University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC. A HISTORY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND, ADABRAKA, ACCRA. BY STEPHEN KOW ANDERSON (10636694) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN MUSIC. JUNE 2019 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I, Stephen Kow Anderson of the Department of Music, University of Ghana, Legon, hereby declare that this thesis with the exception of references, and quotations which have been identified, is entirely my own original work produced from research undertaken under supervision. ……..………………………. ………………………. STEPHEN KOW ANDERSON DATE (10636694) ……………………… ……………..………… PROF. AUSTIN O. EMIELU DATE (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) ………………………… …………………..… MR. TIMOTHY E. ANDOH DATE (CO-SUPERVISOR) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION I dedicate this work to the Anderson family and all members of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, Accra. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise: In all His words most wonderful; most sure in all His ways” (M.H.B 74). My greatest gratitude goes to God Almighty for His protection throughout my research. I am also grateful to my supervisors Prof. Austin O. Emielu and Mr Timothy E. Andoh for the enormous time they spent on my work. To especially Prof. Austin Emielu, I am very grateful for your advice, encouragement and assistance throughout the duration of my Master’s program. I am also appreciative of the Calvary Methodist Church and the Singing Band for their support and encouragement throughout my work. They were so happy when I announced to them that my thesis was about the Singing Band, most of them were glad and asked how they can contribute to make the work a success. I am very grateful to all The Church Leaders for granting me the permission to research on the Calvary Methodist Singing Band; the Executives of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band in addition past and present Band members who made themselves available to be interviewed. I am also obliged to my Father Very Rev. T. K. Anderson for his support, encouragement and advice on my Education. Also my gratitude goes to N. Laryea Akwetteh for proof-reading my work; may the good Lord bless you and your lovely family. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ...................................................................... 1 1.2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM ........................................................ 2 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................... 4 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY .................................................................................... 4 1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY .............................................................................. 5 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY ................................................................................ 5 1.7 LAYOUT OF STUDY ........................................................................................... 6 1.8 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY .................................................................................. 6 1.9 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 7 1.10 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 9 1.11 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS ...................... 11 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 13 2.1 EARLY BRITISH METHODIST MISSIONARIES ........................................... 13 2.2 INDIGENISATION OF METHODISM IN GHANA ......................................... 15 2.3 EBIBIDWOM (AKAN SACRED LYRICS) ....................................................... 19 2.4 SINGING BANDS ............................................................................................... 22 2.5 NATIONAL UNION OF METHODIST SINGING BANDS ............................. 26 CHAPTER THREE: A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND ................................................................................................................ 29 3.1 CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH ADABRAKA, ACCRA ......................... 29 3.2 THE FANTE CHURCH- FANTE ASOR ............................................................ 31 3.3 A CHURCH BUILDING FOR THE FANTE ASOR .......................................... 33 iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.4 ORGANISATIONS IN THE CHURCH .............................................................. 35 3.5 CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND ..................................................... 36 3.6 INFLUX OF LITERATES ................................................................................... 39 3.7 SPECIAL INNOVATIONS OF THE CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND .............................................................................................................................. 43 3.7.1 James Atto Scott-Bennin and the Singing Band ........................................... 43 3.7.2 Ten Lessons and Songs ................................................................................. 45 3.7.3 The First Record Disc, Playing of drums, and the Uniformity of the scarfs. 48 3.8 THE CHALLENGING MOMENT ...................................................................... 49 3.9 90TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (2015) ............................................... 51 3.10 THE 2019 FESTIVAL OF TEN LESSONS AND SONGS ............................. 53 CHAPTER FOUR: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND. ................................................................................................................................ 61 4.1 THE CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH’S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE PRESERVATION OF THE NON-LITERATE SINGING TRADITION. ............ 61 4.1.1 The Sunday School ....................................................................................... 62 4.1.2 The English and Fante Services/Songs, and the Reverend Ministers ........... 62 4.1.3 The Church members .................................................................................... 63 4.2 INDIVIDUAL LOVE FOR THE FANTE LANGUAGE AND THE SINGING BAND .............................................................................................................................. 64 4.3 MUSIC DIRECTORS .......................................................................................... 65 4.4 FLEXIBILITY OF THE SINGING BAND ......................................................... 65 4.5 COSTUME ........................................................................................................... 66 4.6 TEACHING METHODS DURING REHEARSAL ............................................ 70 4.7 INSTRUMENTATION ........................................................................................ 71 4.8 DANCING, CLAPPING AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION ........................ 71 4.9 PERFORMANCE ................................................................................................ 72 4.10 ANALYSIS OF THREE SINGING BAND MUSIC SCORES .......................... 76 4.11 THE SINGING BAND AND CULTURAL IDENTITY THEORY .................... 84 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................................................... 87 5.1 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 87 5.2 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 89 5.3 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 90 5.4 RECOMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 91 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................... 98 APPENDIX A: (MUSIC) TRANSLATED ENGLISH ANTHEMS TO FANTE. PSALM 150 AND HALLELUJAH CHORUS ALL BY G. F. HANDEL. MUSIC SHEET USED IN 1988 AND 1989. ............................................................................... 98 APPENDIX B: PICTURES ........................................................................................... 107 APPENDIX C: PROGRAMME FOR THE 44TH FESTIVAL OF TEN LESSONS AND SONGS .......................................................................................................................... 108 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Some of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band members from James town with the elites who joined them at Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka ................. 39 Figure 2: Prof. E.S. Aidoo giving a sermon in Church, in his traditional wear. ................ 40 Figure 3: Prof. E. S. Aidoo in his Singing Band costume being awarded by the church for his immense contribution towards the development of the church. ................... 41 Figure 4: Members of Calvary Methodist singing Band recessing with their hymn books to the left hand to their chest due to the fact that the recession hymn is not having a Fante translation.. ............................................................................................... 42 Figure 5: Members using palm branches to depict the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem during the Ten Lessons and Songs. ................................................... 45 Figure 6: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band performing during the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs being conducted by Brother Abraham Ekumah (current music director). ................................................................................................... 47 Figure 7: Executives, old Singing Band members and the Rev Minister behind the 90th anniversary cake on 28th June 2015. ................................................................... 53 Figure 8: The front cover of the 2019 Ten Lesson and Songs brochure. ............................ 55 Figure 9: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band Processing to take their seats in front of the Church. ......................................................................................................... 56 Figure 10: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band seated in front of the Church during the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs. .......................................................... 57 Figure 11: Michael Mbeah leading the Singing Band in one of the performance. ............. 58 Figure 12: The two keyboard accompanist, on the left is Obed Nyantakyi and the right is Stephen Kow Anderson. ..................................................................................... 58 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 13: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band, singing and dancing with joy during the offering time at the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and songs. .......................... 59 Figure 14: The Singing Band depicting early dressing costume by the early members in 1925 during a sing song program organized by the church on the 90th anniversary celebration of the Calvary Methodist Church. ................................ 66 Figure 15: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band in their different attires whilst wearing white head kerchief and cape for uniformity. ..................................................... 67 Figure 16: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band wearing different attires but wearing white head kerchief and cape for uniformity on 13th January 2019 at Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka, Accra. ................................................................. 67 Figure 17: The Men in Singing Band with some Wearing their Jampa and cloth whilst some too are wearing sown African print materials during Recession on 27th January 2019. ...................................................................................................... 68 Figure 18: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band in their funeral costume at an old memebers Funeral at Calvary Methodist Church Adabraka. ............................. 68 Figure 19 : Members of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band both men and women in their funeral costume................................................................................................... 69 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 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. ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Shortly after Methodism had taken root in Ghana in 1835, the Methodist missionaries and the whole church were faced with the challenge of getting non-literate members of the church to effectively participate in the church’s singing tradition. To overcome this challenge, a conscious effort was made by the church to indigenize its Western singing tradition, to suit non-literates members of the Fante community. These natives, who have not had any form of Western education, were therefore taught how to read and write in their local language during the church’s Sunday school. In the process, a singing group emerged out of this Sunday school. According to F. L. Bartels, this new singing group which would soon be called “Singing Band” led the singing in the “vernacular” in the church and also accompanied preachers on visits to surrounding villages (Bartels, 1965, p. 135). That is to say, the indigenization of singing in the Methodist church was to enable non-literates to fully participate in the church’s liturgy, and the message the church seeks to propagate, by singing in the Fante language. The Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka, formed in the year 1925 is one of the oldest Methodist churches in Accra. It is also the first Methodist church to be made a one- Society Circuit in Ghana1. Apart from the Singing Band, Calvary Methodist Church houses three other singing groups such as the Church Choir, Jewels Gospel Band, and Christ Little Band. The above mentioned singing groups of the church have their own specific rehearsal days and repertoire. And during Sunday services, they are all made to perform at specific 1In the Methodist Church, Circuits consist of one or more societies under the pastoral care of one or more ministers whilst society is the local organisation of the Methodist Church, meeting as one congregation for public worship and organised into classes under the supervision of the Leaders Meeting. 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh times. The Church Choir, for instance, leads the church in singing hymns and canticles. Christ Little Band, on the one hand, also sings the Fante sacred lyrics known as Ebibindwom whereas Jewels Gospel Band is in charge of praises and worship during church services. In present times, the church’s liturgy mandates the Singing Band to sing for the collection or “offertory”. Depending on the number of church members present during a Sunday Church service, the Singing Band may sing continuously for as long as thirty minutes. These offertory songs are varied compositions with danceable rhythms, written specifically for such purposes by Ghanaian composers. Apart from the danceable offertory songs, the Singing Band also includes some church hymns in their repertoire. To turn these hymns into offertory songs, the underlining rhythms of the hymns are syncopated, made danceable, and performed together with the main Singing Band songs. This conscious effort by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is well appreciated by church members as evident through their dancing to the danceable tunes and syncopated rhythms during Sunday church service. Although members of the church may seem to have embraced this interpretation, musicians in and outside the Calvary Methodist Church complain that what the Singing Band does is a misinterpretation of the songs they sing. Meanwhile, not analysing the external and internal influences that impact the performance of the band reflects one’s inability to fully comprehend and appreciate these influences and how they impact the performance. I argue, in this dissertation, that it is these internal and external cultural influences that have shaped and sustained the non-literate singing tradition of the Calvary Methodist Church Singing Band. 1.2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM In the Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka, most members of the Singing Band, have attained an appreciable level of Western education, and can therefore read and write. 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Some of these members are lawyers, bankers, national Security personnel, nurses, high school teachers and graduates. Despite the educational background of members of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, the group has maintained the non-literate tradition of singing in the Fante language; they would even go to the extent of translating specific English anthems into Fante2. While they may have been taught some English songs, most attempts made by music directors to introduce songs with English texts have been resisted by members of this Singing Band. This came to my attention when on one rehearsal day I attempted to teach them an English Song. Then they responded, “We don’t speak and understand English so we can’t learn an English song”. It is evident from the above that members of the Singing Band perceive the above as an attempt to end the non-literate singing tradition they have been observing since the inception of the Band. There is however no active effort by either the leadership of the Church or Band Directors to end or reform the non-literate singing tradition; rather, what band directors seek to do is to introduce some of the new practices (such as singing in English) they have witnessed in other Methodist Singing Bands in Accra. Performance of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is well appreciated by church members as evident through their dancing to the danceable tunes and syncopated rhythms during Sunday church service. Although members of the church may seem to have embraced this interpretation, musicians in and outside the Calvary Methodist Church complain (in their local dialects and sometimes in English) about the performance of the church’s Singing Band3. To these trained musicians, what the Singing Band does is a misinterpretation of the songs they sing. However, without analysing the external and internal influences that have 2 Such anthems include the G.F. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. 3 These trained musicians explain their perception that the Singing Band’s interpretations of repertoire are incorrect in dialects such as Fante, Twi, Ga, and Ewe. The most common is the Fante phrase “Singing Bandfo tow ma ɔyɛ wɔn dɛw” literally “Members of the Singing Band sing what they perceive to be sweet” rather than what is written on paper. 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh shaped the Singing Band traditions, one cannot fully comprehend and appreciate the music and performance. Considering the above problem this thesis investigates—through history and ethnography—factors that have shaped and preserved such a non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, despite the improved educational background of its members. 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following questions guided the research: 1. Why do the Calvary Methodist Singing Band members continue to practice the non- literate singing tradition despite their present educational background? 2. What are the socio-cultural and historical influences that have shaped the performance tradition of the Calvary Methodist singing Band members? 3. To what extent can this non-literate singing tradition survive in the future? 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY The research objectives are to: 1. Investigate why the Calvary Methodist Singing Band members continue to practice the non-literate singing tradition despite their present educational background. 2. Examine socio-cultural and historical influences that have shaped the performance tradition of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka. 3. Examine the extent to which this non-literate singing tradition can survive in the future. 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY After 90 years of being in existence, the Calvary Methodist Singing Band continues to strictly adhere to the non-literate singing tradition of performing songs in their local language and observing the traditional cloth-wearing style despite the academic background of the band members. Its sustenance therefore requires a more conscious examination of the history and ethnography of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. James Varrick Armaah in his thesis “Text and Tune (Tone) in Ghanaian Hymnology – A Case Study of the Christain Asor Ndwom of The Methodist Church Ghana” (2016) looked briefly at how the formation of the Singing Band in the Methodist church helped in the translation of more English hymns into Fante, whilst Matilda Quainoo (2014) also looked at the formation of the Singing Band and the indigenization of the Methodist Hymn Book in her work “The Appropriation and Incorporation of Popular Music in the Methodist Church, Ghana since 1980”. Despite the efforts of the aforementioned authors, the area is still under researched. I seek to investigate, historically and ethnographically, factors that account for the preservation of a non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka,—despite the educational background of Singing Band members. 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY This research will add to the existing literature on Singing Bands in the Methodist Church, Ghana and will also serve as a resource material for churches that wish to preserve and impact the singing tradition of their singing groups. The research will further illustrate how, through history and ethnography, one can document factors that account for the emergence and preservation of a non-literate singing tradition in the mainline (Orthodox) churches. 