Area of Study 4 - World Music

• Capercaillie: Chuir M’Athair Mise Dhan Taigh Charraideach (Skye Waulking Song), from the album “Nadurra”, Survival Records SURCD 025, released in 2000. Currently, the album is available from Amazon at £12.99. This track is not currently available in any other format.

• Various: Indian music - Rag Desh, no particular version is specified in the syllabus but the Exemplar material is using Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar from the album “Live at the Carnegie Hall” Angel Records, released in 2001, the album is also available from iTunes for £ 7.99 but not the individual tracks.

• Koko: African music – Yiri, after much searching of the internet, I finally found the track in question on an album called “Burkina Faso – Balafons & African Drums” SA141076 which is a French import and available from www.airmail-music.com, the single track is available also from iTunes for 79p.

Capercaillie: Skye Waulking Song (Chuir M’Athair Mise Dhan Taigh Charraideach)

In the Scottish Islands where wool clothing was traditionally made for many centuries, the process of working the wool into an airtight weave was a communal event, done by women. When tweed is made, it needs to be fulled to increase its ability to keep out the wind. The word 'waulking' is a Scots word from the 14th century meaning the same as "full" in English. The waulking process not only fulls the tweed but also shrinks it slightly.

Waulking is a process of repeatedly beating the cloth to full it and prepare it for use. The process is called "orain luaidh" in Gaelic. The music associated with this labour contains vivid and intimate personal poetry, mostly the composition of women. It is a system of rhythmic choral responses intertwined with Gaelic verses, pounded to the time of the wool being moved around the waulking board, where these women sat for hours working the tweed.

Chuir m'athair mise dhan taigh charraideach - My father sent me to a house of sorrow This is verses from a lament 'Seathan, Mac Righ Eireann' - 'Seathan, Son of the King of Ireland'. It is from a collection of Gaelic folksongs Ortha nan Gaidheal Carmina Gadelica Vol.5, collected by Alexander Carmichael

British folk music can be played on any instrument, but there are a number of specific instruments that have become the mainstay of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish music.

The accordion is a musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. It is played by compressing or expanding its bellows, while pressing buttons or keys, allowing air to flow across reeds inside the body - strips of material that will repeatedly vibrate to produce sound. The accordion's basic form was invented in Berlin in 1822 by Friedrich Buschmann.

The accordion is often used in folk music in Europe, North America, Russia, and South America. It is commonly associated with busking. The accordion has long been a part of folk music. In the early twentieth century, the melodeon (a variety of accordion) was popular among rural folk, and was part of the “bothy band” tradition in Scotland.

The four-string tenor banjo is favoured by most Irish traditional players, and is commonly tuned GDAE, an octave below the fiddle. It was brought to Ireland by returned emigrants from the United States, where it was developed by African slaves. The banjo, as a relatively loud wire-strung instrument, serves a similar musical function in folk music to the bouzouki and mandolin. Unlike the bouzouki, however, it is seldom strummed, instead being played as a melody instrument using either a plectrum or a "thimble". While the instrument's percussive sound can add greatly to the "lift" of a session, a poorly played or overly loud banjo can be disruptive.

A frame drum, usually of bent wood and goatskin, the bodhrán is considered a relatively modern addition to traditional dance music. Some musicologists suggest its use was originally confined to the wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day and other quasi-ritual processions. It was introduced/popularized in the 1960s in Ireland by Seán Ó Riada (although there are mentions of "tambourines" without zils being played as early as the mid nineteenth century), and quickly became popular.

The drum is struck with the right arm and is played either with the bare hand or with a lathe-turned piece of wood called a "bone", "tipper", "beater", or "cipín". Tippers were originally fashioned from a double-ended knuckle bone, but are now commonly made from ash, holly or hickory.

Although skilled bodhrán players are highly prized by most traditional musicians, the inaccurate perception is that the bodhrán represents an "easy" way to participate in sessions has caused some players to develop a deep and abiding, if sometimes unreasonable, hatred for the instrument. (A well-known fiddler once described the sound of an ineffectively played bodhrán at a session as 'sounding like a sack of spuds falling down stairs').

