Coastal West African country. It has 19·93 million people (2000 estimate) and an area of 238,540 km2. Its musical traditions reflect the variety of musical styles found in West Africa, for, although Ghana is a comparatively small country, it is made up of several ethnic groups that have historical, cultural or linguistic affinities with societies beyond its borders (fig.1). The Northern and Upper regions of the country, which are occupied by about two and a quarter million people, form part of the savanna belt of West Africa and belong to the Sudanic cultural area. The rest of the country, consisting of the rain-forest belt and the coastal plains, belongs to the so-called Guinea Coast area.
About 36 different languages are spoken in Ghana, although only six of these are cultivated officially as written languages. Of these, Akan, in the form of its Twi and Fante dialects, is the most widely spoken. It is also the language whose cultural expressions, including music, have had the greatest impact on other Ghanaian societies.
1. Music of the main ethnic groups.
5. Melody, polyphony and rhythm.
J.H. KWABENA NKETIA
The most outstanding characteristic of traditional music, which distinguishes it from the new music, is the great diversity of its forms and the usages to which it is put. Ethnic groups show considerable flexibility in their choice of contexts of performance, musical types, musical items, instruments and vocal styles, as well as in details of form and structure. The choices that each society makes, however, are not always unique to it and may overlap with those made by others. Some societies use similar instruments but not the same scales; others cultivate similar types of music but develop them out of different resources; and similar ceremonies and rites are performed with different selections of music.
Certain patterns of distribution emerge, therefore, when traditional music and musical practice are viewed on a regional or country-wide basis. Some resources and usages are concentrated in the north – a major culture area – while others are based in the south. For example, varieties of the jongo musical type are performed in Frafra (Gurunsi), Kusasi (Kusaal), Kasena–Nankani (Naani), Builsa (Buli) and Sisala (Sisaala) areas in northern Ghana, but not in the south. Damba music and dance are performed at festivals of Islamic origin in Dagomba, Gonja and Wa (Wala or Wali) areas, but hardly anywhere else found. On the other hand, a few musical types and instruments are found throughout Ghana.
These patterns of distribution reflect the continuing social, cultural and linguistic affinities of Ghanaian societies, which have in the past developed their own political identities. The Dagbon (Dagbani), Mamprusi and Nanumba (Nanuni) peoples, for example, speak closely related languages and share cultural usages, for they are related historically to the Mossi and Gurma of Burkina faso. A similar situation exists among other societies such as the Lowiili, comprising the Lobrifor, Lopiel, Lodagaa (Dagaaba) and Sisala, in north-west Ghana, the Ga and Adangme of southern Ghana, or the many groups that make up the Akan cluster – the Asante (Ashanti), Brong (Abron), Akim (Akyem), Kwahu (Kwawu), Akwapim (Akuapem), Agona, Asen, Wasa, Fante (Fanti) and Akwamu. It is thus possible to group traditional societies in Ghana together into large clusters on the basis of the similarity of their musical cultures or areas of emphasis.
The Mamprusi-Dagomba cultural group of north-eastern Ghana includes the Dagomba, Mamprusi, Kusasi, Frafra, Namnam and some of the Gonja societies. This is the culture of the one-string fiddle, of two-string lutes and of hourglass drum ensembles. There is a tradition of professionalism, with a strong emphasis on praise-chanting, performed by specialists. The scales used are of the pentatonic varieties, the anhemitonic predominating. Slight ornamentation characterizes the vocal and instrumental styles, particularly those of the one-string fiddle. Islamic influence is particularly marked in the customs and festivals of the Dagomba, Mamprusi and Gonja, but is less evident in their music.
The Grusi group of north-central Ghana includes the Kasena-Nankani, the Builsa and the Konkomba (the last being included in this group solely on stylistic grounds). The Grusi chiefly use aerophone and drum ensembles. Three to six flutes or horns, or a mixed ensemble of both, accompanied by drums, play in a hocket style, which allows for the use of definite polyphonic structures. Grusi music is heptatonic and polyphony is based on the 3rd as a consonant interval. At final cadences, parts moving in parallel 3rds resolve into unison.