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.7 LAYOUT OF STUDY The layout of the study consists of five chapters: Chapter one is the introduction and deals with the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose and objectives of the study, the research questions, significance of the study as well as the research methodology. Chapter two review literature on the Methodist Church of Ghana Singing Bands Union. To achieve this purpose, the chapter engaged with literature that discusses the historical background of the Methodist Church in Ghana and the level of its indigenization over the years. The intent is to show how these developmental processes birthed and impacted the Singing Band in the Methodist Church. Chapter three gives a historical account of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Before doing this however, the chapter gives a brief history of the Calvary Methodist Church. This is to enable readers to understand not only the development trajectory of the Calvary Methodist Church, but also, the cultural setting within which the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is situated and how that setting influences the non-literate singing tradition of the Singing Band. Chapter four focuses on the ethnography of the Singing Band through the history of the Band. The chapter will highlight ethnographically how the non-literate singing tradition of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band has been maintained over the years despite the educational background of band members and how these factors are impacting the performance of the Singing Band. The chapter will further examine some of Band’s musical scores to highlight their performance skills. Lastly chapter five will be summary, findings, conclusion and recommendations. 1.8 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY A major limitation I encountered on the field has to do with access to an up-to-date documented data on the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. For a singing group that is ninety 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh four years old, with most of its members being lawyers, bankers, lecturers, nurses, and university students, one would assume that the complete history of this group is well documented and preserved. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Minutes of meeting proceedings, for the past years, were also not available. I therefore had to rely on some individual Singing Band members who had fond memories of past events the Band organized, as a result of one or two photographs they had in their possession. Also, the Calvary Singing Band has no video recordings of both the special events they organized or participated in. And so while I wanted to watch some of their past performances so as to understand their present performance, it seemed I could only achieve that aim by reviewing the sheet music in their possession. 1.9 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK As stated earlier, this work investigates historically and ethnographically, factors that account for the preservation of a non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band despite the educational background of band members, and how these factors are impacting the performance of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band members. This non- literate singing tradition has become a form of an identity for the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Because of the focus of this work, I would employ the Cultural Identity theory as advanced by Stuart Hall (1989) as my theoretical framework. Hall advances two ways of thinking about cultural identity: The first position defines 'cultural identity' in terms of the idea of one, shared culture, a sort of collective 'one true self', hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed 'selves', which people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common. Within the terms of this definition, our cultural identities reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes which provide us, as 'one people', with stable, unchanging and continuous frames of reference and meaning, beneath the shifting divisions and vicissitudes of our actual history. This 'oneness', underlying 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh all the other, more superficial differences, is the truth, the essence…… (Hall, 2014, p. 223) In discussing the second position of the cultural identity theory, Hall asserts that: This second position recognizes that, as well as the many points of similarity, there are also critical points of deep and significant difference which constitute 'what we really are': or rather - since history has intervened - 'what we have become'. We cannot speak for very long, with any exactness, about 'one experience, one identity', without acknowledging its other side - the differences and discontinuities… Cultural identity, in this second sense, is a matter of 'becoming' as well as of 'being'. It belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture. Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant trans-formation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, they are subject to the continuous 'play' of history, culture and power… (Hall, 2014, p. 225) Hall discusses cultural identity as both “a sort of collective ‘one true self” and “a matter ‘becoming’ as well as ‘being’”. By this, he is making the point that these two forces between collectivity and individual experiences are always in play with one another and that cultural identity is a negotiation between the experiences of individuals and the ideas, traditions, institutions, and languages that bind a group of people together. Although the initial practitioners of the non-literate traditions were non-literates who could not read and write according to colonial sense, the Singing Band of the Calvary Methodist Church now has both literate and non-literate practicing the same tradition meant purposefully for non- literates. Thus, while the non-literate singing tradition is being maintained by the Singing Band, the practitioners have changed and this confirms Hall’s assertion that, “everything which is historical, undergo constant transformation”. With this common historical background, the Calvary Methodist Singing Band sees themselves as a group that sings in the native Fante language. It is this cultural identity that defines the Calvary Methodist 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Singing Band and differentiates them from the three other singing groups in the Calvary Methodist Church. In this work, Hall’s theory of cultural identity would be used to examine the history and ethnography of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Doing this will help to explore: a) the extent to which the non-literate singing tradition that is being practiced by the current literate members, “reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes……beneath the shifting divisions and vicissitudes” of the Singing Band’s history, and b) the impact of the non-literate singing tradition on the aesthetics of the Singing Band. 1.10 METHODOLOGY This study as historical and ethnographic research employed methods of data collection and analysis from history and ethnography. These are face-to-face interviews, participant observation, Oral history and focus group discussion. Ethnography is the study of social interactions, behaviors and perception that occur within groups, teams, organizations and communities (Reeves, Kaper & Hodges, 2008). Ethnographers immerse themselves in settings and can generate rich understanding of the social action that occurs (ibid). Participant observation and face-to-face interviews were used to collect extensive data on detailed history of the band and cultural influences that have shaped the band over the years. Selected Singing Band music directors, individuals who used to be in the band, past and present executives, older and younger band members, national Singing Band music directors and presidents were interviewed. Unstructured interviews using open ended questions were used for the face-to-face interviews with these personalities. This helped in the acquiring of more information as respondents had the opportunity to frame the answers in their own words. 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As a deputy Organist of the Calvary Methodist Church for the past four years to date, I have partially been helping the Calvary Methodist Singing Band but due to my research I fully participated in their activities both within and outside the church. This enabled me to immerse myself into the group which further helped me to gain deep knowledge about the intricacies and inner workings of the Singing Band. During this period of participant observation, I also had an insight into the Singing Band’s activities and traditions that I would not have gotten through the face-to-face interviews. Focus group discussion was used as a data collecting tool. This consist of a group of 10 or fewer individuals being interviewed at the same time. A focus group discussion is a good way to gather together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest. The group of participants is guided by a moderator who introduces topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves (Rugger, 1988). Focus group can be used as a means of checking facts and validating data. The idea of a focus group, for this work, helped especially, band members who have either not been told of the Singing Band’s history or forgotten some past events they witnessed. The focus group discussion also served as a platform for Singing Band members who have been left with deceptive ideas of the Singing Band’s history to know the developmental trajectory of the group. Since my research has a historical aspect, I used methods from oral history. In the words of the Italian oral historian Alessandro Portelli, “oral sources tell us not just what people did, but what they wanted to do, what they believed they were doing, what they now think they did. Subjectivity is as much the business of history as the more visible “facts” (History workshop journal 12, Autumn 1981). This section of the methodology focused on relatives of some deceased band members. These relatives were contacted to kindly obtain 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh information on the input of their deceased family members. The information were either witnessed by or told to the relatives when the deceased were alive. Also some tools that helped in my research were notepad, audiovisuals (audio recorder, camera for pictures and videos). These instruments helped in the taking of notes, pictures as well as the recording of performances at the various stages of data collections on the field. After my field work, the information gathered through these instruments helped me to notice patterns that were not noticed during my fieldwork. Secondary data sources were also used. They included written documents such as music scores, books journals, anniversary brochures, library and archival sources. My main intent for using such varied methods—primary and secondary sources— in the gathering of historical and ethnographic information is ensure that my field data is well triangulated during the compilation and analyses I used phenomenology and inductive reasoning in my data analysis. Phenomenological analysis offers understanding on how an individual in a particular given context makes sense of a given phenomenon. 1.11 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS In the contest of this thesis and using the colonial sense the following words are defined to enhance a clear understanding of the work. Literate--An individual who has acquired western education and can read and write the English Language. Non-Literate--An individual, who has not attained western Education, therefore cannot read and write in English. 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Non-literate Singing Tradition—It is a singing tradition meant for natives who have not attained Western education and can therefore not read, write and sing in English. In this singing tradition, songs are supposed to be written and sung in the Fante native language and also translated to Fante when the song is in English. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter seeks to review literature on the Methodist Church of Ghana Singing Bands Union. To achieve this purpose, the chapter will engage with literature that discusses the historical background of the Methodist Church in Ghana and the level of its indigenisation over the years. The intent is to show how these developmental processes birthed and impacted the Singing Band in the Methodist Church. 2.1 EARLY BRITISH METHODIST MISSIONARIES In his book “The Roots of Ghana Methodism” Bartels (1965) asserts that Methodism in Ghana took root in a soil which had been filled, if intermittently, by successive generations of Christians of different denominations from as far back as the fifteenth century. When the Rev John Rhodes Dunwell, the first Methodist missionary to Ghana, arrived in 1835, he was taking his place in a line of pioneers-priests of the Catholic Church from Portugal and from France, clergymen of the Reformed Church of Holland and of the Church of England, and missionaries of the Basel Evangelical Missionary society. He arrived at Cape Coast, one of the principal towns in the coastal area, at a time when groups of African Christians were preparing, unaided, a place in which the seed of Methodism could flourish. It was the story of these African Christians and the news of the fertile ground they were which induced the Missionary committee of the British Methodist Conference to send Dunwell to Ghana, then known as the Gold Coast. Together with some of the local Christian pioneers, although he lived among them for only six months, Dunwell sowed the seed which has grown into the mature plant of the Methodist Church Ghana. (Bartels 1965, p.1) From the above assertion by Bartels, it is evident that the Methodist church in Ghana was started by the British Methodist conference in the year 1835 and before they arrived in the country, there had been some missionary works started by different Churches in the then Gold Coast. The church, being implanted by the British definitely, started with their way of 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh worship. When the Methodist church was first established at Cape Coast in the year 1835, the medium of instruction was the English Language— the liturgy, the Bible, as well as songs for worship were all in English. Meanwhile, the population along the coast of the Gold Coast was almost entirely illiterate. (Ocran, 2006, p. 147). Like all Western Churches in Ghana at the time, the Methodist Church strongly reflected its British origins in ethos, its organization and policy, worship and discipline (Amuah & Nyamful, 2014, p. 66). Oosthuizen, (1968) establishes that since the early missionaries did not expect the African converts to live in a cultural vacuum, they substituted the music, dance, and other activities of their native culture which they had prohibited, with elements from Euro American culture. Hymns or Christian music familiar to each sponsoring denomination or mission were planted into the new African/Ghanaian musical scene. The music, theological, philosophical, psychological, and social phenomena related to the Christian religion reached the indigenous people of the Gold Coast (Ghana) in a foreign language: English for those denominations originating from Britain, that is, Anglican and Methodist missions, German from the Swiss and Bremen Presbyterians, and Latin, in the case of the Catholics. This negligence on the path of the missionaries however, proved to be the beginning of a major challenge- the challenge of losing converts. Making music in traditional African societies, such as Ghana usually fit peculiar purposes and not every music could be performed anytime without recourse to the situation (Armaah, 2016, p.23). Ghanaians were used to music before the arrival of the Europeans. The performances of music were much of a social activity. The activities were wide-range and included naming ceremonies, funerals and marriages. Every social gathering or activity was accompanied by some sort of music. In the eighteenth century, When Rev. John Wesley established the Methodist Church; his brother Charles supported him by writing hymns for their worship. Thus, with the evangelical revival of John Wesley and the prolific hymn 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh writing of his brother Charles Wesley, Methodism, was born in song (Wesley, 1779, p. 3). In Ghana, the Coastal Fantes had challenges understanding the English liturgy and hymns of the Wesleyan missionaries. Also, the missionaries frowned on the culture of the coastal Fantes, which further made missionary work in Ghana difficult. According to Turkson, “for music to have any significance in divine worship, it must be understood by the worshippers; the worshipers cannot know the significance, nor enjoy worship if music and scriptures are alien to them” (Turkson n.d.:22). During Freeman’s tenure of office however, many of the converts went back to their traditional religion because everything the missionary did— including the music— sounded foreign to them4. The loss of members constituted a serious problem, a situation which needed an immediate way out (Ocran, 2006, p. 149). With time, the preachers used interpreters to explain the lyrics of the hymns to the uneducated members of the church and also on evangelism missions. Andoh writes that so powerful was hymn- singing an evangelizing tool for the mission that a large number of people were converted and became attracted to the Methodist church (Andoh, 2008, p. 86). The need to incorporate African cultural practices of religious worship into the church was thus spearheaded by some missionaries as a result of their experiences in the course of their missionary work (Chitando, 2005, p. 30). In brief, the introduction of these interpreters had a positive role in the hymn singing and evangelism of the Methodist, Church i.e. more souls were won as a result of this development. 2.2 INDIGENISATION OF METHODISM IN GHANA The situation of losing members due to the “foreignness” of Christianity further led to the emergence of Ebibindwom, a sacred musical tradition of the Methodist church Ghana. Ocran argues that the Africanisation of Christianity may be said to have begun here, 4 Freeman was one of the early Methodist missionaries that visited Ghana. 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh developing at a slow pace (Ocran, 2006, p. 149). Although Ocran’s argument has some relevance, it is worth noting that his assertion of the emergence of Africanisation of Christianity represents such generalizations that tend to neglect the experiences of other African societies— in this respect, the influences of early missionary works in other African countries. Also, the evolution of Ebibindwom in the Methodist church does not mark the Africanisation of Christianity in Ghana. This argument can be traced to the early missionaries that were brought to Cape Coast by the British conference of Methodist church. For instance, when Dunwell arrived at the shores of Cape Coast as the first missionary of the British Methodist Church due to the activities of other earlier missionaries from different churches he met some educated individuals who could speak and read English upon his arrival, this made his interactions and evangelism easier because there was no language barrier, but through the service of an interpreter(Joseph Smith) he was able to communicate and evangelize to the coastal natives who could not read and write. This enhanced his evangelism. According to Bartels, Dunwell held class-meetings and one-on-one interactions with natives on Thursdays and Fridays. “The Thursday and Friday class-meeting took about three hours each, for Dunwell welcomed the opportunity of talking to each member for about five minutes, through his interpreter, Joseph Smith”(Bartels, 1965, p. 15). Rev. George Wrigley was the second Methodist missionary from Britain to succeed Rev. Dunwell, he played a major role in the indigenisation of the Methodist church through the use of interpreters, translating of some of the liturgy of the church from English into Fante, learning of the Fante language and preaching in Fante himself. According to Bartels (1967): Just as urgent was the need for a deeper understanding of the gospel message. Obviously this need could not be satisfied as adequately through English as it could be in Fante, the local language. Therefore, with the help of Thomas Hughes, his interpreter, Wrigley applied himself unsparingly to the task of 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh learning Fante and translating into it the conference catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and portions of the New Testament. He made history when, after only eight months in the country, he read the Ten Commandments in Fante on 28th May, preached in Fante on 20 August and used Fante for baptism on 3 September 1837. Being a typical Englishman he was agreeably surprised that his sermon in Fante was ‘understood by all within hearing’ (sic). It could be argued that, contrary to Ocran’s view, Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman was not the first missionary to start the Africanisation of Methodism or Christianity in Ghana. The process had long been initiated by early missionaries that arrived in Ghana before him. In other words, Ebibidwom came to enhance these initial efforts— the use of English-to-Fante translators as well as translating of the English liturgy to Fante— by the early missionaries. Apart from the domestic challenges that led to the various developments by the early missionaries in Ghana, the missionaries were also faced with similar challenges of having to translate the Bible to European vernacular languages and activists like Martin Luther helped in overcoming some of these challenges. The processes that helped to overcome these challenges were therefore not foreign to the missionaries, for the efforts of and changes by Martin Luther and other activists served as models that would helped to overcome similar challenges in the future. According to Shepherd (1952): The change of attitude towards the indigenous language of the Gold Coast by the Protestant missionaries had historical precedence in the high priority given the mother tongue in the reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther. Before the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, many a parish priest could not even afford to own a Bible. For laymen, the lack of access to the scriptures was due not only to the prohibitive cost of hand-copied Bibles, but also by the churches refusal to allow the Bible to be translated into the European vernacular languages (p. 38). 