Although not traditional, the bouzouki has found a home in the modern Irish and Scottish traditional music scene. The Greek bouzouki was introduced to traditional music in the late 1960s. Today's bouzouki usually has four courses of two strings (usually) tuned G2D3A3D4. The bass courses are most often tuned in unison, one feature that distinguishes the Scottish and Irish bouzouki from its Greek antecedent, although octaves in the bass are favored by some players. Instead of the staved round back of the Greek bouzouki, Irish bouzoukis usually have a flat or slightly arched back.

Though bagpipes are closely associated with Scotland by many outsiders, the instrument (or, more precisely, family of instruments) is found throughout large swathes of Europe, North Africa and South Asia. The most common bagpipe heard in modern Scottish music is the Great Highland Bagpipe, which was spread by the Highland regiments of the British Army. Historically, numerous other bagpipes existed, and many of them have been recreated in the last half-century.

Different types of bagpipes have also seen a resurgence since the 1970s, as the historical border pipes and Scottish smallpipes have been resuscitated and now attract a thriving alternative piping community.

The uilleann pipes are distinguished from many other forms of bagpipes by their sweet tone and wide range of notes — the chanter has a range of two full octaves, including sharps and flats — together with the unique blend of chanter, drones, and "regulators." The regulators are equipped with closed keys which can be opened by the piper's wrist action enabling the piper to play simple chords, giving a rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment as needed. There are also many ornaments based on multiple or single grace notes. The chanter can also be played staccato by resting the bottom of the chanter on the piper's knee to close off the bottom hole and then open and close only the tone holes required. If one tone hole is closed before the next one is opened, a staccato effect can be created because the sound stops completely when no air can escape at all.

The uilleann pipes have a different harmonic structure, sounding sweeter and quieter than many other bagpipes, such as the Great Irish Warpipes, Great Highland Bagpipes or the Italian Zampognas. The uilleann pipes are usually played indoors, and are almost always played sitting down.

A fingering chart for the Uilleann pipes showing the chromatic nature of the instrument

Northumbrian folk is most characterised by the use of Northumbrian smallpipes as well as a strong Scottish influence for natural reasons of proximity. Northumbrian pipes are small and elbow-driven and the music is traditionally very swift and rhythmic. Another distinct form of Northumbrian pipe is called the "half-long" or "border" pipe.

Northumbrian pipe music has seen a recent revival and has been used in songs by artists such as Sting. Many of the Shires of England had their own unique form of bagpipe; some mouth blown and others bellows blown, like the Northumbrian smallpipes, the Cornish bagpipes, the Lancashire great-pipe and the ancestor of the Uilleann pipes, the pastoral pipes. Unfortunately, many local variants of pipe have ceased to exist. For example the English great pipe, the English double-pipe and the Marwood double-pipe are known only from 16th century carvings and manuscripts. Modern craftsman have attempted reconstructions, but these can only be conjectural.

Scottish and Irish traditional fiddling encompass a number of regional styles, including the bagpipe-inflected west Highlands, the upbeat and lively style of Norse-influenced Shetland Islands and the Strathspey and slow airs of the North-East. The instrument arrived late in the 17th century, and is first mentioned in 1680 in a document from Newbattle Abbey in Midlothian, “Lessones For Ye Violin”.

In the 18th century, Scottish fiddling is said to have reached new heights. Fiddlers like William Marshall and Niel Gow were legends across Scotland, and the first collections of fiddle tunes were published in mid-century. The most famous and useful of these collections was a series published by Nathaniel Gow, one of Niel's sons, and a fine fiddler and composer in his own right.

Scottish fiddling is the root of much American folk music, such as Appalachian fiddling, but is most directly represented in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, an island on the east coast of Canada, which received some 25,000 emigrants from the Scottish Highlands during the Highland Clearances of 1780-1850.

The history of the guitar in traditional music is recent, as is that of the cittern and bouzouki, which in the forms used in Scottish and Irish music only date to the late 1960s.

Charlie McKerron & Donald Shaw of Capercaillie A clarsach harp Michael McGoldrick on the tin whistle

The harp, or clarsach, has a long and ancient history in Scotland, and was regarded as the national instrument until it was replaced with the Highland bagpipes in the 15th century. The surname MacWhirter, mac a' chruiteir, means son of the harpist, and is common throughout Scotland and Ireland, but particularly in Carrick and Galloway.

