MUSIC OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA “Senzenina”

In This Unit, We Will…

 Explore the geography of areas with African music  Explore the instruments used in African music  Listen to music from different African cultures, populations, and religious groups  Sing a traditional song from the Zulu people, “Senzenina”  Create a polyrhythmic song as a class and in small groups

“What Will I Be Doing?”

You will be doing three different things…  #1: Creating connections between content areas – Geography, History, Art, Technology, and Music  #2: Listening to new music that you may never have heard before  #3: Learning melodies, harmonies, and rhythms from different cultures

GEOGRAPHY

 Sub-Sahara Africa is a geographical term that refers to the area of Africa that lies beneath the Sahara desert  Sub-Sahara Africa includes...

  Kenya Rwanda      Uganda Sudan Ethiopia Zimbabwe Madagascar Over 49 countries!

LANGUAGES SPOKEN

 Sub-Saharan Africa displays the most linguistic diversity of any region in the world.

 The region contains over 1,000 languages, which is 1/6 of the world's total!

RELIGIONS

 Sub-Saharan Africa is largely Christian  North African (not part of Sub Sahara Africa) is Islamic and considered part of the Arab world

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN MUSIC

 Polyrhythm: Rhythms that occur at the same time in two different meters  Responsorial Forms: An exchange between a performer

instrumental call and a group response

’

s vocal or

 Ostinato: A short pattern that repeats over and over again  Use of Percussion: Reflects the emphasis of music making with drums,

rattles, bells, xylophones, and the mbira (we

’

ll discuss this more later)

POLYRHYTHM



Rhythms that occur at the same time in two different meters

 Grand Master Djembe Player – Polyrhythm  The Jamani Drummers  Djemba Drummers in Cape Town

RESPONSORIAL FORMS



An exchange between a performer response

’

s vocal or instrumental call and a group

 Thula Sizwe Singers (6:00 minute clip)  ABC News Clip on Ensigo

OSTINATO



A short pattern that repeats over and over again

 AUCB Acting Course – Senzenina  Blackburn Choir – Senzenina

USE OF PERCUSSION



Reflects the emphasis of music making with drums, rattles, bells, xylophones, and the mbira

 Ogene (solo instrument)  Ogene Igbo (group performance)

MBIRA

 An instrument made up of metal rows that are plucked by the player ’ s thumbs  Metallic, ringing sound  Song on the Mbira

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS

 There are three classifications; 

Membranophones



Idiophones



Aerophones

Traditional African Instruments cont…

 Membranophones: A big, fancy word for… DRUMS!   Drums are by far the most famous of the African instruments and come in many different forms  Drummers use either their hands or sticks (sometimes one of each) to hit the drum head. They may also use something called an “ elbow stick ”  Drummers from Rwanda

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS CONT…  Idiophones: Anything from large xylophones to tiny bells, shakers, wooden sticks, or rattles  Xylophones made of wood, metal, gourds, pottery  Sometimes a solo instruments, but usually an ensemble instrument  African Marimba Group

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS CONT…  Aerophones: The human voice or any instrument that amplifies the human voice  Opening-throat singing nasally sound is used in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is a husky or  Other distinct kinds of African singing include whisper singing , which is a soft, breathy, almost growling tone  Yodeling may also be used (Pygmies of Central Africa)

WELCOME CHLOE RENEA CROWE MAY 9

TH

, 2012 @ 2:33 PM

MUSIC AS A LIVELIHOOD

 Burundi Drummers  Kenyan Boy Choir  “ There is No Movement Without Rhythm ” Documentary on Rhythm and Daily Life in South Africa (10:51 minutes)

APARTHEID IN AFRICA

 “Senzenina” came out of the Apartheid in Africa. The Apartheid was a national law that segregated white citizens and black citizens in Africa and denied blacks citizenship  It was officially established in 1948 and ran until… 1994  The origin of the song is unclear, but it has been used in many different movies and documents highlighting the Apartheid and is now a popular choral piece in the United States and Great Brittan

THE RAIN STICK, THE WOODEN FROGS, AND THE MARACAS

 Music and rhythm can be created just by hitting two sticks together, the idea for the simple percussive instrument RHYTHM STICKS  Additional percussion instruments include shakers, like the maracas, or something more elaborate, like the African rain stick  Carved wooden frogs with ridges cut into their backs produce a sound similar to the “ribbit” of a frog. A wooden dowel is drug across their spines to produce the sound

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