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Like Shepherd, Hustard also writes, With the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg, one of the cardinal objectives of the Reformation - a literate populace with the ability to read the Bible in their mother tongues was achievable. Empowering the mass of believers to be active participants rather than spectators in worship was yet another principle upon which the Reformers encouraged the use of the vernacular. In the cradle of the Reformation, Germany, Luther made available both the Bible and the Hymn Book in the common language, German. Many age-old Latin songs were thus replaced with vernacular hymn versions set to German folk tunes. (Hustard, 1981, p. 108) In Ghana, The Basel Mission took it upon itself to translate the Bible, other liturgies and Educational materials into Twi language. Bartels writes, Christaller served the Basel Mission in Ghana from 1853 to 1868 and included in his writings in the Twi language a translation of the Four Gospels (1859), the New Testament(1864), Psalms and Proverbs (1866) and the whole Bible(completed in manuscript after he had returned to Europe) in 1871.His outstanding contribution, however, was a standard dictionary which has been described by no less a linguist than Dr I. C. Ward as a dictionary in the first rank of dictionaries, or indeed of any Language.” Equally notable was the encouragement given to African leaders of the Basel mission Church to assist in the production of books in the mother tongue for use in schools and by the adult literates. The History of the Gold Coast and Asante, by the Rev. Carl Christian Reindorf, originally Written in the Ga Language, later translated into English by the author(preface:26 April 1889) and published in Switzerland, is a remarkable achievement in the use of the oral tradition. Reindorf claimed to have collected his material from over two hundred people as well as from published books. (Bartels, 1965, p. 73) The efforts by the Basel mission served as reference to and inspired the Methodist Church when they also realized and saw the need to translate their liturgy and Educational materials into the Fante language. Bartels posits, When the Methodist Church turned its mind to producing for its members and schools some reading materials in Fante (Which, like Twi, is a dialect of the parent language, Akan), the writings of Christaller and his associated proved to be an invaluable source of reference. Seeing in 1859 the need 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh arising from the marked inefficiency of Methodist Schools of introducing lesson books in the vernacular, the Methodist Church turned to a number of Twi School books obtained from the Basel missionaries for transcribing into Fante for use in its schools. Furthermore, in preparing a Fante word list which, as will be seen later, called a halt to wasteful experiments with Fante spelling forms and made it possible for the complete Bible in Fante to be published at the time it was, the committee which the Methodist Church set up for the purpose, drew heavily on the resources of Christaller’s dictionary. (Bartels, 1965, p. 73) 2.3 EBIBIDWOM (AKAN SACRED LYRICS) Ebibindwom was started in the Methodist church by older female members during the tenure of the Reverend Thomas Birch Freeman in 1838 (Turkson, 1975, p. 4; Mensah, 1960, p. 183). According to Bartels, The Methodist Church retained one kind of African music- the ‘lyric’-of the solo-cum-chorus variety, its main features being a free rhythm, considerable latitude for improvisation by the soloist, sombre dignity in the counterpoint harmony of the chorus and ending in a minor Key”. Its root lay in the funeral dirge of the people. In the hands of the Rev. Gaddiel Acquaah, this art form showed promise of becoming the foundation of African Church music in Methodism; Osabarima, the lyrics sung at the service of inauguration of the conference on Friday 38 July 1961 is an excellent example. (Bartels, 1965, p. 234) Bartels’ assertion highlights the emergence, performance style, and one of the key exponents of Ebibindwom. While one may argue that this art form cannot be linked to any particular Ghanaian or Fante musical genre as Bartels asserts, it is worth noting that musical borrowings or acculturation has always been in existence5. And the fact that these borrowings cannot be traced to one particular musical style does not suggest an absence of 5 Emeritus Professor Kwabena Nketia, in some of his public speeches at the Department of Music and Institute of African Studies, U.G. Legon, has argued that musical borrowings are good and must be encouraged. His line of argument is influenced by the use of the pianoforte by Africans and the fact that the pianoforte is now considered an instrument of adoption. 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the process6. In his book “The Development of Church Music in Ghana”, A.A. Agordoh posits that Ebibindwom was a response by Fante natives who “found Western music inadequate or unsuitable for expressing their religious emotions” (Agordoh, 2011, p. 35). According to Agordoh, one of the early missionaries of the Cape Coast Methodist church, Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman, in the course of his missionary work, was “not convinced whether or not the non-literate African members of the church understood the text of English hymns”, asked the “natives to sing any traditional tune to Bible text” (Agordoh ibid)7. Mensah postulates that “this Akan Church lyric could be any local musical type divested of its usual rhythmic complexities and made simple for everyone to join in” (Mensah, 1960, p. 183). For these musical genre to be spread to other Methodist congregations, “teams…were sent round many parts of the country to teach it to Christians… the singing of the lyrics during worship, in the Methodist church, therefore, became a widespread practice as well as an accepted tradition” (Mensah, 1960, p. 183). Rev. Freeman’s task to the non-literate African members of the church gave rise to two types of traditional adaptation in terms of Ebibindwom lyrics— the old and the new. The old is based on already available indigenous musical texts, where Ebibindwom performers change and introduce keywords such as Ewuradze Nyankopɔn (Almighty God) and other Christian words to replace the old lyrics. The new is based on direct Biblical texts (Turkson, 1972, pp. 6-7). Because of the familiarity natives had with Ebibindwom— in terms of its lyrics and performance style— the people found it easy to sing songs within the 6 It is evident that Ebibindwom has direct affinity with Fante musical genre(s). Also, one would have to consider Bartels’ position in this matter. Beyond being an historian, he was also a Fante native, and he rose to the position of a Principal at Mfantsipim— one of Ghana’s prestigious Methodist Boys school. Bartels’ background, thus, plays a key role in his description of the performance style as well as the root of Ebibindwom. 7 At the early stages of its development, the lead was taken by Fante traditional musicians. They were indeed responsible for its creation and growth. 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh framework of this new art form which further played an influential role in the learning of scriptures by non-literate members of the Methodist church (Atiemo, 2006). In the performance of Ebibindwom, “the cantor must not only be familiar with the biblical passage being preached on but must also be theologically aware so as to fit that spontaneous music piece in the whole counsel of God…” (Dickson, 1984, p.109). During Christian worship in the Methodist Church, Ebibindwom may be used as an interlude to enhance a sermon. To further elaborate on Ebibindwom musical genre, Williamson groups the traditional or cultural resources of Ebibidwom into two. In the process of delivering a sermon, an Ebibindwom cantor interrupts the preacher by exclaiming Akan church lyrics, to which the chorus also responds. This style of performance, according to Agordoh, “is similar to Ghanaian traditional story telling during which anyone who gets moved can come in with a short interlude” (Agordoh, 2011, p. 35). This is the first cultural resource of Ebibindwom. To the Fante, this act of interruption is known as Mboguo and may either be a diversion, similar to the entr’acte in Western dramatic production, or may serve the purpose of commentary on the preacher’s theme or some aspect of it. These musical interruptions may take the form of a regular metrical song or of a recitative (call and response). The second cultural resource dwells on the singing styles—Asafo Mmobome and Asrayere—of Fante Asafo companies as well as the Adenkum musical type (Williamson, 1958). It is worth stating that call-and-response and the use of Fante texts serve as key elements in both the first and second cultural resources. Meanwhile, experts in Akan Sacred Lyricist differentiate between Adenkum-derived Ebibindwom which they refer to as the old type and Ebibindwom based on biblical text, which they refer to as the new type (Turkson, 1975, p. 6). 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh From the above literature on Ebibindwom, it is evident that the musical genre marks the first time British missionaries fully accepted the traditional music of the indigenous society into the church. For initial effort in Africanizing the church was mostly translating of English liturgical materials into the local language. This did not however change the culture of worship that the British Methodist missionaries brought to us. But the introduction and acceptance of Ebibindwom proves otherwise. 2.4 SINGING BANDS In the Methodist Church, the emergence of singing bands can be traced to three groups, namely: the Temperance movement, Band of Hope, and Sunday school. This section would, thus, provide detail information on how these three groups contributed to the emergence of singing bands in the Methodist church. The Temperance movement originally started in the United States of America and later Britain. The movement was a response to the excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages. In the 1800 for instance, Britain experienced “social and domestic problems caused by excessive consumption of alcohol in society” (McAllister, 2012). The formation of the Temperance movement was Christian-based and the aim was to get people to “pledge to abstain from spirits e.g. whiskey, and be more moderate in their consumption of other alcoholic drinks” (McAllister ibid). This idea of totally abstaining from alcohol, according to McAllister, spread throughout the whole of Britain by 1832 “encouraging people to help deal with the problem of alcoholism by saying that they will no longer drink intoxicating beverages which was known as ‘Signing the pledge’”. Meanwhile, the challenge of excessive drinking was not limited to only adults. Children below age 16 were also affected. According to McAllister; 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ...an idea was then suggested for a special temperance group to be set up for children under sixteen. Its aim will be to teach children about Christianity and also the problems associated with drinking and to encourage them to live a healthy, alcohol-free life style. In November 1847, the first meeting of this group took place in Leeds, About 300 children attended .The group became known as the ‘Band of hope’(2012) The above are the movement and happenings at Britain when R. J. Ghartey visited Britain. When he returned to Anomabo and encountered the same alcoholism issues among his people, he applied the same experience by forming a Temperance movement at Anomabo. Bartels writes, On a visit to England the year before Ghartey had been introduced to the Temperance Movement. He saw in that organization a way of winning his people from the habit of drinking the palm-wine and imported liquor. Returning the same year, he informed, with characteristics swiftness, a Temperance Society at Anomabu where he had his business under the name of Ghartey Brothers. For the benefit of members of the society he built a water-tank in stone and mortar costing some 150 Pounds, which remained the main source of good drinking water until pipe-borne water was connected to the town in 1939. The society came to be called Akonomnsu (water-drinking people). It was Ghartey’s intention that Akonomnsu should give every support to the Church in all aspects of its work. To that end he organized a section into a ‘Band of Hope’ with the special responsibility of leading the singing in vernacular at Church services and thus provided a model for the ‘Singing Band, the choir for non-English- speaking men and women, which became an important part of the Ghana Methodist Church. Nor was that all. Ghartey also introduced the’ cover-shoulder’ or Cabasroto—an imitation of the English blouse- in order to cover the semi-nudity of the illiterate class of women. He first tried the experiment with his own maidservants and later extended it to the Band of Hope from which the fashion spread throughout the country and, beyond, to Nigeria. (1965, p. 82) The above assertion by Bartels highlights the motivation behind Ghartey’s local movement and his formation of a Band of Hope in Ghana. The Band of Hope at Anomabo’s main mission was to teach the non-literates how to read and understand Fante and also sing 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in Fante. This would later serve as a model for the formation of the Methodist Singing Band at Cape Coast. In 1889, Ghartey’s model was championed by Rev. J. B. Anaman at Cape Coast who later gave it the name Singing Band. The Singing Band was thus, founded in the year 1889 by Rev. Anaman8. The Singing Band, as started by Rev. Anaman, came out of the Sunday schools. As stated above, the band maintained the main purpose of Ghartey’s Band of Hope—to teach the non-literates how to read and understand Fante and also sing in Fante. The intention was to also help non-literates to read and understand the church's liturgy to enhance an effective and efficient singing in Fante. This was necessary because it was during this time that many hymns and church’s literature were being translated into Fante. The development was a major boost in the indigenization of the Methodist church in Ghana. With the Sunday school, everybody was brought on board. The majority of the coastal population who could not read their own native language were taught how to do so and this enabled them to participate fully during church service. While the educated were singing their English hymns, the non-literates —Sunday school members— also sung their translated version in Fante. Terry Coppin stressed the importance of the Sunday school to the church by saying “Let the brethren endeavor to make this institution (i.e. the Sunday school) as interesting as possible so as to attract the young. For it is certain that the Sunday school is the nursery of the church” (Bartels, 1965, p. 135). Coppin’s statement suggests further attempts by the then church leaders to help in the indigenization process. Bartels summarizes by saying: 8 In his attempt to build the Singing Band, Rev Anaman translated English songs into Fante for the Band. He compiled these translations into a book which he calls “The Hymns about Salvation” (Nkwagye ho Ndwom). The book featured songs that were mostly from the Sankey hymn book. Some of the songs translated from Sankey are Lend A Hand (Sankey No. 764), ―Wait And Murmur Not‖ (Sankey No. 710), ―When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder‖ (Sankey No. 783), ―Precious Blood Of My Saviour‖ (White Robes),―Wonderful Words Of Life‖ (Sankey No. 357), ―That Old Story Is True‖ (Sankey No. 856), ―All To Jesus I Surrender‖ (Sankey No. 601), ―Count Your Blessings‖ (Sankey No. 745), ―Behold Me Standing At The Door‖ (Sankey No. 378), ―Yes For Me‖ (Sankey No. 664), ―The City Of Jasper Wall, Happy Day‖ (Heart and Voice). 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Invariably a singing Band grew out of the Sunday school, and not only led the singing in the vernacular in the church, but also accompanied preachers on their visits to the surrounding villages. The Band throve on a collection of hymns translated from English into Fante by the Rev. J.B. Anaman, and published in 1893 under the title Nkwagye hu Ndwom (Hymns about Salvation).With these hymns, and through the model Singing Band which Anaman himself organized in 1889 at Cape Coast, the Sunday Schools harnessed the Ghanaian’s love of singing and thereby brought the Ghana Methodist Church in step with world Methodism which is known to have been born in song. Sunday school songs, heard almost daily from the lips of girls, whether working in the rubber rooms of mercantile houses, or selling in the markets and streets, or going on a journey, showed the extent of the influence of the Sunday school in the community (1965, p. 135). From the above it is clear that the activity of the singing bands contributed immensely to the indigenization of music in the church. The singing bands were well received by the indigenous people because they could identify with the local songs they sang. They made a lot of following amongst the local people. Their activities mounted more pressure on leadership to see the need to do more translation of English Hymns into Fante. It is the works of the composers earlier mentioned and the work of the singing band’s that spearheaded the collection of locally composed Fante Hymns. At the Methodist synod of 1935, the Rev. F.C.F. Grant, who later became the chairman of the Methodist Church Ghana, was tasked to translate hymns from the British Methodist Hymn Book. He also appealed to ministers and lay-men with much knowledge in literature to assist in the translation of hymns. Rev. Grant and his team were able to translate a great number of hymns into Fante. He also added his own compositions and those of Rev. Gaddiel R. Acquaah and Rev. A.B. Dickson. These two ministers were of a great importance to the work of Rev. Grant. Christian Asor Ndwom Fofor (2012) 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.5 NATIONAL UNION OF METHODIST SINGING BANDS As the Singing Band grew and spread to almost all societies in the country, they found it imperative to constitute an association. The Union of Methodist Singing Bands was born. All activities including the usual singing role were streamlined to help the church indigenise her way of singing. Several meetings and music workshops were held to formalize their way of singing (Sanneh, 2000). I had an interview with Yaw Mensah Kingsford9 on 5th February 2019 at the Accra diocesan office and he said that in 1961 when the Methodist church became autonomous there were a lot of Singing Bands in most societies without a Union, so it was during 1969 during Methodist church conference at Sekondi10 that the late Rev J. K. Foh –Amoaning and the Rev. Micah Edu-Buandoh devoted some attention to the Singing Bands due to the high number of Singing Bands represented at conference, so the elite in the band at that time were tasked to start the Union and Bro E. S. Aidoo, a lawyer and then chairman of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band Adabaraka, Accra was invited to be the first president of the National Union of Methodist Singing Band(NUMSB), Ghana. Under the able leadership of Prof. E. S. Adu they met in Accra and drafted the constitution for the National Union which was approved by the Church. The Methodist constitution (2000) defines a society as a local organization of the Methodist church, meeting as one congregation for public worship, and organised into classes under the supervision of the leaders meeting (2000, p. 91). Circuit also consists of one or more societies under the pastoral care of one or more ministers. It is a distinct authoritative unit within a diocese, in which usually several societies, conveniently situated for the purpose, are banded together for pastoral oversight, mutual support and Christian 9 Mr Yaw Mensah Kingsford Composed the National Anthem of the National Union of the Methodist Singing Band, Ghana, former 2nd Deputy Director of music (1999-2000), 1st Deputy Director of music (2000-2004), Director of music(2004-2008),He is currently the Diocesan President of the Accra Diocesan Singing Band, Ghana. 