju are more Western in
origin
 6

KWASSA KWASSA
» Is a dance style begun in Zaire in the

late 1980’s, popularized by Kanda

Bongo Man

APALA(AKPALA)
» A South African three-chord township

music of the 1930’s-1960’s which

evolved into African jazz.
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LATIN AMERICAN
MUSIC INFLUENCED
BY AFRICAN MUSIC
RAGGAE
• A Jamaican sound dominated by bass
guitar and drums
SALSA
• Music is Cuban, Puerto Rican, and
Colombian dance music. Comprises of
various genres including Cuban son
montuno, guaracha,
chachacha,mambo,and bolero
SAMBA
• The basic underlying rhythm that
typifies most Brazilian music. Is a lively
and rhytmical dance and music with 3
steps every bar, making it feel like a
timed dance
SOCA
• A modern Trinidadian and Tobago pop
music combining soul and calypso
music.
WERE
• Muslim music performed often as a wake-
up call for early breakfast and prayers
during Ramadan celebrations.
ZOUK
• Fast, carnival-like rhythmic music from
the Creole slang word for ‘’party’’.
Originated in the Caribbean Islands of
Guadaloupe and Martinique popularize in
the 1980’s
 VOCAL FORMS OFAFRICAN MUSIC
MACARATU
• Maracatu first surfaced in the
African state of Pernambuco,
combining the strong rhythms of
African percussion instruments
with Portuguese melodies. The
maracatu groups were called
“nacoes” (nations) who paraded
with a drumming ensemble
numbering up to 100,
accompanied by a singer, chorus,
and a coterie of dancers.
 Musical instruments used in
Maracatu
Alfaia Drum
» Large wooden drum that is
roped turned
Tarol
» Shallow snare drum
Agbe Sakere
» Gourd shaker covered by
beads
 Musical instruments used in
Maracatu
Caixa

Miniero or Ganza
» Metal cylinder shaker with
metal shots or small dried
seeds
Gongue
BLUES
• The blues is a musical form of the late 19th century that
has had deep roots in African-American communities.
These communities are located in the so-called “Deep
South” of the United States. The slaves and their
descendants used to sing as they worked in the cotton
and vegetable fields.

• The notes of the blues create an expressive and soulful

sound. The feelings that are evoked are normally
associated with slight degrees of misfortune, lost love,
frustration, or loneliness.
• performers of the Rhythm and
Blues genre are Ray Charles,
James Brown, Cab Calloway,
Aretha Franklin, and John Lee
Hooker; as well as B.B. King, Bo
Diddley, Erykah Badu, Eric
Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie
Musselwhite, Blues Traveler,
Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff Baxter.
Ray Charles
• Examples of blues music are the
following: Early Mornin’, A House
is Not a Home and Billie’s Blues.
SOULS
• Soul music was a popular music genre of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It
originated in the United States. It combines elements of African-
American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz.

• Some important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s

contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde
McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles and Little
Richard (who inspired Otis Redding) and James Brown were
equally influential. Brown was known as the“Godfather of Soul,”
while Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also often acknowledged
as “soul forefathers’’
Examples of soul music
are the following: Ain’t No James Brown

Mountain
High Enough, Ben, All I Could
Do is
Cry, Soul to Soul, and Becha by
Golly,
Wow. Etta James
SPIRITUAL
• The term spiritual, normally associated with a deeply religious
person, refers here to a Negro spiritual, a song form by African
migrants to America who became enslaved by its white
communities.

• Examples of spiritual music are the following: We are Climbing

Jacob’s Ladder, Rock My Soul, When the Saints Go Marching In,
and Peace Be Still.
CALL AND RESPONSE
• is a succession of two distinct musical phrases usually
rendered by different musicians, where the second phrase acts as a
direct commentary on or response to the first. Much like the question
and answer sequence in human communication, it also forms a
strong resemblance to the verse-chorus form in many vocal
compositions.

• Examples of call and response songs are the following: Mannish

Boy, one of the signature songs by Muddy Waters; and School Day -
Ring, Ring Goes the Bell by Chuck Berry.
WHAT TO KNOW
1. Which African music is usually heard on the radios
today?
2. Among the types of African music, which is usually
known as a type of music that
has originated from Brazil?
3. Which type of music was popularized by Bob
Marley?
4. What is the music that is a New York Puerto Rican
adaptation of Afro-Cuban
music?
5. What are the different musical instruments included
in the maracatu?