The African continent has dozens of countries, hundreds of languages and uncountable ethnic groups and tribes, black Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa are divided into two major ethnic groups (north of the equator, west of Ethiopia to the Atlantic coast, the Sudanese of dark complexion; south of the equator, the Bantu people of light black complexion) and four ethnic minorities (the Horn of East Africa containing the Mitte; Madagascar's Malay and Negro-descendant tribes of Madagascar; the Khoisan tribes of Southwest Africa; and the Pygmy diaspora in the tropical jungles of Central Africa).?
Because of the many and 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 ****, interconnected and have **** 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 artistry, but also emphasizes social, political and religious; it can be used purely for entertainment, but also can become a means of transmitting information, but also an important channel for tribal members to express *** with feelings and will; it can be glorified to the gods, but also praise people, but also used to exorcise the devil to get rid of the disease.
3. The characteristics of African music?
Firstly, there are many special types of scales in Africa, and the melody of African music usually revolves around one or a few backbone tones, and sometimes it simply consists of the constant repetition of a certain type of tone only. The range of African music is narrower, phrases are shorter and often repetitive, and it is rare to hear long melodic lines and a wealth of ornamentation and variations of all kinds.?
Secondly, African music has a natural polyphonic tendency. Songs and instrumental compositions with a two-voice structure, either polyphonic in the dominant key or polyphonic in the compound key, can often be found.?
Thirdly, the special rhythm is the most important factor in black African music. The rhythm of African music is strongly spirited and complex. African music rhythm can be divided into two kinds of free rhythm and fixed rhythm. The former has no clear, regular sense of rhythm, some regions of the dirge, hymns and a few religious and historical songs belong to this category; while the latter has a regular rhythm, and can be clapped, stomped and struck with the help of musical instruments, will be reflected in the rhythmic structure and emphasized. The rhythms of African music have both unilinear and multilinear forms. The rhythm of African music has a rich and unique expressive power, which can produce symphonic sound effects and express a variety of different connotations through the variations of single line and multi-line and the contrast between light and dark of instrumental timbres. Sometimes, it even has semantics and becomes the drum language used by some tribes to convey information. Therefore, it can be considered that African rhythms are a major contribution of black Africans to the world's musical culture. Modern Western popular music and some art music works, all from the rhythm of African music to obtain rich nutrition and inspiration.
4. Modern African Music
After the Second World War, the influence of Western music formed two trends in Africa. On the one hand, there was professional music made for churches, schools and concert halls. On the other hand, there was modern popular music, which appeared in different forms on the continent and took the whole of Africa by storm along with Western popular music. For example, a type of modern dance music from West Africa known as "high life" combines the traditional sounds of the region with the characteristics of African American music, using traditional rhythms, various jazz instruments, and sometimes traditional xylophones and African drums. Under the impact of Western music, traditional African music has been preserved and developed, and since the 1960s, the trend of the world's emphasis on traditional African music has been strengthened, and African music has attracted more international attention.
1, the concept of African music <BR> <BR> Africa as a geographical concept undoubtedly refers to the entire continent. But from the cultural point of view, including music, often refers to the region south of the Sahara Desert. I.e.: commonly referred to as "Black Africa". This is because North Africa and West Asia belong to the same Arab region, whether from the history, ethnicity, language, religion, or from the cultural aspect, North Africa and West Asia is more closely linked than with Black Africa. Therefore, in general ethnomusicology and comparative musicology research, all the North African music and Arab region music together. In addition, the music of some white South Africans is not included in the category of African music. Therefore, this textbook defines African music within the context of the music of blacks in the sub-Saharan region.? </FONT>
<P> <FONT size=2> 2, African music profile <BR> <BR> The African continent has dozens of countries, hundreds of languages and uncountable ethnic groups and tribes, gathered in the sub-Saharan African blacks divided into two major ethnic groups (north of the equator, Ethiopia west to the Atlantic coast, dark-skinned Sudanese; south of the equator, light-black skin color Bantu people) and four minorities (the Horn of East Africa containing the Mitte; Madagascar's Malay and black descendants of tribes; Southwest Africa's Koy Sang tribes; Pygmies in the tropical jungles of Central Africa in the diaspora). <BR>? <BR> As a result of the many complex tribes and a variety of foreign influences, Africa's music culture is not only very different, rich and diverse, but also has the same characteristics of the black African national music ****, interlinked with **** the same tradition. For example, the music of African tribes of **** nature 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.? <BR> <BR> Black African music and social life has an extremely direct, close contact, music accompanies almost all the activities of the people, become an indispensable organic part of life. In Africa, most of the musical activities are carried out with the daily life, many labor 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 both artistic, 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 glorification of God, but also praise people, but also can be used to exorcise the evil spirits to get rid of the disease. </FONT>
<P> <FONT size=2> 3, the characteristics of African music? <BR><BR> First, Africa has a variety of special types of scales, the melody of African music is usually centered around one or a few backbone tones, and sometimes it simply consists of only the constant repetition of a certain type of tone. The range of African music is narrower, phrases are shorter and often repeated, and it is rare to hear long melodic lines and a wealth of ornamentation and variations of all kinds.? <BR><BR> Secondly, African music has a natural polyphonic tendency. Songs and instrumental compositions with two-voice structures can often be found, either polyphonic in the dominant key or polyphonic in the compound key.? <BR> <BR> Third, the special rhythm is the most important factor in black African music. The rhythm of African music is strong and unrestrained, complex and varied. African music rhythm can be divided into two kinds of free rhythm and fixed rhythm. The former has no clear, regular sense of rhythm, some areas of the dirge, hymns and a few religious and historical songs belong to this category; while the latter has a regular rhythm, and can be with the help of clapping, stomping and striking the instrument, will be reflected and emphasized in its rhythmic structure. The rhythms of African music have both unilinear and multilinear forms. The rhythm of African music has a rich and unique expressive power, which can produce symphonic sound effects and express a variety of different connotations through the variations of single and multiple lines and the contrast between light and dark of instrumental timbres. Sometimes, it even has semantics and becomes the drum language used by some tribes to convey information. Therefore, it can be considered that African rhythms are a major contribution of black Africans to the world's musical culture. Modern western popular music and some art music works, all from the rhythm of African music to obtain rich nutrition and inspiration. <BR>? <BR> 4. Modern African music <BR> <BR> After the Second World War, the influence of Western music formed two trends in Africa. On the one hand, there was professional music made for churches, schools and concert halls. On the other hand, there was modern popular music, which appeared in different forms on the continent and took the whole of Africa by storm along with Western popular music. For example, a type of modern dance music from West Africa known as "high life" combines the traditional sounds of the region with the characteristics of African American music, using traditional rhythms, various jazz instruments, and sometimes traditional xylophones and African drums. Under the impact of Western music, traditional African music has been preserved and developed, and since the 1960s, the trend of the world to emphasize traditional African music has been strengthened, and African music has attracted more international attention.