The Lobi, Brifor, Lopiel, Dagarti, Sisala and some of the societies in the Wa district constitute the Lowiili group of the north-western region. Their main instrument is the xylophone, played alone or with the support of a small drum ensemble. Finger bells and ankle bells are often used in the dances of this area. The scales are largely pentatonic, both hemitonic and anhemitonic. Xylophones tuned to a tetratonic scale are found in the Lobi area.
The south-central Akan group includes the Asante, Brong, Akim, Kwahu, Akwapim, Akwamu, Wasa, Asen, Agona, Fante and societies with a predominantly Akan singing style: the Awutu, Guan (Gua or Guang) and Ewe of the Ho administrative district and some of the speakers of Togo remnant languages. The Akan have an elaborately organized court and use a large number of drum ensembles (see Asante music). Trumpet ensembles and instrumental speech surrogates are common. There is also an elaborate military structure with a highly organized repertory of traditional songs and drum music. Akan music is predominantly heptatonic; polyphony is based on the 3rd as a consonant interval, the main difference between this music and that of the Grusi being that parallelism is maintained at final cadences.
The Ga-Adangme of south-east Ghana are a small group composed of the Ga, Dangme (Adangme) and Krobo. Their traditions are mixed because of intensive interaction with their neighbours: for example the court traditions and military organization are derived from the Akan. However, there are indigenous musical features, which are shared to some extent by the Awutu and Guan, who belong to the Akan group. The chief instruments used in the indigenous music are drums, but there are few varieties. The most notable features are the cultivation of klama songs (accompanied by an ensemble of three drums and a bell), kple (music for kple gods) and various types of religious music. Indigenous songs are mainly anhemitonic pentatonic; polyphony is used in vocal refrains.
The Anlo-Ewe of east coastal Ghana are a fairly homogeneous group musically closer to societies in Togo and Benin than to those in other parts of Ghana. The organization of musical associations or dance clubs, a distinctive feature of musical life, has led to the development of many different types of recreational music. The main instruments are drums, rattles and bells, played in ensembles (fig.2), which use highly organized rhythms and distinctive techniques and internal structures. There is also a strong choral tradition and the song leader, the hasino, often develops a reputation as a poet and composer. Melodies are based on complex pentatonic scales that allow for transposition; singing in parallel octaves is an important feature.
In traditional societies music-making tends to be confined within the boundaries of social life. Specific types of music are customarily assigned to social occasions, and social groups create and maintain their own musical types. Some categories of music belong exclusively to the royal court and may be performed only on prescribed state occasions, such as ceremonies of installation, durbars, state festivals and royal funerals. Some may also be performed simply for the entertainment of the chief. This practice is customary in northern Ghana where royal musicians perform at court at least once a week as a tribute to the chief. Performances of court music other than on prescribed formal occasions are more or less controlled. Thus in southern Ghana, court drums can be played only with the permission or knowledge of the chief. A royal drum ensemble may be sent to a funeral if the deceased or one of his relatives is connected with the court, or if the chief wants to convey his sympathy. In northern Ghana, on the other hand, musicians who regularly perform for chiefs may also perform on the same instruments for the general public, although a different repertory is selected for such performances. The court nevertheless has priority: the musicians may perform elsewhere only when they are not needed. Instruments that have sounds with symbolic connotations or are connected with the chief’s rituals may not be played for the general public.
Certain musical types are identified with esoteric groups such as religious cult groups, others with the traditional associations, for example warriors, heroes and different occupations. Such music is played only when the group meets to perform a ritual or ceremony or for a celebration.
Other types of music belong to the public domain. Some are for entertainment or recreation and may be performed in the evening or on any social occasion that allows for spontaneous musical expression by members of the community. In northern Ghana, the performance of such music is intense in the dry season, which may last for six or seven months. During this time, crops planted in the rainy season are harvested and work on the farms is not as heavy, so time can be given to the performance of music and the celebration of funerals held in abeyance during the sowing season. There is no seasonal fluctuation in the frequency and intensity of recreational musical activity in southern Ghana.