The playing of this Gaelic harp with wire strings died out in Scotland in the 18th century and in Ireland in the early 19th century. As part of the late 19th century Gaelic revival, the instruments used differed greatly from the old wire-strung harps. The new instruments had gut strings, and their construction and playing style was based on the larger orchestral pedal harp. Nonetheless the name "clàrsach" was and is still used in Scotland today to describe these new instruments. The modern gut-strung clàrsach has thousands of players, both in Scotland and Ireland, as well as North America and elsewhere.

One of the oldest tin whistles still in existence is the Tusculum whistle, found with pottery dating to the 14th and 15th centuries; it is currently in the collection of the Museum of Scotland. Today the whistle is a very common instrument in recorded Scottish music. Although few well-known performers choose the tin whistle as their principal instrument, it is quite common for pipers, flute players, and other musicians to play the whistle as well.

The Skye Waulking Song is an example of a Work Song, as in our women waulking the cloth in the Scottish Isles. A work song is typically a rhythmic a cappella song sung by people working on a physical and often repetitive task. The work song is probably intended to reduce feelings of boredom. Rhythms of work songs also serve to synchronize physical movement in a gang. Frequently, the usage of verses in work songs are often improvised and sung differently each time. The improvisation provided the singers with a sometimes subversive form of expression: improvised verses sung by slaves had verses about escaping; improvised verses sung by sailors had verses complaining about the captain and the work conditions. Work songs also help to create a feeling of familiarity and connection between the workers.

Work songs sung by slaves are known by many names around the world. In America, such songs were the foundation for what would eventually become the Blues. Some songs were part of a native heritage and sung to remind the slaves of home, while others were instituted by the slave masters to raise morale, keep slaves working in rhythm, or any number of other purposes. Black American slave songs might be referred to as "chain gang songs" or "spirituals" depending on the context of the song. An example of a slave work song would be “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.

Work songs sung by sailors during the 20th, 19th, and to a lesser extent 18th centuries are known as sea shanties. These songs were typically performed while adjusting the rigging, raising anchor, and other tasks where men would need to pull in rhythm. These songs usually have a much punctuated rhythm precisely for this reason, along with a call-and-answer format.

Well before the 19th century, sea songs were common on rowing vessels. Such songs were also very rhythmic in order to keep the rowers together. Because many cultures used slaves to row, these songs might also be considered slave songs. These songs were performed with and without the aid of a drum.

Shanties had a very slow style and were sometimes accompanied by an accordion or concertina.

Sea shanties are a form of work song traditionally sung by sailors working on the rigging of ships. There are several types, divided based on the type of work they set the rhythmic base for. For example:

Capstan shanties: for repetitive, longer tasks that require a sustained rhythm

Halyard shanties: for heavier work that requires more time between pulls to set up

Two of the best known Sea Shanties are “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” (see sidebar above) and “Haul Away Joe” below: Drunken Sailor is based on the Dorian mode and Haul Away Joe on the Mixolydian mode.

Way, haul away,
We'll haul away the bowlin'.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
Way, haul away,
The packet is a rollin'.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Oh, once I had an Irish girl,
And she was fat and lazy.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
Then I had a Spanish girl,
She nearly drove me crazy.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

When I was a little boy,
And so my mother told me,
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
That if I didn't kiss the girls,
My lips would go all mouldy.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Georgie Charlton had a pig
And it was double jointed,
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
He took it to the butcher's shop
To get its trotters pointed.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Way, haul away,
We'll hang and haul together.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
Way, haul away,
We'll haul for better weather.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Once I was in Ireland,
Digging turf and 'taties
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
But now I'm on a lime-juice ship,
Hauling on the braces.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

King Louis was the King of France
Before the Revolution,
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
But Louis got his head cut off,
Which spoiled his constitution.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Once I married an Irish girl,
And her name was Flannigan,
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
She stole my money, she stole my clothes,
She stole my plate and pannikin.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

St Patrick was a gentleman,
He came of dacent people,
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.
He built a church in Dublin town
And on it put a steeple.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe.

Another form of music to consider is music for celebration. Communities have often celebrated an event with secular music be it a wedding, Christmas, sowing or harvest, changes of the seasons, tales of local heroes, community histories etc. This takes many forms, in Ireland and Scotland the Céilidh, in England Morris Dancing and maypole dancing and in Wales there is a rich culture of traditional music celebrated at the Eisteddfod.

