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Music of Africa posted by boym on 3/21/2008

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21M.293 Music of Africa

Fall 2005

Several people playing small drums tucked under their arms.

Drummers playing the tama (small talking drum) in Dakar, Senegal. (Photo by Prof. Patricia Tang.)

Course Highlights

This course features an extensive listening list.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to selected musical traditions of West Africa. A variety of musical practices and their cultural contexts will be explored through listening, reading, and written assignments, with an emphasis on class discussion. The course includes in-class instruction in West African drumming, song and dance, as well as lecture-demonstrations by guest artists.

After an introductory unit, the course will be organized around four main geographical areas: Senegal, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria. An in-depth study of music from these countries will be interspersed with brief overviews of Southern, Central, and East Africa.

Syllabus

Course Requirements

The core of this course consists of lectures, in-class listening and discussion, and outside reading and listening assignments. Lectures and discussions will be supplemented, where possible, with guest lecture-demonstrations, film or video screenings, and hands-on workshops. Regular attendance of class is required, and students will be expected to actively participate in discussions and in-class workshops.

Textbooks

There is no required textbook for this course. Readings from various sources will be assigned for each class session.

Papers and Projects

Students are required to write two papers, complete a musical transcription exercise, and produce a final project paper and oral presentation.

Exams and Quizzes

One in-class exam, scheduled on Lec #13, will cover materials from lecture, readings, and listening assignments from the first three units. A short quiz will be given towards the end of the semester. There will be no exam during the final examination period.

Academic Honesty

Please remember that plagiarism in writing papers is a serious academic offense, and includes any use of unacknowledged outside sources, either scholarly or by fellow students.

Grading

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGES
Written Assignments, Attendance, and Participation	50%
Exams and Quizzes	20%
Final Project	30%

Students must receive a passing grade for each component of the course in order to pass the course as a whole.

Calendar

Course calendar.
LEC #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
Unit 1: Introduction: Ethnomusicological Approaches to African Music
1	Preliminaries; Overview of Course
2	The Field of Ethnomusicology, the Concept of "Soundscapes" and its Application to the Study of World Music Building a Cross-Cultural Musical Vocabulary
3	Organology and Instruments: The Sachs-Hornbostel System of Instrument Classification
4	African Music: A Review of Ethnomusicological Literature	Paper 1 due
Unit 2: Senegal
5	Senegalese History, Culture, and Music Focus on Wolof Griots, Masters of the Sabar Drum
6	Popular Music in Senegal: mbalax and Hip-Hop
7	Sabar Drumming: An Introduction to Basic Hand Techniques, Rhythms, and bàkks
8	Sabar Drum Workshop with Artist-in-Residence, Lamine Touré
9	Interlude: Southern Africa
Unit 3: Mali
10	Music of the Mande: The jali and his Instruments	Musical transcription exercise due
11	Guest Lecture - Demonstration by Balla Kouyate, a Balafon Player from New York City
12	Malian Superstars: Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare and Ali Farke Touré
13	Midterm Exam
	Evening Performance by Lamine Touré and Group Saloum
Unit 4: Ghana
14	Music Cultures of the Ewe and Dagbamba
15	Case Study: Agbekor (Ewe)	Paper 2 due
16	Urban Music Roots: Highlife and Palm-wine Music	Submit final project proposal
17	Interlude: Central Africa
Unit 5: Nigeria
18	Music and Identity: jùjú and fúji Bands
19	Music and Politics: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's Afro-Beat
20	Music and Ritual: Hausa Music and the bori Ceremony	Submit final project progress report
21	Interlude: East Africa
Unit 6: Conclusions
22-24	Final Presentations
25	Conclusions	Final paper due

Readings

This page presents a complete reading list for the course, followed by a table listing the particular assigned readings for each lecture session.

Readings List

Agawu, V. Kofi. Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 0415943892.

———. African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN: 0521480841.

Barz, Gregory. Music in East Africa. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN: 0195141520.

Berliner, Paul. Soul of Mbira. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN: 0226043797.

Blacking, John. "Some Notes on a Theory of Rhythm Advanced by Erich von Hornbostel." African Music 1 (1955): 12-20.

Charry, Eric. Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN: 0226101622.

Chernoff, John Miller. African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social Action in African Musical Idioms. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979. ISBN: 0226103447.

Collins, John. West African Pop Roots. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992. ISBN: 0877229163.

