A Musical Trip to West Africa

Traditional West African music is not just one type of music. Today we will explore two different types. Let's begin this musical journey by watching the Northern Illinois University School of Music's percussion ensemble perform a version of the music from a traditional African dance called Zaouli.

The next stop on this trip is to watch the dance performed in a traditional setting.


While it is not completely clear when or by whom this song was written, it originates from the Ivory Coast region of West Africa. Ivory Coast is also known as the country of Côte d'Ivoire.

Like much traditional West African music, Zaouli is well known for its rhythmic properties and its use of percussion instruments. Doris Green, in a book called African Dance: An Artistic, Historical, and Philosophical Inquiry, wrote, "The dance activity is essentially fast movements of the feet dictated by the rhythm of the drums for the Zaouli figure." Sometimes these rhythms are polyrhythmic in nature which can especially be heard in the percussion ensemble performance. 

Another prominent element of Zaouli music is the tempo. While the tempo seems to be set by the one performing the dance, it is usually quite fast. This leads to fascinating foot choreography. While some versions of the Zaouli include other instruments to provide more of a melody, the main characteristic of the music is the fast rhythms of the drums. Most popular music in Western European and American culture, on the other hand, are composed of many more instruments than just drums. 

For the second half of this journey, let's consider West African music of a different type. This is kora music. According to the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, the kora is a harp-like instrument with a long neck and 21 strings. It is usually made out of wood and leather.



The song the gentleman in this video is playing is a traditional piece called "The Refusal" from the country of Mali. It is unclear when or by whom it was written. What makes this type of West African music different from Western European and American music is that, as Luzy Durán writes, "The kora is a uniquely West African instrument." Because of this, it has a timbre of its own. While the kora's timbre is similar to other string instruments such as the harp, it is still distinct. A harp's timbre is gentler than the kora's, and an acoustic guitar is not as clear sounding as the kora. A second key component of "The Refusal" is that it is very melodic. There is a clear melody throughout the entire piece, and there appears to be only a little accompaniment to the melody.

Although I haven't explored West African music much before, I enjoyed the journey of learning about both of these types of West African music. If I had to pick one over the other, I would have a hard time choosing. In the end, I would have to say I prefer kora music because of its intriguing melodies and its distinctive sound. Thank you for taking this musical trip with me!


Sources

Durán, Lucy. "The kora: tales of a frontier instrument." World Circuit Records (2008).

Green, Doris. "Traditional dance in Africa." African Dance: an artistic, historical and philosophical inquiry (1996): 13-28.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kora." Encyclopædia Britannica, May 25, 2018. Accessed October 25, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/art/kora-musical-instrument

Comments

  1. Elle PaulsenOctober 28, 2020 at 10:22 AM

    I agree that kora music is very distinctive and almost soothing, however I prefer the upbeat fast tempo of the African dance music! I found that lots of traditional African music is lost due to not including music in the school's curriculum, lack of archived music, colonialism and oppressive political systems! Great blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Farmgirl Fibers & ArtsOctober 28, 2020 at 10:27 AM

    What a fantastic post! I thoroughly enjoyed learning a bit about the culture of west Africa through dance and music. After sampling the top video, I came to the conclusion that West African Zaouli music is very dissonant. It is very unlike the modern music we listen to in America. Repeating patterns of notes over and over again, steady drum beats but very polyrhythmic. I'd have to agree! Kora is definitely my preferred West African music example. It does have intriguing melodies and the sound of the kora strings are very romantic. The harmonies are very soothing and I really enjoyed how the kora took off in a faster rhythm as the recording hit the 1:20 minute mark. So fascinating!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JasmineOctober 30, 2020 at 9:50 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your post about West African music and it was really informative. The kora music was very nice and soothing to listen to but I would much rather listen to the African dance music. The video of Zaouli dance was super fun to watch and amazing to see that kind of dance.

    ReplyDelete

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