Sub-Saharan African music traditions

Drumming and dancing at Dakawa, Morogoro, Tanzania

as well as in cultural expression.[3]

African dances are largely participatory: there are tra-
ditionally no barriers between dancers and onlookers
except with regard to spiritual, religious and initiation
dances. Even ritual dances often have a time when spec-
tators participate.[4] Dances help people work, mature,
praise or criticize members of the community, celebrate
A Mangbetu man playing an African harp festivals and funerals, compete, recite history, proverbs
and poetry and encounter gods.[5] They inculcate social
See also: Rhythm in Sub-Saharan Africa patterns and values. Many dances are performed by only
See also: Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony males or females.[6] Dances are often segregated by gen-
der, reinforcing gender roles in children. Community
structures such as kinship, age, and status are also often
Sub-Saharan African music traditions exhibit so reinforced.[7] To share rhythm is to form a group con-
many common features that they may in some respects sciousness, to entrain with one another,[8] to be part of
be thought of as constituting a single musical system.[1] the collective rhythm of life to which all are invited to
While some African music is clearly contemporary- contribute.[9]
popular music and some is art-music, still a great deal
is communal and orally transmitted while still qualifying Yoruba dancers and drummers, for instance, express
as a religious or courtly genre. communal desires, values, and collective creativity. The
drumming represents an underlying linguistic text that
guides the dancing performance, allowing linguistic
1 Music and dance in sub-Saharan meaning to be expressed non-verbally. The spontaneity
of these performances should not be confused with an
societies improvisation that emphasizes the individual ego. The
drummer’s primary duty is to preserve the community.[10]
In many parts of Africa the use of music is not limited Master dancers and drummers are particular about the
to entertainment: it serves a purpose to the local com- learning of the dance exactly as taught. Children must
munity and helps in the conduct of daily routines. Tra- learn the dance exactly as taught without variation. Im-
ditional African music supplies appropriate music and provisation or a new variation comes only after mastering
dance for work and for religious ceremonies of birth, the dance, performing, and receiving the appreciation
[11]
of
[2]
naming, rites of passage, marriage and funerals. The spectators and the sanction of village elders.
beats and sounds of the drum are used in communication The music of the Luo, for another example, is functional,

1
2 2 REGIONS

Geo-political map of Africa divided for ethnomusicological pur-

poses, after Merriam, 1959.

African ethnic groups • Central African Music (dark blue on the map) in-
cludes the music of Chad, the Central African Re-
public, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
used for ceremonial, religious, political or incidental pur- Zambia.
poses, during funerals (Tero buru) to praise the departed,
to console the bereaved, to keep people awake at night, • The Eastern region (light green on the map) includes
to express pain and agony and during cleansing and chas- the music of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi,
ing away of spirits, during beer parties (Dudu, ohangla Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as
dance), welcoming back the warriors from a war, dur- well as the islands of Madagascar, the Seychelles,
ing a wrestling match (Ramogi), during courtship, in rain Réunion, Mauritius and Comoros. The eastern re-
making and during divination and healing. Work songs gion has received south Asian and even Austronesian
are performed both during communal work like building, influences via the Indian Ocean.
weeding, etc. and individual work like pounding of cere-
als, winnowing. • The Southern region (brown on the map) includes
the music of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland,
Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
2 Regions
Alan P. Merriam divided Africa into seven regions for 2.1 Sahel and Sudan
ethnomusicological purposes, observing current political
frontiers (see map), and this article follows this division • The music of Sudan (turquoise on the map) indi-
as far as possible in surveying the music of ethnic groups cates the difficulty of dividing music traditions ac-
in Africa. cording to state frontiers. The musicology of Sudan
involves some 133 language communities.[12] that
• Music of the northern region of Africa (red on the speak over 400 dialects,[13] Afro-Asian, Nilotic and
map), including that of the Horn of Africa (dark Niger–Congo.
green on the map), is mostly treated separately under
Middle Eastern and North African music traditions.
Sudan takes its name from that of the sub-Saharan sa-
• West African music (yellow on the map) includes vanna which makes, with the Nile, a great cross-roads
the music of Senegal and the Gambia, of Guinea and of the region. South of the Sahara the Sahel forms a
Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, of the in- bio-geographic zone of transition between the desert and
land plains of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and also the Sudanian Savannas, stretching between the Atlantic
the coastal nations of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Ocean and the Red Sea. The Nilotic peoples prominent
Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic in southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanza-
of the Congo as well as the islands of Cape Verde, nia, include the Luo, Dinka, Nuer and Maasai.[14] Many
São Tomé and Príncipe. of these have been included in the Eastern region.

