Tyehimba Kokay

In the beginning, many native americans were killed, while Omaamikwe was guided by a spirit. Protecting Omaamikwe was the spirit’s task and succeeded. Then, after some time a drum came to Omaamikwe which was the big drum. Omaamikwe was instructed on all the songs and eventually the big drum society was formed. Today the big drum is a powwow drum which is very social to the people. The drum’s purpose is to bring people together at a powwow. Which is a gathering of people to celebrate their heritage. The arrival of the drum allowed people to communicate with spirits and was vital to their own spirituality. Such vitals were pleasure, healing, hunting, war, and ceremony to ensure the spirits were with them. A sound of thunder comes from the drum

Dance has always been the focal point in which Africans are able to let free through movements of emotion. In this essay I will discuss the history of African Dance and its importance to the African Culture. Also will be discussing the general information of African dance, the different types of African dance and the ones that I like the most. Dance in the African culture is something that cannot be taken advantage of in the African Culture because it holds such a strong meaningful moment at the time of any occasion.

Once we arrived at the event, Dawn Hemmingway started by making a few opening statements. Dawn’s opening statements were then followed by members of the Khast’an Drummers. There were four Lheidli T’enneh peoples drumming in total and they performed multiple songs. These songs had various different meanings and incorporated their values and culture. The general theme of their songs had quite somber and touching meanings due to the matter at hand. This was the first time I had witnessed the Lheidli T’enneh people perform. It was a very special moment for me, I felt honored to have witnessed them share their culture with everyone in the room.

The most interesting part that I found was the dancing part. The Native Indian are always good at express their emotion through the dancing. Every tribe has they own way to express the reverence for natural, the delight of hunting and the desire of victory. These wonderful conversations between the Manitou and people, has formed the special art in the Native American. Certainly, there are music accompany with dances, and the instrument are contain spiritual symbol as well. For instance, drum plays an important role in the Powwow. The article “Without the drum, there would be no Powwow” mention that “ Our drum has character, we have that powwow spirit, and people dance.” Drum is not only represent the core of Native people faith, but also is the heartbeat of the creator. Powwow drum are often make by circle, because circle stands for lifecycle. People surrounding and beat the drum, like the life turning and returning.

a. Most of the collective music manifestations found in sub-Saharan Africa represent the community, and encourage group participation using a method that is called call-and-response. If they aren’t using a call-and-response such music’s are usually to be found at events such as religious ceremonies, and/or most other ritual based activities.

Concrete Detail 1: African Americans produced music in the United States similar to the music they had in their homelands. The use of instruments made out of gourds as well as clapping would be integrated into their music.

Also, its past is well recognized, whatever has remained deserted up to today is the psychological inspection of the association among this technique of prevalent philosophy plus a significant mental, common and historical matters and circumstances which provided intensification towards it and is expressed by it. One major reason folk was special in the African American culture is because it’s a likeness of the distinct southern culture, past and social organization on the instruction and of confidences, doubts, politics also arrogances displayed by the people on the early stages of segregation. The composition of the African, English and Scottish mixed rapidly and effortlessly in the similar progression through groups mixed demographically and socially to form the essential culture. The composition from Germany and France modified justly with the folk custom. It seems that certain musical methods such as polkas from Europe, the melodies of the Hindu, Arabic and French settlers, practiced the same affiliation to the pleasing music essential all of the settlers practiced with regard to the essential philosophy; an assortment based on choice.

While in Barbados, Ligon writes about cultural adaptations which are evident between the European and African inhabitants. Ligon knew a slave named “Macow”, he entered Ligon’s house only to find Ligon playing a musical instrument (called the “Theorbo”) and singing a song to it. Macow waited, watched, and listened attentively to these noises the Theorbo created. What caught Macow’s interest was the fact that the Theorbo made different pitches in sounds. All Macow knew was the drum, and how it was only capable of making a single tone. Ligon stumbled across Macow a couple days after this had happened. He noticed that Macow had a large piece of timber in which he was trying to duplicate the sound of the Theorbo. What Ligon points out in this story is the fact that some of the African slaves (or servants) actually have the potential to learn the Arts. Macow adapted to Ligon’s cultural practices and tried to duplicate them with this act.