Céilidhs facilitated courting and prospects of marriage for young people and, although discos and nightclubs have displaced céilidhs to a considerable extent, they are still an important and popular social outlet in rural parts of Ireland and Scotland, especially in the Gaelic-speaking west coast regions. Céilidhs are sometimes held on a smaller scale in private or public houses, for example in remote rural hinterlands and during busy festivals. It is common for some clubs and institutions such as sports clubs, schools and universities and even employers to arrange céilidhs on a regular or at least annual basis. The formality of these can vary. Some mix modern pop music with a Scottish country dancing band and dress codes range from compulsory highland dress to informal. Knowledge and use of the basic dance steps is not always strictly necessary, and dances often alternate with songs, poetry recitals, storytelling and other types of "party pieces".

Céilidh music may be provided by an assortment of fiddle, flute, tin whistle, accordion, bodhrán, and in more recent times also drums and electric bass guitar. The music is cheerful and lively, and the basic steps can be learned easily; a short instructional session is often provided for new dancers before the start of the dance itself.

A Morris Dancing is a form of English folk dance, dating back to the 15^th century, usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two men, steps are performed near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid across each other on the floor.

Music was traditionally provided by either a pipe and tabor or a fiddle. These are still used today, but the most common instrument is the melodeon. Accordions and concertinas are also common, and other instruments are sometimes used. Often drums are employed. Cotswold and sword dancers are most often accompanied by a single player, but Northwest and Border sides often have a band, usually including a drum.

An Eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. The tradition of such a meeting of Welsh artists dates back to at least the 12th century. Traditionally there is fierce competition for the prize of best fiddler, best singer, best choir or best harpist.

stanza In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. (The term means "stopping place" in Italian.) In vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse" (as distinct from the refrain, or "chorus").

aural tradition Music, in many cultures is an aural art. The composer is also a performer and the music is passed on to other composer/performers largely by means of an aural tradition. In aural tradition, music is always experience in real time—that is, the music must actually be performed to be learned or created.

strophic Term applied to song in which the same music is repeated, perhaps with very minor change, for each successive stanza of setting of a poem, in manner of folk‐song.

monophonic One sound which has a single melodic line of notes without harmonies or melody in counterpoint.

antiphony A term, derived from Christian chant, that refers to the singing of sections of a chant by two choirs in alternation.

pentatonic Scale of five notes widely found in folk music (Scottish, Chinese, Negro, etc.) and found as early as 2000BC Can be easily produced by playing the five black keys only of a piano, beginning with F#. The tune of Auld Lang Syne is pentatonic as is the melody of The Skye Waulking Song.

mixolydian The mode represented by the white keys of the piano beginning at G. Overleaf is an example of the eight modes.

Studying the Song The Skye Waulking Song by Capercaillie is an arrangement of “Chuir m'athair mise dhan taigh charraideach - My father sent me to a house of sorrow. This is verses from a lament 'Seathan, Mac Righ Eireann' - 'Seathan, Son of the King of Ireland'. It is from a collection of Gaelic folksongs Ortha nan Gaidheal Carmina Gadelica Vol.5, collected by Alexander Carmichael.

Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and fronted by Karen Matheson. They recorded their first album, “Cascade”, in 1984. Their 1992 EP “A Prince Among Islands” was the first Scottish Gaelic-language record to reach the UK Top 40 singles chart, peaking at number 39. Another of their singles, “Dark Alan (Alein Dunn)” reached number 65. The album “Secret People” got number 40, and “To the Moon” got to number 41. They have popularised traditional Gaelic songs and music by using modern production techniques and often mixing musical forms — such as combining traditional lyrics with drum and bass.

Instrumentation on the album (underlined instruments are used on the Skye Waulking Song)

Donald Shaw – Sartarelle accordion, Wurlitzer electric piano, piano, synthesizers

The vocal melody is made up from notes of the pentatonic scale. There are examples of vocables or nonsense vocals throughout and a short accapella section after the first chorus. The vocal style is based on purity of the voice coupled with some ornamentation which is common in British folk music. As this is an arrangement of the original waulking song, the lyrics do not exactly follow the original Gaelic text.

