Abstract:
To fully participate in the Methodist Church’s singing tradition, the Singing Band in the Methodist Church Ghana was created purposely to specifically enable non-literates of the Fante community to sing in their local language—Fante. In present times, the church’s liturgy still mandates the Singing Band to perform during church service. Over the years however, the Singing Band in the Methodist Church has been greatly populated by literates. This thesis undertakes a historical and ethnographic study of the non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, Accra.
Employing Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity, the thesis investigates the history of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band as well as other socio-cultural issues responsible for the preservation of such a non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band despite the educational background of Band members in contemporary times. The study observes that because Methodism started in the Fante community, the non-literate singing tradition of the Band serves to preserve the cultural identity of the people. In general, the Singing Band in Calvary presents opportunity for displaying cultural elements and in a way shielding the tradition from modern influences. However, the study observes that despite these modern influences—as in costume and instrumentation and so forth— the study concludes that in the age of modernity it is impossible to shield a tradition from cultural influences. As the study has shown, culture is dynamic and the Singing Band in the Calvary Methodist Church reflects the blend of both traditional and modern socio-musical resources.
