Music of Ghana and Tanzania
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MUSIC OF GHANA AND TANZANIA: A BRIEF COMPARISON AND DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS AFRICAN MUSIC SCHOOLS Heather Bergseth A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERDecember OF 2011MUSIC Committee: David Harnish, Advisor Kara Attrep © 2011 Heather Bergseth All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT David Harnish, Advisor This thesis is based on my engagement and observations of various music schools in Ghana, West Africa, and Tanzania, East Africa. I spent the last three summers learning traditional dance- drumming in Ghana, West Africa. I focus primarily on two schools that I have significant recent experience with: the Dagbe Arts Centre in Kopeyia and the Dagara Music and Arts Center in Medie. While at Dagbe, I studied the music and dance of the Anlo-Ewe ethnic group, a people who live primarily in the Volta region of South-eastern Ghana, but who also inhabit neighboring countries as far as Togo and Benin. I took classes and lessons with the staff as well as with the director of Dagbe, Emmanuel Agbeli, a teacher and performer of Ewe dance-drumming. His father, Godwin Agbeli, founded the Dagbe Arts Centre in order to teach others, including foreigners, the musical styles, dances, and diverse artistic cultures of the Ewe people. The Dagara Music and Arts Center was founded by Bernard Woma, a master drummer and gyil (xylophone) player. The DMC or Dagara Music Center is situated in the town of Medie just outside of Accra. Mr. Woma hosts primarily international students at his compound, focusing on various musical styles, including his own culture, the Dagara, in addition music and dance of the Dagbamba, Ewe, and Ga ethnic groups. The DMC recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in the summer of 2010. This thesis is also a comparison of the above music schools with those that I have observed in Tanzania, East Africa, primarily situated along the Swahili coast. I spent a month teaching music to primary and secondary school children in various private and government schools in Arusha, Bagamoyo, Tanga, and Zanzibar. This opportunity allowed me to witness the methods of musical education in public schools as well as in arts-centered specialty schools or after-school community groups. Two such schools that I focus on include programs that teach primarily Tanzanian musical iv styles to native Tanzanians: the Bagamoyo Young Artist Center (BYAC) and the Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA). I spent a few days at the Dhow Countries Musical Arts School in Zanzibar, an NGO founded and sponsored primarily by the Norwegian government. The Dhow Countries Music Academy, or DCMA, teaches traditional dance-drumming, called ngoma in the native language of Kiswahili, and also taarab, a popular song genre with Arab instruments and other musical influences. The Bagamoyo Young Artist Center is an afterschool program for children in Bagamoyo where they learn and perform traditional ngoma as well. I briefly discuss the traditional music of each of the schools’ curriculum and discuss the methods used in transmitting their respective musical cultures. I compare and contrast the schools from various positions: their missions, audiences, as well as their histories and visions for the future. I also investigate the status of music in the national educational systems in Ghana and Tanzania. In addition, I explore issues of commodification, cultural tourism, authenticity, and appropriation. Through research, interviews, and observations, I provide a picture, if only partial, of the state of teaching traditional African musics in Ghana and Tanzania. v Dedicated to all my music teachers, in Ghana, Tanzania, and the U.S. Asante sana! vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Pambo la ngoma vifijo. A dance is decorated by cheering. (Kiswahili kanga saying)1 Asante sana kwa wema ulionitendea. Thank you for your good deeds to me. (Kiswahili kanga saying) 2 “In the field, our friends and research collaborators have unselfishly given us gifts we know we cannot repay; we know that whatever fees or presents or help we offered in exchange were nothing compared to the worlds revealed to us.” 3 –Ted Solís, Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles (2004) I would like to thank especially my advisors Dr. David Harnish and Dr. Kara Attrep. I would also like to give my most heartfelt thanks to my teachers and informants, without whose time and effort this would not have been possible: Bernard Woma, Emmanuel Agbeli, Odartey, Mary, and my friend at the DCMA. I would also like to thank personally my friends Dr. Michael Vercelli and Anither Karugila. In addition I want to thank all those people who made this thesis possible and those who helped and contributed to my education along the way: Dr. Steven Cornelius, Martin Nagy, Shari Densel, Wendy Murphy, Dr. Amanda Villepastour, Olman Piedra, Dr. Marilyn Shrude, Dr. Katherine Meizel, Dr. Roger Schupp, Dr. Jesse Johnston, Dr. Kelly Askew, Dr. Mary Natvig, Dr. Josh Duchan, and Asia as well as my home family in Zanzibar. Last but not least, I give my thanks to my parents and to ProMusica for their unending support in my travels and education. Thanks to my sister Amy for all her support! All mistakes are my own. 1 Compiled by Nadin Hadi, Kanga Wisdom: A Collection of Kanga Sayings, photographs by Javed Jafferji, (Zanzibar : Gallery Publications, 2007), 33. Kangas are printed cloths with Swahili sayings. 2 Ibid, 52. 3 Ted Solís, “Introduction: Teaching What Cannot Be Taught: An Optimistic Overview,” in Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles, edited by Ted Solís, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 17. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 Self-Reflexivity: Or Why I Chose This Topic ....................................................................... 4 Methodology............................................................................................................................. 7 Thesis Overview ....................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER I. MUSIC EDUCATION AND TRANSMISSION IN AFRICA ................................ 19 Ghanaian Music Education, Overview ................................................................................. 28 Ghana: Brief Country Profile .......................................................................................... 28 Ghana’s Education System .............................................................................................. 30 Music’s Role in Education .............................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER II. DAGARA MUSIC AND ARTS CENTER.............................................................. 41 History..................................................................................................................................... 42 The Music ............................................................................................................................... 44 Teaching and Learning .......................................................................................................... 54 10th Anniversary Celebration ................................................................................................. 60 CHAPTER III. DAGBE ARTS CENTRE ........................................................................................ 66 History..................................................................................................................................... 68 The Music ............................................................................................................................... 71 Emmanuel Agbeli ................................................................................................................... 75 Teaching and Learning .......................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER IV. TANZANIAN MUSIC SCHOOLS ........................................................................ 95 Tanzania: Brief Country Profile ............................................................................................ 95 Tanzania’s Education System................................................................................................ 99 viii Music’s Role in Education................................................................................................... 102 The Music ............................................................................................................................. 105 Ngoma............................................................................................................................. 106 Taarab ............................................................................................................................. 109 Case Study #1: Dhow Countries Music Academy ............................................................. 115 Case Study #2: The Bagamoyo Young Artist Center ........................................................ 121 CHAPTER V. ISSUES IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY .................................................................... 124