Music plays a significant role among Africans. It is a tool to transmit traditional cultures, values, and knowledge to African communities, especially during communal services. Music is often performed with voice, speech, and body movements, including dance, body slapping, clapping, and visual arts.

Africans celebrate different stages of human lives with events that involve music. “Lullabies, children’s game songs, and music for adolescent initiation rites, weddings, title-taking ceremonies, funerals, and ceremonies for the ancestors” are presented.” For example, “among the Yoruba of Nigeria, the mother of twins must perform a special repertoire of songs. In Ghana, there are songs for teasing bedwetters and celebrating the loss of a child’s first tooth.”

In traditional religious rituals, Africans pray to different deities and universe spirits. Drum playing plays a significant role during these ritual ceremonies in West Africa, including performers dancing in possession-trance ceremonies. In this ceremony, the spirits enter the body and “ride” the believers’ bodies. The drummer needs to use specific rhythmic patterns to communicate with higher spirits. This ceremony is still practiced in the Caribbean countries. In Zimbabwe, during the healing ceremony, Shona performers use mbira to connect with the ancestral-spirit possession. 

Ghana is located in western Africa; the Atlantic Ocean is in the south. Ghana was colonized by Great Britain, which was also known as the Gold Coast. 1957 Ghana, as the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa, achieved independence. The country is named for the ancient empire of Ghana.

               Two-fifths of the population believed in animism, which is a traditional religion. The Christian population, which accounts for two-fifths of the total population and includes Roman Catholics, Protestants, and indigenous African sects, is concentrated in the coastal region. Around 12 percent of the population is Muslim; they are located mainly in the northern part of the country.

               The Ewe people, indigenous to the coasts of Ghana, Togo, and Benin, have a unique culture and society. Their language is Ewe, but many Ewe in Ghana speak English because the country was a British colony. Many Ewe in Togo speak French. Ewe people are organized in small kingdoms, with kings chosen among the chiefs. They trade, produce vegetables and fruits, catch fish, and gather daily needs.

Drumming is one of the most common activities among the Ewe people. People can hear traditional Ewe music most of the time. 

Copyright © Chet-Yeng Loong (2025)

VIDEOS:

• Ghana music
• Ghana, rattle and gangokui
• Ghana, talking drum

Professor Josh Ryan

I.Important Genres of Drumming

               A. 'Talking' drums of Africa - This concept may suggest a 'Morse code' type of communication. However, the textural information is much more complex. Specific rhythms and syllables imply text which may include poetic, religious, or hereditary information.

               B. Call and Response format - a master drum or lead instrument signals changes in other drum parts with a recognized cue.

II. Rhythmic Layers - When listening to different types of West African music, understanding the various functions of instruments is vital. For example,

A. Lead Instruments -- Atsimevu: a master drum or vocalist who signals a change in the dance or other drum parts.

B. Ostinato Layer: A part (often a bell or rattle) that continuously repeats, providing the rhythmic foundation for the piece. (¹Blackboard: Video #5)

               C.   Supporting Instruments: Drums can play several rhythms but change only when instructed.

III.West African Rhythmic Vocabulary

               Polymetric is a specific rhythm that can be interpreted in several ways. Their combination with other parts determines "the beat." However, Africans do not use time signatures or numbered beats. Instead, all beat divisions are considered equal.

 IV. West African Rhythmic Legacy-

               The influence of West African music is present in the jazz, folkloric, and 'popular' musics of the Western Hemisphere. The abduction of enslaved people from many countries in Africa well into the 19th century carried the West African rhythmic vocabulary to North and South America. 

VIDEOS:

• Professor Ryan 1
• Professor Ryan 2
• Professor Ryan 3
• Instruments