[Music] many people feel that the music of Africa is primitive but African music has a long tradition it has developed over many centuries and in its own way is as complicated as the music you hear in concert halls today we are going to learn something about the music of Africa since Africa is a very large continent containing many countries we shall concentrate on this part of Africa especially on the country of Ghana we are fortunate to have with us a master drummer from the country of Ghana mr. Robert ITA mister ETA he belongs to a tribe called ever which lives in the southern part of Ghana Miss America tomorrow who will be one of those assistant mystery today also belongs to the Avery mr. Oswald oublie is a member of the GAR tribe while I myself come from the cassini ankeny in northern Ghana as you can see a country like Ghana is made up of several different tribes each speaking its own language and having its own music the chief musical instruments of Ghana indeed of all of Africa ah the rattles the bells under drums first let's learn about the rattles and the bells the ruffle is made out of a gourd beets provide the sound the rattle is usually not played alone by his head with other instruments let's listen to the rattle as it plays with a bell in Ghana both a single bill and a double bill I used there are single bells which are high in pitch and single bells which are low each double Bell has a high sound and a low sound in one instrument [Music] another important kind of Bell is called the tokay that okay is usually not played alone but it's used with singing and with other instruments rattles and bells are played on sad occasions such as funerals and unhappy occasions such as weddings [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] another very important family of instruments in Africa is the drums in Ghana there are two main types together by metal band much as a barrel is made drums are made in different sizes usually large drums have a low sound well small drums have a higher sound the head of the drum is made out of animal hides most often those of antelopes when a drum is tracked by the hand it can make different sounds depending upon whether the hand strikes the center or the edge sometimes a drum is played by both hand and stick at the same time [Music] [Music] drums made out of single hollowed-out logs are usually played with sticks [Music] [Music] sometimes jumps are played at home for the enjoyment of your family or while entertaining guests this is often done on holidays the world by you quadrupling are putting up a monopoly Nighy Alan Alan hello Pauline I know but your goomah Paulina Paulina be mellow [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in Africa drums are not only musical instruments they are also a means of communication people talk to each other by using drums many African languages are based on high and low sounds for example when their shanties see good morning it sounds like this Margie Margie the word has a low sound and a high sound Margie it can also be said by a drum that can beat both high and low sounds thank you mister it a mystery to have just told me you are welcome this small drum is used for sending messages short distances the pitch of the drum is changed by pressing on it mister ETA is signaling a lion is near the village something wrong run in former times when Lions were found in many parts of Ghana children would run and hide when they heard this when messages have to be sent long distances larger drums are used because the sound of this kind of drum cannot be changed more than one drum must be used to get a low sound and a high sound the message mr. eta is sending is or Heaney niba the chief is coming see if we can hear the words or Heaney neba sometimes a message is sent from one group of drums to another a few miles away and then to another group of drums and then to another until the message is heard a long distance away poetry is also played on the drums often large groups of people gather together to listen to our poems instead of the poems being spoken they are played on the drums let's listen now to a poem from the Ashanti tribe which is hundreds of years old called the path and the river [Music] since I'm sure that few of you understood the poem miss emergency atomic law will say each part in English mr. obly will repeat it in a shanty and mr. et will play it out on the drums the part has crossed the river the reverse cross the part which is the older my pencil on sue chalk line anyway we made the path and found the river a bonfire Oh turn sue but the river was mean from long ago so irritated by the creator of the universe it's true you feel dumb on come on buddy now let's listen to the entire poem again played by mr. et [Music] often the instruments we have studied the rattles the bells and the drums are played together to help play these instruments our students who study here under mr. ETA at the University so that they too can learn about the music of Africa the leader of the group is the Bell everyone listens carefully toward the Bell plays because each misplays rhythms against the sound of the Bell let's listen one at a time to all the different rhythms in a piece from the other tribe about bravery in battle now let's listen to all the instruments playing together notice how the rhythm is played by each instrument constantly shift in relation to each other it is the complicated rhythms that make African music so subtle and exciting [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in Africa music is very important to us and almost all of us learn to sing and dance and play our instruments you've learned today something about rattles the bells and the jumps and how they sound together I hope you've also learned that our music like yours has a long tradition [Music]