Changing Traditions of Folk Music in Ghana Author(s): J. H. Nketia Source: Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Vol.

11 (1959), pp. 31-36 Published by: International Council for Traditional Music Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/834852 Accessed: 10/11/2010 20:20
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CHANGING TRADITIONS OF FOLK MUSIC IN GHANA

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CHANGING TRADITIONS OF FOLK MUSIC IN GHANA by

J. H. NKETIA (University College of Ghana, Achimotu) AFRICA to-day is a scene of rapid social changes. Not only is the physical appearance of towns and the countryside undergoing transformation which is affecting the lives and outlook of the inhabitants of the continent, but also tribal groups are being welded together into new political and cultural units. In this process of change, our folk music traditions have not remained unaffected. New musical styles are emerging, while the traditional organisation of music and dancing is being modified. A study of our folk music traditions shows, however, that what is happening now is not an entirely new phenomenon. It is but a continuation, though in an accentuated form, of an old process of change. In this paper I shall discuss both the old and the new type of musical change in order that we may see how they are linked together in the contemporary situation. For convenience of illustration, I shall limit myself to Ghana, where I have been carrying out much of my field work in African music. From a study of this area, three types of changes may be noted. First, there is the change resulting from the cumulative effect of the creative efforts of individuals (largely anonymous) or groups of individuals within a given society of a fairly homogenous character. Second, there is the change resulting from the interaction of such homogenous African societies through geographical contiguity facilitating economic or other pursuits, through religion, or in the past, through war. Third, there is the change resulting from the impact of an alien culture-Western or Oriental -on the practice of African folk music. All these types of changes are operative in Ghana to-day, though, of course, not to the same extent. Homogenous groups, such as Ashanti, Ewe, Ga and Dagomba, consist of interacting communities speaking the same language, performingthe same types of dances and songs and keeping to the same range of instruments. They may differ in extent of repertoire, or in their general level of performance, but they are bound together by a common musical tradition. Many such homogenous groups in Ghana have a variety of musical forms which are organised to meet the requirements of their social life. There are musical types set aside for recreation and events in their daily lives, and musical types set aside for various ceremonial occasions through which the solidarity of the society, as a whole, or of associations and kinship groups is maintained. Where the framework of each of the musical types used is not greatly modified, its content or repertoire may be modified, or expanded as time goes on. Thus the repertoireof folk songs involving genealogical referenceswhich continue to the present, or references to historical events such as the praise chants of the Dagbomba or dirges of the Akan, or adowa songs about people, may be built up gradually. Similarly, one finds creative additions being made in the field of drumming through the formation of new ensembles, re-creations of old ensembles, acquisition of new types of drums, and the creation of new dances. Thus the war between the Gyaman and the Ashanti inspired the creation of a piece by the Ashanti, portraying the determination of the Ashanti to rout their enemies. This piece, entitled "Slowly but