Music in the public sphere includes types for rituals and ceremonies connected with events in the life-cycle – birth, puberty, marriage and death rites – or that honour particular individuals. Ghanaian societies differ in the kind of events they celebrate with music. The Dagomba perform naming ceremonies with music, but the Akan of southern Ghana do not. Puberty ceremonies are musical events in the south, but are not as important in the north. Marriages in the north are celebrated with music, but rarely among the Asante.
The ceremony celebrated everywhere with much music is the funeral. Special songs or musical types are set aside for particular events of the funeral and for particular individuals and groups of individuals. However, the ceremonial and ritual details vary in their degree of elaboration or intensity. In many places in northern Ghana, funerals are community events, organized in a very elaborate manner within a dramatic framework that allows the mourners to express themselves individually and collectively in special songs and dances at various stages of the ceremony. In the south, only the funerals of royals and other special categories of people reach a similar level of dramatic intensity. Another very important occasion celebrated in all Ghanaian societies with music is the festival designed for re-enacting the history and traditions of a society, for marking agricultural activities, for bringing together divinities and their community of worshippers, and for stating or affirming those values on which the solidarity of the group depends. There is hardly any area in Ghana that has no festival, for the festival brings together all sections of the community.
In addition to music for entertainment and celebration, certain types of music and repertories of songs are performed during domestic activities and during organized labour by cooperative work groups and other social groups. Apart from fishermen’s songs, this kind of music is now apparently far less common in the south than in the north, where groups of musicians still perform for those clearing the farm or harvesting crops and where grinding songs, pounding songs, floor-beating songs, boat-launching songs and the music of boys herding cattle can still be heard.
The instruments used by Ghanaian societies include a variety of idiophones. Rattles are the most common, although they are used in many different contexts. Among the Akan, they are used in only a few types of music such as the kete court drum music, the Fante adzewa drum music and the music of the gods (such as akom and apo); among the Anlo-Ewe (Anglo-Ewe), nearly all musical types include rattles and the number may range from two to 20, depending on the particular type of music performed.
There are container rattles made from a gourd or of wicker, and rattles consisting of gourds strung with nets of beads, cowries, pieces of bamboo shoot, metal or coins. The latter type is found in the south among the Anlo–Ewe, the Fante and Ga, and in the north among the Dagomba, who use it to accompany dimbu (songs for rattle accompaniment). In some parts of northern Ghana, stick or rod rattles, seed shell rattles made out of the fruit of the baobab, and the sistrum are also used.
Secondary rattles (i.e. rattles attached to the bodies of performers – dancers or instrumentalists – or to musical instruments) are also common, especially in northern Ghana. Many dances in the north require the wearing of ankle buzzers, or occasionally belts of cowries, and players of xylophones in the Sisala area sometimes wear the bulo, a metal buzzer on their wrists.
Bells of different types and sizes are played in Ghana: these include both clapper bells, which in the south are used mainly in ritual contexts, and clapperless bells, which are of two types. The single clapperless bell is either conical and held at the apex or boat-shaped and held loosely in the palm of the hand (the former is struck with a piece of stick, the latter played with an iron rod). The double clapperless bell consists of two conical bells of different pitches flanged together (in southern Ghana) or held together by an arch (in northern Ghana, particularly among the Dagomba and the Mamprusi). There are also globular or conical finger bells worn on the middle finger and struck by a ring worn on the thumb.
Other idiophones include the forged iron hoe played in northern Ghana in certain types of music, in which double discs in the form of two hoe blades, joined together at the base, are struck with a metal ring. Pellet bells (generally strapped to the wrist of an instrumentalist) and the buguloo (large pellet bells of cast brass, strung on a wire or sewn to a band of hide, and attached to a single clapper bell) are used in Sisala areas. In some types of music, animal horns are used as struck idiophones instead of bells. Two pieces of flat stick or bamboo may be struck together to provide an accompanying rhythm, either as a substitute for or in addition to hand-clapping or bells. Percussion logs are used occasionally among the Asante (in asonko recreational music), while percussion vessels consisting of a hemispherical inverted gourd are found in a few places. In the north they are placed on the ground and struck with the fingers; in the south they are placed in a bowl of water and struck with the hands (by the Akan) or with two pieces of stick (by the Anlo-Ewe).
