African music as the original music of black Africans has its own unique style, and therefore also influenced a lot of other music in the process of continuous development of history.
Jazz is a kind of popular music developed in New Orleans, USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its formation and development has gone through a relatively complicated process. Jazz comes from African music. 17-18th century, black Africans were trafficked to North America and lived an inhuman slave life, music became their main tool to express their inner pain and seek spiritual solace. The black slaves maintained the tradition of African music, while gradually being influenced by European music, which gave rise to many forms of black American music, such as the blues, ragtime, spirituals, gospel songs and so on. Among them, the blues and ragtime had the most obvious influence on the formation of jazz, and some of their artistic characteristics have remained in jazz music so far.
In addition, from a macro point of view, Latin American music is precisely a mixture of European, Indian and African music. But because of the mixture of different ingredients, degree, level, category, thus forming a very rich musical style. Indian music mainly uses a chromatic pentatonic scale with a downward trend in phrasing. There is much use of even-numbered beats, as well as syncopated rhythms; there are many solos and few repetitions. Latin American folk music, mainly the music of native-born whites and Indo-European mestizos, which uses a seven-tone scale, with a smooth, rounded melodic progression, relaxed singing, more repetitions, and music with a hint of nostalgia. American-African music, whose rhythm plays a decisive role in music, has a strong, complex rhythm, and is often multilinear
Social Functions of African Music
The African continent has dozens of countries, hundreds of languages, and uncountable communities and tribes, and black Africans living south of the Sahara are divided into two major ethnic groups (north of the equator, west of Ethiopia, and west of the Atlantic coast), and the black Africans living south of the Sahara are divided into two major ethnic groups. West of the equator to the Atlantic coast, dark-skinned Sudanese; south of the equator, light-black skin color Bantu) and four minorities (the Horn of East Africa containing the Mitte; Madagascar's Malay and black descendants of the tribes; Southwest Africa's Koysan tribes; the pygmies scattered in the tropical jungles of Central Africa).?
Because of the many complex tribes and various foreign influences, the African music culture is both very different, rich and diverse, but also has the same characteristics of the black African national music ****, interlinked and have the **** the same tradition. For example, the music of the African tribes of *** sex is, West and Central Africa's complex and varied rhythms, melody in the common third intervals proceeding; East and South Africa's more stable tonality, a variety of forms of polyphonic singing, playing, as well as the love and worship of drums, etc.?
Black African music and social life has an extremely direct, close contact, music accompanies almost all the activities of people, become an indispensable organic part of life. In Africa, most of the musical activities are carried out with the daily life, many labor is often accompanied by music, music plays an important role in many important ceremonies. During festivals or agricultural seasons, various musical activities are often of a social nature. They usually took place in an open-air setting, either a square, a marketplace, or a grove, a courtyard, or a mausoleum. Those who spontaneously gather at such public events are generally of the same tribe or speak the same language. They strengthen their feelings for each other and the bonds between tribal members through collective music and dance performances, songs and dance revelries. At this time, both men and women, young and old, are both spectators and performers. They can all take part in choral singing, instrumental ensembles and dances. Even when there are professional musicians performing, they are not separated from the audience. In short, in Africa, music is a social activity. It focuses on art, but also emphasizes the social, political and religious; it can be used purely for entertainment, but also can become a means of transmitting information, but also members of the tribe to express *** with the feelings and will of an important channel; it can be both the praise of God, but also praise people, but also can be used to exorcise the evil spirits to get rid of the disease.