Music throughout West Africa has a history of evolving in an encompassing manner, involving many different kinds of music. It begins with different musical traditions across West Africa influencing one another, and since the 19th century involves the influences of popular Western music in West African music.
Roughly between 1200 and 1900, a succession of ancient African empires with centralized governments flourished across West Africa, with various kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Songhai and the Ashanti Kingdom, covering much of contemporary Mali, Ghana and Nigeria. Large ensembles of royal musicians accompanied the trade of gold, ivory and salt between these empires, serving as sonic symbols of the kings’ power and prestige . As a result, musicians across West Africa became aware of the different musical traditions in existence throughout the region, and began to incorporate elements of these traditions into one another. One sign of the unifying effect this had on music in West Africa is the incredible similarities between certain rhythms found in the music of Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Central African Republic. Of course, there exist a plethora of different musical traditions both between and within these nations, and these differences continue despite their influences on one another. Though these are countries with vast spaces between them, and yet they have come to embrace some of the same characteristics in music making.
Popular Western instruments, including guitars, harmonicas, accordions and brass instruments, were introduced along the Western coast of Africa during the 19th century, with the arrival of European traders and missionaries. Cosmopolitan cities accommodated an increased flow of people...
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West African music has been influenced by a wide range of Western popular music, such as jazz, soul, funk and hip hop, largely through the flow of ideas and exchanges of culture that has resulted from modern day globalisation. Musicians of West Africa have been incorporating aspects of other music into their own, resulting in new and original forms of musical styles.
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African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans.
Over the course of history, music has developed from a personal, academic pursuit to an extension of a global marketplace and an attribute of this global community. In order to better address this conversation and the surrounding idea, Feld utilizes the platform he has developed to pose the argument that music has long been cultivated as a means of communication and interaction. This relationship is developed and analyzed as a case study in this article, which happens to be in discussing a traditional lullaby first developed in the Solomon Islands, which was in turn recorded by a European pop group that sold millions of copies of a rendition of the song. Furthermore, the article goes to show the trend of music to be redistributed and developed in the sense that it is later reused by a popular jazz musician in Europe. Feld then begs the question about the nature of the redistribution of music and whether this facilitates a hybridization of music or an alienation and artistic degradation of the original work for the indigenous artists.
Some scholars theorize that the Middle Passage to the Americas was so traumatic that most African influence was eradicated, and that few traces of Africa exist in African-American music. This “cultural tabulala [sic] rasa” theory is rightfully rejected by many scholars (Wilson 3). The inflow of African people to the New World was brought on by the existence of slavery, and resulted in the creation of a sort of extension of the African continent in a different hemisphere. In his article “The Significance of the Relationship Between [sic] Afro-American Music and West African Music,” music scholar Olly Wilson refutes the tabula rasa theory, and provides extensive examples of the ties that continue to exist between the two distant geographical regions. Another prominent scholar who recognizes the integration of African elements in American musics is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though his much deeper and more analytical approach to African musics is divergent from Wilson’s, both scholars acknowledge African diaspora musics and examine them in different ways based on different criteria.
Exploring world influences on music has shaped the way people today perceive and interpret sound and music. To more deeply understand how influences came to be, pinpointing exactly who had the biggest impacts can help people everywhere feel more connected to the upcoming of many important musical genres. As many genres have shaped everyday lives of humans, one genre in particular created an amazing musical revolution, jazz. A contributor, John Coltrane, influenced a major innovation in the jazz genre and upbringing. It is thanks to him along with many others, that jazz has become one of the most influential genres that connects people from every culture.
Jazz is one of the only uniquely American forms of music. Its roots date back all the way to the Atlantic slave trade. Jazz is still alive and well today. This paper will walk you through Jazz’s rich history. We’ll start with the basics of African music and its influences. Then we will take you through the decades leading to modern Jazz.
Throughout the history of this country, the music of African-Americans has remained a strong influence upon our society and culture. Beginning with the music carried over from Africa with the slaves, up until now, with the new styles created by urban youth today, African-Americans have retained certain elements within their music which makes it unique from any other musical form. Some of the musical forms which were created from, and/or were strongly influenced by afro-centric musical characteristics are: Hymnals, Gospel, Spirituals, Ragtime, the blues, and R&B. While many of these musical forms are still popular today amongst Blacks and Non-Blacks, jazz and hip-hop are arguably the two most widespread and popular forms of Black music ever created. As both forms of music were created strictly by black musicians, these musical forms are most popular amongst both the younger and the older generations of African-Americans. Outside the race, jazz has become a medium listened to and performed by people of all ages. Hip-Hop, on the other hand, has enjoyed the majority of it's popularity within younger circles, while it's opposition comes mostly from the older generations. Jazz is known to have it's main influence from ragtime, and the street music of New Orleans. There were two types of street music from which jazz derived it's style; these are the string and percussion bands which also sang in small groups to the music they made. The other was the brass bands of earlier years which imitated white marching bands, adding a twist of afrocentric quality. The first and most primitive jazz ensembles were called archaic jazz bands. These bands retained many of the afrocentric characteristics of earlier forms o...
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Music is very important for Black Americans as it has always been a form of expression that may have otherwise not been available. First, the African slaves brought the drums from Africa and to make a long story short, we still feel the beat! Hip- Hop, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Rap, soca, dance hall and many, many more genres of music derived from the influence directly or indirectly from the complex beat(s) of the African drum. The dances related to hip hop and rap are also rooted in African
During the course of this semester, the several musical styles that have been discussed and analyzed have displayed various similarities and differences. These differences in certain musical elements have accounted for the distinctiveness and uniqueness of each style of music. The culture behind these countries’ music adds even more to their individualism. Cultural aspects such as religion play a huge role in the music of each country as well. Styles of music in Africa might be more upbeat than certain styles in India, for example. Some cultures use music in religion, while others may not. Aspects such as dance are important factors in all three types of music. Despite the differences and similarities, however, without music, these cultures would perhaps not be as fascinating and unique as they are now.
Reggae and Zydeco, as well as many other musical genres have ties that go as far as Africa.
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
Music before the 20th century was very different when compared to the music of the 21st Century. There were distinctive occasions for each type of African music. West African music, the African Diaspora, and the music of the Colonies each had different musical instruments.
Music is a form of communication, letting others knows what is going on in the country, political, social or economic and any other problems the people of the Caribbean faced. With so many different ethnic backgrounds in the Caribbean, they are people with Asians, Indians, and Africans descents. This created a language and culture barrier but each ethnic background shared a common link music. Music bridged the gap between the different ethnicities Music is part of everyone’s culture especially here in the Caribbean. Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in...
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.