10 Sekondi is a town in the Western Region of Ghana 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh service whilst a Diocese is composed of a number of circuits in the same area, as conference shall from time to time determine (2000, p. 84). Each society in the Methodist Church has s a Singing Band, Circuits also have a circuit Singing Band formed from the members of the various society Singing Bands in a circuit and a Diocesan Singing Band also forms its Band from the circuits Singing Band members in the Diocese. Membership of the National Union consists of Singing Bands from all Dioceses of the Methodist church Ghana and affiliated overseas branches. Each of this level is being led by Executives who manage the affairs of the various Singing Bands at each level either society, circuit, diocese and National (Mensah, 2019). The National Union Oversee the Diocesan Singing Bands activities, the Diocese also supervise the circuit Singing Band whilst the circuits likewise manage the society. The handbook of the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands states the aims and objectives of the National union: Its aims and objectives formulated by the first National Committee and approved by the conference of the Methodist Church Ghana were: i. To worship God through singing ii. To bring together all the Singing Bands in the country with a view to assisting them in matters of organisation and education of its members iii. To hold Biennial Conference at which active fellowship will be shared by as many members of all Singing Bands as possible and general problems facing the Bands will be discussed. iv. To provide a pool from which the various Bands can obtain songs and other materials for use in their societies. The above clearly designates the aims of the National Union, during an interview with Prince Akwesi Twum11 on 29th January 2019 at Legon Presec, I asked him if the National 11 2nd Deputy Director of Music (2013-2017), He is currently the 1st Deputy Director of Music. 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Union have been able to achieve the above aims over the years and he said: the Union have really improved singing among members since its inception through the organization of conferences, training of music directors, workshops and effective supervision of the Diocese and that the singing Band is no more a Fante Band because it has now spread all over Ghana inculcating non Fante languages besides the national Union has been able to make the union very multilingual through bringing on board variety of compositions in other Ghanaian Dialects which bring some level of belongingness to other non Fante speaking Singing Bands. He also said the Union faces some challenges which is availabilities of music directors in some societies and circuits, which he likewise said the union is training people to help with the teaching of songs at societies who don’t have music directors. In this chapter, I have reviewed literature on the Methodist Church of Ghana’s Singing Bands Union by engaging with works on the early British missionaries and the indigenization of Methodism in Ghana, the emergence and impact of Ebibindwom, and the emergence and main purpose of Singing Bands in the Methodist church of Ghana. The chapter highlights three stages of indigenization efforts by the Methodist Church: early missionaries’ translation of the liturgy into Fante, deliberate efforts to introduce a local musical style —Ebibindwom— into the church, and the development of the Singing Band. The literature reviewed in this chapter suggests that these developments, as encountered by Fante natives, did not only promote Western musical traditions. Natives developed their own musical traditions and even influenced the Church’s mode. Such responses in the Methodist church cannot be overlooked as they highlight the various traditions that birthed the church’s musical tradition. The next chapter will focus on the history of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND This chapter gives an historical account of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, Accra. Before doing this however, the chapter will give a brief history of the Calvary Methodist Church, which was, during its inception, known as Fante Asor literally, the Fante Church. This is to enable readers to understand not only the development trajectory of the Calvary Methodist Church, but also, the cultural setting within which the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is situated and how that setting influences the non-literate singing tradition of the Singing Band. 3.1 CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH ADABRAKA, ACCRA In the early 1900s, William Quansah, a customs officer, was transferred from Cape Coast to Saltpond and then to Anomabo, Elmina and Apam. Mr. Quansah left Apam in 1912 to work in Accra. While in Accra, Mr. Quansah, together with some Fante officers—most of whom attended the Anglican Church—from various backgrounds, formed a group called Fante Korye Kuw. The founding members of this group are Messrs William Quansah, M. A. Hagan, J. Crentsil, J.C. De graft-Johnson, L. Amonoo and C. Brandy Bocher all of blessed memory12. The principal aim of the group was to offer benevolent assistance to one another13. Mr. Quansah’s Fante Korye Kuw of Accra brought together most of the Fante people in Accra— these people were working in the Civil, Teaching and Mercantile services. The group also had among its aims, to bring together Fante children to learn, speak 12 Life history of the late William Quansah M B E (15TH Febuary-3rd September 1957) Page 3 15 75th Anniversary Brochure of the Calvary Methodist Church Adabaraka, Accra(2001, p. 10) 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and read in their mother tongue. These accounts reflects the influx of Fantes in Accra at that time. The accounts also indicate the various occupations of the Fante people at the time, as well as the conscious effort, by people like Mr. Quansah, to unite for one course and further teach their kids how to read and write the Fante language. It is worth stating that Mr. Quansah’s group was a non-denominational union that sought the welfare of Fantes at that time and the need to maintain their heritage— the Fante language. From the non-denominational exposure, the Methodists among the group saw the need to form a Sunday school with the main aim of teaching their kids how to read and write the Fante language14. The non-literate adults among the Fante people, were later added to the Sunday school. It is worth noting that a full-fledged Methodist Church, operating under the Ga liturgy was already in existence in Accra. The Ga people of Accra therefore had a Ga Methodist Church that employed both Ga and English during church service. Because the two languages for Sunday worship at that time was English and Ga, it was only the Ga people and literate Fante who understood and participated fully in the Ga and English church service. The non-literates, thus, were almost left out as a result of the language barrier. For many of the Fante non-literates, a Sunday school was formed with the aim of teaching their children and non-literate adults how to read and write the Fante language. In an interview with Rev. Ama Afful Blay also confirmed the above information. She narrates that Most Fantes from Anomabo, Cape Coast, Moree and other coastal Fante towns stayed at James town. Some being Fishmongers and Bakers brought their family members from their hometown to assist them in their trading. Most of them being non-literates, the challenges they had with the English and Ga service prompted the leaders at the time to start a Sunday school with the aim of teaching their kids and those who had issues with the English language to read and write Fante (Bible and Fante hymns). Although they were not all Fantes, the Fantes dominated with other Akan ethnic groups (Oral interview, 3rd Decemebr 2018). 14 These Methodists worshipped at the Wesley Methodist Church, Palladium, Accra. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Also, because the Fante brothers and sisters could not join in the Ga Sunday school as a result of the language barrier, a Sunday school for Fante people was started in the old Mission House in James Town, “but it moved from one premises to another between classrooms and warehouses in the same locality” (personal conversation with Clara deHeer Graham—Head of Methofest Calvary—December, 2019). The movement from one place to the other, happened during the Superintendence of the Rev. D. M. Bruce and his second minister in the circuit, the Rev. J. E. Allotey-Pappoe. According to my ethnographic findings, children of the Fante people, were also recruited into a Sunday school that met at the Methodist Mixed School, Bannerman Road, Jamestown. And this was after permission had been granted by the Accra circuit under the Superintendence of the Rev. D. Maclean Bruce. The pioneer teachers of the Fante Sunday school in Accra were Mr. S. B. Baisei, Mr. T. G. Impraim, Mr. J. K. Nelson, Mr. S. H. Wilson supported by Madam Mercy de-Graft (Maame Efua Joe), Mrs. Alice Ainooson and madam Blankson15. A Fante Sunday school, thus, begun from this period and it was scheduled to take place on every Sunday afternoon. 3.2 THE FANTE CHURCH- FANTE ASOR After the Fante society, which would soon be known as Calvary Methodist Church, was formed, it was put under the superintendence of Accra Circuit with Mr. E. H. Brew as a caretaker. The Fante members, up to this point, had still not been able to establish a Fante Methodist church in Accra. They were therefore compelled to attend their morning service at Wesley, Freeman and Wharton societies of the Ga Methodist Church—all in Accra. For instance, historical accounts suggest that, some Fante Christian elders, in the early 1920s, conceived the idea of engaging the youthful population of Fante natives since these natives 15 From the 75th Anniversary Brochure of the Calvary Methodist church, 2001:10. 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was mainly without Western education16. The youthful population was therefore taught to read and write their language, read the Bible, and also sing in Fante. This development impacted the Fante Sunday school in Accra immensely by increasing the school’s numerical strength17. It was therefore agreed among both Ga and Fante Methodist elders that after the Fante Sunday School in the afternoon, there should be a Fante evening service in the Plange Memorial Sunday School, Accra. The evening service was therefore approved by Rev. D. M. Bruce, on the initiative of Mrs. Elizabeth Grant (mother of Rev. F. C. F. Grant) (Interview with Clara deHeer Graham, 2019). After the Sunday morning service with the various Methodist Ga churches, the growing Fante population organizes a Sunday school in the afternoons, and an evening church service—in Fante. So successful was these developments that with the Accra circuit permission, the Fante Sunday school began to hold a Fante evening church service at Freeman, Accra, and later, a Fante morning service. The evening church service at Freeman thus, became the basis of what was later to become the Fante society of the Accra Circuit. During the supervisory regime of the late Brother E. H. Brew, the status of a ‘society’ was therefore conferred on the Fante congregation, who has now moved from Freeman, to worship at the Methodist Mixed School in James town, Accra18. During the period of the afternoon Sunday school as well as the evening church service at James town, some of the Sunday school members were—in 1925— organized into a Singing Band, under the direction of the late T. G. Impraim, to improve the service’s song ministrations. For as Rev. 16 The influx of Fantes to Accra at that time was through transfers (civil service officials), and fishermen and fishmongers coming to fish and trade in Accra respectively. Being Methodists, many of these Fante natives—being members of the Methodist Church— worshipped at the Wesley Methodist church Accra at palladium. 17 This information was accessed from the 90th Anniversary brochure of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, 2015. 18 The Calvary Methodist Church, Silver Jubilee Anniversary Brochure, Monday26 November-Sunday 2 December, 1990, Pg. 7. 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ama Afful Blay puts it,“a service without song does not survive” (Interview with Ama Afful Blay, December 3, 2018). From this stage on, much work had to be done by the pioneer teachers in a house membership drive. Also, as a form of recognition and gaining publicity, the Fante church was invited to participate in the ceremonial ‘picnic’ mounted in connection with the 1926 annual District synod, held in Accra— the participation became a publicity success for the budding Fante society hence, a tremendous increase in its membership. According to Clara deHeer Graham, the teachers continued with their search for membership by going from house to house, bringing delinquent members back into the fold. The teachers also invited others to join the Singing Band and the Sunday school. The response was encouraging, and that spurred the teachers to start a morning church service in Fante in Lomoko House in the early 1930s.The preacher was the Rev. A.N.K. Sackey-Fio. From the morning service, the Fante Society grew and had both morning and evening services, a Sunday school and eventually its own Leaders. In brief, the Calvary Metshodist Singing Band was officially formed in 1925, the same year the Calvary Methodist Church was also founded. Jane Kissi and Nana Adjei Yentumi Mensah rightly argues, “the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is as old as the Calvary Methodist Church”. 3.3 A CHURCH BUILDING FOR THE FANTE ASOR According to Rev. J. E. Allotey-Pappoe, with the growth of Accra after the World War II war, it was suggested that the Accra Circuit be divided into five separate circuits. These proposed circuits were to be centered on the Wesley, Freeman, Korle Gonno, Adabraka and Fante societies. However, the Fante society leaders did not agree to this suggestion because according to them, they had no chapel of their own and therefore would not like to be a circuit. Rather, the Fante leaders proposed to continue staying with the 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Wesley society. Meanwhile, the recognition given to the Fante Church, as a society that needs to be made a Circuit, shows how the Fante Church grew in membership and leadership structure despite organizing their worship in classrooms and individual church members’ houses. As a result of this accelerated growth in membership, it became apparent that land should be acquired for the construction of a chapel that could accommodate the growing population of the church. Rev. Noel Warman, a British Missionary, who had been charged with the responsibility of shepherding the Fante Society, endeavored to acquire the present site for the construction of the chapel19. By the beginning of the 1960s, membership had increased and they were mostly Akan speaking people. In July 1965 therefore, the Fante society completed its own 500 seater capacity Chapel building on Barnes Road, opposite the Accra National Museum, Adabraka (discussions with Janet Rhoda Kissi, December 2019). The completed Church was dedicated on 3rd July, 1965, under the name Calvary Methodist Church. The opening ceremony was performed by F. C. F. Grant20, who had also laid the Calvary Methodist Church’s foundation stone the previous year— 1964. According to one of my interviewee’s— Julie Hagan— the Calvary Methodist Church was officially known as Fante Asor (lit. the Fante people’s Church). But the name of the church later became known as Calvary when the Fante society finally had her own building and autonomy. Julie Hagan reiterates: The Fante people, after acquiring the land and building their own church—within a year— and gaining their autonomy from the Ga Church, described their new place of worship as ‘our Calvary’, and that is how the name of the church emerged. They had thus, come to their place of relief where they no longer have to move from one classroom to the other; 19 This information was accessed from the 90th Anniversary brochure of the Calvary Methodist Church, 2015. 20 F. C. F. Grant was the first Ghanaian president of the Methodist Church. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and they are also free from the financial stress of the Ga Methodist Church 21(Oral interview, 20th February 2019) Six years after the dedication—in 1971—, the physical and spiritual growth of the Calvary Methodist society called for its elevation into a circuit. In this regard, the Leaders Meeting sent a memorandum to the Accra synod and the request was subsequently granted at a conference in Kumasi. This was without any strong agitation22. Two years after the request was granted, Rev. T. Wallace Koomson, former president of Conference, was appointed to serve as the first Circuit Superintendent. Calvary Methodist was therefore inaugurated into a Circuit in 1973 under the name “North Accra Circuit” of the Methodist Church Ghana, i.e. Calvary Methodist is the first society in the whole connexion (Ghana) to be made a one Society Circuit23. During this same year—1973— the development in the physical growth of Calvary Methodist also compelled its leaders to expand the church’s building into an 850 seater capacity. 3.4 ORGANISATIONS IN THE CHURCH As stated in Chapter 1, there are four main singing groups in the Calvary Methodist Church. In addition to these four main singing groups is the Boys and Girls Brigade who are also responsible for the Boys and Girls Brigade Band. This Brigade Band is responsible for playing Brass band music in the church. The table below shows the various groups in the Calvary society and the year within which they were established. It would be realized 21 According to Clara deHeer, the Fante elites were the major financiers of the Ga Methodist Church. The effort of the Fante society to have its autonomy was therefore resisted, initially, by the Ga Methodist Church. The Ga Methodist Church later agreed to the request of the Fante society after several deliberations. 22 Commemorative Brochure of the first Pastoral Visit of the Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel K. Asante to the Accra Diocese. From Thursday, 8 to Sunday, 11 March, 2012. Pg 22 23 The Methodist Church Ghana, Accra Diocese-Accra North Circuit, Calvary society, Adabraka, 90th Anniversary Brochure, July 2015, p. 3. 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh from the table that the Singing Band is the first group that was established at the Calvary society. Name of Organisation Year of Establishment Singing Band 1925 The Choir 1937 Youth Fellowship 1952 Guild 1955 Women Fellowship 1961 Christ Little Band 1967 Men Fellowship 1976 SUWMA 2000 Girls Brigade 1971 Boys Brigade 1971 Girls Fellowship 1970 Awerekyeyer Kuw 1975 Jewels(Gospel Band) 1998 3.5 CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND As stated earlier, in order to improve the singing of the Sunday school in the James Town, some of the members were organized into a Singing Band— in 1925. Thus, the aim of the Singing Band, from its inception, is to lead singing in the Church. Presently, the Church’s choir has taken over this role and the Singing Band has been assigned a new role— singing for the collection of offertory. At the time of its formation, the Singing Band was under the baton of Mr. Impraim with Mr. Nelson as organist. At the time, the president of the Singing Band was Bro. J. H. Obresi, with Bro. R. J. Sam as the Band’s secretary24. Because the Fante Church did not have a permanent building at the time, singing practice 24 From the 75th Anniversary Brochure of the Calvary Methodist church, 2001:10. 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was held at Mr. Baisie’s residence where Mr. T. G. Impraim resided. In 1929, Mr. T. G. Impraim handed over the care of the Singing Band to the late Mr. S. H. Wilson, a renowned musician. In 1937, the Fante Church— presently known as Calvary Methodist Church— decided to form a Church choir. The history of how the Singing Band helped in the formation of the Church Choir, however, shows some inconsistencies. One account, for instance, suggests that Bro. S. H. Wilson who was the then Singing Band leader selected some of the young members of the Singing Band and organized them into a choir. Contrary to the above account, the second school of thought argues that the entire Singing Band was converted into a Church Choir and that Choir was christened the “Fante society Methodist Church Choir”25. According to this school of thought, the Singing Band, after its conversion into a Church Choir, was later made to assume its position as a Singing Band again. The issue with the second narrative is that, it gives no information on how the Fante Church—Calvary Methodist— lived without a Singing Band for the period the entire Singing Band was converted into a Church Choir. The narrative also gives no reason why the Singing Band, after being converted into a Church Choir, was later made to assume its initial role as a Singing Band. Meanwhile, this second narrative seems to be the more popular narrative in both oral and written sources of the Church’s history. The first school of thought, on the other hand, fails to reveal the number of Singing Band members—both males and females— that started the Church Choir. And even though its assertion—that some youth of the Singing Band were engaged in the formation of the Church Choir— is convincing, it fails to highlight the specific roles the youth played in the formation of the Church Choir, as well as the challenges they faced or overcame when they were made to 25 Silver Jubilee Brochure of the Calvary Methodist Church Choir, 1984 pg 20 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh serve as the foundation on which a Church Choir is to be formed. From the above information, as presented by the two schools of thought, it is evident that the Singing Band played a key role in the formation of the Church Choir. Interestingly, the Church, in its written and oral history, attests to making the Singing Band a Church Choir. The Church further agrees to have made the Singing Band to return to their original position. For instance, in 1946, the approval of the Leaders Meeting was obtained for renaming the Choir a Singing Band. That being the case, one can argue that a key reason to this ‘Back and forth’ of the Singing Band is also dependent on the non-literate singing style of the Singing Band— which gives room to keeping a beard, wearing a cloth and traditional slippers, and operates in a dancing mode during song ministration. And while the Singing Band was the group that originally led the Church in its singing, the information by the two schools suggest how the Singing Band lost its original role and now leads in Church offertory. An interview with John Cosby Aidoo, for instance, reveals that the Singing Band— through the efforts of Brother Odoom— sung a lot of Sankey at this time; and they sung for offering with the organ accompaniment26. 