The sahel (brown) and the Sudan (green)
• The Dinka are a mainly agro-pastoral people inhab-
iting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin,
Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper
Nile regions. They number around 1.5 million,
about 10% of the population.[15] of Sudan.
• The Arabian rebab has found a home among the
Nuba peoples.
The Senegambian Fula have migrated as far as Sudan
at various times, often speaking Arabic as well as their
own language. The Hausa people, who speak a language
related to Ancient Egyptian and Biblical Hebrew, have
moved in the opposite direction. Further west the Berber
music of the Tuareg has penetrated to Sub-Saharan coun-
tries. These are included in the Western region, but the
music of Sub-Saharan herders and nomads is heard from
west to east.
2.2 Western, central, eastern and southern The coastal regions are home to the Niger-Congo speak-
territories ers; Kwa, Akan, the Gbe languages, spoken in Ghana,
Saharan trade routes circa 1400
These remaining four regions are most associated with
Sub-Saharan African music: familiar African musical el-
ements such as the use of cross-beat and vocal harmony
may be found all over all four regions, as may be some in-
struments such as the iron bell. This is largely due to the
expansion of the Niger–Congo-speaking people that be-
gan around 1500 BC: the last phases of expansion were 0–
1000 AD.[16][17][18] Only a few scattered languages in this
great area cannot readily be associated with the Niger–
Congo language family. However two significant non-
Bantu musical traditions, the Pygmy music of the Congo
jungle and that of the bushmen of the Kalahari, do much
to define the music of the central region and of the south-
ern region respectively.
3
3 West Africa
Gambian boy with bowed tin-can lute
The music of West Africa must be considered under
two main headings: in its northernmost and westernmost
parts, many of the above-mentioned transnational sub-
Saharan ethnic influences are found among the Hausa,
the Fulani, the Wolof people, the Mande speakers of
Mali, Senegal and Mauritania, the Gur-speaking peoples
of Mali, Burkina Faso and the northern halves of Ghana,
Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, the Fula found throughout West
Africa, and the Senufo speakers of Côte d'Ivoire and
Mali.
Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, of which Ewe is best known,
the Yoruba and Igbo languages, spoken in Nigeria and the
Benue–Congo languages of the east.
Inland and coastal languages are only distantly related.
While the north, with its griot traditions, makes great use
of stringed instruments and xylophones, the south relies
much more upon drum sets and communal singing.
3.1 Northern
Complex societies existed in the region from about 1500
BCE. The Ghana Empire[19] existed from before c. 830
until c. 1235 in what is now south-east Mauritania and
western Mali. The Sosso people had their capital at
Koumbi Saleh until Sundiata Keita defeated them at the
Battle of Kirina (c. 1240) and began the Mali Empire,
which spread its influence along the Niger River through
numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces. The Gao Em-
pire at the eastern Niger bend was powerful in the ninth
century CE but later subordinated to Mali until its de-
cline. In 1340 the Songhai people made Gao the capital
of a new Songhai Empire.[20]
• The Hausa people are one of the largest ethnic
4 3 WEST AFRICA

The Malian kora harp-lute is perhaps the most sophisticated of Jola man at Boucotte in Casamance (Sénégal) playing the
Africa’s stringed instruments akonting

groups in Nigeria, Niger, Sudan and many West and akonting, a precursor of the banjo while the Balanta
Central African countries. They speak a Chadic lan- people, the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau,
guage. There are two broad categories of traditional play a similar gourd lute instrument called a kusunde
Hausa music; rural folk music and urban court music or kussundé,[24] with a short A#/B drone string at the
developed in the Hausa Kingdoms before the Fulani bottom, a top F# string of middle length and a mid-
War. Their folk music has played an important part dle C# string, the longest. Top string stopped gives
in Nigerian music, contributing elements such as the G#, middle string stopped is D#.
goje, a one-stringed fiddle.
• Songhai music, as interpreted by Ali Farka Toure,
• The originally nomadic/pastoral Senegambian Fula has gathered international interest for a minor pen-
people or Tukulor represent 40% of the population tatonic lute-and-voice style that is markedly similar
of Guinea and have spread to surrounding states and to American blues.
as far as Sudan in the east.[21] In the 19th century
• The Senufo or Senoufo, living in southern Mali
they overthrew the Hausa and established the Sokoto
and the extreme western corner of Burkina Faso to
Caliphate. The Fula play a variety of traditional in-
Katiola in Côte d'Ivoire with one group, the Nafana,
struments including drums, the hoddu (xalam), a
in north-western Ghana. The Senufo are notable for
plucked skin-covered lute similar to a banjo, and
funeral and poro music.[25]
riti or riiti (a one-string bowed instrument similar
to a violin), in addition to their vocal music. They
also use end-blown bamboo flutes. Their griots are
known as gawlo.[22]

• Mande music: the music of Mali is dominated

by forms derived from the Mande Empire Their
musicians, professional performers called jeliw
(sing. jeli, French griot), have produced popular
alongside traditional music. Mande languages in-
clude Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Bissa, Dioula,
Kagoro, Bozo, Mende, Susu, Vai and Ligbi: there
are populations in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Sene-
gal, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra
Leone and Liberia and, mainly in the northern
inland regions, in the south coast states of Côte A performance group from Burkina Faso based on the balafon
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

