African Music John Miller Chernoff

"African Music" John Miller Chernoff excerpted from African Music University of Chicago Press, 1979 Chernoff's most famous book is African Rhythm and African Sensibility (University of Chicago Press,1981). He has also written a novel Hustling Is Not Stealing: Stories of an African Bar Girl (University of Chicago Press, 2003)

1) Westerners divide music into standard units of time, indicating when the next chord is likely to come a) rhythm links different notes to each other b) most instruments play their notes at the same time c) a sequence of notes starts when we count "One" d) rhythm is something we follow: determined with reference to melody e) special word "syncopation" for uneven rhythm f) rhythm is secondary to melody and harmony: beauty is the progression of sound through chords or tones 2) African music a) there are always at least two rhythms going on b) there is no unifying or main beat c) to westerners listening it seems "out of time" d) the conflicting rhythmic patterns and accents are cross-rhythms e) but to a sensitive ear one rhythm defines another i) Ibrahim Abdulai could not "hear" his variations without a second dondon 3) Rhythm as something to "get with" vs. to "respond to" a) there is a dominant conversation from solo to chorus or to instrumental reply b) "call-and-response" c) African-American examples: James Brown, etc. d) repetition of responsive rhythms is the African alternative to the development of a melodic line e) social encounters also require this flexibility of dialogue to maintain poise f) single-mindedness of purpose would be poverty of expression g) one connects one's self image with what others see one doing: sitting alone at a bar example 4) respect for an established rhythmic framework provides the possibility for comprehensive improvisation a) Africans use stylized social forms and conventions to achieve interpersonal intimacy b) distinctive personality can stand out against structure c) Africans ritualize their lives 5) model of community: a combination of diverse rhythms which must remain distinct a) community too is ordered through time b) music is used to build context for community action c) ritualized opposition of distinct personalities d) a listener will punctuate the speaker's phrases with noises as showing involvement e) broader tendency to situate conflicting and opposing forces in mediated balanced communication