– Western Music is, broadly speaking, expressed with emphasis on the downbeat, whereas African music seems to emphasise the rhythm on the upbeat. Sometimes, to the untrained ear, African music appears deceptively easy to reproduce, but once you try it, there seem to be layers beneath layers of rhythm.
What are the 5 kinds of African music?
14 African musical styles for you to explore
- Soukous. Soukous is a form of music that stems from rumba. …
- JuJu. Juju style originally came from Nigeria, a country which has produced many styles that managed to spread all around West African countries, including juju, jaija, fuji, ozzidi, palm-wine, highlife and afrobeat. …
- Mbalax. …
- Zilin. …
- Gnawa. …
- Mbaqanga. …
- Chimurenga. …
- Majika.
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How is Western music different?
Western classical music is composed, Indian classical music is improvised. All Western classical music compositions are formally written using the staff notation, and performers have virtually no latitude for improvisation.
What is the most important element of African music?
The music of West Africa is characterized by two main aspects: rhythm and melody. The rhythm is generally the most important, and West African songs are polyrhythmic featuring two or more conflicting rhythms.
Why is African music not written down?
The roots of African music
Music and dance are an integral part of the African culture. … The music played by drum ensembles is very complex in rhythm and texture . The rhythms are not normally written down and are instead passed between people through aural tradition .
What is the oldest African instrument?
The bolon is one of the oldest of the West African stringed instruments and was originally associated with the hunting and warrior traditions.
What is the most popular instrument in Africa?
Most widely spread and played instruments in Africa are the drum, the xylophone, the mbira, rattles and shakers.
What makes Western music unique?
The short answer is: Western music is generally tonal, based on major or minor scales, using an equal temperament tuning, in an easy-to-recognize meter, with straightforward rhythms, fairly strict rules on harmony and counterpoint, and not much improvisation.
What are some styles of pieces that are in Western music?
- BRIEF SURVEY OF. WESTERN MUSICAL STYLES. …
- EARLY MUSIC. – Ancient Greek and Roman music (c1100BC-450AD) …
- COMMON-PRACTICE MUSIC. – late-Baroque music (c1700-1750) …
- MODERN MUSIC (c1900-present) – early 20th-century music (c1900-1945) …
- Early Modern Music (c1900-1945)
What does Western music mean?
Western music is a form of country music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open ranges, Rocky Mountains, and prairies of Western North America.
What are the main features of African drumming music?
Features of these elements include:
- polyrhythms are created by layering different rhythms together.
- dynamics are changed depending on the force with which the drum is hit.
- dynamics are not written down on a score – the leader signals changes in dynamics during the performance.
What are the 5 most important features of African music?
Aerophones (wind)
- Flutes (bamboo, horn)
- Ocarinas.
- Panpipes.
- Horns from animal tusks.
- Trumpets wood or metal.
- Pipes being single or double reeds.
- Whistle.
What is the elements of African music?
African musical instruments include a wide range of drums, slit gongs, rattles and double bells, different types of harps, and harp-like instruments such as the Kora and the ngoni, as well as fiddles, many kinds of xylophone and lamellophone such as the mbira, and different types of wind instrument like flutes and …
What is the most distinctive feature of all African musical instrument?
Slit drums
Falling between rhythmic and melodic instruments, the largest and most distinctive member of the African struck-idiophone family is the slit drum, made from a hollowed log. By careful thinning of the flanks at certain places, the instrument may be tuned so as to yield as many as four distinct pitches.
What is African music used for?
African music is a vital part of everyday life in Africa. It is a part of religious ceremonies, festivals, and social rituals. Songs are used for the important events in a person’s life (birth, coming of age, marriage, and death). They are used for curing the sick, bringing rain, and religious dances.
Did music come from Africa?
Music is found in every known society, past and present, and is considered to be a cultural universal. … Consequently, the first music may have been invented in Africa and then evolved to become a fundamental constituent of human life, using various different materials to make various instruments.