• Wolof music: the Wolof people, the largest ethnic
group in Senegal, kin to the Fula, have contributed
greatly to popular Senegalese music. The related
Serer people are notable for polyphonic song.[23]
• In Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau the
Jola are notable for their stringed instrument the
• Among Gur-speaking peoples the Dagomba use the
lunga talking drum and a bass drum with snares
called a gungon, as well as the flute, gonje (goje)
and bell.[26] as well as molo (xalam) lute mu-
sic, also played by Gurunsi peoples such as the
Frafra. Similar styles are practised by local Fulani,
Hausa, Djerma, Busanga and Ligbi speaking peo-
ple. Drummers in Dagbon are storytellers, histori-

ans, bards of family ancestry who perform at events
called sambanlunga.[27]
• The Gurunsi, the Lobi, the Wala and the related
Dagaaba people of Ghana and Burkina Faso and are
known for complex interlocking (double meter) pat-
terns on the xylophone (gyil).
• The Mossi people, whose Mossi Kingdoms in
present-day Burkina Faso, withstood their Songhai
and Mende neighbours before falling to the French,
have a griot tradition. Also djambadon.[28] also
brosca.
3.2 The Gulf of Guinea
The musical ensemble of the chief of Abetifi (Kwahu people) c.
1890[29]
• The Akan people include the Fante, Ashanti,[30]
who originated the adowa and kete styles, the
Baoulé whose polyphonic music introduced the
gbébé rhythm to Ivory Coast,[25] the Nzema peo-
ple who play the edengole. Akan peoples have
complex court music including the atumpan and
Ga kpanlogo style, a modernized traditional dance
and music form, developed around 1960. Yacub
Addy, Obo Addy, and Mustapha Tettey Addy are Ga
drummers who have achieved international fame.
A huge log xylophone is used in asonko music.
The 10–14 string Ghanaian seprewa, midway be-
tween the kora and the African harp, is still played
but often replaced by guitar. Other styles include;
adaha, agbadza, akwete, ashiko and gombe as well
as konkomba, mainline, osibisaba and sikyi. In-
strumentation includes the aburukawa, apentemma,
dawuro and torowa.
• Ewe music, the music of the Ewe people of Ghana,
Togo and Benin, is primarily percussive with great
metrical complexity. Ewe drumming ensembles 4 Central Africa
produce dance music and have contributed pop-
ular styles such as agbadza and borborbor, a The central region of African music is defined by the trop-
konkomba/highlife fusion of the 1950s. ical rain-forests at the heart of the continent. However
5
• The related Aja people are native to south-western
Benin and south-eastern Togo. Aja living in
Abomey mingled with the local tribe, thus creating
the Fon or Dahomey ethnic group, now the largest
in Benin. Tchinkoumé.[31]
• Yoruba music is prominent in the music of Nigeria
and in Afro-Latin and Caribbean musical styles. En-
sembles using the talking drum play a type of music
that is called dundun after the drum,[32] using var-
ious sizes of tension drum along with special band
drums (ogido). The leader or oniyalu uses the drum
to “talk” by imitating the tonality of Yoruba lan-
guage. Yoruba music traditionally centred on folk-
lore and spiritual/deity worship, utilising basic and
natural instruments such as handclaps. Professional
musicians were referred to by the derogatory term
of Alagbe.
• Igbo music informs Highlife and Waka. The drum is
the most important musical instrument for the Igbo
people, used during celebrations, rites of passage,
funerals, war, town meetings and other events, and
the pot-drum or udu (means “pot”) is their most
common and popular drum:[33] a smaller variant is
called the kim-kim.[34] Igbo Styles include egwu ota.
Other nstruments: obo – ufie – ogene,[35] a flat metal
pan used as a bell.
• Bassa people (Cameroon) originated assiko, a pop-
ular dance from the South of Cameroon.[36]
• The Kasena use a hocket vocal style. Other styles
are; jongo, len yoro. Instruments include; gullu,
gungonga, korbala, kornia, sinyegule, wua and yong
wui.[37]
• A Bamileke[36] style is mangambe; Bamileke people
use the gong.
• The Beti-Pahuin[36] of Cameroon Style = bikutsi;
Dance = bikutsi; Instrumentation = njang – rattle
include Fang people[38] chorus and drum group; In-
strumentation = mvet; Other = bebom-mvet. Music
of São Tomé and Principe[39] Styles: danço-Congo –
dêxa – socopé – ússua – xtléva; Instruments: cowbell
– flute – rattle; Other: Tchiloli
The music of Cape Verde has long been influenced
by Europe,[40] Instrumentation includes the accordion
(gaita), the bowed rabeca, the violão guitar and the vi-
ola twelve string guitar as well as cavaquinho, cimboa
and ferrinho. Styles include batuque, coladera, funaná,
morna and tabanca.
6 4
The Central African musicological region and the River Congo
upon a satellite photograph showing the African tropical rain-
forest and desert regions.
Chad, the northernmost state, has a considerable subtrop-
ical and desert northern region.
4.1 Northern traditions
The north of this region has Nilo-Saharans such as
the Zande people. Early kingdoms were founded near
Lake Chad: the Kanem Empire, ca. 600 BCE – 1380
CE[41] encompassed much of Chad, Fezzan, east Niger
and north-east Nigeria, perhaps founded by the nomadic
Zaghawa, then ruled by the Sayfawa Dynasty. The Bornu
Empire (1396–1893) was a continuation, the Kanembu
founding a new state at Ngazargamu. These spoke the Distribution of Pygmies according to Cavalli-Sforza
Kanuri languages spoken by some four million people in
Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Libya and Sudan. They
are noted for lute and drum music. The Kingdom of
Baguirmi (1522–1897) and the Ouaddai Empire (1635–
1912) were also centred near Lake Chad.
• The Toubou, who live mainly in the north of
Chad around the Tibesti mountains and also in
Libya, Niger and Sudan, are semi-nomadic herders,
Nilo-Saharan speakers, mostly Muslim, numbering
roughly 350,000. Their folk music revolves around
men’s string instruments like the keleli and women’s
