sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bell pattern, Cowbell, Cowbell (instrument), Music of Africa, Yodeling

Improvisation in West African Author(s): David Locke Source: Educators Journal, Vol. 66, No. 5, (Jan., 1980), pp. 125-133 Published by: MENC: The National Association for Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3395790 Accessed: 23/07/2008 16:21

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=menc.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

http://www.jstor.org an ensemble are the surdo (large, which are played in 4 meter. The in various countries. Bibliographical bass, double-headed played basic patterns and some variations information on these is available in with a mallet), the caixa (snare performed by each instrument are Gilbert Chase's A Guide to the Mu- drum), the (a tambour- given in Figure 18. Students can im- sic of , 2d ed. (Wash- ine), the cu'ca (a friction drum provise syncopated alterations of ington, D.C.: Pan American Union, with a wailing sound that is obtained these patterns, but the downbeat al- 1962). For items published since by rubbing a wet cloth on the ways should be stressed. 1960, consult the music and folk- rigid rod attached to the drum- lore sections of the Handbook of head), the tamborim (a small hand A bibliographical note Latin American Studies series pub- drum played with a wooden stick), Studies focusing specifically on lished by the University Presses of the reco-reco (a guiro-type of the use and practice of improvisa- Florida. The most comprehensive scraper), the frigideira (small frying tion in LatinAmerican music have description of Latin American in- pan played with a metal stick), and never been published. A few de- struments, folk , and dances the agogo (). The music as- scriptions are available, however, in will be available in the forthcoming sociated with Brazilian carnivals general music histories or general New Grove'sDictionary of Music consists of marches and , studies of folk and and . Ai

David Locke in vocal style; instrumentation; me- widespread use of melodic in- lodic, rhythmic, and formal struc- struments and well-developed in- Anthropologists traditionally have tures; and the place of music in so- strumental musics such as the distinguished between several ciety. Because the influence of Shona and Chopi broad culture areas in .Mel- Islamic/ is so per- traditions. ville Herskovits delineated eight cat- vasive, North African music is usual- CentralAfrica has been influ- egories: North Coast, Sudan Desert, ly considered separately from black enced by both Arabic and African East Horn, , CentralAf- African music. This article's dis- music, but is otherwise similar to rica, , the Bushmen, and cussion thus is limited to sub-Saha- West Africa in its music styles, al- the Pygmies.1The traditional music ran musics. though Central African music tends of each of these categories has dis- In the Sudan Desert, a fusion has to be rhythmically less intense. tinctive characteristics. evolved between the Islamic styles West Africa'sarchetypal music in- Along the North Coast, a strong of the North Coast and the black Af- cludes percussion ensembles with Islamic influence can be perceived rican styles of Central and West Af- antiphonal choral . rican regions. The Bushmen and Pygmies prac- 'Melville J. Herskovits, "A Preliminary On the East Horn, music shows tice contrapuntal in a Consideration of the Culture Areas of Africa," both marked Islamic influence and hocket but use few American Anthropologist 26 (1924): 50-63. style relatively unique indigenous styles, such as musical instruments. The author is a lecturer in the of the Ethiopian Despite such diversity, certain and African music at Tufts Universityin Coptic Church. general statements can be made Medford, Massachusetts. East Africa is characterized by about the musics of sub-SaharanAf-