26 John Cosby Aidoo is currently a member of the Calvary Methodist Church Choir and was also with the Fante Church (1964) before they moved to their current Location (Adabraka) in 1965. 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 1: Some of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band members from James town with the elites who joined them at Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka. Picture source: Clara deHeer 2018 3.6 INFLUX OF LITERATES In 1965 when the Fante Church of James town moved into their new Chapel at Adabraka their current location, the face of the Singing Band changed, Mrs. Adobea Prah, a retired nurse turned business woman enrolled in the Singing Band. She then convinced Brother E. S. Aidoo, a lawyer and George Ricketts Hagan, an Engineer to join the Singing Band27. With the ice broken, other professionals and high ranking government officials— such as Mrs. Mercy Orleans Lindsay—also joined the band. The literates who joined the Calvary Singing Band helped to shape the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. They also played a major role in the formation of the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands, Ghana. One of such individual is the late Prof. Ebenezer Sersah Aidoo—a lawyer and 27 The Methodist Church Ghana, Accra Diocese-Accra North Circuit, Calvary Society,Adabraka.90th Anniversary Brochure.2016 Pg 59 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band— who contributed immensely to the Calvary Methodist Singing Band and the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands, Ghana28. It was also decided that one of the prominent literate members Professor Ebenezer Sersa Aidoo, be invited to be the first President of the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands that has just been established29. As a lawyer, Prof. Ebenezer Sersa Aidoo also played a major role in the drafting of the Unions Constitution. He particular influenced many people to join the Singing Band by demystifying the idea that the band was the reserve of uneducated people. In a face-to-face interview with Mrs. Faustina Acquah Robertson, on 14th December 2019, Mrs. Robertson narrates that she came to Calvary in the year 1964; and being a Chorister from Winneba where she came from with her late husband, she decided to join the Choir but was told the Choir membership is full. So after seeing such prominent people like Prof. E. S. Aidoo in the Singing Band, she decided to join the Singing Band. Figure 2: Prof. E.S. Aidoo giving a sermon in Church, in his traditional wear. Picture source: Funeral brochure of the late Prof. E. S. Aidoo. 28 Discussion with Faustina Acquah-Robertson. January 2019. 29 The Methodist Church Ghana, National Union of Methodist Singing Bands Handbook.2017 pg 4 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 3: Prof. E. S. Aidoo in his Singing Band costume being awarded by the church for his immense contribution towards the development of the church. Picture source: Funeral brochure of the late Prof. E. S. Aidoo. Aside the influx of elites at this time, the elite class helped to make the non-literates they came to meet in the Singing Band comfortable by observing the existing practice that Singing Bands sing only Fante songs. In a face-to-face interview with Brother Abraham Ekumah, it emerged that an attempt to teach English songs in the Singing Band was normally resisted by elites such as Prof. E. S. Aidoo. Those elites in the Singing Band are noted for statements such as “we don’t speak and sing English songs”. This resistance, thus, has always influenced the choice of songs singing masters have to select for Singing Band. Rev. Ama Afful Blay30 a science graduate teacher who joined the Band in 1973 from Kumasi, said she came to meet some literates in the Band and it was later that she got to know some members were non-literate because hardly could you notice the class levels. This is because; all the members of the Singing Band were well behaved. And the elderly gave the younger ones the opportunity to call out their names without tittles. For the sake of 30 Rev Ama Afful Blay was among the elite who later joined the Band, she became the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (G.E.S.) and also a Rev Minister of the Methodist Church. She is now retired. 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh those members who could not read English, members resolved to process or recess with their Christian “Asor Ndwom” held in the left hand to the chest, if the hymn does not have a Fante Version (see figure 6)31. The presence of the elite in the Singing Band thus, broke the myth. In all of these, the literate members made only forty percent of the overall membership of the Singing Band. Figure 4: Members of Calvary Methodist singing Band recessing with their hymn books to the left hand to their chest due to the fact that the recession hymn is not having a Fante translation. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 31 The Mirror, Ghana’s Most Popular Weekly since 1953, Friday july3--9,2015 pg 10 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7 SPECIAL INNOVATIONS OF THE CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND Like the Calvary Methodist Church, the Singing Band also experienced some positive developments in their singing and leadership. After several years of being led by singing masters, an organist by name Brother E.K. Odoom became the leader of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, he was with them before they moved into their new church building in 1965. He is said to have been one of the few Singing Band leaders who composed local songs and translated English songs into Fante for the Singing Band. In 1970, Brother Odoom invited another singing master— Bro. B.A. Ocran— to assist him in the Singing Band due to. Teacher Ocran, as he became affectionately known by the members, was then with the Church Choir. Brother Odoom’s invitation however, compelled teacher Ocran to join the Singing Band. According to my research findings, unlike Brother Odoom, teacher Ocran was only able to effectively lead the Singing Band for 3 years. In 1973, teacher Ocran was transferred to Sekondi, Ghana’s Western region. Teacher Ocran, before his departure to Sekondi, invited his colleague, Mr. T. A. Richardson, the then Choir organist to handle the Singing Band as well. 3.7.1 James Atto Scott-Bennin and the Singing Band In 1975, another musician—Brother James Atto Scott-Bennin— was introduced to the Singing Band by his own brother, Kwamina Bennin. Because of the role Mr T.A. Richardson plays as organist of the Church Choir, James Atto Scott Bennin was made the permanent singing master of the Singing Band; Mr. T.A. Richardson served as an assistant singing master. Historical accounts state that James Atto Scott-Bennin— an organist, composer, arranger, as well as an ace musician— transformed the Singing Band into a great singing group. According to Rev. Ama Afful Blay, “members rushed for practices with great 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh zeal and enthusiasm… no one wanted to be left out… to miss a Singing Band practice means one would have to work on his or her own to catch up with the new songs, hymns or anthems that have been taught”. James Atto Scott-Bennin’s tenure, according to oral sources, may be described as a renaissance. He is said to have composed different tunes for old and battered hymns, re-arranged popular Fante lyrics and changed renditions by the Band. James Atto Scott-Bennin, together with Teacher Richardson, translated anthems from Handel’s Messiah into Fante for rendition by the Singing Band. In an interview with Mr. James Atto Scott-Bennin, he narrates: I came to Calvary in the year 1975 through the invitation of my senior brother Kwamena Bennin. At the time, I wanted to join the choir but there was no director for Singing Band and Teacher Richardson, who was assisting them was said to be the Church Choir’s organist. So the Leaders Meeting assigned the Singing Band to me. Because the Choir, at that time, had great musicians, I became a permanent director of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band with teacher Richardson still assisting from the Choir, in 1975. During my time as director, the Singing Band was full of enthusiasm; they were not only singing short musical pieces, they also sung complex musical compositions translated into Fante by teacher Richardson who easily linked the Fante syllables to the musical scores32. According to Ethel Vera Bandoh, who joined the Calvary singing Band in the year 18th march 1976, hymns and songs were tailored to suit the themes for each Sunday service as well as Christian festive seasons. On occasions where the Singing Band sung “Hallelujah Chorus”, “And I saw a new heaven”, or “I know that my redeemer liveth”, they were all rendered in Fante and always received a standing ovation. Because of the new development in the Church’s music, Church membership grew as people flocked to Church on Sundays to enjoy good Church music—either translated or composed by the singing masters. 32 Interview with Mr Scott Bennin on 20th Febuary 2019. 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 5: Members using palm branches to depict the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem during the Ten Lessons and Songs. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 3.7.2 Ten Lessons and Songs The history of the Singing Band will not be complete without the mention of the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs which has become an important celebration of the Singing Band’s activities every Palm Sunday during the Easter festivities. Each year, the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs takes the congregation through the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, His passion, crucifixion and resurrection on Easter Sunday. This initiative started in 1975 when James Atto Scott-Bennin was the Director and Mr Richardson was a Choir organist who assisted James Atto Scott-Bennin to run the affairs of the Singing Band. The maiden performance of this Festival was held in 1975. It is worth noting that the celebrations of 1975 and 1976 were all staged with the police Band accompanying the Singing Band. According to James Atto Scott-Benin, “the church received it very well and that is why it has stayed up till today”. It however emerged, during my interviews, that the Ten Lessons and Songs was solely the initiative of James Atto Scott- Bennin. Some interlocutors, on the other hand, said the Festival was initiated by both James 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Atto Scott-Bennin and Mr. Richardson. When I asked James Atto Scott-Bennin about who initiated the Ten Lesson and Songs as well as the motive behind it, this is what he said: The Festival came out of the idea that the Singing Band must organize a performance in the course of the year on the Church Calendar. Because the Church Choir had their 9 Lessons and Carols during Christmas, I wanted to do something around the seven words on the cross, on every Good Friday. Reverend Ebi-Arthur and Very Reverend Wallace Koomson asked why we do not want to do something from the triumphant entry to the Good Friday. Very Rev. Wallace Koomson then gave me ten Bible lessons that we could use for the program. I went to the Singing Band executives and discussed the matter with them. They in turn, agreed to the ten lessons and songs. We therefore decided to adhere to their suggestion and abandoned the seven words on the cross program. Based on all of these, I believe the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs is my initiative and Mr. Richardson came to help from the Choir. On the maiden performance, I played the organ and Mr. Richardson conducted.(Oral interview, 20th February 2019) When asked who the brain behind the Ten Lessons and Songs, Rev. Ama Afful Blay said “James Atto Scott-Bennin and Mr. Richardson worked together on that program. James Atto Scott-Bennin is the one who brought the idea and Mr. Richardson assisted him. Although Mr. Richardson was with the Church Choir, he never left the Singing Band”. While people continue to attribute the entire initiative of the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs to James Atto Scott-Bennin, his own account suggests that other people’s input played a key role in helping to realize the initiative. For instance, Reverend Ebi-Arthur and Very Reverend Wallace Koomson suggested an idea that made James Atto Scott-Bennin to rethink his decision to focus on the ‘seven words on the cross’. 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 6: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band performing during the Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs being conducted by Brother Abraham Ekumah (current music director). Picture source: Calvary Methodist singing Band. The festival of Ten Lessons and Songs attracted people from other Churches. It became an occasion that people looked forward to anxiously. The program however suffered some challenges due to the periods that the country was put under curfew. Distance and difficulties with transportation made it increasingly difficult to attend evening programs. Eventually, the program was moved to the 9:30am Service on Palm Sundays. This was in response to appeals from the congregation as members moved away from the center to other new areas of Accra33. According to Janet Rhoda Kissi, the Singing Band celebrated its 35th Anniversary in 1975, 40th Anniversary in 1980 and 50th Anniversary in 1995. It was however in the year 2000 that it was realized that due to poor records keeping, the Singing Band has not been celebrating its anniversary in relation to the actual date the Singing Band was formed. To correct this issue, the entire Singing Band decided to hold a celebration in the year 2000— this celebration marked their 75th anniversary. The ten lessons have gone through a lot of changes from its inception up till today. For instance, the Bible texts have 33 The Methodist Church Ghana, Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Accra North Circuit 90th anniversary celebration brochure,2015 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh gone through changes over the years, costume has seen changes and the choice of songs too have changed over the years. But the Ten Biblical reading have been maintained till date. 3.7.3 The First Record Disc, Playing of drums, and the Uniformity of the scarfs The period from 1978, according to old Singing Band members, can be classified as ‘the era the Singing Band reached its peak’. The Singing Band, during this period, was still led by James Atto Scott-Bennin and Mr. Richardson and these two teachers helped the Singing Band to make their first recording at the Ghana Film Institute. One of my interlocutors, Mr. John Cosby Aidoo, also told me that when James Atto Scott-Bennin first joined Calvary Methodist Church, James Atto Scott-Bennin made “Apawa” with the Singing Band and the recorded songs included compositions from the music director34. It was during this same era that the Singing Band, still under the directorship of James Atto Scott-Benin and assisted by Mr. Richardson, introduced the playing of drums into the Church. This particular initiative was frowned upon by the Methodist Church Ghana. The Church’s reason was that such acts are highlight paganism. According to James Atto Scott-Bennin, “he and Mr. Richardson and the entire Singing Band had a lot of resistance from the Church leaders at the time. They were even summoned to Leaders Meeting. The Church has however gradually accepted the norm and now allows drumming to take place in Methodist churches across Ghana”. Another initiative that was achieved under the Scott-Bennin and Richardson administration was the introduction of white scarfs for the female members of the Singing Band. The Calvary Singing Band during this time processed behind the Calvary Church Choir in their own cloth and different colors of scarfs. It was, therefore, teacher Richardson 34 Fante term for old record Disk 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh who initiated that all female members of the Singing Band should be in white scarfs. His reason was that as the women processed behind the choir in different colors of scarfs, it looked too gaudy. 3.8 THE CHALLENGING MOMENT By some strange coincidence, both James Atto Scott-Bennin and Mr. Richardson went on transfer out of Accra. Shortly after the transfers, the Church leadership got a singing master–Johnson Aboagye— for the Singing Band. Although Johnson Kwame Aboagye was not an organist, his skills in teaching and vocals helped to sustain the Singing Band. Johnson Kwame Aboagye narrates: I joined the singing Band in the mid-1980s after I heard the Singing Band was performing poorly at a funeral grounds close to my house. I joined and conducted them throughout the program after which they approached me to assist them in singing. When I joined them, the performance of the band was very poor because they had been without a director for long. Being a voice expert, I trained the voices of the singers, and even those who were deemed not fit to sing were trained to sing well. This increased the population of the Singing Band, both literates and non-literates (Oral interview) Another singing master, Mr. Forson, took over from Johnson Aboagye when the latter’s period of service was over. Because of Mr. Forson’s work as an Engineer with the Ghana Water Company, he was soon transferred to Bolgatanga. His translation of “Gloria in Excelcis” by W. A. Mozart and other anthems, however, reminds the Singing Band of his contribution as one of few dedicated and accomplished singing masters that ever led the Calvary Methodist Singing Band35. 35 The Methodist Church Ghana, Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Accra North Circuit 90th anniversary celebration brochure,2015 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh From this time onwards, most of the directors who came to support were mostly civil servants who were transferred to Accra. And being Fante, they found the Calvary Methodist Church to be an appropriate place of worship hence, their willingness to assist the Singing Band. Other singing masters who also came to assist the Singing Band did so when the Band was preparing for events such as the Ten Lessons and Songs. The Singing Band thus, suffered a lot when all the teachers were transferred outside Accra and this affected the performance of the Singing Band. During the period of Bro. Aboagye, who was not an organist but had a great gift of teaching music, the Singing Band relied on drums and other percussion instruments to accompany their singing. This moved Bro. Sackey, a Patron, to send his young nephew, a talented drummer to join the Band. Because the young nephew, Abraham Ekumah, could hardly reach the top of the drums, he had to stand on a stool to play36. After some time of deliberation, the Patrons and executives agreed that a member of the Singing Band should be trained to play the keyboard. Brothers Eyison and Ekumah (the drummer) therefore expressed their desire to train as organist. They were put under the tutelage of Bro Acquaah- Harrison. Till present, Ekumah has been the director and organist of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Brother Eyison, a trained teacher, on the other hand, was posted to Kumasi on transfer. Before his transfer however, he was assisting Bro. Ekumah and even when he was transferred, he still came to assist Brother Ekumah whenever he (Eyison) came to Accra. The Singing Band was thus, helped by a number of singing masters such as Ato Brown and Mr. T. E. Andoh. Mr. T.E. Andoh, at that time, was a student at the University 36 The Methodist Church Ghana, Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Accra North Circuit 90th anniversary celebration brochure,2015. 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of Ghana, Legon. My ethnographic findings suggest that he played a major role in the grooming and sustenance of the Singing Band. In a discussion with Mr. T.E. Andoh, who is now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, he said during his time all the songs he taught were in Fante with the exception of one English song which was used during the Ten Lessons and Songs and sung at his time. James Atto Scott-Bennin returned from Ivory Coast and took over the band from Mr .T. E. Andoh. James Atto Scott-Bennin said he was in Calvary Methodist for three times. When he returned to Calvary Methodist on his second time, he was assisted by Mr. Moses Kinnah, an organist at the Calvary Methodist Choir. On James Atto Scott-Bennin’s third return, he joined the Church Choir as Music Director. 