vocal music. [42]
• The Central Sudanic Baguirmi language has 44,761
speakers As of 1993 and is associated with the king-
dom of Baguirmi. They are known for drum and
zither music and a folk dance in which a mock
battle is conducted between dancers wielding large
[43]
pestles. The Sara people are a linguistically re-
lated ethnic group, the largest in Chad, making up
CENTRAL AFRICA
to 30% of its population and 10% of the Central
African Republic. Descendants of the Sao civilisa-
tion, they use the balafon, whistle, harp and kodjo
drums.
• The Zande people live in the north-east of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, south-western
Sudan and the south-eastern Central African Repub-
lic. Their number is estimated by various sources at
between 1 and 4 million.
• Horns and trumpets such as the long royal trum-
pet, a tin horn known as waza or kakaki are used
in coronations and other upper-class ceremonies
throughout both Chad and Sudan.[44] Other tradi-
tional Chadian instruments include the hu hu (string
instrument with calabash resonators), maracas. The
griot tradition uses the kinde (a five-string bow
harp).
4.2 The Pygmy peoples
• The Pygmy peoples have high levels of genetic
diversity,[45] yet are extremely divergent from all
other human populations, suggesting they have an
ancient indigenous lineage, the most ancient diver-
gence after the Southern African Bushmen. It is es-
timated that there are between 250,000 and 600,000
Pygmies living in the Congo rainforest,[46] Most
Pygmy communities dwell in tropical forests.[47]
with populations in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Angola,
Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia.[48] As partial
hunter-gatherers, living partially but not exclusively
on the wild products of their environment, they
trade with neighbouring farmers to acquire culti-
vated foods and other material items.[48] There are
several Pygmy groups, the best known being the
Mbenga (Aka and Baka) of the western Congo
5.1 Northern traditions
basin, the Mbuti (Efe etc.) of the Ituri Rainfor-
est, and the Twa of the Great Lakes. Pygmy music
Includes the Aka, Baka, Mambuti Mbuti and Efé;
styles: hindewhu – hocket – likanos – liquindi – lul-
laby – yelli. Instrumentation = flute – ieta – lim-
bindi – molimo – ngombi – trumpet – whistle. Other
= boona – elima – jengi – molimo[49] The African
Pygmies are particularly known for their usually vo-
cal music, typically characterised by dense contra-
puntal communal improvisation.[50] Music perme-
ates daily life and there are songs for entertainment
as well as specific events and activities.
• Bashi[51] Instrumentation = lulanga.
4.3 Bantu traditions
• Bemba people of Zambia. (or 'BaBemba' us-
ing the Ba- prefix to mean 'people of', and also
called 'Awemba' or 'BaWemba' in the past) be-
long to a large group of peoples mainly in the
Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces of
Zambia who trace their origins to the Luba and
Lunda states of the upper Congo basin, in what
became Katanga Province in southern Congo-
Kinshasa (DRC). There are over 30 Bemba clans,
named after animals or natural organisms, such as
the royal clan, “the people of the crocodile” (Bena
Ng'andu) or the Bena Bowa (Mushroom Clan). The
Bemba language (Chibemba) is related to the Bantu
languages Kaonde (in Zambia and the DRC), Luba
(in the DRC), Nsenga and Tonga (in Zambia), and
Nyanja/Chewa (in Zambia and Malawi). It is mainly
spoken in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt
Provinces, and has become the most widely spoken
African language in the country, although not al-
ways as a first language. Bemba numbered 250,000
in 1963 but a much larger population includes
some 'eighteen different ethnic groups’ who, to-
gether with the Bemba, form a closely related ethno-
linguistic cluster of matrilineal-matrifocal agricul-
turalists known as the Bemba-speaking peoples of
Zambia. Instrumentation = babatone – kalela[52]
5 East Africa
The East African musicological region, which includes
the islands of the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, Réunion,
Mauritius, Comor and the Seychelles, has been open to
the influence of Arabian and Iranian music since the
Shirazi Era. In the south of the region Swahili culture
has adopted instruments such as the dumbek, oud and
qanun – even the Indian tabla drums.[53] The kabosy, also
called the mandoliny, a small guitar of Madagascar, like
the Comorian gabusi, may take its name from the Ara-
bian qanbūs. Taarab, a modern genre popular in Tanza-
nia and Kenya, is said to take both its name and its style
7
from Egyptian music as formerly cultivated in Zanzibar.
Latterly there have been European influences also: the
guitar is popular in Kenya, the contredanse, mazurka and
polka are danced in the Seychelles.[54]
5.1 Northern traditions
• The Luo peoples inhabit an area that stretches
from Southern Sudan and Ethiopia through north-
ern Uganda and eastern Congo (DRC), into west-
ern Kenya and Tanzania and include the Shilluk,
Acholi, Lango and Joluo (Kenyan and Tanzanian
Luo). Luo Benga music derives from the tradi-
tional music of the nyatiti lyre:[55] the Luo-speaking
Acholi of northern Uganda use the adungu.[56]
Rhythms are characterized by syncopation and acru-
sis. Melodies are lyrical, with vocal ornamenta-
tions, especially when the music carries an impor-
tant message. Songs are call-and-response or solo
performances such as chants, recitatives with irreg-
ular rhythms and phrases which carried serious mes-
sages. Luo dances such as the dudu were introduced
by them. A unique characteristic is the introduc-
tion of another chant at the middle of a musical per-
formance. The singing stops, the pitch of the mu-
sical instruments go down and the dance becomes
less vigorous as an individual takes up the perfor-
mance in self-praise. This is called pakruok. A
unique kind of ululation, sigalagala, mainly done
by women, marks the climax of the musical per-