The rhythm and metre of the song are key to the waulking process. Six to fourteen women, one on each end and equal numbers, down the sides, would sit around the waulking board, or, as often, a door was taken off its hinges and set up. The cloth would be pulled towards you and beat on the board then passed slightly to your left before pushing it back, moving it in a four-time clockwise direction. The beat of the cloth would match the pulse of the song and the swinging 6/8 metre would help the women in their task and help to lift their spirits during this laborious task.

A list of tracks & CDs used in this section is listed at the end of this document.

North Indian or Hindustani classical music is built on two basic and interrelated elements: raga (also spelled raag or rag), or melodic structure, and tala (taala), or rhythmic cycle. A raga is both the name of the completed piece and the pattern of notes within that piece.

A raga or rag comprises an unchangeable series of notes presented as an ascending and descending scale, some notes being used only in the ascending part, others only in the descending. Ragas are associated with moods, e.g. loneliness, bravery, eroticism, and with particular times of day or year, or with certain ceremonial occasions.

It is very important that the structure can be recognized. A typical performance of a raga is divided into four main sections: the alaap or alap, which introduces the notes and mood of the raga in a slow and unmetered fashion; the jor, which introduces the piece's rhythm and in which the melody begins to evolve; the gat, faster, where the tabla player establishes a clear pulse and the music is clearly a fixed composition; and the concluding jhala, giving the performance a brilliant and fast-paced close. It is also very important to identify the instruments used:

The Sitar is perhaps the most well known of the Indian instruments. Artists such as Ravi Shankar have popularized this instrument around the world. The Sitar is a long necked instrument with an interesting construction. It has a varying number of strings but 17 are usual. It has three to four playing strings and three to four drone strings. The approach to tuning is somewhat similar to other Indian stringed instruments. These strings are plucked with a wire finger plectrum called mizrab. There are also a series of sympathetic strings lying under the frets. These strings are almost never played but they vibrate whenever the corresponding note is sounded. The frets are metal rods which have been bent into crescents. The main resonator is usually made of a gourd and there is sometimes an additional resonator attached to the neck.

The Tanpura is a drone instrument and its sound underpins most ragas. It resembles a sitar except it has no frets. It has four strings tuned to the tonic or sa. The word "tanpura" (tanpoora) is common in the north, but in south India it is called "tambura", "thamboora", "thambura", or "tamboora". The tanpura is known for its very rich sound. There are three main styles; the Miraj style, the Tanjore style and the small instrumental version sometimes called tamburi.

The Miraj style is the typical north Indian tanpura (tambura). This is the favourite of Hindustani musicians. It typically is between 3 to 5 feet in length. It is characterized by a pear shaped, well rounded tabali (resonator face) and non-tapering neck. It usually has a resonator made of a gourd, but rarely one may find resonators made of wood.

The Tabla is a pair of drums. It consists of a small right hand drum called dayan and a larger metal one called bayan.

The tabla has an interesting construction. The dayan (right hand drum) is almost always made of wood. The diameter at the membrane may run from just under five inches to over six inches and is tuned to the root note or sa of the raga. The bayan (left hand drum) may be made of iron, aluminium, copper, steel, or clay; yet brass with a nickel or chrome plate is the most common material. Undoubtedly the most striking characteristic of the tabla is the large black spot on each of the playing surfaces. These black spots are a mixture of gum, soot, and iron filings. Their function is to create the bell-like timbre that is characteristic of the instrument.

A tabla player will bend notes by increasing the skin tension with part of the hand in order to create the “twang” sound that gives the tabla its distinctive character.

Although the origin of tabla is somewhat obscure, it is generally believed that it evolved from the barrel shaped drum called pakhawaj about three hundred years ago.

Bansuri and venu are common Indian flutes. They are typically made of bamboo or reed. There are two varieties; transverse and fipple. The transverse variety is nothing more than a length of bamboo with holes cut into it. This is the preferred flute for classical music because the embouchure gives added flexibility and control. The fipple, similar to a recorder, variety is found in the folk styles, but seldom used for serious music. This is usually considered to be just a toy because the absence of any embouchure limits the flexibility of the instrument. The flute may be called many things in India: bansi, bansuri, murali, venu and many more.

The bansuri is used in the North Indian system. It typically has six holes; however there has been a tendency in recent years to use seven holes for added flexibility and correctness of pitch in the higher registers. It was previously associated only with folk music, but today it is found in Hindustani, classical and numerous other genres. Venu is the South Indian flute and it typically has eight holes.