3.9 90TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (2015) In 2015 the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, under the directorship of Brother Abraham Ekumah and President, Sister Linda Fynn-Carr celebrated their 90th anniversary and also participated fully in the celebration of the church’s 90th anniversary in the same year. The executives saw the need to celebrate the Singing Band anniversary due to the various achievements, initiatives, and challenges of the Singing Band since its inception in 1925. Various activities and events were arranged and planned by the executives to make the celebration a memorable one37. According to Linda-Car, there was an exchange program between Calvary and Anomabo Methodist Singing Bands from 16th to 17th May, 2015. She posits, After the welcome address and the morning devotion by our sister Band, we all (Calvary and Anomabo Singing Band members) visited the temperance well which was the origin of Singing Band; we also visited the Kakum National Park. Later in the evening after supper, we rehearsed together with 37 A personal discussion with Sister Georgina Okusu(January 2019), was the secretary during the 90th anniversary 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the Anomabo Singing Band and on Sunday, both Bands sung together during Church service. This was to recognize the role Anomabo played in the formation of Singing Band in the Methodist Church Ghana. The band successfully held a breakfast meeting as part of the 90th Anniversary on 23rd May, 2015. Rev. Charles K. Gyasi was the guest speaker and spoke on the theme for the anniversary, “Sing a New Song unto the Lord”. These activities were climaxed with a thanksgiving service on 28th June 2015. During the service, past and present music directors were honored with citation. To celebrate the anniversary in a grand style, Mr. Forson, a former music director who played a major role in the translation of English anthems into Fante was called upon to assist the Singing Band to learn the Fante translations of the Hallelujah Chorus by G. F. Handel and Glorious is Thy Name by Mozart38. At the Church service, there was a 90th anniversary cake which was cut by executives of the Singing Band, the Rev. minister in charge at that time, Patrons and past members who were also present.(see Fig. 7) 38 An interview with Samuel Young, a lecturer at the Department of Agriculture, University of Ghana, Legon. He was the vice president of the Singing Band during the celebration of the 90th anniversary. 24/11/2018 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 7: Executives, old Singing Band members and the Rev Minister behind the 90th anniversary cake on 28th June 2015. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band. During the celebration of the Church’s 90th anniversary, and the Singing Bands 90th anniversary, the Singing Band also played an active role in the celebration. In one of the evening programs organized for all singing groups in the Church, the band dressed like the early days Singing Band where everyone wore their dresses with different headscarf. They also sang old songs that were taught when the Singing Band was formed. It was such a joyous and interactive moment for both young and old members. 3.10 THE 2019 FESTIVAL OF TEN LESSONS AND SONGS After the 90th Anniversary celebration, the Singing Band has been observing its anniversary on yearly basis with thanksgiving services. For instance, they celebrated their 93rd anniversary on 2018 and just ended their 44th Festival of ten lessons and Songs on 14th April 2019. Preparations for the Festival of Ten Lesson and Songs started in November, 2018. All the songs— including the hymns, anthems and offering songs— for the occasion 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh were in Fante. The Ten Bible readings were also shared among the various organizations in the church. This was to ensure variety in the local languages. During one of my participant observation on 5th February 2019, some people from the Leaders Meeting visited the Singing Band after rehearsal. Their message was met with the usual Singing Band resistance to English songs, “we don’t speak and understand English so you should please speak Fante”. This compelled the announcer to immediately adopt the Fante language. Thus, the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, apart from refusing to sing English songs, would also resist to communicate in English language during singing rehearsals. Meanwhile, they are friendly to Ghanaian languages despite their resistance to the English language. To ensure a successful planning and execution of the program, the executives— led by Brother I. B. Bondah— nominated some of the members (Ten lessons committee) to see to the effective and smooth performance of the 2019 Ten Lessons and Songs. The mandate of this committee—led by Sister Linda Fynn-Carr— was to prepare budget, songs and the general performance of the day. The music director of the Singing Band told me in a discussion that all the songs were selected to be in line with the ten Bible readings. According to the music director, the motive behind the songs selection is that, the songs must enhance the message in the Bible readings. The songs are also to serve as mnemonic in case the Church members forget the Bible message. Church members would thus, remember the song texts and tunes. The Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs is the major activity of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Due to the seriousness that is attached to the Festival, the attendance to practice increased tremendously. There were also all-night rehearsals that were meant to master both old and new songs so as to enhance a successful performance. Because a lot of 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh new songs were introduced, participation was mainly based on punctuality at singing practice. So if you missed rehearsal, you cannot participate in the performance. Figure 8: The front cover of the 2019 Ten Lesson and Songs brochure. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band. On the morning of Sunday, 14th April 2019, the Calvary Methodist Church at Adabraka was fully packed with Church members as well as non-Church members who were there to participate and witness the ten lessons (how most of the church members call the program) by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Also, the Wesleyan Television, an official television of the Methodist Church Ghana had a live broadcast of the program as well as a live Facebook broadcast on their on their page. The presence of the television station and the live Facebook broadcast was to enable all Methodist members, in and outside the country, to witness this Easter festival as celebrated by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 9: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band Processing to take their seats in front of the Church. Picture Source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band.14th April 2019 The program started at exactly 8:30am as stated on the program. The church choir processed with Methodist Hymn 192 in English. To show their support for the program, the Church Choir robed in their native dresses— the men wore cloth whilst the women wore Kaba. After the Church Choir’s procession, the Singing Band sung the same processional hymn in Fante and processed alone. This separate procession (and recession) differ from the regular Sunday services where the Singing Band always process and recess with Choir at the same time39. Because the program was centered on the Singing Band, the Band was seated in front of the congregation within the framework of a concert. Thus, the Ten Lessons and Songs is concert service where the church members become the audience who are to witness the performance of the Singing Band. 39 Personal discussion with the current president of the Singing Band(Mr I. B. Bonah)(14/04/2019) 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 10: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band seated in front of the Church during the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band.14th April 2019 In the area of instrumental accompaniment, the Singing Band was accompanied by the jazz drum set, lead guitar, trumpet and two electronic keyboards. They had ten Bible readings and after each reading they sang songs with lyrics aligned to the biblical passage they have read. Some of the songs were hymns and anthems as well as danceable tunes. Meanwhile, some of the songs, which are originally not supposed to be danced to, were purposefully made danceable with the usual syncopation of the rhythms which made most of the church members to participate by dancing along during the performance. Michael Mbeah, who is a choir organist and has been helping the singing Band during their Ten Lessons and Songs and other major activities since 1995 was among the conductors. His main role was to help with the dancing during the performance, a role he played well. The Singing Band thus, had two conductors and two organists that led them 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh throughout the entire program40. After the ten Bible readings and songs, the sermon was delivered and the Singing Band sang for the collection of offering. Figure 11: Michael Mbeah leading the Singing Band in one of the performance. Picture source: Calvary Methodsit Singing Band.14th April 2019 Figure 12: The two keyboard accompanist, on the left is Obed Nyantakyi and the right is Stephen Kow Anderson. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band.14th April 2019 40 The two conductors were Micheal Mbeah and Abraham Ekuman; and the two organist were Stephen kow Anderson (The researcher) and Obed Nyantakyi. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 13: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band, singing and dancing with joy during the offering time at the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and songs.Picture source: Calavary Methodist Singing Band.14th April 2019 The service came to an end with a benediction from the presiding Bishop of the Methodist church Ghana, after which the choir recessed alone before the Singing Band also recessed with the same hymn. And like the procession, the Singing Band sang the same recessional hymn but in the Fante language. The Choir however, sung in English. After the recession, the congregation, church members, old Singing Band members and visitors all approached the Singing Band to express appreciation for the wonderful performance. Those who were really happy were old Singing Band members. They expressed gratitude for the current Singing Band members’ ability to continue observing the tradition that was handed over to them. 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This chapter looked at the historical account of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, and also gave a brief history of the Calvary Methodist Church, which was, initially known as Fante Asor literally, the Fante Church. This enabled readers to understand not only the development path of the Calvary Methodist Church, but also, the cultural setting within which the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is situated and how that setting influences the non-literate singing tradition of the Singing Band. The next chapter will look at the ethnography of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, Accra. 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CALVARY METHODIST SINGING BAND. This chapter highlights how the non-literate singing tradition of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, has been maintained over the years despite the educational background of band members and how these factors are impacting the performance of the Singing Band. Internal and external influences that have helped maintain this culture over the years will also be looked at. Some musical scores that highlight the performance of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band will also be analysed. To achieve all of the above the chapter will rely on the ethnography of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 4.1 THE CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH’S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE PRESERVATION OF THE NON-LITERATE SINGING TRADITION. From the inception of the church in 1925 the composition of members were migrant Akans dominated by Fantes, and also the church also came out from the Sunday school whose main motive was to teach Fante kids and latter elderly non-literate members how to read and write in Fante. Due to the large number of Fantes in the early days the church was initially known as the Fante church which literally means Church for Fantes. All of these prove that the desire for people to learn to read, speak and worship in their native language Fante was the driving force for the establishment of the now Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka. Up till today the church is dominated by Fantes. 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.1 The Sunday School The church is still having a Sunday school although not as vibrant as the early days, it still shows how the Calvary Methodist Church attaches importance to its members learning how to speak and write in the Fante language. I attended one of the Fante school previously known as Sunday school and saw only 5 people with a well-learned Fante teacher who took them through the Fante alphabets and basics in Fante reading. After the class I had a discussion with the teacher Mr. Koomson and he said attendance is not encouraging as the early days, but the few who come are taught how to read and write in Fante. 4.1.2 The English and Fante Services/Songs, and the Reverend Ministers The Calvary Methodist Church according to Clara deHeer was the first Methodist church in Ghana to start two church services on Sundays. The mode of communication as well as the liturgy for the first and second services is in English and Fante respectively. Both services have their individual Bible readings and hymns. This initiative by the church has helped the singing Band to maintain the non-literate singing tradition. According to my findings, about 95% of all the Ministers who have been to the Calvary Methodist Church since its inception were native Fantes who mostly preach in their local language. These Ministers additionally enjoy the Fante music by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Currently the Reverend Minister in charge of the church Very Rev. Kodwo Arko-Boham has announced and insisted that the Church Choir should also sing all their songs in Fante during second service which is purely supposed to be in Fante. There is a projector that normally projects the lyrics of hymns during both first and second services. Because of the Reverend Minister’s directive, all the songs during second service are now being projected in Fante. Despite the choir’s displeasure towards the directive, they have included the Fante hymn book to the English hymn book. They thus rehearse and perform 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh both English and Fante songs through the use of the English and Fante Hymn books. This current practice emboldens the non-literate singing tradition of the Singing Band. 4.1.3 The Church members The Calvary Methodist church members especially those who attend the second service have really been admiring the Fante songs of the Singing Band. Being the audience of the Singing Band, church members’ support is evident in the survival of the Band. During a Sunday service the Singing Band sing for the collection of offertory; the joy and dancing of the congregation shows how they appreciate and cherish the performance of the Band. This role is now being played by a new singing group in the church known as Calvary Jewels which is a gospel group. Calvary Jewels lead the church during praises and worship as well as collection of offertory during the First service which is purely in English. After the first service they stay and lead the second service’s praises and worship while church members go round and greet each other. During a joint service where both English and Fante service members meet, the Choir, Singing Band and the Calvary Jewels are all required to be present. As usual the choir leads in the singing of the hymns, the Calvary jewels sing for praises and worship and the Singing Band sing for the collection of offertory41. During the December 31 watch-night service held in 2018, I was at the Church to observe happenings. It was a joint service that started at exactly 8:00pm and the service ended at 1:30 am on January 1, 2019. Two offertory sessions was organized for this watch- night service— one on December 31 and the other on January 1. The first offering which 41 Joint service normally happens during 31st December which is the last service to usher the New Year in. Additionally, a joint service is held during the Ten Lessons and Songs by the Singing Band and on the Church Choir’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas day. 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was led by the Singing Band saw the whole church, both adults and the youth, on their feet enjoying the Fante songs. The second offering was led by the Calvary Jewels but their performance was met with the congregation’s murmuring that they prefer the Singing Band. The Singing Band was therefore made to take over from the Jewels in the middle of the ministration. This particular instance shows how the Church members enjoy and patronize songs by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 4.2 INDIVIDUAL LOVE FOR THE FANTE LANGUAGE AND THE SINGING BAND I had a focus group interview with three of the youngest ladies (Karen Essiful-Ansah, Rebecca Araba Owusu and Ruthlove Akuoko) currently in the Singing Band and was really surprised when two of them told me they joined the Band because they love the Fante Language. According to these ladies, they developed a strong affection for the Band through the Band’s offertory ministration which is mainly done in Fante. Although they are Fantes, their proficiency in the language is minimal and considering their eagerness to learn Fante, the Band and its songs serve as the appropriate avenue for these ladies to deepen their Fante proficiency. I also had discussions with many of the Band members and most of them said that being Fante and living outside their hometowns, their proficiency in Fante is not very impressive. They have however been able to improve their language skills from the time they joined the Band and started singing in Fante. As a result of Band members’ individual eagerness to improve upon their Fante language skills, members deliberately refuse to communicate with each other in any other language apart from Fante during their meetings. In another group discussion with five educated elites in the Band, these elites said they came to meet the non-literate members because of whom the Band was originally formed. To avoid creating any unnecessary tension among Band members these elites have 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh decided to also observe the non-literate singing tradition. This, according to them is a deliberate attempt to also establish a clear distinction between the Choir and the Band. The Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs is one of the important Festivals of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band and participation is mostly by attendance to rehearsals. Because all the songs for this Festival are in Fante, membership increases since all members desire to participate in it. For instance, during the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs two distance members of the Band flew from the Unites States of America and Great Britain just to witness the Festival42. They contributed financially towards the success of the Ten Lessons despite their inability to participate on stage. During their visit to one of our rehearsals they thanked the Band for holding on to the tradition of non-literate singing. 4.3 MUSIC DIRECTORS Since the inception of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band all the music directors have all been Fantes and most of them being composers compose in the Fante language for the Band. Teaching of Fante songs as well as translating of English songs into Fante have therefore not been a problem because of the Fante music directors. An interview with Scot Benin revealed that some of the songs he taught during his time were his own compositions and were mostly in the Fante language. 4.4 FLEXIBILITY OF THE SINGING BAND The Singing Band as compared to the Church choir is very flexible in terms of its rules and regulation. An interview with Professor E. S. Aidoo revealed that he initially wanted to join the choir but was told before he could become a member he had to shave his 42 These members are Mr. Vroom and Miss Akosua Dadson. 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh beard. For this reason, Professor Aidoo joined the Singing Band where he was accepted. Both literates and non-literates who had beards and want to join a singing group at Calvary Methodist Church find the Singing Band more attractive and welcoming. This was also confirmed by a class leader who said when he first came to Calvary he wanted to join the Choir but someone advised him to join the Singing Band if he still wanted to keep his beard and sing. 4.5 COSTUME Since its formation the Calvary Methodist Singing Band is very flexible with its costume. It initially had individuals wearing their own cloth but later the cape was brought on board to bring uniformity. Females can therefore wear any type of dress and put on the cape to mark the uniformity (See Figure 15 and 16). The men on the other hand wear a jumper with a cloth or any shirt sewn from an African print (see Figure 17). Figure 14: The Singing Band depicting early dressing costume by the early members in 1925 during a sing song program organized by the church on the 90th anniversary celebration of the Calvary Methodist Church. Picture source: Calvary Methodist Singing Band 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 15: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band in their different attires whilst wearing white head kerchief and cape for uniformity. Picture source: taken by researcher on Figure 16: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band wearing different attires but wearing white head kerchief and cape for uniformity on 13th January 2019 at Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka, Accra. Picture source: Taken by researcher 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 17: The Men in Singing Band with some Wearing their Jampa and cloth whilst some too are wearing sown African print materials during Recession on 27th January 2019. Picture source: Taken by researcher During funerals they wear kobin with black head kerchief and black cape; they do not wear any jewelry (see figures 18 and 19). This culture of not wearing jewelries during funerals is also strictly adhered to by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band Adabraka, Accra. Among the Akan when someone dies you do not wear jewelries to the funeral. It is evident that this practice by the Band is as a result of their Akan background hence an external influence. Figure 18: The Calvary Methodist Singing Band in their funeral costume at an old memebers Funeral at Calvary Methodist Church Adabraka. Picture source:Calvary Methodist Church 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 19 : Members of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band both men and women in their funeral costume. Picture source: Taken by researcher This makes the Singing Band very attractive to both the young and old as well as literates and non-literates. In yet another discussion with five Calvary Methodist Singing Band members, they all said that from the time they joined the Band they have enjoyed a level of freedom in terms of their hairstyle and what they wear. They are only obliged to wear specific costumes on days they are to wear their uniforms or during a special event. Further discussions with Nana Adjei Yentumi and Safohene Acquah, both of whom are chiefs in the Ashanti and Central regions of Ghana, said their ability to align themselves to the Singing Band more is because they can dress in their chieftaincy regalia and still join the Band. As chiefs and custodians of the traditions of the various towns that they govern, they also express their pleasure in being members of a Christian singing group that preserves an Akan language and dressing code. 