formance. Dance styles are elegant and graceful,
involving the movement of one leg in the opposite
direction to the waist or vigorous shaking of the
shoulders, usually to the nyatiti. Adamson (1967)
commented that Luos clad in their traditional cos-
tumes and ornaments deserve their reputation as the
most picturesque people in Kenya. During most
of their performances the Luo wore costumes; sisal
skirts (owalo), beads (Ombulu / tigo) worn around
the neck and waist and red or white clay used by
the ladies. The men’s costumes included kuodi or
chieno, a skin worn from the shoulders or from the
waist. Ligisa headgear, shield and spear, reed hats
and clubs were made from locally available mate-
rials. Luo musical instruments range from percus-
sion (drums, clappers, metal rings, ongeng'o or gara,
shakers), nyatiti, a type of lyre; orutu, a type of fid-
dle), wind (tung' a horn,Asili, a flute, Abu-!, to a
specific type of trumpet. In the benga style of mu-
sic. the guitar (acoustic, later electric) replaced the
nyatiti as the string instrument. Benga is played by
musicians of many tribes and is no longer considered
a purely Luo style.
• The Music and dance of the Maasai people used
no instruments in the past because as semi-nomadic
Nilotic pastoralists instruments were considered too
cumbersome to move. Traditional Maasai music is
8 5 EAST AFRICA
strictly polyphonic vocal music, a group chanting
polyphonic rhythms while soloists take turns singing
verses. The call and response that follows each verse
is called namba. Performances are often compet-
itive and divided by age and gender. The neigh-
bouring Turkana people have maintained their an-
cient traditions, including call and response music,
which is almost entirely vocal. A horn made from
the kudu antelope is also played. The Samburu are
related to the Maasai, and like them, play almost no
instruments except simple pipes and a kind of guitar.
There are also erotic songs sung by women praying
for rain.
• The Borana live near the Ethiopian border, and their
music reflects Ethiopian, Somali and other tradi-
tions. They are known also for using the chamonge
guitar,[57] which is made from a cooking pot strung
with metal wires.
5.2 Bantu traditions
Ngbaka-speaking Gbanzili men of the rainforest play xylophones
with calabash resonators, 1907.
Drums (ngoma, ng'oma or ingoma) are much used: par-
ticularly large ones have been developed among the court
musicians of East African kings. The term ngoma is ap-
plied to rhythm and dance styles as well as the drums
themselves.[53] as among the East Kenyan Akamba, the
Buganda of Uganda,[58] and the Ngoni people of Malawi,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, who trace their
origins to the Zulu people of kwaZulu-Natal in South
Africa.[59] The term is also used by the Tutsi/Watusi and
Hutu/Bahutu.[60] Bantu style drums, especially the sukuti
drums, are played by the Luhya people[57] (also known
as Avaluhya, Abaluhya or Luyia),[61] a Bantu people of
Kenya,[62] being about 16% of Kenya’s total population of
38.5 million, and in Uganda and Tanzania.[62] They num-
ber about 6.1 million people.[63] Abaluhya litungo.[64]
• The Kikuyu are one of the largest and most urban-
ized communities in Kenya. At the Riuki cultural
center in Nairobi traditional songs and dances are
still performed by local women, including music for
initiations, courting, weddings, hunting, and work-
ing. The Kikuyu, like their neighbours the Embu
and the Meru are believed to have migrated from
the Congo Basin. Meru people like the Chuka, who
live near Mount Kenya, are known for polyrhythmic
percussion music.
• The Buganda are a large southern Ugandan popula-
tion with well-documented musical traditions. The
akadinda, a xylophone, as well as several types of
drum, is used in the courtly music of the Kabaka or
king. Much of the music is based on playing inter-
locking ostinato phrases in parallel octaves. Other
instruments; engelabi, ennanga or (inanga, a harp),
entenga. Dance – baksimba.
• The music of Rwanda and Burundi is mainly that
of the closely related Tutsi/Watusi and Hutu/Bahutu
people. The Royal Drummers of Burundi per-
form music for ceremonies of birth, funeral and
coronation of mwami (kings). Sacred drums (called
karyenda) are made from hollowed tree trunks cov-
ered with animal skins. In addition to the cen-
tral drum, Inkiranya, the Amashako drums pro-
vide a continuous beat and Ibishikiso drums follow
the rhythm established by the Inkiranya. Dancers
may carry ornamental spears and shields and lead
the procession with their dance. Instrumenta-
tion; ikembe – inanga – iningiri – umuduri –
ikondera – ihembe – urutaro. Dances: ikinimba
– umushayayo – umuhamirizo – imparamba –
inkaranka – igishakamba – ikinyemera[60]
• Swahili culture: Styles gungu – kinanda – wedding
music Dances chakacha – kumbwaya – vugo, Instru-
mentation kibangala – rika – taishokoto[53]
• The ng'oma drumming of Gogo women of Tan-
zania and Mozambique, like that of the ngwayi
dance of northeastern Zambia, uses “interlocking”
or antiphonal rhythms that feature in many East-
ern African instrumental styles such as the xylo-
phone music of the Makonde dimbila, the Yao man-
golongondo or the Shirima mangwilo, on which the
opachera, the initial caller, is responded to by an-
other player, the wakulela.[65]
• The Chopi people of the coastal Inhambane
Province are known for a unique kind of xylophone
called mbila (pl: timbila) and the style of music
played with it, which “is believed to be the most so-
phisticated method of composition yet found among
preliterate peoples.”[66] Ensembles consist of around
ten xylophones of four sizes and accompany cere-
monial dances with long compositions called ngomi
which consist of an overture and ten movements of
different tempos and styles. The ensemble leader
serves as poet, composer, conductor, and performer,
creating a text, improvising a melody partially based
on the features of the Chopi’s tone language, and

