African music is a vast and diverse field that encompasses many different genres, styles, instruments, and traditions. African music reflects the rich and varied cultures, histories, and experiences of the people who live on the continent and in the diaspora. African music has also influenced and been influenced by music from other parts of the world, creating a dynamic and creative musical landscape.
One of the main characteristics of African music is its rhythmic complexity, which often involves multiple layers of polyrhythms, cross-rhythms, and syncopation. African music also uses a variety of scales and modes, some of which are unique to specific regions or ethnic groups. African music also relies heavily on oral transmission and improvisation, as well as call-and-response patterns and interlocking melodies.
The music in Africa can be broadly divided into two categories: traditional music and popular music. Traditional music refers to the music that existed before the colonization of Africa by European powers, which began in the late fifteenth century and intensified in the late nineteenth century. Traditional music is usually associated with specific ethnic groups or communities, and often serves a social, religious, or ceremonial function. Traditional music is also influenced by the natural environment, such as the climate, landscape, flora, and fauna of different regions.
Some of the most common instruments used in traditional African music are drums, such as the djembe, talking drum, ngoma, and bata; string instruments, such as the kora, mbira, ngoni, and oud; wind instruments, such as the flute, horn, whistle, and shawm; and idiophones, such as the balafon, marimba, xylophone, and rattles. Some of these instruments have symbolic or spiritual meanings, such as the kora, which represents the bridge between heaven and earth; or the mbira, which is used to communicate with ancestral spirits.
Traditional African music is also characterized by its vocal styles, which range from solo singing to complex polyphonic choral singing. Some of the vocal techniques used in African music include yodeling, ululation, melisma, and vocables. Vocables are syllables that do not have a specific meaning but are used to create rhythmic or melodic patterns. Some examples of vocables are “la la la”, “doo wop”, and “shoo be doo”.
Popular music emerged in Africa in the twentieth century as a result of various factors, such as urbanization,