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.6 TEACHING METHODS DURING REHEARSAL According to Esson (2016:63): Normally, there are two major methods of teaching of songs by the directors or the leaders. It may be rote learning where the singers are taught to sing by repeating after the teacher…The other approach is the adequate use of the music scores where the singers go through the music or the tonic solfa of the song before the text is taken. Esson’s assertion suggests that both methods of learning songs are distinct and may be practiced at different times. Despite their distinctness, the two methods can be applied (by a teacher) to a singing group when the need arises. In the case of Calvary Methodist Singing Band, the rote method was solely employed at the initial stages of the Band’s formation. Nowadays, the teachers and some patrons are making efforts to introduce the Band to the tonic solfa even though the approach is being met with some difficulties. Sometimes, they use the Fante hymn books when learning hymns; sometimes too when they are learning a short song, the director dictates the texts for members to write in their notebooks. The rote method used by the Singing Band is the easiest and fastest way for them to learn songs, and it is suitable for everyone—both literates and non-literates. In 2016, a patron presented the Band with forty Methodist tonic solfa hymnbooks with English text. Her intention was to enable the music director to teach them how to read in tonic solfa considering the make-up of the Band’s present membership. The music director however suspended the use of the hymnbooks due to the difficulties he kept facing anytime he was teaching: though some members were familiar with the tonic solfa, others could not follow it though they could read; and there were members who, though few, always felt uncomfortable with the solfa since they could not read. According to the music director, the situation began to cause delays in teaching and learning of songs. To him, the same time 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh spent on interpreting the solfa to non-literate members could be used to teach a song through rote learning which is faster. Based on this challenge, the Band suspended the use of the tonic solfa hymnbook. 4.7 INSTRUMENTATION The Calvary Methodist Singing Band makes use of African and Western instruments. Apart from the keyboard, all the other instruments used are mostly percussion. During events and concerts, other western instruments like guitar, trumpet, trombone and bass guitar are also used. During the 2019 Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs held on April 14, they made use of the trumpet, two keyboards and a guitar. On a normal Sunday, however, musical instruments that feature include the Dawuro (Gong), Axatse Gourd Rattle, Donno (hourglass drum) and a pair of (Cuban) conga drum and the electronic keyboard43. Interestingly, these percussions instruments, apart from the keyboard, are from various localities in Ghana and their role in these localities is one that is held in high esteem44. 4.8 DANCING, CLAPPING AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION The Calvary Methodist Singing Band is very good when it comes to dancing. They have different dancing steps for each song text although they do not rehearse dancing at singing practice. However, when someone brings up a dance move during performance, they express interest in it and dance along simultaneously. Meanwhile, the only time they rehearse a dance piece for performance is when they are getting ready to perform their Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs. 43 Dawuro is an Akan double bell made from iron. Axatse is the traditional shakers of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. Donno is the hourglass of the three Northern regions in Ghana. 44 See Vansina, J. 1969; Quainoo, E. 2015; and Nketia, J.H. 1957. 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh When the text of the music depicts an action, they all respond to the message of the song and dance accordingly. For instance, during their performance of the song Yԑ ba ma yԑnsa do yԑde yԑnan bԑsi fom yebeyi Ewuradze aye literally ‘we will raise our hands, we will stamp our feet, we will praise God’, they imitate the exact text in their dancing. This interpretation of text through dance emphasizes the message of the text to the audience such that a deaf person may easily comprehend the performance as a result of the dance gestures. Aesthetically, this interpretation of text through dance makes music enjoyable to the African audience who in this case are the Church members. Band members, in the absence of their dance gestures, sometimes accompany their singing with hand claps. Admittedly, the congregation has some favorite songs that when rendered by the Band influences church members to join in the singing, dancing and clapping of the Singing Band. To express their joy and support for a favorite song, members of the congregation sometimes give the Singing Band the ‘thumbs-up’ sign. This was observed during one church service, when a lady who was sitting in front of me during church service suddenly stood up when a particular song was played and gave a ‘thumbs-up’ sign in the direction of the Singing Band. So after church service, I had a discussion with her: she said she really likes that song, that the words of the music give her hope and the thumbs up was to show appreciation to the Band for singing her favorite song during church service. 4.9 PERFORMANCE To make their songs danceable during rehearsals and performances, one of the key elements the Calvary Methodist Singing Band employs is syncopation; this practice of syncopating songs to suit their performance style has been criticized by musicians who have been trained in Western music (refer to Chapter 1). The Band additionally employs external elements into their songs. Like syncopation, these external elements have also been 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh criticized by these ‘'Western music devotees’—as Kofi Agawu calls them. The devotees argue that the Band’s performance does not adhere to what is on the music scores despite the role of the external influences on the performances. To interrogate some of these assertions I will analyze three music scores: the first one will be a hymn from the Methodist Hymn book (MHB 351) translated to Fante; the second one is a Fante composition Nya Dzedzi (literally, Have Faith) and finally a hymn from the Sacred Songs and Solos (Hymn 501) also translated to Fante. In analyzing these works I will observe how the composers scored them and also look at how the Calvary Methodist Singing Band performs them. Before the analysis however, I will look into how Agawu interprets African Music. This is to enable us to know how and why the Singing band introduces external elements when they are performing. In his article African Music as text, Agawu (2001) posits that: Traditional African music is not normally described as contemplative art. It is thought rather to be functional. Functional music drawn from ritual, work, or play is externally motivated. Thus funeral dirges sung by mourners, boat-rowing songs sung by fishermen, lullabies performed by mothers, and songs of insult traded by feuding clans: This utilitarian music are said to be incompletely understood whenever analysis ignores the social or "extra musical" context. This music is then contrasted with elite or art music, whose affinities with European classical music are for the most part unmediated ( p. 8) The above assertion by Agawu draws a distinction between traditional African music—“sometimes generalized to include all African music”— and European classical music/elite art music. This distinction examines some of the biases African music encounters when subjected to analysis. To Agawu, these biases are as a result of ignoring the “extra musical” contexts that influence the music since these social or “extra musical” contexts are not normally notated. In order to understand and make meaning of African 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh music, we will thus have to consider the external influences of African societies and how these influences affect the music. Looking at what led to the formation of the Singing Band, it can be argued that the social context of the Band members played a key role in their performances which is also evident in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. Thus, assessing the music performed by the Calvary Singing Band with a music score denies the listeners of the external influences or “extra musical” contexts that impacted the performance. Agawu groups these external influences into four areas: i. The uses of errors ii. Violence against natural language iii. Singing in the throat iv. Signifying in instrumental music Because of the focus of this work however, I will analyse some of the Band’s songs using the first three categories of Agawu’s “extra musical” influences. The uses of Errors According to Agawu, “[e]rrors made during rehearsal or performance … and the ways in which they are immediately corrected constitute rich sites for the study of aesthetic norms, conventions of grammar and syntax, and constraints on performance” (Agawu, 2001, p. 10). Although Agawu considers errors and how they impact performances, it is also evident that jokes also constitute rich sites just as the errors. And even more so, some words or phrases that occur jokingly may be considered as errors if subjected to their original context. Among the Calvary Methodist Singing Band for instance, some of the musical practices that are now being regarded as aesthetic norms were as a result of an error or joke. 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Violence Against Natural Language In this category, Agawu asserts that there are “other kinds of violation that have, in the course of time, hardened into metalanguage” (2001, p. 12). Some of these violations occur in expressions which Agawu describe as “tonemic transgression— a form of violence against language”. In these violations, there is a “transformation of low tone to a high tone…a transformation away from language and in the direction of music, away from the normal register of speech to a marked, higher one” (ibid). Also, using the same word in different contest and hence suggesting a different meaning comes under Kofi Agawu’s category of violence against natural language in the sense that the natural meaning of the word is not applied in this contest. An example is when the Singing Band is performing and you hear Band members shouting άgyéi to express their enjoyment of a song or an entire performance although in speech, the word άgyéi is an expression of pain. Singing in the Throat To explain this category, Agawu (2001, p. 13) posits that: African musics and languages may be understood as having identical origins, for if a unit of language is marked essentially by tone and rhythm, then it might be described as a minimal unit of music too… Words and music are brought into alliance in song. One interesting, though perhaps uncommon, aspect of this alliance concerns situations in which words and music appear to go their separate ways, situations in which music escapes from language, as happens, for example, when a song is hummed rather than sung. Here, Agawu argues that African musics and African languages do not always come into the obvious alliance despite their common characteristics or influence on each other. This practice, as Agawu argues, “embodies a moment of excess, a moment of transcendence, perhaps, a moment in which words, once again, reach their limits, so to speak, unable to 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh convey further meaning, and so defer to the more articulate music” (ibid). The above assertion further has to do with that kind of performance where the performer heightens the performance —either consciously or unconsciously— so as to fully communicate or express, through humming and sometimes bodily gestures, his/her deeper emotions. Although Agawu considers humming as a form of option when text cannot express emotions, another way of expressing emotions in African societies is through ululation. Bodily gestures which sometimes are able to depict what words cannot express also form part of this category. All these external influences as explained by Agawu actively play a role during the performance of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. 4.10 ANALYSIS OF THREE SINGING BAND MUSIC SCORES From here, I will analyse three music scores of the Band. The music scores are in two parts: one is the original composition by the composer and the other is the researcher’s transcription of how the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka perform the same music. This is to elaborate how the Band adapts a song to suit themselves and their audience. 76 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i. Methodist Hymn (M.H.B 351) As scored by the composer: 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii. As performed by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band: 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii. Sacred Songs and Solos (S.H.B 901) As scored by composer 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv. Sacred Songs and Solos (SHB 901) As performed by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v. Nya Gyedze(Have Faith) As scored by the composer: 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi. As performed by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band: 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Examples i, iii, and v are the original scores of the composers whilst example ii, iv, and vi are the ones transcribed by the researcher as performed by the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. The Calvary Methodist Singing Band is a four part vocal group and most of their songs are in four parts— Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. In the first two scores the first score was in three-four time-signature but for the Band to get a danceable rhythm, they perform the song in four-four time as shown in the second score. Throughout the scores, we will notice that all of the three musical pieces are syncopated by the Band to give a danceable rhythm. Bar 17 in example ii is an affirmation of what Agawu refers to as Error. Originally, the score ends in Bar 16. The conductor however does a call (example ii-bar 17) to which the Band responds, this call serves as a reminder or prompt for the Band. Although this call is not on the score, Band members respond to it anytime they hear it although an outsider may not grasp the meaning at his/her first listening or observance. Similarly, an outsider who is familiar with the composer’s original work may critique the performance negatively. Also in bar 24 and 25 in example iii the tenor singers express their emotions with a sound “ooooo” which does not have any meaning, this occurs when they get to bar 17. This however, is an expression of deeper emotions which words cannot describe. Looking at the body language and expression that accompany this “ooooo”, sound I argue that the sound as performed by the Band is an emotional expression of a ‘singing in the throat’ although 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh this singing comes out. There is this lady who is old Band member but does not join the Band during rehearsal. She however joins them when they are performing on Sundays. Whenever she gets immersed in a performance she ululates. Her explanation for that is, that is how she feels like expressing her joy when the music is being sung and performed well and she is enjoying it. On bar 13 to 16 of example i on the composers score there is no repetition sign but when its being performed(example ii) the singing Band repeats from bar 13 to 16 it as many times as directed by their conductor. According to Armaah, “[i]n African music, one particular phrase may be repeated a number of times in ascending pitches or descending pitches or may be the same pitch” (Armaah, 2016, p. 90). In this repetition it was done in the same pitch and this normally occurs where the message is very important since through repetition, texts are emphasized and painted well. This is in recognition that they do not only sing for dancing but communicate to their audience (church members) through the text of the music. 4.11 THE SINGING BAND AND CULTURAL IDENTITY THEORY The theory that guided this research was Cultural Identity theory by Stuart Hall (1989) and he looked at the theory in two perspectives: the first looks at ‘true self’ as a group of people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common, whilst the second one is that anything that is historical undergo historical change. I will explore how relevant this theory is to the work by expounding some issues which are aligned to Stuart Hall’s theory of Cultural identity. The Calvary Methodist Singing Band identifies itself as a Fante group that does not sing English songs and this fact is based on the historical beginnings of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. This identity is still being practiced despite the high level of educated individuals; till date, individual church members still refer to the Singing Band as 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh a group for non-literates. This has become a form of an identity for the Calvary Methodist Singing Band which differentiates them from other groups in the Church. The Calvary Methodist Singing Band’s true self as discussed by Hall is the non-English songs they sing. The band has gone through a lot of changes from costume, performance skills, instrumentation etc. and Hall says “…everything which is historical, undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past”, and before I elaborate on this further, talking about change, the practitioners of the true self has even changed. That is the Singing Band was the preserve for non-literates, so in 1965 there was an influx of literates and one will have thought that they will now change the narrative but they still hold on to the identity of the Singing Band as a non-literate Singing Band. This means that something which was meant for non-literates is being practiced by literates which emphasises Hall’s second assertion that anything historical undergoes change. Also even the true self is unstable; for depending on the authority that is in charge of the Singing Band, there might be an attempt to change their singing tradition either in part or whole. I therefore project that although some changes have been resisted in the past, those change will be accepted someday for the progress of the Band. Example is the attempt to introduce tonic solfa to replace rote method of teaching songs. The current music director tried and tested it based on the donation of hymnbooks with tonic solfa by a patron but due to the challenges it was suspended. There was no resistance to this attempt and the books are still available. The music director has therefore promised to re-introduce the use of the hymnbooks in the future. His argument is that, when Singing Band members get used to reading the tonic solfa, song teaching and learning will be made easier and less stressful than the rote method. This change is occurring due to the power in charge of the Singing Band currently. 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh One major thing that has changed is the costume. In the early days, members wore any cloth and any head kerchief but this has however changed over the years as Band members now wear white head kerchief and cape for uniformity although they still maintain the idea of everyone still wearing their own dress. Nowadays too, the uniforms of all Methodist Singing Bands in Ghana are being regulated by the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands In summary, this chapter has looked at how the various factors in the Calvary Methodist Church and Singing Band have been able to contribute to the sustainability of the non-literate singing tradition of the Calvary Methodist Church, and also looked at their costumes, instruments and performing style through ethnography. The next chapter which is also the last chapter will contain Summary, Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation. 