Herson, Benjamin. Fat Beats Dope Rhymes and Thug Lives: Youth, Politics and Hip-Hop in Dakar. Undergraduate Thesis, Hampshire College, 2000.

Knight, Roderic. "Music Out of Africa: Mande Jaliya in Paris." The World of Music 33, no. 1 (1991): 52-69.

Nettl, Bruno. The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-nine Issues and Concepts. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1983. ISBN: 025200986X.

Merriam, Alan P. "African Musical Rhythm and Concepts of Time-reckoning." In African Music in Perspective. New York, NY: Garland Publishers, 1982. 443-461.

Nketia, J. H. Kwabena. The Music of Africa. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1974. ISBN: 0393092496.

Sachs, Curt. The History of Musical Instruments [by] Curt Sachs. New York, NY: Norton, 1940.

Shelemay, Kay Kaufman. Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN: 0393975363.

Stewart, Gary. Breakout: Profiles in African Rhythm. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN: 0226774066.

———. Rumba on the River. New York, NY: Verso Books, 2004. ISBN: 1859843689.

Tang, Patricia J. Masters of the Sabar: Wolof Griots in Contemporary Senegal. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 2000.

———. "Senegal." In The Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Vol. 6, Africa and Middle East, edited by John Shepherd, et al. London, UK: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. ISBN: 0826474365.

Titon, Jeff Todd, ed. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1996. ISBN: 002872612X.

Turino, Thomas. Nationalists, Cosmopolitans and Popular Music in Zimbabwe. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN: 0226817024.

Waterman, Christopher Alan. "'Our Tradition is a Very Modern Tradition': Popular Music and the Construction of Pan-Yoruba Identity." Ethnomusicology 34, no. 3 (Fall 1990): 48-53.

———. Jùjú: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990. ISBN: 0226874656.

Assigned Readings

Course readings.
LEC #	TOPICS	Readings
Unit 1: Introduction: Ethnomusicological Approaches to African Music
1	Preliminaries; Overview of Course
2	The Field of Ethnomusicology, the concept of "Soundscapes" and its Application to the Study of World Music Building a Cross-Cultural Musical Vocabulary	Nettl. pp. 1-11. Shelemay. pp. 1-20.
3	Organology and Instruments: The Sachs-Hornbostel System of Instrument Classification	Sachs. pp. 454-467.
4	African Music: A Review of Ethnomusicological Literature	Merriam, Nketia. 1974, pp. 3-20. Agawu. 2003.
Unit 2: Senegal
5	Senegalese History, Culture, and Music Focus on Wolof Griots, Masters of the Sabar Drum	Tang. 2000, pp. 31-122. Tang. 2005.
6	Popular Music in Senegal: mbalax and Hip-hop	Herson.
7	Sabar Drumming: An Introduction to Basic Hand Techniques, Rhythms, and bàkks	Tang. 2000, pp. 158-204. Sabar Terms (PDF)
8	Sabar Drum Workshop with Artist-in-Residence, Lamine Touré
9	Interlude: Southern Africa	Berliner, Paul (1993). Excerpts. Turino, Thomas (2000). Excerpts.
Unit 3: Mali
10	Music of the Mande: The jali and his Instruments	Charry. pp. 1-27 and 90-145.
11	Guest Lecture - Demonstration by Balla Kouyate, A Balafon Player from New York City	Knight.
12	Malian Superstars: Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, and Ali Farke Touré
13	Midterm Exam
	Evening Performance by Lamine Touré and Group Saloum
Unit 4: Ghana
14	Music Cultures of the Ewe and Dagbamba	Agawu. pp. 8-30. Worlds of Music. 1996, pp. 78-101 and 111-118.
15	Case Study: Agbekor (Ewe)	Chernoff. pp. 39-88.
16	Urban Music Roots: Highlife and Palm-wine Music	Collins. pp. 17-41.
17	Interlude: Central Africa	Stewart (2004). Excerpts.
Unit 5: Nigeria
18	Music and Identity: jùjú and fúji Bands	Waterman.
19	Music and Politics: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's Afro-Beat	Stewart (1992). pp. 114-123. Collins. pp. 69-84.
20	Music and Ritual: Hausa Music and the bori Ceremony
21	Interlude: East Africa	Barz, Gregory (2004). Excerpts.
Unit 6: Conclusions
22-24	Final Presentations
25	Conclusions