mej/jan '80 125 Photo by Godwin Agbeli

Photo by Godwin Agbeli

126 mej/jan '80 Photo by Godwin Agbeli

Photo by Godwin Agbeli

me/jan '80 127 rican peoples. First, oc- composition at the moment of per- milieu of nonliterate, oral culture, cupies a preeminent position in the formance. It involves acts of sponta- improvisation is present to some African aesthetic and, in most cases, neous creation, unique and im- degree in most styles. the music has an infectious, propul- permanent, but it is not completely explorers and mission- sive quality. Second, is the free. It is bounded by strictures of aries developed the incorrect no- heart of an African music perform- style and by the training, technique, tion that African music consists of ance. Accompanied song is the experience, and habits of a given free, collective improvisation. Even most prevalent , and performer. In this sense, and today both lay and trained Western pure instrumental music is uncom- African music are quite similar.2Or- musicians may still overestimate the mon. Because most African lan- namentation and embellishment extent and the freedom with which guages are tonal, a melody typically constitute rudimentary improvisa- improvisation is employed. Much conforms to the rise and fall of tion whereas variation upon an African music is composed prior to speech tones. Third, music is in- existing theme is more sophisti- performance and must be precisely tegrated into the matrix of African cated. But African improvisation is recreated. For example, throughout social life. Communal music events realized in its fullest capacity when Africa court musicians serve as their accompany major phases of the life new melodies, song texts, and society's historians by recalling, cycle-birth, puberty, , are invented in the heat of through vocal and instrumental rec- death-and various community ac- performance. Since African musics itation, the illustrious deeds of the tivities-work, recreation, worship, are created and transmitted in the royal lineage and the legendary ori- politics, medicine, and so on. 'Ronald Byrside, "The Performer as Creator: gins of an entire nation. To an out- Jazz Improvisation" in Contemporary Music and sider, historical recitations on a creation Music Cultures, eds. Ronald Byrnside, Charles drum sound like free Spontaneous Hamm, and Bruno Nettl, (Englewood Cliffs, New talking may In African musics improvisation is Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974), pp. 223-251. improvisation, but in fact each

J.=approx. 176 n Leader Group U E^-^rrr ^~r -r ijr ?. 4 De mie - kpe mia - nya wo, 'fla-wuawo, De mie - kpe mia - nya wo hee, oo

^4 1JL&j. Leader

: 11 X^j. JLJ j> i ISJj>^_j. r hee, De mie - kpe mia - nya wo. De mie - kpe mia- Variation 1 Leader Group

Variation2 Leader Group

Variation3 Leader Group

Variation 4 Leader Group $ S :'r 14 S 9r a >J. ^^-

Variation5 Leader Group L Fi r 1 A \kro a IJ J. Figure 1. Agbekor vocal variations