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This thesis investigated, historically and ethnographically, factors that account for the preservation of a non-literate singing tradition in the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka,—despite the educational background of Singing Band members— and how these factors have impacted on the performance of the Singing Band. Through history and ethnography I looked at the contribution of the Calvary Methodist church, the Singing Band and individual members’ contribution that has made it possible to preserve this non-literate tradition despite their educational background. Three songs were analyzed as scored by composer and as performed by the Singing Band. This revealed some of the performance etiquettes to make us to understand and appreciate them better. This last chapter will seek to summarize the whole work, write about my findings, and finally give my own recommendation. 5.1 SUMMARY The work starts with Chapter one as the background of the study. In Chapter one, I presented brief information about the Methodist church, the early days of the Singing Band in Ghana and the purpose why it was formed. A brief information was also given on the Calvary Methodist Church, the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, why it was formed, the current educational status of Band members and why they still practice the non-literate Singing tradition. This was followed by the problem statement where it looked at how the whole research idea was stated. What follow the background of study are objectives of the study and the research questions that will guide the research. 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh After the research questions, I outlined the scope of the study by giving details of what each chapter seeks to do. I stated and discussed my theoretical framework for this work after which I provided the Methodology. The methodology informs us about how data was collected and analysed. Chapter two reviewed literature on the early days of the British missionaries and their various activities when they arrived on the shores of the then Gold Coast, now Ghana. It also looked at how Methodism was introduced in the country. The introduction of British English hymns, the challenges they went through concerning language and how they solved it through the indigenisation of Methodism in Ghana. How the indigenisation started and the processes it went through—from translations of British English hymns to Fante, institution of Ebibidwom and finally formation of Singing Band, were all highlighted. The chapter further elaborated on how the Singing Band was established in the church, why it was established and the group of people it was established for as well as the role it plays in the church. Finally, I touched on the National Union of Methodist Singing Bands which is the mother association of all Singing Bands in the Methodist Church Ghana. The roles and the functions the association plays were also looked at. Chapter three gave a brief history on the Calvary Methodist Church, a detailed history of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, how the church was formed by migrant Akan workers in Accra, and the reason for its formation and motives. Chapter four looked at both internal and external factors that have helped in the preservation of the non-literate singing culture despite the educational background of members of the Calvary Methodist Church. It further analysed some of the performance etiquettes of the Singing Band that make people to misjudge their performance. 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2 FINDINGS The church as an institution where the Singing Band finds itself has been very instrumental in the preservation of the tradition and this has been possible because of the high number of Fante Church leaders and members. When asked why they have maintained the non-literate singing tradition over the years despite their education level they said when they came they met the non-literates and because they did not want to create any uncomfortable atmosphere between the literates and the non-literate they maintained this tradition. Aside this, the singing Band also helps them to push for their status or identity in society as in if they join the choir they will trim their face, wear shoes and tie. But they see the Singing Band as a link to their tradition considering the restrictions their education and jobs place on them. For example, when they wear western attires to work throughout the week the singing Band gives them an opportunity to solely wear their traditional clothes and sing. Also some of them said they see the Singing Band as an avenue to learning the Fante language—through the singing of Fante Songs and speaking of Fante during rehearsals. This is an avenue that they cannot afford to lose because the immediate environment that they find themselves in is not conducive to learning the Fante language. For some of them, because they were born in Accra, they do not even speak the Fante language in their homes, work place and among friends and in the church. Thus, the only group that is helpful and friendly to the speaking and learning of the Fante language is the Calvary Methodist Singing Band. And as members they cannot afford to lose this avenue where they speak and learn songs in their native language. While Calvary Methodist is still essentially a Fante Church and continues to dominantly employ the Fante language in its programs, it has also succeeded in attracting 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh non-Fantes. The language has gained more power and influence as people who are not Fante are learning the Fante language. Joining the Calvary Methodist Church is therefore another way of subscribing to the Fante culture. Also, because the Methodist Church started in the Fante land, the Calvary Methodist Church helps to preserve the early Fante cultures as started by early Methodists outside the jurisdiction of the Fante land. Despite the attempt to preserve the tradition they cannot totally preserve it because cultural identity is shifting this is seen in the change of costume, introduction of new musical instruments and attempt to introduce new music teaching technique. The performance style of the Singing Band is very flexible compared to other groups where one is supposed to sing and perform exactly what has been taught on paper; and any extra musical elements introduced will not be tolerated. I also found out that the Singing Band members can freely express their emotions and jokes and any other external inputs are welcome so far as it adds to the beauty of the music during performances and makes their performance lively and enjoyable to the Church members. 5.3 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the thesis looked at how the Calvary Methodist Singing Band has been able to preserve the non-literate singing tradition over the years despite the current level of literates in the Singing Band. From the inception of a Singing Band at Anomabo to Cape Coast, the motive was to actively involve the non-literate members to participate in church service fully through the translation of many English hymns to Fante by Rev Anaman. The Calvary Methodist Singing Band which was formed in the year 1925 also had the same mission. Having emerged from the Sunday school where Fante kids and adult non- 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh literates members were taught how to read and write Fante, the non-literates among them started the Singing Band to enable them to sing in their native language and lead service in Fante Language. This thesis helped us to understand how and why the Singing Band has been able to maintain this non-literate singing tradition over the years. It will serve as a material for churches who wish to preserve and impact the singing tradition of their singing groups and illustrate how, through history and ethnography, one can document factors that account for the emergence and preservation of a non-literate singing tradition in the mainline (Orthodox) churches. Finally it is obvious from the thesis that in the age of modernity it is impossible to shield a tradition from cultural influences. Culture is dynamic and the Calvary Methodist Singing Band reflects the blend of both traditional and modern socio-cultural musical resources. 5.4 RECOMENDATIONS The Methodist church which was established in the year 1835 by the arrival of the first missionary Rev. Joseph Rhodes is 184 years this year. Although it is trying its best to preserve its heritage and history through the Methofest—a festival that was established in the year 2001 by the then Presiding Bishop Right Rev. Asante Antwi— which gave platform and opportunity for dioceses in the country to showcase their history and artifacts of their various churches over the years, I recommend the following in relation to its music life45: I recommend that they attach some seriousness to the Church by developing it from the individual churches, making sure that each society in the country is assisted through the 45The highest title given to the Minister in Charge of the whole Ghana Methodist church 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh expertise of professional historian and archivist to record, store documents, artifacts of the various churches, from its inception. Also, individual church members should be sponsored and educated to manage the materials for future generations so that people or institutions who want to do further research about the Methodist Church will find little or no difficulty in accessing data about the Methodist Church. The good news about the Calvary Methodist Church is that they are putting up a new Church building with thousand five hundred seating capacity. During one of the presentation by the building committee to the church they made mention of an archive section in the uncompleted Church building, which will store and keep information about the Church, I recommend that the Calvary Methodist Singing Band should start investing in collecting materials from old Band members, organise and store them so that after the completion of the new Chapel project they hand it over to the church so that their rich culture and materials will be showcased to whoever will visit the archive in future. On the issue of the church’s archive, I had a discussion with Mrs Judith Opoku-Boateng, an archivist at the Kwabena Nketia Audio/Visual Archive at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. She argued that in terms of archiving/heritage preservation, Ghana as a country has not made much progress. This, according to her is because the Ghanaians do not seem to cherish their heritage. She reiterates “we as a people have a culture, a living heritage, and we live it almost every day but we have not sensitised ourselves enough to preserve this heritage for future use”. When I told her about the church’s inclusion of an archive in its new church building, she was impressed. She stated that the church’s initiative is a good step and that it will be the responsibility of all members to feed the archive with materials. She also suggested that the church should allocate budget for the archive section, and make sure all church activities (be it daily, weekly, and periodically) should be documented. Some of the activities she suggested can be archived include weddings, funerals, church services, 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh baptism certificates, birth certificates, brochures, etc. She believes some of these projects cannot be successful if the church leaves the archive and its day-to-day activities to individual church members. To her, the church should acquire its own camera and hire the services of professionals (who can also be made to train some church members) to help capture quality videos and audios for storage. This she said, is better than allowing individual church members to take footages with their private phones for archival purposes. Finally she said handling of some of this materials need experts example like On the issue of old cloths and books, she suggests that these materials need to be stored under right conditions else they will be destroyed; it is therefore advisable to seek the advice or hire the services of an archivist. At this point, I assured her I will arrange a meeting between her and the Calvary Methodist church leadership so she can sensitise both the leadership and all stakeholders on the importance of archiving and how to prepare for their upcoming archive in their new church building (discussion with Mrs Judith Opku-Boateng, December 11, 2019). I recommend that the Singing Band engages the services of professionally trained Fante scholars to, once in a while, help improve the Fante speaking and singing of young Band members. Although singing and speaking Fante help in learning Fante, being taught how to read and write the language will be more effective and helpful. 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh REFERENCES Agawu, K. (2001). African Music as Text. Research in African Literature, 32(2), The Landscape of African Music (summer, 2001) 8-16. Agordoh, A. A. (2011). The Development of Church Music in Ghana. Sundel services Accra, Ghana. Ampiaw, W. K. (2012). Confronting Technical Challenges for Effective Music Ministry: as Manual for Church Musicians and Singers in Ghana. Emmpong Press. Amuah, J. A. (2001). Performers of Ebibindwom and their music: A case study of good shepherd (Bubuashie, Accra). (Unpublished M. Phil thesis). University of Ghana Legon. Amuah, J.A. (2010). The Use of Traditional Musical Genre as a Pre-Compositional Resource in Ghanaian Contemporary Choral Art Music: Perspectives from Newlove Annan “Ewuradze” (Lord). Journal of Performing Arts Publication of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon, 4(1), 40-43. Amuah, J.A. (2014). Contemporary Choral Music Performances in Ghana, University of Ghana 65th Anniversary Reader, in Arts and Humanities Series, (5), 58-67. Amuah J. A., & Nyamful, A. Y. (2014). Digital and Multimedia Way out to the Preservation of Ebibidwom (Akan Sacred Lyrics), Journal of Arts and Humanities(JAH), 3(2), 64-72. Andoh, T. E. (2008). The Choral Music Scene in the Gold Coast (Ghana). Ghana Bulletin of Theology, 77-110. Arhin, B.O.J. (2015). Biographical Study of Choral Groups in Ghana. Unpublished paper. Armaah, J. V. (2016). Text and Text Tune (Tone) in Ghana Hymnology-A Case study of the Christian Asor Ndwom of the Methodist Church Ghana. (Unpublished M. Phil thesis). University of Ghana Legon. Atiemo, A. (2006). 'Singing with Understanding' the Story of Gospel Music in Ghana. Studies in World Christianity, 142-159. Bartels, F. L. (1965). The Roots of Ghana Methodism, Cambridge and Accra: Cambridge University Press and Ghana Methodist Book Depot. Bierstedt, R. (1954). The Problem of Authority. Morroe Berger et al., Freedom and Control in Modern Society. 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Dickson, K. A. (1984). Theology in Africa. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. Essendon, I. K. (1998). Gospel-Highlife: The Status and Impact of a Ghanaian Popular Music Genre. (Unpublished M. Phil thesis). University of Ghana Legon. Esson E. D. K. (2016). The Development and Contribution of Youth Choirs in Ghana. (Unpublished M. Phil thesis).University of Ghana Legon. Krueger, R. A. (1988). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Sage, UK. Mensah, A. A. (1960). The Akan Church lyric. International Review of Mission 29 (April):183- 88. McAllister, A. (2012). Picturing the Demon Drink: How Children were Shown Temperance Principles in the Band of Hope. Visual Resources, 28(4), 309-323. Nketia, J.H.K. (1974). The Music of Africa. New York: WW Norton. Ocran, S. D. (2006). Continuity and Change in the music of the liturgy of Cape Coast Westley Methodist Cathedral (Doctoral dissertation, MPhil Thesis). Oosthuizen, G. C. (1968). Post - Christianity in Africa. London: C and Hurst and Co. Owoahene-Acheampong, S. (1998). Inculturation and African Religion Indigenous Western Approaches to medical Practices. New York: Peter Lang Inc. Parson, T. (1951). The Social System. New York: Free Press 1-200. Parson, T. (2013). Social system: Routledge. Quianoo, M. (2014). The Appropriation and Incorporation of Popular Music in the Methodist Church Ghana since 1980. (Unpublished M. Phil thesis). University of Ghana, Legon. Sanneh, L. (2000). The CMS and the African transformation; Samuel Ajayi Crowther and the opening of Nigeria. Church Mission Society and World Christianity, 1799-1999 K. Ward and B. Stanley, eds. 173-97. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Shepherd, M. H. (1952). The Worship of the Church Greenwich, CT: Sazbury Press. Silverman, D (2008). Interpreting Qualitative data, (3rd ed.). London: sage. Turkson, A. (n.d). Evolution of the Fante Sacred Lyric. 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Turkson A.R. (1975) The evolution of Ebibindwom. Research Review, 9(3) Institute of African Studies. Legon. Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Newspaper/Program brochure sources i. Program brochures: 75th Anniversary brochure of the Calvary Methodist Church, Adabraka, Accra. 2001 ii. The Christian Sentinel, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2007 Pg 28 iii. Program brochure: Commemorative Brochure of the first Pastoral Visit of the Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel K. Asante to the Accra Diocese.2012 pg. 22 iv. Funeral brochure of Prof. E. S. Aidoo,2013 v. The mirror, Friday, July3-9, 2015.Pg 10, 39. vi. 90th Anniversary brochure of the Calvary Methodist Church Society, Adabraka, Accra 2016 vii. 90th Anniversary brochure of the Calvary Methodist Singing Band, Adabraka, Accra.2016 viii. National Union of Methodist Singing Bands Handbook, Revised Edition, 2017. Interviews Mr. Franklyn Acquaah Harrison ------- 23/09/2018 Mr. Franklyn Acquaah Harrison -------- 21/11/2018 Nana Adjei Yentumi Mensah -------- 30/11/2018 Very Rev. Ama Affull Blay -------- 03/12/2018 Mrs. Joyce Osei Afriyie --------- 05/12/2018 Clara deHeer Graham -------- 10/12/2018 Mrs. Faustina Acquah Robertson ------- 14/12/2018 Mrs. Faustina Acquah Robertson ------- 8/01/2019 Becky, Ruthlove and Karen --------- 15/12/2018 Janet Rhoda Kissi -------- 22/01/2018 Mr. Prince Akwasi Twum -------- 29/01/2018 Mr. Yaw Mensah Kingsford --------- 05/02/2019 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Mr. John Cosby Aidoo ---------15/02/2019 Mr. Joesph Amprofi Baidoo ---------16/02/2019 Mr. Ato Scott-Bennin ---------20/02/2019 Auntie Julie Hagan ---------20/02/2019 Mrs. Linda Fynn-Carr --------- 15/02/2019 Abraham Ekumah ---------5/10/2018 Abraham Ekumah -------- 2/11/2018 Abraham Ekumah ---------9/3/2019 Samuel Young --------- 24/11/2018 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDICES APPENDIX A: (MUSIC) TRANSLATED ENGLISH ANTHEMS TO FANTE. PSALM 150 AND HALLELUJAH CHORUS ALL BY G. F. HANDEL. MUSIC SHEET USED IN 1988 AND 1989. 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 101 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 102 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 103 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 104 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 105 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX B: PICTURES The Calvary Methodist Singing Band with their patrons Calvary Methodist Singing Band performing during Festival of Ten Lessons and Songs 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX C: PROGRAMME FOR THE 44TH FESTIVAL OF TEN LESSONS AND SONGS 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Programme For The Festival Of Ten Lessons And Songs on the Triumphal entry, Passion and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST By The Calvary Methodist Singing Band Adabraka, Accra. Sunday 14th April, 2019 Time: 8:30 am. Under the direction of: Bro.Abraham Ekumah. At the organ: Bro. Stephen Anderson and Bro. Obed Nyantakyi. Very Rev. Kodwo Arko-Boham - Superintendent Minister Very Rev. Joseph Baidoo Very Rev. Peter Ansah-Eshun 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1. Processional Hymn MHB 84 CAN 84 Choir/Singing Band 2. Introit MHB 182 CAN 182 Choir/Singing. 3. Opening Hymn MHB 152 CAN 152 4. Bidding Prayer Minister 5. Invitatory: Adom Nyame Nyim dɛ. Singing Band 6. First Lesson: Zech.9:9-12 (Hwɛ wo Hen reba) Sis. Mary Boateng. Song: Ma w'enyi ngye . Singing Band 2. Ahotɔ aba. Singing Band 3.Ɔnam ɔreba Singing Band 7. Second Lesson: Luke 19:29 - 40. (Jesus kɔ Jerusalem) - Women's Fellowship. Song: Hosanna wɔ sorsor. Singing Band 2 Hosanna.by Armaah - Singing Band. 8. Children's Entry : Hymn MHB 837 CANF 837/836 9. Third Lesson: Mark 14:27-31.(Jesus ka dɛ Peter bɛpa no) 10 .Fourth Lesson: Mark 14:43-46,50. (Wɔkyer Jesus) Youth Fellowship. 1. Song. Fafir hɔn. Singing Band. 2. Bogya a ɔsom bo. Singing Band. 11. Fifth Lesson: Matthew 27:1-2,11,17,21-26 (W'obu Jesus fɔ dɛ wonku no.) Sis Adwoa Darko 1. Song. Yesu Kae me. Singing Band 2. Agyenkwa. Singing Band 12. Sixth Lesson: Mark 15:16-20,22-28. (Wɔ bɔ Jesus mbeamu dua mu) Sis. Dinah Yorke Hymn MHB 180 CAN 180. Singing Band/Congregation 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Song. Sor ayɛ dzinn. Singing Band 13. Seventh Lesson : Mark 15:34-37(Jesus no wu) Sis.Linda Fynn-Carr. Song: Jesus no dɔ. Singing. Band 14.Eight Lesson: Mark 16:1-17(Jesus no wusoɛr) Guild 1. Song: Hom ntow ehurusi ndwom. Singing Band 2. Christ edzi nkonyim. Singing Band 3. Halleluia Christ asoɛr ampa. Singing Band 15. Ninth Lesson: John 20:19-22(Jesus yii no ho kyerɛɛ n'esuafo) Sis Julie Ben-Eghan Song: Ampara Christ asoɛr. Singing Band 2 Yesu no mogya 3. Bura bi wɔ hɔ bogya ma. Singing Band 16. Tenth Lesson: Matthew 28:16-20 (Soma a Jesus dze soma n'esuafo) Bro.I.B.Bondah. Song: Moma yɛn kodi ne ho adanseɛ. Singing Band Sermon Hymn MHB 178 CAN 178 17. Homily : Sis. Gifty Afenyi Dadzie 18. Announcement: Steward 19. Offertory : Medley. Singing Band. 20. Closing Hymn MHB 196 CAN196 21. Benediction Minister 22. Recessional Hymn MHB 192 CAN 192 Choir/Singing Band 111