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surely we shall kill Adinkra," has remained as a set piece which is played as a dance piece, or in certain situations as a form of insult. Similarly the last British-Ashanti war (1896-19oo) gave rise to the drum piece "The White man will die upstairs," a piece which was created in jest to mark the siege of the British fort in Kumasi. It has continued to be used as a processional piece for important chiefs ever since. It is interesting to note that in oral narrations of history, references are made to such innovations or creations, particularly if they are regarded as signposts in the development of the folk music tradition of a given area. One frequently hears: "It was in the reign of such and such a King that this dance was introduced." The examples which I have given so far are examples of new "court music." The more dynamic type of change, however, is in recreational music. In many places in Ghana new forms of music and dancing based on the old indigenous style come in vogue and gradually disappear as new ones are created, or old ones are revived. The emergence of new popular creations depends on the extent to which existing forms enjoy the support of a community or of its elders, or their continued suitability for use on various social occasions. There may be three or four creations of new dances within a person's lifetime. When I was a little boy, the dance in vogue, in my area was utan. Later it was replaced by sika-rebewu-apers: then adakam, then kenhema. The most recent still in vogue are asaadua, ahyewa (akosuatuntum). It is in such new creations that significant elements constituting a new departure from the old tradition, or rather a new addition to the old tradition, are found. Thus adakam, for example, introduced the use of box drums which were specially made according to a standard design. Kenkema and asaadua in the Akan area have both introduced the frame drum and a new technique of drumming. It is in the light of this that creative additions to the folk music of a homogenous African group are considered noteworthy in the appraisal of changing traditions of folk music. Some of the new musical types may be simply a further application of the concepts underlying the folk music tradition, while others may be further elaboration or slight departures from the tradition as established by previous creations. The second type of change-the change which results from the interaction of homogenous societies through geographical contiguity, trade, religion and so onwas more radical in the past than it is now. Here the interacting societies are African societies separated by differences in language and music. The scene in Ghana before the effective intervention of the British was not a quiet one. The composite tribes did not live in complete isolation. Ashanti had a vigorous trade with northern Ghana in kola and slaves, and obtained salt and other commodities from southern Ghana. Wars between Ashanti and the societies in both of these regions were a notable feature of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gold Coast. There were similar forms of interaction between the composite groups in the north or those in the south. The result of all interaction of these societies is apparent to-day in the musical traditions of Ghana; in the distribution of musical instruments, musical types and dances. Thus the Akan (Ashanti, Fante, Akwamu, etc.) atumpan (talking) drums are found in many places in Ghana-on the coast (among the Ga), along the Volta (among the Ewe and the Adangme), in the north (among the Dagomba, Mamprusi, Wala and Gonja). The language of the drums (which are also used as musical instruments) has remained largely Akan in these non-Akan areas. The music of the Akan court-fontomfrom, horn music and the

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music of warrior organisations-will be found in non-Akan areas in southern Ghana, while in Dagomba area the music of Akan warriororganisations has led to the creation of a dance called kabenwaa (Ashanti dance). This music is still played in imitation and, one would say, in jest of the Ashanti whom the Dagomba grew to hate as their neighbours. The Ashanti in turn have borrowed hour-glass drums and gourd drums from the north. These have passed on subsequently from them to some parts of southern Ghana. In some places, this type of cultural situation has resulted not only in the borrowing of instruments and musical forms, but also in the adoption of new scales. Thus peoples with a pentatonic tradition such as the Ga and the Adangme now sing songs in this scale as well as in the heptatonic. In Adangme the heptatonic is restricted mainly to songs from the Akan area.' In Ga society the change has been more radical and the heptatonic is now the more frequently used scale; the pentatonic has survived mainly in ritual music.2 Another aspect of this change is that whereas in Adangme society the musical intonation of the old pentatonic (which has been retained) tends to be transferred to the heptatonic, in Ga society it is the other way round. Examination of the music of various societies shows that not only scales may be adopted, but also harmonic usages. The adoption of the heptatonic and its tradition of singing in parallel thirds by a pentatonic people who sing in unison or in parallel fourths or fifths brings a new conception of harmony which affects the folk music tradition of such a people. This is again evident in the Ga-Adangme societies to which I have already referred. The geographical contiguity of interacting societies with diverse musical traditions is then an important factor of change. African societies in Ghana have stimulated each other through their own specialisation. War has ceased, but the greater facility for trade and travel is giving this process further impetus in new Ghana. The visitor to northern Ghana will find modern importations from the south in the form of simpa bands playing, a variety of the modern folk music popularly called the high life.3 This leads on to the third type of musical change-the change resulting from the impact of an alien culture or an alien religion-in particular Western culture and Christianity and the culture of Muslim religion. These have penetrated Ghana from different points. Muslim culture has approached Ghana mainly from the north, where its influence is exerted through the Hausa. The adoption of Mohammedanfestivals and Mohammedan forms of marriage in some areas in the north has meant a re-organisation of folk music. In the Dagomba area where this is most noticeable, different songs have been set aside for the various festivals and there are some dances which are performed only during those festivals. There are also striking similarities between the musical tradition of the Dagomba and that of the Hausa, as for example, in the custom of praise chanting, and the use of the one-string fiddle. Dagomba players of the latter sing some of their songs in Hausa. In southern Ghana, Muslim culture has not affected folk music traditions to any appreciableextent. The adaptation of Fante lyrics for Muslimworship (incorporating features of Muslimstyle of chanting) has already begun. It is difficult to see at present what effect this will ultimately have on the Fante style of singing. Western culture and Christianity on the other hand have entered Ghana from the south. Their influence on the lives of Ghanaians-which has been far-reaching