composing a second countrapuntal line. The mu-
sicians of the ensemble partially improvise their
parts according to style, instrumental idiom, and
the leader’s indications. The composer then con-
sults with the choreographer of the ceremony and
adjustments are made.[67] Chopi styles: timbala. In-
struments: kalimba – mbila – timbila – valimba
– xigovia – xipala-pala – xipendane – xitende –
xizambe[68] Chopi languages include Tonga. Tonga
dance = mganda[69]
• The Kamba people are known for their complex 6 Southern Africa
percussion music and spectacular performances,
dances that display athletic skills resemble those of
the Tutsi and the Embu. Dances are usually ac-
companied by songs composed for the occasion and
sung on a pentatonic scale. The Akamba also have
work songs. Their music is divided into several
groups based on age: Kilumi is a dance for mainly
elderly women and men performed at healing and
rain-making ceremonies,Mbeni for young and acro-
batic girls and boys, Mbalya or Ngutha is a dance for
young people who meet to entertain themselves af-
ter the day’s chores are done, Kyaa for the old men
and women.Kiveve, Kinze etc. In the Kilumi dance
the drummer, usually female, plays sitting on a large
mwase drum covered with goatskin at one end and
open at the other. The drummer is also the lead
singer. Mwali (pl: Myali) is a dance accompanying a
song usually made to criticize anti-social behaviour: The Southern Bantu languages include all of the impor-
Mwilu is a circumcision dance.
• The Gusii people use an enormous lute called the have several sub-groups;
obokano and the ground bow,[57] made by digging a
large hole in the ground, over which an animal skin
is pegged. A small hole is cut into the skin and a
single string placed across the hole.
• The Mijikenda (literally “the nine tribes”) are found
on the coast of Tanzania, Kenya and Southern So-
malia. They have a vibrant folk tradition perhaps
due to less influence from Christian missionaries.
Their music is mostly percussion-based and ex-
tremely complex. Taarab is a mixture of influences
from Arabic, Indian and Mijikenda music found in
the coastal regions of Kenya, Zanzibar, Pemba and
the islands off East Africa.
• Yao people (East Africa) dance = beni (music) –
likwata[69]
5.3 The Indian Ocean
• The Bajuni people live primarily in the Lamu is-
lands and also in Mombasa and Kilifi. The Ba-
juni women’s work song “Mashindano Ni Matezo”
is very well known.
• Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, which in-
clude Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues are noted
9
for the dance/music style sega.[70] Mascarene also
maloya music – maloya (ritual). Instrumentation
kayamb – maravanne – ravanne – tambour. Mada-
gascar also vakodrazana style, dance basese – salegy
– sigaoma – tsapika – watsa watsa. Instrumentation
jejy voatavo – kabosy – lokanga – marovany – sodina
– valiha. Famadihana ritual, hiragasy theater. Sey-
chellois dance contonbley.[54]
• Bushmen Also Basarwa, Khoe, Khwe, San, !Kung.
The Khoisan (also spelled Khoesaan, Khoesan or
Khoe-San) is a unifying name for two ethnic groups
of Southern Africa who share physical and puta-
tive linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu
majority of the region,[71] the foraging San and the
pastoral Khoi. The San include the original inhabi-
tants of Southern Africa before the southward Bantu
migrations from Central and East Africa reached
their region. Khoi pastoralists apparently arrived
in Southern Africa shortly before the Bantu. Large
Khoi-san populations remain in several arid areas in
the region, notably in the Kalahari Desert. Styles=
hocket[72]
tant Bantu languages of South Africa, Zimbabwe and
Botswana, and several of southern Mozambique. They
• Nguni languages include Xhosa, Zulu and Northern
Ndebele. Zulu music has contributed the Mbaqanga
style to African popular music as well as the poly-
phonic vocal styles called mbube and isicathamiya.
Also izihlabo – maskanda Instruments: guitar Other
= ukubonga.[73] Xhosa music made an interna-
tional impression in the jazz world through Miriam
Makeba and others, for example, Mike Oldfield`s
Amarok includes some Xhosa tunes and vocal
lyrics. Instruments: uhadi.[74] Ndbele Instrumen-
tation: guitar Other: bira ceremony[73] Tekela lan-
guages: Swati, Phuthi, Southern Ndebele.
• Sotho music style: mohabelo[73] Sotho: Birwa,
Northern Sotho (Pedi), Southern Sotho (Sotho),
Lozi. Sotho–Tswana languages; Tswana,
Tswapong, Kgalagadi.
• Shona music also Tsonga. Instruments: hosho
– kalimba – matepe – mbira – ngoma drums
– njari – panpipe Other: bira ceremony –
kushaura-kutsinhira[75] Shona languages include
Shona proper, Dema, Kalanga, Manyika, Ndau,
Nambya, Tawara, Tewe. Tswa–Ronga languages:
Ronga, Tswa, Gwamba, Tsonga, Venda.
10
• The Ovambo people number roughly 1,500,000
and consist of a number of kindred groups that
inhabit Ovamboland in northern Namibia, form-
ing about half of that state’s population, as well
as the southernmost Angolan province. Shambo,
a traditional dance music, blended Ovambo mu-
sic previously popularised by folk guitarist Kwela,
Kangwe Keenyala, Boetie Simon, Lexington and
Meme Nanghili na Shima with a dominant gui-
tar, rhythm guitar, percussion and a heavy “talking”
bassline. The Herero, with about 240,000 members,
mostly in Namibia, the remainder living in Botswana
and Angola speak a similar language, as do the
Himba people. Herero people oviritje, also known
as konsert, has become popular in Namibia. The
Damara are genetically Bantu but speak the “click”
language of the bushmen. Ma/gaisa or Damara
Punch is a popular dance music genre that derives
from their traditional music.
• Pedi[73] Styles = harepa, Instrumentation = harepa
• Afrikaans styles = orkes, Instrumentation =
accordion – concertina[73]
7 Instruments
• Aburukuwa
• Atoke
• Brekete – used especially by the Gorovodu, a vodun
order of the Anlo and Ewe peoples.
• Axatse – a rattle or idiophone.
• Fontomfrom – the royal talking drum of the Akan
peoples.
• Kaganu – a narrow drum or membranophone.
• Kidi – a drum about two feet tall
• Kora (instrument) – a 21 string double harp-lute
• Kloboto
• Kpanlogo
• Prempensua – large thumb piano.
• Totodzi
• Seprewa – 6-10 stringed harp of the Akan and Fante
peoples of south and central Ghana, used in an old
genre of praise music.
• Sogo – the largest of the supporting drums used to
play in Atsiã
• Lobi xylophone.[25]
• Goun kakagbo – hongan [31]
8 AFRICAN DANCES
• Calabash – A dried calabash bowl turned upside
down and hit with the fist and fingers wearing rings.
Used as accompaniment to melodic instruments
• Flutes
• Goonji/Gonjey/Goge – Traditional one stringed-
fiddle played by a majority of other sahelian groups
in West Africa.
• Gungon – Bass snare drum of the Lunsi ensemble.
Of northern origin, it is played throughout Ghana
by various groups, known by southern groups as
brekete. Related to the Dunun drums of other West
African peoples.
• Gyil – large resonant Xylophones, related to the
Balafon.
• Gyilgo – small pentatonic thumb piano.
• Koloko – Varieties of Sahelian lute. Varieties include
the one-stringed 'Kolgo/Koliko' of Gur-speaking
groups, the two-stringed 'Molo' of the Zabarma and
Fulani minorities, or the two-stringed 'Gurumi' of the
Hausa.
• Lunna/Kalangu – Varieties of Hourglass-shaped
Talking drums.
• Musical bow – known as 'Jinjeram' (in Gurunsi) or
Jinjeli (in Mossi-Dagomba languages).
• Shekere
• Whistles
• Horns
• Lemba people Instrumentation: mbira[76]
• Yombe people Instrumentation: panpipe[77]
• Shangaan Instrument: guitar[73]
• Venda Instruments: ngoma drums – panpipe[78]
• Comorian msondo – ndzendze.[54]
• Zaramo dance/instrument msondo - also ngoma.[53]
• Lango okeme.[56]
• Busoga panpipe[77]
8 African dances
8.1 West
Gerewol.[79] Dan people masked dance.[25] Yoruba
gelede.[32] Hausa asauwara[80] Ewe dances: agbadza
– Gadzo.[81] Mande include the Mandinka, Maninka
and Bamana Dances: bansango – didadi – dimba –

