DISCOVERY SERIES: WEST AFRICA features percussion instruments including djembe, dunun and bells, which can be used in the ensemble. Additionally included are the calabash and krin, which can be used as solo instruments. Pitched instruments recreate the unique melodies of the kora, ngoni, bolon, balafon, and fula flute.
What instruments originated in Africa?
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 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 was the major instrument used in Africa?
Harps are the main stringed instrument in Africa. They are quiet instruments that usually accompany a singer/storyteller/poet. Harps in Africa date back at least 5,000 years.
Did the guitar originate in Africa?
The Krar harp or one of its variations later developed into the guitarro, the direct ancestor of the guitar which was used widely in ancient Mauritania, later known as the Maghreb, the Sahel and Guinea. Guitarro was introduced to Spain by African Moors in the 9th century AD.
What is African dance called?
African dance is polyrhythmic—the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms in drummers and dancers, the relationship of rhythm to movement is key.
How did African music start?
Early attempts at notating African music were made by T.E. … The single and double iron bells, which probably originated in Kwa-speaking West Africa, spread to western Central Africa with Iron Age Bantu-speaking peoples and from there to Zimbabwe and the Zambezi River valley.
What was the first ever instrument?
The oldest object that some scholars refer to as a musical instrument, a simple flute, dates back as far as 67,000 years. Some consensus dates early flutes to about 37,000 years ago.
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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What are the traditional African Chordophone instruments?
Chordophones. This class, comprising instruments that produce sound from strings stretched between fixed points, is well represented in Africa. There is an abundance of specimens in the form of zithers, lutes, and harps.
What instruments did slaves use?
In addition to their singing, slaves played a variety of instruments, including drums, musical bow, quills or panpipes, and a xylophone called a balafo. These African instruments did not have the widespread impact that another African instrument, the banjo, did.
Did the banjo originate in Africa?
Banjo, stringed musical instrument of African origin, popularized in the United States by slaves in the 19th century, then exported to Europe. Several African stringed instruments have similar names—e.g., bania, banju.
What was the most important West African musical instrument?
Traditional music of West Africa incorporates the use of a variety of percussive instruments, the most popular of which is the West African djembe.
Where does the kora originate from?
Kora players have traditionally come from jali families (also from the Mandinka tribes) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. Though played in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso, the instrument was first discovered in the Gambia.
Are maracas African?
Maracas. Originally from West Africa and known as shekere, this percussion instrument is usually a gourd, either filled with beads, seeds or stones (axatse), or covered by stringed beads (shekere). When shaken or slapped, it produces a variety of musical effects.
Did the piano come from Africa?
It is believed that the thumb piano was invented twice in Africa; one version originating on the west coast using wooden or bamboo tines around 3000 years ago, and the other version originating on the southeast coast using metal tines around 1300 years ago.