In chapter ten, author Bruno Nettle takes the reader to the town of Browning, Montana, where he is about to witness a modern Native American ceremony. As he observes, he notices that only one-half of the people there are actual Native Americans. The rest are are white tourists and innocent observers just like himself. Eventually, somewhere around eighteen singing groups appear from different tribes and reservations. They will be summoning the dancers into what is known as the grand entry. Nettle notices that the overall style of the music remains the same among all of the different groups, or `drums.' People are able to interact by taking pictures, video and tape recording what goes on. In that

I must say that my hole spring quarter has been dedicated to deepening my overall understanding of West-African dance alone. In preparation this to study with the Urban Bush this summer I wanted to make sure that I was able to develop a stronger foundation in my West-African dance technique this quarter. My Mondays and Wednesday from 2:00-6:30 were dedicated to Professor Parker's ( Makeda- Kumasi) West-African dancing and drumming classes held at UCR. I also seeked outside the classroom to gain a community experience of this dance genre so that I could compare and contrast the similarities and differences I found. My goals were to truly embody the many elements that are associated in this dance genre. In my discoveries I was able to

Work songs were another influential form of musical expression in the lives of slaves, and these songs were sung by a field of hands in order to coordinate and pace their work, and slave owners expected their slaves to sing. In fact, many slave-masters discovered that drums could be used as a secret means of communication. Many of the slave owners were concerned that this secret means of communication could eventually lead to a slave uprising. As a result, drums were banned, but the enslaved Africans substituted “hand clapping” in the place of drums in order to reproduce the complex rhythms of African drumming.

In this essay, I will be examining the musical genre of Afrobeat which was created by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Afrobeat first came to be in the late 1960’s during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Fela Kuti a Nigerian, was able to create a genre that has change the way we view music today. Afrobeat is made up of two different words, “Afro” and “Beat”. “Afro” correlates with “African organized sound while beat is a rhythmic counting pattern in relation to such music” (Oikelome, 2013). Therefore, the meaning of Afrobeat is the unique African rhythmic patterns of such music. The coming of this genre is very interesting since the man behind it has quite a story.

Villagers all gathered around a blazing fire performing in unison with one another. Everyone dressed in bright colored cultural clothing with their bare feet sifting through the dirt. The whole group chanting and dancing ancient ritual songs bringing smiles to faces around them. Drummers banging on lizard skin drums and early djembes filling the air with their harmonious rhythms. Back then it wasn't unusual to see performances such as this. Percussion is derived from the African and Indian Cultures. As these cultures have grown over the years their music and percussion have evolved as well. Even today these early cultures of percussion continue to influence today's modern

In the video called Ondekoza (Taiko Drummers of Mt. Fuji), my first impression of the performance was that it seemed to be a traditional drumming ensemble by just looking at the Japanese drums, and the traditional clothing of the players. However, the drumming style of the video was a slightly strange, because usually ancient and traditional music would consider focusing on Japanese traditional values, religion, stories, or ethnicity. Nevertheless, there was a one scene where a drum player wearing an underwear showing his hips was playing the big drum when suddenly another a man came out with a European bottle of wine or Champagne and was drinking and spitting around on the other drummer’s back. It was very foreign and odd that both men represent something not Japanese like the man came out with a European bottle and the other drummer wearing an underwear that show his hips in a Japanese setting.

In this course we have learned about all of the different cultures and their musical traditions. My favorite so far has had to be the west African music culture. They have a variety of different music, instruments, and dances to contribute to the reasons I liked this music culture so much. So, I have taken it upon myself to further my research on this particular musical group. I will compare and contrast a variety of different videos from the west African music culture and I will analyze how they connect to this culture.