128 mej/jan '80 stroke is predetermined by rigor- meter: simultaneous 8 and i ous rules of language. pace: variable But African musicians do impro- left thumb vise on various of in- J: aspects music, : rightthumb cluding melody, text, form, polyph- ony, rhythm, and timbre. As a rule, a . I I I I do not scales. 1 I I they improvise upon 1 4 I Al- i- 21 I I- J.I Let us examine each of these by us- ing examples from traditional Afri- n can musics. Cr r-r- !-- r ir 11 Most Africanvocal music is an- r?-r tiphonal; a song leader's call is an- swered by a singing group's re- sponse. In this type of singing, it is common for the song leader to im- provise melodic variations on the basic call while the group repeats Variation begins the call with little change. Figure 1 $i + rr Ir A shows the basic call and response r^ of a Ewe (West Africa) song and five variations on the leader's part. The is of a fast section of a song part Variationbegins war dance called Agbekor, dating from the late eighteenth century.3 In performance this song is repeat- ed at the discretion of the song leader before another song is be- gun. Songs are sung over complex rhythms created by a large per- cussion ensemble. In discussing the attributes of e. rl JFVariation beginsJ- good singers in West African so- - ciety, J. H. Kwabena Nketia has Za za za za za za za za za za stated that a "must be able Figure 2. Nyunga-nyungambirapatterns to improvise texts, to fit tunes to new words, to set tunes to words nyunga mbira has fifteen keys works for five of graded extemporaneously, and to remem- tuned to a hexatonic scale (do, re, pitch.6 First, the music leader writes ber texts, so that he can recall mi, sol, la, ti), and it covers a range a poem about a local event, and verses of songs or the leading of two octaves, usually from G to then he or she creates a melody for . lines."4 g'.D the right hand that conforms to the Although Africans do not employ Typically,a player develops a basic sequence and rhythm of the functional harmony in the Western theme (Figure 2a) and then in- verse. After the main tune is estab- sense, their music is not mono- troduces time-honored variations (b lished, a countermelody for the left phonic; on the contrary, homo- and c). The musician repeats each hand is created. The player then phonic parallelism, heterophony, phrase several times before moving returns to the right hand and im- and a wide range of polyphonic on to the next, until he reaches a provises a contrapuntal secondary structures are employed. Melodic more complex pattern (d), which melody. Finally, in a process of theme and variation is a common provides a platform for individual communal improvisation, the five developmental technique that is improvised expression. This pattern players in the full ensemble devel- heard in many African polyphonic also contains the outline of the op complementary parts modeled instrumental and vocal traditions. main vocal melody that is sung to on this secondary melody. Once the Figure 2 shows basic patterns of vocables (e). This vocal line is de- music is composed in this improvi- an uncomplicated work for the veloped through a traditional se- satory manner, its basic outlines be- nyunga-nyunga mbira of the East quence of variations until eventually come fixed and it is entered into African Shona people. The mbira, the musician is simultaneously im- the Chopi repertoire. also known as the thumb piano, is a provising new instrumental and vo- uniquely African instrument of cal parts. West African dance drlinm ing many long, thin tongues of metal or Improvisation is also an impor- So far we have examined im- wood attached to a sounding board tant element in Chopi (East Africa) provisation with respect to different that is placed within or over a reso- marimba music. According to Hugh aspects of music structure in vari- nating chamber. The nyunga- Tracey, a five-step sequence is fol- ous African musics and have no- lowed in composing elaborate ticed that improvisation may be cur- 3David Locke, The Music of Atsiagbeko. (Ph.D. diss., Wesleyan University, 1978). 5PaulBerliner, The Soul of Mbira:Music and 6Hugh Tracey, Chopi Musicians: TheirMusic, *J.H. Kwabena Nketia, The (New Tradition of.the Shona People of Poetry, and Instruments (New York: Oxford York:W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1974), p. 55. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979). University Press, 1970), pp. 5-6.

mej/jan '80 129 tailed by the semantic content and ( J. = c.86) social function of the music. A Beat more important limiting factor, however, is style. By observing the elements of West African poly- Pulse rhythmic dance drumming, we can better understand the interaction of stylistic discipline and improvisation in African music. In the coastal and forest regions of West Africa, the typical per- rr r cussion ensemble consists of an -rr r r r bell, gourd rattles, clappers, and with carefully graded pitches and timbres. These in- Rattle struments contribute in differing ways to the total ensemble texture. time is and Elapsed given shape Thigh Palm definition by the recurrent rhythmic pattern of the bell. Polyrhythmic textures are created by rhythmic Clap patterns played on supporting in- struments. Middle-pitched drums : engaging in rhythmic dialogue with qr r r r r the leading drum become respond- ing drums. And the lowest pitched leading drum controls the perform- Drum one ance by playing characteristic dance rhythms and giving choreographic signals to dancers. I i The style of this type of West Afri- Bounce Press can dance drumming is influenced by several fundamental music prin- Drum two ciples. First, drum rhythm, vocal melody, and dance movement are all timed with reference to the bell vz r P; ] ____r pattern. Thus, players must not only Bounce Press I know their own rhythmic patterns, but they also must be aware of how their lines relate to the . Drum three Second, regularly occurring stresses or beats are important in helping maintain a performers steady pace. Bounce Press Although these beats are not usually sounded, they are implicit in the dancers' movements. Third, the Drum four beats are felt in extremely rapid I. 12 nY nYI-T time units, which we shall call puls- 4=r - r F. es. Fourth, the time span of the bell rhythm and its division into beats Bounce Press I establish meter, a concept that im- Figure 3. Agbekorpercussion rhythms plies a musical period and the ac- cents within that period. The con- cepts of bell pattern, beat, pulse, leading drum, there is scope for against the four beats. Improvisa- and meter all function to clearly imaginative variation in the music tion is almost never permitted on structure elapsing time. Timing and of the supporting instruments as the bell. The rattle's rhythm rein- rhythm are the most crucial dimen- well. Look, for example, at the stan- forces the bell pattern and increas- sions of dance drumming. All per- dard rhythms these instruments es its density; patterns of the clap formers share in a communally felt, play in the slow section of Agbekor and drum one emphasize a 3:2 almost hypnotic sense of time so (see Figure 3). In Agbekor the bell cross rhythm; drum two's pattern that they can execute intricate pattern is divided into four beats, accents the second of the two off- rhythm combinations without the which are further divided into three beat eighth notes within each beat, slightest mistake. units of pulses. The bell pattern, while drum three's phrase accents Although spontaneous creativity however, is additively constructed- both of them; and the rhythm of is generally produced from the 2+12+2+2+ 1 +2-and staggered drum four maintains the pulse.

