The story behind the build-up of Africa is astonishing. I wish we would have learned more about this in school. It is very interesting to know that many empires were being built and created during the time Columbus sailed the Atlantic. Not only that, but the first person to actually sail the Atlantic was African, and it was not Columbus. This is monumental and should be taught in all schools. Now to the culture of Africa. Africa has so many beautiful parts to its culture. All the way from hair, clothing, and music. Obviously, I will touch base on the most important topic today, music.
Agbekor Drumming
Agbekor Drumming is a traditional drumming/dancing style, that we talked about in class. I found an article that tells a lot about it and the author says some interesting things. "Agbekɔ is a narrative piece that weaves together drumming, dancing, singing and chanting to recount the story of a small village that successfully fended off an attack by a much larger urban army over 500 years ago." ( Jeremy Cohen 1). This reminds me of a story in the Bible when Gideon and 300 soldiers went around the Midianite camp with trumpets and torches inside of clay pots. The Midianites got scared and ended up killing each other. The African soldiers used that style of drumming to do the same thing. Now it has been preserved and created as a tradition.
https://thisworldmusic.com/agbekor-african-drumming-and-dance-from-ghana/
The Shaker
The Shaker is another traditional instrument in Africa. Much like in the Native American culture. In Africa, instead of making shakers out of dried animal bladders, they make them out of gourds. In music, it sounds so beautiful and it adds to the melody in a marvelous way. Below is an example of the shaker being used and a slight history of it.
I love that you touched on hair as that truly is a great part of their culture. I love how detailed the video goes on the shaker. And of course the drumming! It's quite fascinating how so much of each culture has included drumming.
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