African fiddle

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Eastman Johnson - Fiddling His Way

The term African fiddle may be applied to any of several African bowed string instruments.

Contents

Instruments

Luo orutu
Luo orutu, or simply "orutu", [1] is the one-stringed fiddle [1] of East Africa. [2] It is typically accompanied by Nyatiti lyre, Bul drums, the Nyangile sound box, Ongeng'o metal rings, Asili flute, and the Oporo horn. [1]
Gongey
Gonjey music is found amongst the Dagomba people of Northern Ghana, which is in West Africa [3] and is known to the West through modern proponents such as Kenge Kenge [4] and the ethnomusicological archival activities of Nana Kimati Dinizulu, son of the late Nana Opare Dinizulu. According to published archival footage Talensi people who are located in the Upper Eastern Region of Ghana and in Burkina Faso. The gonje is constructed from "a gourd, lizard skin, stick and... a horsehair bow". [5]
"Fiddle tube"
The so-called "fiddle tube" of Uganda is also referred to as "endingidi". [6]

Ethnomusicology

Self-described "culture bearer" [7] Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje of the University of California, Los Angeles [2] broke new ground in ethnomusicology with her study of "fiddle" music of the Luo of Kenya. Citing Kwame Anthony Appiah, she rejects "nativist nostalgia . . . largely fueled by that Western sentimentalism so familiar after Rousseau". [8] This is consistent with trends which urge caution when introjecting cultural stereotypes. [9] Following her earlier academic studies, she released Fiddling in West Africa Touching the Spirit in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba Cultures in 2008. [10]

Contemporary African fiddle music

Noise Khanyile & the Jo'burgm C is a Johannesburg, South Africa based ensemble produced by West Nkosi that has been critically acclaimed.[ citation needed ] They exhibit a sophisticated multiply layered tapestry of Zulu inspired sound on his 1989 release Art of Noise. [11]

Moses Mchuno

Moses Mchuno's township jive track incorporates fiddle and traditional Soweto singing. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Fiddle String instrument

A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a "brighter" tone, compared to the deeper tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught "by ear" rather than via written music.

Ethnomusicology Study of music emphasizing cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions

Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions or contexts of musical behavior, in addition to the sound component.

Aburukuwa

The Aburukuwa is an open drum of the Akan people and the Asante people of Ghana. It is a high-pitched talking drum used by the Akan people, bottle-shaped with its skin is held on by pegs. It is usually played with curved sticks. Its sound resembles the birdsong of a bird of the same name.

Olatunji Akin Euba, was a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist.

John Collins (musician/researcher) Musical artist

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Ephraim Amu Ghanaian composer, musicologist, and teacher

Ephraim Kɔku Amu was a Ghanaian composer, musicologist and teacher.

Cynthia Tse Kimberlin is an American ethnomusicologist. She is the executive director and publisher of the Music Research Institute and MRI Press, based in Point Richmond, California. Her primary area of expertise is the music of Africa, in particular Ethiopia and Eritrea.

James K. Makubuya is a Ugandan-born ethnomusicologist, instrumentalist, singer, dancer, and choreographer. He plays several traditional instruments from various parts of Uganda, including the endongo and adungu, endingidi, amadinda, akogo (lamellaphone), and engoma (drums). Makubuya was born in the town of Gayaza, and is a member of the Baganda ethnic group. He holds a B.A. in music and English literature from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda (1980); a Master of Music degree in Western music and music education from Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. (1988), and a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles (1995).

Koo Nimo

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"Ory's Creole Trombone" is a jazz composition by Kid Ory. Ory first recorded it in Los Angeles in 1921. The band included Ory on trombone, Mutt Carey on cornet, Dink Johnson on clarinet, Fred Washington on piano, Ed Garland on bass and Ben Borders on drums. The recording of "Ory's Creole Trombone" was released by John and Reb Spikes' short-lived Sunshine Records label. It was the first issued recording session by an African American jazz band from New Orleans. Other numbers recorded the same day included "When You're Alone Blues", "Krooked Blues", "Society Blues", "That Sweet Something Dear", "Maybe Some Day" and "Froggie Moore".

Old time fiddle

Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" derived from European folk dance tunes such as Jig, Reel, Breakdown, Schottische, Waltz, Two Step and Polka. The fiddle may be accompanied by banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Scotland. It is separate and distinct from traditions which it has influenced or which may in part have evolved from it, such as bluegrass, country blues, variants of western swing and country rock.

Métis fiddle is the style that the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern United States have developed to play the violin, solo and in folk ensembles. It is marked by the percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment. The Metis people are a poly-ethnic post-contact Indigenous peoples. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s", where the Metis community adopted the instrument into their culture.

Quebec fiddle is a part of the Old time fiddle canon and is influential in New England and Northwest fiddle styles.

M.anifest Ghanaian rapper, singer and songwriter (born 1982)

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The Pan-African Orchestra (PAO) is an orchestra using indigenous African traditions and instruments. It was founded as a 48-piece ensemble in 1988 in Accra, Ghana, by Nana Danso Abiam. Abiam died in a motor accident in Accra on 24 December 2014, in the early hours following his 61st birthday. His mission with the PAO, originally a 30-piece ensemble, had been to explore the classical foundations of traditional African music and to cultivate an integrated continental art form through new compositional and orchestral techniques. The musicians play traditional instruments from across Africa, including the atenteben, gonje, kora and gyile.

The Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, is a co-educational teacher-training college in Akropong in the Akwapim district of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It has gone through a series of previous names, including the Presbyterian Training College, the Scottish Mission Teacher Training College, and the Basel Mission Seminary. The college is affiliated to the University of Education, Winneba.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Biography supplied by artist management 2010. "Kenge Kenge Orutu Systems". Womad.org. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 DjeDje, Jacqueline Cogdell (2002). "Ethnomusicologists at Work: Africa and North America". In Ruth M. Stone (ed.). The World's Music: General Perspectives and Reference Tools, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 10 (PDF). New York and London: Routledge. pp. 137–155. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  3. the-real-africa. "Music Videos of Africa - Clips Africains".
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-02. Retrieved 2011-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. africanbushdoctor. "African Roots of the Blues Part 5 - Talensi Fiddle Music From Ghana, West Africa" via YouTube.
  6. Makubuya, James. 2000. "Endingidi (Tube Fiddle) of Uganda: Its Adaptation and Significance among the Baganda." The Galpin Society Journal 53:140–155.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2011-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 1992. In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
  9. "A similar process of reification takes place within multicultural societies, where the idea of ethnic cultures is socially constructed by the discourses of ethno-politics produced by the government, the media and popular stereotyping. It is these discourses of ‘culture’ which define minorities and by which minorities can define themselves when they choose to play the culture card for political survival." Page 2 of "Culture as constraint or resource: essentialist versus non-essentialist views", Adrian Holliday, Canterbury Christ Church University College. Reprinted from Iatefl Language and Cultural Studies SIG Newsletter Issue 18, pp. 38–40. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2011-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. DjeDje, Jacqueline Cogdell (2008). Fiddling in West Africa: Touching the Spirit in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba Cultures. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN   0-253-21929-9.
  11. Audio CD (December 27, 2004)|Original Release Date: 1989|Number of Discs: 1|Format: Original recording reissued, Import|Label: Globe Style UK|ASIN: B000008IZY
  12. "What's new — Last.fm".

Additional scholarly resources