In north India, the ragas have recently been categorised into ten thaats, melas or parent scales. In the Ragatarangini (“The River of Raga”), probably of the 16th century, 12 melas are mentioned:

As you can see the mukhari thaat or mela is the same as the upward portion of our melodic minor scale and so may prove a useful starting point when composing a raga. Select a different thaat or mela for the downward movement and you have a raga which can be used with a sitar or bansuri. Using the root or sa (in this case C) set up a drone in the bass, add some percussion, a tabla sound if you have one, and the composition will start to take shape. By structuring the piece with an alap, gat, jor and jhala a passable piece of Indian style raga will be possible.

A list of tracks & CDs used in this section is listed at the end of this document.

Although the track is hard to find, it is out there! Go to http://www.deezer.com/track/yiri-T271590 and you can hear the track for free. The album that it is taken from is called “Burkina Faso – Balafons et tambours d’Afrique” on Air Mail Music and contains just a few sleeve notes;

When we discovered Koko, we were struck by the sheer wealth of music they produce. This group occupies a very special position in the widely renowned cultural heritage of Burkina Faso. Koko draws its inspiration from the subtle mixture of living cultures that are to be found in that part of Africa. The group is led by Madou Kone, who plays the balafon and is also an exceptional singer. The themes of Koko's songs evoke some of man's greatest battles, including the fight for survival and protection of the environment, but also creation, celebration and friendship, and attachment to the earth.

Further research on the internet gave the following information about the personnel of the band and the instrumentation;

Burkina Faso also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the south west. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed on August 4, 1984, by President Thomas Sankara to mean "the land of upright people" in Moré and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. Literally, "Burkina" may be translated, "men of integrity," from the Moré language, and "Faso" means "father's house" in Dioula.

Independence from France came in 1960. Several hundred thousand farm workers migrate south every year to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in search of paid labour. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabé

Although the set work is from a particular group in a particular country, Edexcel intend that this part of AoS 4 should reflect all the music of Sub-Saharan Africa. The music of Southern Africa shows an influence from Western music, mostly from the colonialist occupation that occured – students should be aware of the influence of the slave trade and missionaries on the music of this region, which is often acapella, though richly harmonic and reminiscent of western church music.

Although this part of Africa is synonymous with drumming, it is important that melodic and harmonic instruments are also considered.

All Sub-Saharan musical traditions are centered round singing. Many Africans believe that the music serves as a link to the spirit world. Singing is therefore a vital part of everyday life and is heard at religious ceremonies, rituals and celebrations. The basic form of the songs in choral singing is called call and response where one singer sings a line and the whole group then makes a vocal reply. The best known examples of African choral singing come from the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (below).

The kalimba is a musical instrument from Africa. Several reeds or tines are plucked with the thumb or fingers, and the reed vibrations are amplified by a hollow box resonator or a sounding board. It is a modernized version of the African mbira. It is a sound box with metal keys attached to the top to give the different notes. It is also known as the African thumb piano.

A kora is built from a large gourd cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge like a lute or guitar. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style, it bears a closer resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar techniques. The player uses only the thumb and index finger of both hands to pluck the strings in polyrhythmic patterns (using the remaining fingers to hold the sticks either side of the strings and secure the instrument). Traditional koras feature 21 strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. By moving leather tuning rings up and down the neck, a kora player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. These scales are close in tuning to western Major, Minor and Lydian modes.

The balafon is a lamellophone with wooden keys. There are many different balafons in Africa. They fall into two main categories: the free-key type, in which the keys are independent of one another and of their supports, and those with fixed keys, in which the keys are permanently strung together and attached to their support. In the free-key balafons, the loose keys are assembled on temporary supports; for example, the player’s legs, banana-tree trunks, straw bundles or logs padded with grass. The fixed-key balafons are generally mounted on or suspended from a frame, with or without gourd resonators.

A djembe is a skin covered hand drum, shaped like a large goblet, and meant to be played with bare hands. The djembe drum has been called "the healing drum". It dates back to the 12th century Mali Empire of West Africa. It has a very wide tonal range setting it apart from other drums.

A Dunun (also known as dundun, doundoun, or djun-djun) is the generic name for a family of West African bass drums that developed alongside the djembe. It is not to be confused with the name of the West African talking drum, also called dundun, but a completely different instrument.

