![]() This type of play could be compared to the tapping style seen in some remarkable modern players such as the late great Michael Hedges, Andy Mckee and Kaki King. ![]() Sintir players strike downward on the strings with their index-finger nail, thumping the camel skin head as a kind of percussive accompaniment” and in rhythmic time intended to bring about a trance (we'll talk more about the importance of trance later in the article) state in its listeners. The instrument is played in a percussive manner and is described as "slap-and-pop. Moroccan Instruments - Including the Sintir, a three-stringed instrument introduced into North African music by the Gnawa tribe and resembling the strange and perverse marriage between a bass and a banjo and tuned to C-C-G, where the second C-string is an octave higher than its neighbor. Again, these instruments are the modern forms of their ancient relatives.ī. Ancient Egyptian Instruments - Including the Arghul, a single reed woodwind instrument, the Kanun, a Turkish stringed instrument loosely resembling the modern day harpsichord, and the Pandura a three-stringed lute instrument originating from ancient Greece. There are five categories of instruments often found in North African music:Ī. This variety of music is frequently performed by soloists with little or no accompaniment, and often on stringed instruments of Arabic origin. ![]() Consequently, much of the music is monophonic (having a single often simple melody) and melodic in structure. In other words, our discussion will deal with modern manifestations of ancient instruments and the evolution of those instruments into those found in households around the world.Īs stated, this type of music finds its origins in the Northern regions of Africa and is not considered true African music by many aficionados, but rather influenced by Arabic and Islamic tradition. Keep in mind as well that although our discussion will focus on modern day African music and instruments that are to be found in the regions contained therein, and the manner in which that music has affected Western music, we will not be investigating the actual ancient instruments that are the forefathers of their modern relatives. Indeed, as with all varieties of music there are cross-overs and numerous syntheses of the two areas, but for the sake of brevity and simplicity we'll keep the two categories separate and distinct. But many “experts” of regional music tend to separate African music into two distinct groups: North African Music which is strongly Arabic and Islamic in nature, and Black African music or that which is centralized in the West, Central and Sub Saharan regions of Africa. Their sojourn into the world on the continent known as Africa.Īfrican music is as diverse as the topography of the land itself and is said to be comprised of literally thousands of different styles of music. But, for the sake of argument we'll make the assumption that human beings began Obviously we must make a leap of faith here in terms of extrapolating from known information about ancient cultures, and certainly new data is constantly being presented that may or may not support current theories of human origins. Since no one single person can truly pinpoint the precise moment that the very first music was played, or sung or even pondered on a cloudless and sunny afternoon, and since it is highly likely that the first music was most certainly accidental and appealed so much to the “instrumentalist” that he or she simply repeated the action that they initially made in the futile hope that the same pleasant sound might be replicated, it is incumbent upon this particular writer to pick a starting point where the humble beginnings of music likely originated from.Īrchaeologists tell us that the oldest human bones have been unearthed on the continent of Africa, and so it follows then that the first music must also have emanated from the expressive and rhythmic limbs and dark countenances of the African peoples. ![]() You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.” Nelson Mandela “ The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale.
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