sogominkum.[82] Dagomba dance: takai – damba – jera [12] Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), Languages of Sudan
– simpa – bamaya – tora – geena. São Tomé and Principe
dance: danço-Congo – puíta – ússua.[39] Cape Verde[40]
Dance = batuque – coladera – funaná – morna – tabanca.
[37]
Kasena Dances: jongo – nagila – pe zara – war dance.
[13] Bechtold, Peter R. (1991). “More Turbulence in Sudan
Akan dances: adowa – osibisaba – sikyi. The Ashanti[37]
Nzema people[25] dance: abissa – fanfare – grolo – sidder
8.2 Southern
• Chewa people Dance = gule wa mkulu – nyau[59]
• Lomwedance = tchopa[69]
• Luvale dance = manchancha[52]
• Nyanja dance = chitsukulumwe – gule wa mkulu
likhuba[69]
• Tumbuka dance = vimbuza[69]
• Kaondedance kachacha[52]
• Henga dance = vimbuza[69]
9 Notes
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[42] Traditional Music of the Republic of Chad – Sound Clip –
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[45] Tishkoff; et al. (2009), “The Genetic Structure and
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[51] Nettl, Folk and Traditional Music, p. 142
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[60] Jacquemin, Jean-Pierre, Jadot Sezirahigha and Richard
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[61] Ember, Carol R.; Melvin Ember (2003). Encyclopedia of
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James T., “Africa/Ghana” in Worlds of Music, pp. 67–
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[69] Lwanda, John, “Sounds Afroma!" in the Rough Guide to
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[70] Manuel, Popular Musics, p. 112; Ewens, Graeme and
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[76] Karolyi, p. 45