130 mej/jan '80 Experienced players can impro- its normal position within a repeat- ing drummer to give so many cho- vise on these standard patterns. The ing phrase. Most variations do not reographic signals that the music procedure for improvisation is to obscure the salient strokes of the consists entirely of the combination state the standard rhythm, develop standard patterns, and a player must of previously composed patterns, it within strict stylistic limits, and take care not to upset the balance thus limiting improvisatory tech- then return to the basic pattern. among instruments or to cover the niques to choosing the order in Figure 4 gives three possible varia- leading drum part with overly busy which patterns are played, sub- tions of the standard rhythm for improvisation. stituting alternate patterns, and each instrument. At the player's dis- While the improvisation of sup- embellishing. cretion, each variation is repeated porting instruments is limited to The idioms of music and dance several times before either another relatively simple techniques of or- are regarded as two aspects of one variation is introduced or the stan- namentation and variation, the indi- multifaceted art form. In many so- dard rhythm is restated. vidual creativity of the leading cial dances, however, a less sophis- Most variations are developed drum is given greater freedom; in- ticated relationship between music from the standard phrase by simply deed, the stature of a leading drum- and dance exists, so improvisation repeating one of its motives or de- mer is largely determined by his has freer reign. The leading drum- veloping it slightly. Other tech- ability to improvise. Nonetheless, mer states a rhythmic theme that is niques include embellishment, in- the drummer does not have a wide repeated by the responding drum- creasing the density of spacing, and scope for improvisation in all types mers while the leader improvises syncopation, which in this context of dance music. Certain dances, upon it. After several minutes of im- refers to displacing a stroke from such as Agbekor, require the lead- provisation, the leader states anoth-

J.=approx. 86 Bell J r r zr r r tr r Cr r r zir r Xr r r ri

Rattle 1 2. 3.

Fir t 1J a Ji |:' *tl'a rrTl l

Clap 1. 2. 3. ? j, i;r r r r r r lr' r r' r' I ? r r' ;