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-has been greatest in Ashanti and southern Ghana, but it is rapidly spreading in the north. It is to be seen in changes in our material culture--in the use of the products of Western industry. It is to be seen in the social life of contempoary Ghana (in the form of new means of recreation such as cinemas and dance halls), or in our new political life (with its institutions of the army, and the police playing Western band music). It is to be seen in Western religious and educational "institutions" implanted in Ghana, which also propagate not only new values, new ways of life, but also Western music. The change now taking place in our folk-music traditions must be looked at against this background of social change. It reflects the growing acceptance of the material culture of the West and of a number of Western institutions. You will find this change in the ingenious use of new materials for the manufacture of instruments, or in the use of improvised substitutes. Thus the skin stretched across the calabash resonator of a one-string fiddle, originally glued, may now be nailed down. Strings used for lutes or for lacing drum heads may now be the imported string or a bit of metal wire. Instead of a gourd resonator, an old can may be used by the city dweller. The impact of the West can also be seen in the growing adoption of some of the instruments of Western industry now available in shops in Ghana. The Western lute or guitar and the accordion have both been adopted for playing traditional folk music. Western wind instruments, particularly brass instruments, are growing in popularity in Ashanti and southern Ghana, where they are used for playing the new type of folk music to which I have already referred. The impact of the West is perhaps most evident in the growing popularity of the diatonic scale among certain sections of communities in areas with pentatonic traditions, and in the enlargement of the harmonic ideas of societies that are already used to singing in thirds and sixths and make occasional use of other intervals and triads, or of societies that previously only sung in unison or in parallel fourths. The diatonic scale and the new forms of harmony, however, are again used, not in the music of the old tradition, but in the new form of popular folk music. Radical innovations are thus being channelled into the development of new music, and not in the adulteration of the old. In contemporary Ghana, therefore, old and new forms of folk music exist side by side. The surviving strength of the older and much more virile type of folk music has been in its close identification with our social life. Forms borrowed by interacting communities or societies were organised as part of the old pattern of social life. The performance of ceremonies and rites, and the celebration of timehonoured festivals in which this music is used, has contributed to its perpetuation in modern Ghana. The new type of folk music of which the greatest exponents are literate or urbanised Africans is mainly for recreation. Whereas in the past each society formed also a "community of taste," in the contemporary situation different "communities of taste" have emerged. The old is what the African genius was able to produce through the stimulus it received within itself. The new is what the African is producing through the stimulus received from without. For some time there has been a danger of the music of the older type of folk music being abandoned by literate and urbanised Ghanaians as Ghana gets more and more "industrialised." Nationalism, however, is fostering a new pride in our folk music, and efforts are now being made to preserve or encourage the practice of the best in the older type of folk music throughout the country.

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NOTES See J. H. Nketia, "The Organisationof Musicin Adangme Society," Universitas,IV, No. I. x. 2. See J. H. Nketia, "TraditionalMusic of the Ga People," Universitas,III, No. 3. 3. For a note on this see: (a) J. H. Nketia, ModernTrendsin Ghana Music (African Music Society, 1958); (b) J. H. Nketia, "The Gramophoneand ContemporaryAfrican Music in the Gold Coast" (Proceedingsof 4th Annual Conference: West AfricanInstitute of Social and Economic
Research, 1956), pp. 191-201.

