Guitar versus African Drum

Guitar versus African Drum

The Africans are believed to be true to their beliefs. They are people who have ever held their belief in the manner that they are practiced up to this era. Music was used for various functions. The Africans believe that music is everything, and through music, they will achieve their goals. Some of the Africans state that music is everything in the sense it is felt in all their daily activities. They say that music lives with them and without music then life will be boring.

We can state how music was felt in every part of the society, be in children fetching water, and they would go around beating their containers, mothers trying to make food would make some of the beats as well as those people that engaged in making different things. At this point, it is essential to note the fact that the use of African drum and guitar is used across different cultures. For instance, the Africans use the drums as a way of expressing or passing a message to other people. The Caribbean, on the other hand, uses drums to give time and also a way of passing their message to others. The Africans are more likely to found in a group trying to beat their drums as a form of entertainment and also practicing their culture. The African Americans, on the other, draw they are cultural from the Africans. They also practice the use of drums playing of the guitar as part of their culture (Maki-Patola, Hämäläinen, & Kanerva, 2006, June).

Historical, social and cultural perspective

Studying traditional music allows us to understand African culture. One can understand how the Africans used to relate with each other as well as to conduct their activities. Music ion this case is essential as it allows us to understand various African cultures. The other thing to understand about music is the fact that it played an indispensable role in the period when Africans were first brought into America (Belcher & Blackman, 2013, July). The Africans, in this case, maintains their identity through the songs where they play guitars and drums. Some of the different musical traditions have influenced traditional Africans.

A good example is the countries in North Africa whose music can be traced back to the Romans and the Greeks. The music was, in this case, influenced by the Middle Eastern. The parts that have been affected are the east African, who has ever since practiced Arabic music. Indian music is also practiced in many cases by most African countries. Western Europe mostly influenced the west, southern, and central Africa. The Africans, on the other hand, practiced some kind of dance that was drawn from the Caribbean communities. The other thing to note in this case be the fact that the music from North Africa was influenced by ancient Egypt and the Arabs that came into the countries. The North African music is common for its monophonic form, and its predominance of the melody used over the rhythm. The music also uses a nasal and tense vocal systole, which is also through the use of non-percussive instruments including the plucked strings were used as guitar.

The use of music in North Africa can be termed to be historically right. There is no pure original music in African than the one that originates from them sub-Saharan regions. Other regions did not influence many of the African music as we can see the music of the sub-Saharan being unique and purely African. The sub-Saharan includes the horn of Africa and the Sahel, which is located to the north, the tropical rainforest and the tropical savannas of equatorial Africa. The sub-Saharan part of African is known to be the best for its cross-rhythm,” The main beat scheme cannot be separated from the secondary beat scheme. The cross-rhythm three-over-two, hemiola, is the most significant rhythm ratio found in sub-Saharan rhythm. Cross-rhythm is the basis for much of the music of the Niger-Congo peoples, the largest linguistic group in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Cross-rhythm pervades southern Ewe music.”  The sings, in this case, accompanied the rites of passes, entertainment, and the work they did.  The songs were also essential in the traditional African court’s event in political comments.

It can also be considered that writing and reading came late to most African countries. The only tool that was used for communication during this time was music. With time, the use of music developed in the sense that it was used in various communal places to celebrate on different occasions and also was used to mark someone’s significant milestone in life. For instance, we can note that there are over 100 music songs that were used during childbirth, marriage, hunting, and circumcision parties. During this time, it was the duty of the griots to ensure that they perfumed the original tribal song to the people orally. They were also the original keepers of the African tribune and the advisors of the African societies. They were born to conduct their duty in society. They also ensure that they used music poetry and different other artistic ways to be able to express the stories of their ancestors.

The other thing to note in this case is the fact that music was also used to fight off evil spirits in the society. The Africans and the Caribbean’s used music as a way of chasing evil spirits from the people and the community. The music that was used for this purpose was also accompanied by a dance and a ceremony that was attended by many people. The songs, in this case, are performed by professional dancers who understand how to sing and also beat the drum. The aim is to ensure that the evils are driven away through the rhythm created from the music and also being able to use a guitar. The people would come together and sing together as they ensured that the rhythm from the drum accompanied their moves and what they sang. It can be therefore, be noted that the musical history of different religions is essential as it has unique capabilities to teach people about particular religious beliefs, cultures, and society stories. One, in this case, is likely to learn a lot of things from listening to the different rhythms from various cultures as well as get to know how they conducted their practices. The use of drums and guitar in those was, therefore, essential as served a better purpose. It enables people to highlight their cultural, historical, and social perspectives.