Drum11. 2. 3. wfI:r z-2 r ,LJr Jf r W J J r r :11 _J i I I I

Drum 2 1. , __I _2. __3.______

L1 iII 1 1 Drum3 1. r 2. 3. ,

IIF 4 I II Figure 4. Agbekorrhythmic variations

mej/jan '80 131 1 Bell er theme and the process begins again. Generally these themes are well known among the players, but r I 1r I I f I1 if I I r the leading drummer can spontane- d ously create new patterns if he is so Respondingdrums inspired. Several rhythmic themes and leading drum variations from the Ewe social dance called Kinka are I I shown in Figure 5. The bell pattern, which the basic Variation1 provides timing, Leadingdrum Standardrhythm and the responding drum phrase, . Mtf 1 which states the rhythmic theme, repeat continuously. The leading drum plays the standard phrase un- l 1L.I ]I til the responding drums firmly es- tablish their pattern, and then a se- Var. 2 Var. 3 ries of extemporaneous variations begins. Each drummer develops a personal style based on variations that are pleasing to him, and his I I I improvisations consist of reworking them in new ways. He is always 1 Bell free to invent new variations, how- ever, as long as they remain true to the stated on the re- r I I r rhythm pattern I:Ir Ira r rI I I I sponding drums. A. M. Jones has pointed out that:

Respondingdrums It is the SEEDof the pattern.The whole standardpattern grows out of this seed. So do all variationson thatpattern. Thus,after establishing a pattern,the I masterdrummer, by extension,simile, or any other artificeat his command, Standard the first as the Leadingdrum rhythm Variation 1 using phrase germinal Leading m idea, builds up spontaneouslya series of variationswhich continueas long as the inspirationof thatparticular phrase I I I lasts.Having started with the 'seed'as Tay[Jones' informant] puts it, the mas- ter drummercan go anywherehe likes, Var. 2 - - _._ _.. for everyonewill know thatyour plant has grown from this seed.7 No matter how sensitively we re- search and of im- Figure 5. Kinkarhythms and variations analyze processes provisation in African musics, there remains a dimension that is Key to leading drum strokes in Figure 5 beyond the ken of Westerners. When ques- tioned on the source of their talent, : bounced stroke with in center of skin palm African musicians point not to an inheritance of genes, but to their being the reincarnation of famous a : bounced stroke with stick in center of skin musicians; when asked about the origin of their musical inspiration, they do not discuss training and in- fluences, but playing with ghosts a : bounced stroke with at of skin fingers edge during dreams or the way their hands are guided by ancestral spir- its as they play. For African musi- : pressed stroke with fingers at edge of skin cians, the ability to improvise and the talent of creativity are gifts from God. :bounced stroke with stick in center of skin while pressing skin with fingers 'A. M. Jones, Studies in African Music, Vol. 1 (New York:Oxford University Press, 1959), p. 175.

132 mej/jan '80 Selected readings containsextended analysesof leading thatprovides a comprehensivesurvey drumimprovisation. of a diversefield. Berliner, Paul. The Soul of Mbira: Merriam,Alan. "AfricanMusic," in Music and William R. Bascom and Melville Tradition of the Shona J. Selected recordings People of Zimbabwe. Berkeley: Uni- Herskovits, eds. Continuity and in Cultures. Chi- versity of California Press, 1979. Change African Anthology of African Music. Ten al- of The definitive of cago: University Chicago Press, bums are included in this collec- study Shona mbira 1958. music traditionwith ample discussion tion; each disc costs $11. Available of improvisationwithin the limitsof the A concise review of all majorscholar- from UNIPUB,345 ParkAvenue Shonaaesthetic and social system. ship on Africanmusic thatprovides a South, New York City 10010. quickintroduction to the subject. Drums West Ritual Music Jones, A. M. Studies in Mu- H. Kwabena. The Music of Africa: African Nketia,J. of sic, Vols. 1 and 2. New York: Ox- Africa. New York: W. W. Norton & of (Lyrichord 7307) ford University Press, 1959. 1974. Company, Inc., Shona Mbira Music. Vols. 1-2 This seminalwork on Ewe drumming The only general text on Africanmusic (Nonesuch 72007) A

1

Otr4 IN NEAR EASTERN MUSICS

Karl Signell

According to West Asian custom, guest instrumentalists are offered the honor of introducing a music program by playing a solo improvi- sation. The highest praise and es- teem are showered upon the musi- cian who has command over the difficult, creative, magical, and dan-

The author is an ethnomusicologist special- izing in Turkishmusic. A Turkish neyplayer mei/jan '80 133