Dr. W. BASCOM (University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.) regarded Mr. Nketia's paper as an important contribution, because it showed that change had been taking place not only recently and that it was not only due to Western influences. He asked whether we were opposed to internal or only to external change. Dr. GEORGE HERZOG (Indiana University, U.S.A.) asked who it was that decided what should be preserved. Was it the tourist, the ethnomusicologist, this present group, or who? What was being done now in Ghana towards preserving and documenting the changes ? What did we wish to preserve ? He said that detailed and solid work was needed from the Europeans, not vague generalisations. Dr. Herzog complimented the author on the fact that he had approached the subject not only intuitively, but also as a well-trained social scientist. He asked whether Mr. Nketia saw signs of a new national Ghana music. If so, would local traditions contribute to the new style or would it all come from "high life ?" Were there any national composers who wished to develop a new art music as Bart6k had ? Mr. NKETIAreplied that during the past six years he had made a study of various styles of tribal music. Recordings had been made and there was now a large collection covering every part of the country. In co-operation with Radio Ghana, archives were being set up both for radio use and for university purposes. The Government had set up an interim committee which would seek to promote folk music in the country, and it was intended that a statutory Arts Council should be formed with Government funds. Festivals had been organised in various parts of the country, and in Accra particularly, items from a number of different tribes had been popularised in this way. There were voluntary societies which were interested in cultural preservation and development. For instance, in Kumasi there was a museum of art and a centre for the teaching and cultivation of drumming and dancing. Here, two of the teachers were lecturers at the School of Technology, while other teachers were unlettered. People such as office clerks and even some politicians came to the centre after working hours to improve their drumming and dancing. There were, Mr. Nketia continued, certain things which the people of Ghana wished to preserve, things which they valued. They did this firstly through museums and archives, and secondly by giving recognition to cultural activities and ensuring that they were passed on to others. Education could be used both for the preservation of existing forms and for giving guidance to future practice. Mr. DAVIDRYCROFT (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) said it was heartening to hear that the people of Ghana, even in towns, valued their traditions and were taking steps to perpetuate their own music and dancing. He thought that town life in Ghana must be more closely in touch with country life than in South Africa, where white men's towns had sprung up, bringing an un-African way of life. Africans who took up residence in such towns came to despise their own background and strove to adopt popular Western music and choral music or to produce modified vernacular songs based upon Western models. Attempts to stir up interest in their own culture amongst town Africans were made almost entirely by Europeans, and such efforts were generally suspect among educated or partly-educated Africans, who felt that they were being forced back towards tribalism. It would seem to be impossible to find perpetuation of folk music amongst educated Africans in South Africa, and it was only amongst uneducated people who retained their allegiance to tribal society that traditional music continued to be practised.

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Mr. HUGHTRACEY (Johannesburg, South Africa) stated that Mr. Nketia's review was the most remarkable yet undertaken by any African. It contained what we most needed: the detailed appreciation of music-old, new and modern, including jazz, which was really no more modern than folk music but which happened to be fashionable. Ghana would appear to be culturally strong in that all that came in from outside was Africanised and fitted into the existing social structure. Other parts of Africa tended to be culturally weak and were in danger of having their birthright destroyed. We must do all we could to prevent this happening. Dr. E. GERSON-KIWI (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) said that a similar situation with regard to acculturation existed in Israel. Dozens of races and communities were to be found and new ones were constantly coming in. It was nearly impossible to preserve entirely the traditions originating in other countries. When the background of folk ways and folk life was taken away there was no way back. The problem was one of renaissance: not a return, but a going forward to something new. The old might come back in a stylised way. We must face this stylised renaissance of folk ways and accept it. Mr. SAMGESSER(Montreal, Canada) said that in South Africa it was the white man who was emulated and not the chief. Among the Iroquois in Canada the solution lay in instilling the people with a new idea of their culture and a new attitude towards it. Miss KARPELES (London) said that in most countries-in Europe as well as Africa -there came a time when people lost faith in their traditional cultures. Our business was to try to restore their confidence, not by dictating to the "folk" but by educating ourselves to appreciate the value of traditional arts and endeavouring to restore a community of taste. She considered that the most immediate task was to preserve what remained of the older traditions for our own and future generations. She was confident that sooner or later people would rediscover the value of these traditions and, although they might not adopt them in exactly the same form, they would need them as a basis and a point of departure for further creative developments. Professor ETA HARICH-SCHNEIDER (Vienna) asked what percentage of people who had had a Western education still chose to learn tribal forms of dancing. She said that in Japan there were hardly any educated people who cared for Japanese music of the old type. Mr. NKETIAreplied that he did not know the exact percentage, but could only give his own impression. Among the Ashanti people, amongst whom education was taken up much later than in other parts, old dances were still retained. In the more southern parts of the country, among the Ga and the Fante, education was well established. It had been started by the early missionaries. Here the pattern of life had been more strongly influenced and fewer people maintained the old forms.