Department of Music

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/5038

Browse

Filters

2007 - 200912010 - 20172

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Stylistic Traits In African Pianism Works Of Three Art Music Composers J. H. Nketia, Akin Euba And Gyimah Labi
    (University of Ghana, 2007-03) Boamah, E.
    This study seeks to offer a comprehension of African idioms used in composing for the piano. Works analysed have explored the wider possibilities of the seven-tone scale system and the resources of the five-tone scale form. All works analysed are examples of ways in which traditional material may be lifted from its original context and modified to create a completely new piece. The works are deep and meaningful attempts to change African traditional music structure. They demonstrate ways in which modem composers are trying to make the old traditions relevant today, and to bring the traditional African music into phase with the society around them. These works analysed, can be classified as African Art music, that is, music structured for intent listening or music presented as concert music, but which are rooted in the traditions of Africa. ~ The problems of choice of idiom, notation and that of the conflict for theories that arise from the syncreticism which characterizes African Art musical scene, are among the problems that composers face and solve in their creation processes. The nature of the solution to these problems by each composer affects his style. African pianism is an innovation which has been added to the literature of African Art music. The growth of a music is assured as long as the practitioners of that music continue to find new modes of expression for it. The vitality and potential of African music, viewed in the light of dynamic changes which are currently taking place in African culture, indicate that we are on the threshold of a new and exciting period of African music.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Music Of The Tabom: Its Cultural Background And Style
    (University of Ghana, 2017-10) Amakye-Boateng, B.
    Negotiating identity is a key factor to a people surrounded by many other differences such as other ethnic groups and communities with different orientations. Such is the story of the Tabom who are African slave returnees from Brazil. The music or organised sound related to their existence helps in the creating of their unique identity as it relates to being Ga on one side, and having had contact with the outside world on the other. Agbe, the music of the Tabom is one of the avenues by which the story, culture, and identity of the Tabom can be studied. To date, all anthropological studies done on the Tabom (Boadi-Siaw 1993, Amos and Ayensu 2002 Schamloeffel 2008, Essien 2010, and Von Hesse 2014) only mention in passing the music-Agbe as a mere practice but not as a normative functional element to the creation of the Tabom identity. This dissertation argues from an ethnomusicological perspective that Agbe as an organised sound in relation to the life and culture of the Tabom serves the purpose of creating and negotiating identity as found in their use of music as part of religious rites and as part of other important ceremonies such as in relation to the rites associated with the human life cycle. The dissertation sets forth the historical and social background of the Tabom, reveals the music and analyses every musical element and or device that the creators and the performers of the music utilise in bringing to the fore the priorities of the Tabom culture. A special interest of this dissertation is the study of rhythm, text, melody and the combination of any of these as well as other aids to musical performance in expressing the inner self that subsequently helps in shaping the Tabom identity. An in-depth analysis of the music using both western and African analytical tools such as the identification of scales, modes, and interval cycles/cyclic pitch collections as well as the African minimalist impulse and its relation to the other forms of art within the African culture.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Contextual Study of Brass Band Music within the Peki-Kpando Area of the Volta Region of Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2015-12) Wuaku, H.M.; Collins, E.J.; Avorgbedor, D.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, School of Performing Arts, Department of Music
    Brass band music forms a very important part of the musical culture of the Volta Region of Ghana. As a legacy of the activities from post-colonial Ghana, brass bands generally include European brass and percussion instruments with occasional addition of local drums and other exotic instruments of the tradition as a result of indigenization. The purpose of the study is to investigate the contextual use of brass bands in funerals, festivals and state functions in the Mid-Eweland of the Volta Region of Ghana. The sample for the study comprised selected brass bands within Peki, Kpando, Alavanyo and Ho. Specifically, ten (10) bands were visited for the study. Participant-observation, interview, field recording and musical transcriptions were tools used for data collection. The study revealed repertoire decisions, instrumentation templates, costume, and performance styles of the brass bands within the three contexts under review. It also pointed out the traditional musical elements employed in indigenizing funeral hymns and popular songs as part of their re-constructional processes. To be able to fulfil the indigenization dream, it is suggested that an eclectic collection of traditional instruments are made by band directors so they can play all indigenous traditional genres. Finally, it recommends that other band masters and future researchers emulate the examples of the Volta Region bands.