History of African Music

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the modern African American musical experience is rooted in ancient times. These roots go back to ancient Egypt and their conquests of the Nubians. The paper further discusses how the language of African tribes is tonal and one word might have several meanings in different tones. The talking drums of several countries mimic this quality of language. Despite the reputation of being a simply aural and oral musical tradition, African tribal music actually did have a complex local style of musical notation available to it.

From the Paper:

" The musical history of any region is important. African music has taken on an even greater significance due to its importance not only to its country of origin, but also due to its importance in the countries to which it spread. African American music has its roots in tribal cultures. It has lent its influence not only to African American popular culture, but to religion as well. Tribal Music The ancient history of African music is confused at best. It is undoubtedly conflated with the music of the Old Kingdom Egyptian music, when Egypt dominated and colonized the Nubians (Hester, 2005, p. 1). Hester comments that "surprisingly, the history of Egyptian music presents little evidence of the use of drums prior to 2000 B.C." (2005, p. 1). "

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