In addition to struck idiophones, scrapers are used in some types of music in the south: they consist of single notched sticks scraped with a hard shell. Stamping sticks and stamping tubes made out of gourd or bamboo are also found in the south.
These idiophones are used principally as rhythm instruments and cannot be used for playing melodies. Two types of tuned idiophone occur in Ghana: the mbila (sansa) or thumb piano, called prempensua in Akan and gidirigo in Gonja, and the gyilli xylophone. Lamellophones are of two types: the ahyewa adaka, consisting of a large box on which three to five metal lamellae are fixed, and a smaller instrument used for playing tunes or for accompanying solo singing. Ghanaian xylophones may have 12, 14 or 17 keys mounted on wooden frames, underneath which are suspended gourd resonators graduated in size, one for each key; children sometimes practise on xylophone keys laid across a pit or trench.
A variety of open and closed drums are found throughout Ghana. Societies in northern Ghana favour closed and double-headed drums, as well as frame drums consisting of potsherd over which a membrane has been stretched, whereas societies in the south prefer single-headed open drums; but as a result of historical interaction some drums of the north have been adopted in the south for use in specific types of music, while in the north some southern drums are used at the royal court. Thus the atumpan, an Akan talking drum (fig.3), is found throughout Ghana and the apentemma (operenten) hand drum is similarly widespread. The donno hourglass drum (for illustration, see Drum, fig.1f) and the gourd drum (bentere, pentre), two northern drums, are used in the south.
The drums of the Anlo-Ewe of the south-eastern coast are distinct from other Ghanaian drums, for they are made of strips of wood joined together by iron hoops and are always painted red and blue or green. No other Ghanaian society has so far adopted the drum technology of Anlo-Ewe.
Of the aerophones, horns are the most widespread, although they tend to be restricted to royal courts and also, in the north, to special types of music. They vary in size and may be made of animal horns or the tusks of elephants. They are played singly, in pairs or in larger ensembles. One such ensemble is the ntahera, a set of five or seven ivory trumpets played at the court of paramount chiefs of southern Ghana (fig.4). Flutes are more common in the north than in the south. The yua, a small flute carved out of solid wood with a notch or round embouchure, is found throughout northern Ghana, but is particularly common among the Builsa and the Kasena-Nankani. In the south the atenteben bamboo flute is played in the Kwawu area both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. The odurugya, a long notched flute made out of the husk of cane, is played at the court of the Asantehene, head of the traditional Asante political union. The taletenga, an idioglot reed pipe, is made from a stalk of millet or maize. A small flap is cut towards one end of the millet stalk to serve as the reed, but is not completely severed.
Like flutes, chordophones are less common in the south than in the north. The benta mouth bow and the seperewa, a six-string bridge-harp, are still found in isolated places in Asante but are fast dying out. The chordophones found in the north are the gonje (a one-string fiddle, fig.5, see Goge), varieties of lutes (kologo, kono, mogolo), the jinjeram musical bow with gourd resonator and the cheeng raft zither made of 11 single and double courses of split reeds tuned and tied together in the form of a raft.
Although there is some variety of instrumental types in Ghana, the apparent function of many instruments is to provide support for the voice as a rhythm section or an accompanying ostinato, or to substitute for the speaking or singing voice. The Ghanaian vocal style is varied: some societies (e.g. the Akan and the Ga) use an open throat quality, while the Frafra and the Kusasi use a more tense quality. The use of a high tessitura is quite widespread in the north and is sometimes closely related to the range of melodic instruments such as flutes, xylophones and lutes that accompany singing.