[77] Turino, p. 183

[78] Turino, p. 183; Karolyi, p. 37

[79] Bensignor, François, “Sounds of the Sahel” in the Rough

Guide to World Music, pp. 585–587

[80] Turino, p. 184; Bensignor, François and Ronnie Graham,

“Sounds of the Sahel” and “From Hausa Music to High-
life” in the Rough Guide to World Music, pp. 585–587,
588–600

[81] Turino, p. 178; Collins, John, “Gold Coast: Highlife and

Roots” in the Rough Guide to World Music, pp. 488–498

[82] Turino, pp. 172–173; Bensignor, Fran&ccedi;ois, Guus

de Klein, and Lucy Duran, “Hidden Treasure”, “The
Backyard Beats of Gumbe” and “West Africa’s Musical
Powerhouse” in the Rough Guide to World Music, pp.
437–439, 499–504, 539–562; Manuel, Popular Musics,
p. 95; World Music Central Archived February 7, 2006,
at the Wayback Machine.

10 References
• Broughton, Simon and Mark Ellingham (eds.)
(2000). Rough Guide to World Music (First ed.).
London: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-
5.

• Karolyi, Otto (1998). Traditional African & Orien-

tal Music. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-023107-
6.
14 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1 Text
• Sub-Saharan African music traditions Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_African_music_traditions?oldid=
757330136 Contributors: Ahoerstemeier, TUF-KAT, Amcaja, Hyacinth, Altenmann, Jayjg, Rich Farmbrough, Kwamikagami, Anthony
Appleyard, Woohookitty, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Billjefferys, Da Stressor, RussBot, Musicpvm, Rsrikanth05, Ezeu, Open2universe, Smack-
Bot, Gilliam, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Yom, Rigadoun, CPAScott, TheFarix, ShelfSkewed, Joostjodel, Cydebot, JustAGal, Nick Number,
T L Miles, Magioladitis, JaGa, Ekotkie, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, Adavidb, Cpiral, Belovedfreak, Largoplazo, Rising*From*Ashes,
Bwjsmartdude, Aymatth2, Slysplace, Struway, TenIslands, Botev, StAnselm, Flyer22 Reborn, Lemurbaby, Phil wink, Ruramaguru,
Keinstein, Tanvir Ahmmed, Plastikspork, Niceguyedc, StigBot, Auntof6, Mlaffs, MatthewVanitas, Neodop, Redheylin, Middayexpress,
Yobot, Guy1890, AnomieBOT, Xufanc, Citation bot, LilHelpa, J04n, Ashershow1, FrescoBot, I dream of horses, LittleWink, Serols,
Trappist the monk, Theo10011, John of Reading, Wikipelli, Dr clave, Midas02, H3llBot, Δ, Donner60, Senator2029, Numuse37, ClueBot
NG, Proscribe, Helpful Pixie Bot, Jeancey, BattyBot, HueSatLum, EdvinW, Cyberbot II, DanielPAustin, Athomeinkobe, Ian Denny,
Danieljones013, Monkbot, TheEditor867, InternetArchiveBot, GreenC bot, Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 23

11.2 Images
• File:Africa_ethnic_groups_1996.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Africa_ethnic_groups_1996.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: This map is available from the United States Library of Congress's Geography & Map Division under
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