Preforming styles

The Africans, Greeks, Caribbean’s and African Americans had different ways of performing their music. It is very different from most western world. In those days, the music was kept live through singing in different places. Music was composed actually from every situation. The people engaged in singing as well as ensuring that they made use of their bodies. One of the performance styles that was practiced in those was the renaissance or the polyphony style. It was a style that combined different parts simultaneously as well as making use of the voice parts. They also used the early precustoser, which was one way of the modern tonality that included organizing the music using a particular focal tone. In those days, the people in the society came up with a smooth flow of the renaissance and the liturgical counterpoint. They also came up with perky rhythms that were accompanied by the renaissance dance of music that remained in various forms, and it brought a great taste of harmony among the people. The other thing to note is that they also ensured that they came up with dramatic gestures, which helped show some of their skills.

Another interesting thing to note in this fact is that almost everyone performed music. For instance, the use of drums was performed by nearly everyone in society. The mothers came up with a particular type of rhythm from how they conducted their activities. It is believed that everything they did was part of the music (Price, 2013). Every sound made would generate a better rhythm of the music. They, therefore, performed on every occasion, be it in their kitchens, while tilling the land or washing clothes at the riversides. Music was consequently performed at every hour from any kind of sound. The other fact is that music was performed by people while at gatherings. The people in society would gather together and play music together. Here they would make use of their bodies and use of drums and guitars. They would beat the drums as they shook their bodies, and others sang. Music was, therefore, part of their lifestyle, something that they played most. In this 21st century, music is performed in different ways. It is performed at events, the wedding ceremony, and not to forget in the churches. Most of the artists in this era use vocal instruments to perform.

Appearance

The first is the djembe drum. It has been made uniquely. The drum has a distinctive design that has been made to bring about a versatile sound. The drum is goblet-shaped. The body of the drum has been carved, and it hollow. It has been made using a single piece of a tree trunk. According to history and tee Mandinka people, they use a large wood from the lenge tree. The tree is part of spiritual importance to them. They, therefore, use this tree to come up with something that will have a resounding acoustic. It is a sizeable shaped bowl chamber. The upper part of the drum creates a low resonance that comes about the bass stroke, “struck by the whole hand in the middle of the drum’. The other thing is that the drum has a narrow, elongated lower section that helps project the volume. The reason for making it this way is to produce a high volume tone.

Another critical appearance of the drum is the fact that its head has been made using traditional goatskin. The reason for this is to help the djembe come up with a piercing high pitched tone and also a slapping sound (struck by the hand near the edge of the drum). It brings this sound because of the thinness of the goatskin, which is better than using a calf or antelope skin. The other thing is that the shaved goatskin usually is lapped around the steel loop, and it is placed over the lip on top of the drum. The other steel hoop is also wrapped sung a coiled-rope that is placed on the top of the skin-lapped hoop. It will help bring about the tension of the skin, which is adjusted through the tightening and loosening of the attached vertical ropes on a lining outside the bowl of the drum.

Conclusion

Music is part of life. Music identifies different people’s culture. It is, therefore, necessary to study music from different cultures to help know how they conducted different practices. Music, therefore, made some of these people live as well be able to interact with each other. Through music, it was easy for people to interact and create a better relationship with each other. Music, therefore, allows the people to remember a particular culture that was practiced by the people. For instance, the djembe drum will always be remembered by many people. Djembe today is used across the world (Sallis, 1996).  Many people are in the process of knowing how it works among the people. It is also easier to drum, unlike other drums. Finally, it is the key to consider the use of guitars and drums as one way of passing the time. It is, therefore essential for people to practice some of these things are they existed before, and the outcome can be felt up to today.

References

Maki-Patola, T., Hämäläinen, P., & Kanerva, A. (2006, June). The augmented djembe drum: sculpting rhythms. In Proceedings of the 2006 conference on New interfaces for musical expression (pp. 364-369).

Price, T. Y. (2013). Rhythms of culture: Djembe and African memory in African-American cultural traditions. Black Music Research Journal, 33(2), 227-247.

Belcher, J., & Blackman, T. R. (2013, July). Hearing the Drum of the Rhythm. In Bridges Enschede, conference proceedings 2013. Paper presented at Bridges Enschede: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture, University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Enschede, the Netherlands (pp. 27-31).

Sallis, J. (Ed.). (1996). the guitar in jazz: an anthology. U of Nebraska Press.