Divergences in vocal style are partly attributable to linguistic factors, for the melodies of traditional music reflect very closely the intonation and rhythms of speech. Melodies generally have a downward trend, the rise and fall within phrases reflecting linguistic intonation patterns within phrases as well as at phrase junctures. This trend is accompanied by a variation in dynamic range that in some societies, such as the Kusasi and the Frafra, is very marked and is cultivated as an aspect of musical communication: in a praise-song the singer will begin with a loud outburst intended to draw attention, and then drop to a softer level.
The music of different Ghanaian societies does not all conform to the same set of scales: some are heptatonic varieties, others hexatonic and pentatonic. Of these, the heptatonic appear to be the least variable. Variants of specific scale steps may occur as alternants within the same song, for instance perfect or augmented 4ths, minor or major 7ths. Societies that use this scale are the Kasena-Nankani, the Builsa and the Konkomba in northern Ghana and, in the south, the Akan, the Ga, the Ewe of the hinterland of the Volta region and some of the speakers of Togo remnant languages.
The hexatonic scale appears in two main forms: as a simple hexachord, that is, as a conjunct sequence of two trichords, and as a combination of a trichord and a three-note sequence, either a 3rd followed by a 2nd or a 2nd followed by a 3rd. Hexatonic music is performed by the Kusasi and the Frafra of northern Ghana and also by societies whose music is mainly in the pentatonic scale.
The pentatonic scale is found in a large number of different ethnic groups, but with slight differences in intonation. It occurs in both anhemitonic and hemitonic varieties. Some societies (e.g. the Anlo-Ewe, the Dagbani and the Frafra) have both, others only one (the Lobi, Dagarti and Sisala). Songs based on these scales also differ in their melodic organization. In many societies they are confined to one series of notes in the scale, while in others, such as the Frafra and the Anlo-Ewe, they are extended by the use of simple transposition techniques. Whatever the scale commonly found in a given society, the range of songs need not always include all the notes in the series. Thus in many children’s songs, action songs, processional songs and games, the range may be a trichord, a tetrachord or a pentachord.
Polyphonic practices are generally related to scale types and forms of melodic organization. Most societies that have pentatonic traditions sing in unison, but among the Adangme a form of polyphony is used in vocal refrains in which two voices move in contrary motion against a held or repeated note. Societies in which the heptatonic scale is found sing in parallel 3rds throughout, as in Akan tradition, or end in unison at final cadences, as in the music of the Builsa, Kasena-Nankani and the Konkomba of northern Ghana. Even in traditions in which unison singing is usual, polyphonic forms of instrumental music may occur. In the xylophone traditions of the Lobi and the Sisala a fixed accompanying pattern played by the left hand is set against a melody played by the right.
In traditional music the treatment of rhythm is much more uniform than that of pitch. Music may have a linear organization in free or in strict time, and in the latter case the metre is either predominantly duple or based on a combination of duple and triple motifs. However, it may have a multi-linear organization. This is particularly notable in the polyrhythms of some drum music. The structure of the rhythmic patterns may be simple, with all the parts following simple divisions of a single regular beat, or complex, with the various parts using different divisions of a common time span. The latter practice is typical of the xylophone music of the Sisala and the Dagarti.
An important element in the organization of rhythm is the ordering of patterns into phrases and the control of the length of phrases. In some types of music this is very clearcut: short phrases or phrases equivalent to the span of a bell pattern are used. In others there are longer phrases or phrases of a more fluid structure, as in the drumming of the Kasena-Nankani and the Builsa. The most complex type of rhythmic organization occurs in the royal music performed by fontomfrom drum ensembles in the Akan area and by the obonu and vuga ensembles of the Ga and Ewe. In this music clearcut short phrases, phrases of the standard time span and longer fluid patterns are all used in various sections of a piece.
The use of an accompanying bell pattern which functions as a time line (or underlying metre; ex.1) is widespread, although in northern Ghana it is generally restricted to certain types of music. For example in the Dagomba area a bell pattern is used in the music of the nyindogu and kanbonwaa dances, but not in the music of the damba (hourglass drum music played at damba festivals), the takai (a stick dance) and the bamaya dance. The Kasena flute and drum music has no bell pattern, but sinye (rattles) may be played as time markers and denkenkelen (iron bells) may be played at funerals. Instead of a bell a soda bottle may be used, as in the agoro (drum ensemble and chorus music) of the Gonja or the music of the Dagomba jinjeram (musical bow) and the moglo (a three-string lute).