The talking drum is a West African drum whose pitch can be regulated to the extent that it is said the drum "talks". The player puts the drum under one shoulder and beats the instrument with a stick. A talking drum player raises or lowers the pitch by squeezing or releasing the drum's strings with the upper arm. This can produce highly informative sounds to convey complicated messages.

An agogo (meaning gong or bell) is a single or multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional African music and also in the samba baterias (percussion ensembles) of South America. The agogo may be the oldest samba instrument and was based on West African single or double bells.

In African music repetition is often used to organise the music. In the mbira and kalimba music, the interaction of player’s hands establishes a repeating pattern which players use as a basis for improvisation.

Polyphony and Polyrhythm are also important. Polyphony has many musical parts or rhythms interweaving with each other. Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more individual rhythms (e.g. 3 against 4). In West Africa, drum ensembles have 3-5 players, each with a distinctive method of striking their drum and playing interlocking or polyrhythmic patterns. Sometimes other percussion instruments join in, creating a thick musical texture.

Call-and-response is very popular particularly in African singing. The chorus repeats a fixed refrain in alternation with a lead singer, who then has more freedom to improvise. This makes the music conversational. Melisma is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a single syllable of text while it is being sung. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.

Pitch in African music is largely determined by the tuning of the drums. Drum rhythms can imitate well-known phrases. It's said that when Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Waterloo, the native people in West Africa knew about it before their English or French governors, because the news was drummed down the coast from North Africa. Talking drums are used to send messages, using a combination of pitch and rhythm to imitate speech.

Edexcel are trying to encourage the use of melodic and harmonic instruments in African style compositions rather than just the drumming! In order to score highly the essential elements of call and response, polyphony, repetition and improvisation must be present.

Decide which instruments you are going to use. Mainly, you should try to use tuned percussion instruments (xylophone, marimba, and glockenspiel) but you could also use piano or stringed instruments played only by plucking the strings.

Start by composing a basic ostinato pattern using a pentatonic scale (G, A, B, D, E). This pattern should not be too complicated otherwise you will find it difficult to make variations. Your pattern should be between two and four bars long. Then compose a second pattern, using the same scale, this time with an irregular number of beats. When superimposed on the first pattern, the second pattern will create a phasing within the composition.

Compose a melody using the pentatonic scale once more. Then make some variations of the melody. You could do this by playing continuously and changing some notes, or by adding some extra notes in some places. Make a selection of between four and eight of the variations you like best and practice them until you can change fluently from one to another.

Now make the pattern and the variations into a longer piece by playing them in different orders, louder and softer, sometimes returning to the original pattern, and maybe even making up some new variations as you play. Once you have your variations, try adding the two ostinato parts and different layers of drums and percussion.

The kalimba has particular tuning and if this tuning is taken into consideration then the results will be more authentic.

(a) The balaphon ostinato – in combination these produce a complex polyphonic texture.

(b) The drum ostinati – in this piece they play a relentless one bar pattern (albeit with a little variation at the beginning of the bar of two quavers – crotchet – two quavers – crotchet).

0.00-0.22 Introduction – High balaphon improvised solo setting the scene. The solo comprises a pentatonic melody with fast rolls.

0.23-0.34 A second (lower pitched) balaphon joins in creating a polyrhythmic texture

1.26-1.44 Short Instrumental of balaphons and drums playing continuous ostinati as before.

2.10-2.39 Solo voice (call). Different melody features long held notes and short punctuated words

The International library of African Music ILAM has an extensive library of field recordings and photos. The search facilities are based on knowing what you are looking for so quite tricky. This resource can be found at http://ilam.ru.ac.za/

A great but heavyweight book called “The Soul of The Mbira” by Paul F. Berliner is available (University of Chicago Press) and contains a wealth of Mbira patterns, tuning charts and instructions on how to make various types of instrument.

On your course CD-ROM are a number of MIDI files that can be used to demonstrate African Drumming patterns and Mbira sequencing.

There are General Midi sounds for many African instruments so MIDI sequencing can easily be achieved with any sound module or keyboard attached to your sequencer of choice.

Copyright © 2008 Chris Pettitt Last modified: 06/10/10

Copyright © 2008 Chris Pettitt
Last modified: 06/10/10