Ghanaian music allows for both individual and collective performance in specific contexts. Firstly, there are items that may be performed as solos, including cradle songs and songs performed during domestic work; ceremonial songs such as individual dirges or laments forming part of funeral ceremonies; praise-songs; flute, xylophone, trumpet or horn solos; ritual songs sung by a diviner or other individual in a ritual context; and music performed in seclusion by a person establishing ritual contact with the gods.
Secondly, music may be performed by an individual supported by one or two people or by a small group which performs a subsidiary musical role, for example music for the Frafra-Kusasi durunga or the Dagomba gonje (both one-string fiddles) in which the fiddle player is accompanied by one or two rattle players. Similarly, in the xylophone music of north-western Ghana, the principal instrumentalist is supported by a second player, who taps an accompanying rhythm on one of the keys of the instrument while duplicating the main melody. There are solo songs with chorus accompaniment, such as the Asante kurunku, and duets such as the Kasena Le sena, in which one singer plays a leading role.
The third type of performance, an extension of the second, is by instrumental ensembles cultivated at royal courts. They may consist of three to nine drums, such as the kete, apirede and fontomfrom ensembles of the Akan, or the lunsi hourglass drum ensemble of the Dagomba. Such ensembles are also common in other contexts in northern Ghana, where they provide the music for household and community ceremonies and rituals, and also play for formation dances by small teams.
The fourth type of performance is choral. The chorus may be composed of men or women, or it may be mixed and led by one or more soloists who sing the call, while the rest sing the response. The response may simply follow the solo, or the two parts may overlap, so that the soloist begins to sing before the choral response ends. He may sing with the chorus in the overlapping section, or he may use different material. Sometimes a pair of soloists sing simultaneously, the second entering after the first; sometimes they may sing the call sections alternately. A traditional chorus either sings unaccompanied or is accompanied by hand-clapping or rhythms played on an idiophone (ex.2) or by a drum or xylophone ensemble.
Until the latter part of the 19th century, when active British colonization of Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast) began, many Ghanaian societies were culturally homogeneous. In the 20th century two distinct types of cultural expression became evident, one embodying the heritage of the past and reflecting the life of traditional societies, the other arising from Ghana’s contact with Western culture and technology. This duality is reflected in the contrast between the well-established traditions of indigenous music and the evolving inter-cultural musical traditions that began to serve the new urban institutions such as the ballroom, the café, the night club, the concert hall and the theatre, as well as educational institutions and the church.
Musicians who practise this new music use both African and non-African resources. While they sometimes use traditional African instruments, they more commonly use Western instruments to play tunes that are basically African in rhythm and melody. They may organize multi-part structures on traditional lines or base them on models from Western music. Thus, although traditional forms of polyphony in parallel 3rds can be found in their music, the trend is towards the selective use of Western harmonic techniques rather than the consolidation of traditional African practice.
The new Ghanaian music is developing in two particular areas. The first is Highlife, a form of popular music that originated in the early 20th century and is cultivated by a large number of touring bands based in the principal cities. The second is the new Ghanaian art music, which owes its development to the search for an African idiom to replace the Western hymn and anthem and which is now identified both with the church and with the concert hall and educational institutions. A new generation of literate composers and performers has consequently appeared, and music education is no longer an aspect of socialization in the community only but is also part of the school curriculum.
The recognition and support of contemporary developments in music have not minimized the historical and cultural importance of traditional music. This has continued to occupy a dominant position not only in the musical life of traditional societies but also, through the mass media and educational programmes, at arts festivals and on certain national occasions, as it is regarded as a medium for the expression of identity and the new generation of musicians, inspired by the new cultural awareness, are turning to it increasingly for material and ideas.
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