Kenya music shares a common heritage with the rest of Africa, although each area has its own independence. They all share a five note scale. This is the scale that the song Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen is played on. (Senoga - Zake, 1990)
What Instruments Are Used And How Are They Made ?
Traditional African music is polyrhytmic; it is made up of different sounds. The rhythm of the drum is predominating while string, wind and shake instruments accompany. People become a third instruments by clapping, stomping, singing and chanting. Each instrument plays a different rhythm. This creates a complex mixture making it hard for people of other cultures to follow.
These instrument’s use is not confined to purely musical functions. Some are used as signals for attracting attention, assembling people, or creating an atmosphere. They may also be used for transmitting verbal messages or for reinforcing verbal communication.
Idiophones
They are the most common instrument found in Africa; they include the simplest as well as the most easily improvised sound producing objects. An Idiophone can be defined as an instrument upon which a sound may be produced without addition of stretched membrane or vibrating reed.
Shaken - Idiophones
Wicker rattles, reed - box rattles as well seed shell rattles are found mainly in eastern Africa. May be strung together by rope or held together by means of a stick serving as a handle. There are also baobab - seed rattles, made by threading a number of calabash disc’s on a stick. (Nketia, 1990)
Tuned Idiophone
The sansa( hand piano), the melodic type, consists of a graduated series of wooden or metal strips arranged on a flat sounding board and mounted on a resonator such as a box, a gourd, or even a tin.
Xylophones
The type played in eastern Africa has keys mounted over a wooden frame, below which a number of gourd resonators are suspended, graduated in size in relation to the pitches of the wooden slabs.
Membranophones
@Text:Percussive instruments find highest expression in the use of membranophones (drums with parchment heads). They range from simple types played by women in ritual context, like a skin apron pulled over pots or ox-hide stretched on poles.
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Drums appear in many shapes. Conical, cylindrical, or semicylindrical, with a bulge in the middle or a bowl - shaped top, cup - shaped, bottle shape like a goblet or vase, or in the shape of an hour glass. The frame may be round or square.
Drums are usually carved out of solid log wood. The use of tins, light oil drums, and other such material has been noted in Kenya.Toy drums for little children use to be made out of hard fruit shells or other hollow items. Now, sometimes they are made out of discarded tin.
Although there is a variety of drums that exist in Africa, they seem to be localized. East Africa has the hour - glass shaped drum usually single headed. The Ugandan drum is also peculiar to east Africa. (Waterman, 1996)
Aerophone
Reed pipes are not as widespread or significant as the flute. The double reed pipe is found in eastern Africa, along the coast of Kenya. It is usually made out of the stalk of a millet or similar plant. The embrouchure consist of a short flap about a inch in length and a quarter of an inch in diameter, made by cutting two parallel slits about two inches from one end of the stalk. The flap is not severed but cut at one end so that it can be lifted with the hand, and is allowed to lie loosely over the embrouchure; it can be held down by a loose string. A reedy sound is made by exhaling and inhaling through the slits around the flaps. One hand may cup the other end of the instrument to change the pitch. (Nketia, 1974)
Chordophones
The lute, an instrument whose strings run parallel to its neck is found in African societies. A one string fiddle the sese or zeze tuble fiddle resonator may be made out of gourd or a hollow piece of wood or bamboo, and covered skin. The string may be made out of sisal fiber and may be played with a bow of similar material.
Arched (or bow) harps, the neck of the instrument is arched, and the strings run from the neck to the sound box at an angle. Harps of five, six, seven and eight strings are found in Kenya
The lyre instrument whose string runs from a yoke to a resonator seems to be concentrated in east Africa. There appear to be similar graduation in size in the Kenya lyres. The obukamo, a large varient, has been described as the double bass of east Africa. It is three and a half feet long, the resonating drum is eighteen inches in the diameter, and a frame for the strings is thirty one inches wide at the top. There are other lyres that vary in size such as the eight - string litungu of the kuna of Kenya and the five - string kibugander of the kipsigis of Kenya. (Bebey, 1975)
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Does The Music Carry A Message?
Some songs serve a purpose and carry a very direct message. There is usually a background information about a great warrior or chief. Praise songs are dedicated to the living, although the memory of a dead person might be brought back to one's remembrance. In songs many emotions arise, especially when women use their high shrieks. In Kenya these is hardly any song without dance. Dance is another form of communication with body language that consists of rhythmic movements of the legs, head, shoulders and in some groups the hips.
The melody is restricted by the use of pentatonic scale and the fact that the language is tonal. When the intonation changes from high to low, the singing change with it. Every syllable within a word should receive its correct pitch, which will imprint meaning on the word and the phase. This causes a tone from one ethnic group to not easily lend itself to words from another language. Inaccurate tone sequence make words meaningless.
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Music And Cultural Events
In Kenya, song is the characteristic musical expression. It plays a very important part in the lives of the people. Children learn to sing as soon as they can talk and they continue to sing throughout life. Their music is religious and secular. Religious music is centered around religious festivals such as the Prophet’s birthday, Ramadhan or Id-ul-fitr. That is when long poems ( tenzi or tendi) are narrated and religious songs are sung. Folk songs include courtship and marriage songs, war, death and funeral songs, field work songs and songs sung while canoeing, praise songs and songs of scorn, grazing songs and songs for water animals, songs praying for rain to fall or for floods to end, drinking songs, songs for children, songs particular to different seasons and occasions. During important ceremonies music and dance are inseparable.
Births
When a baby is born women say: ‘Njahi ni njuku, ukai tukoone mugeni’. This means, you are invited to a peas party, so come and see the visitor. This message is joined by songs and chants related to the occasion from relatives and close friend bearing gifts.
Circumcision
Circumcision is a civic and religious rite. There are several different stages for this.
Mumburo
About for months before the initiation period boys only sing and dance the mumburo. This dance is a pushing contest with boys from other villages. They have long strips of wood tied to their arms. Some are hurt and cowards run away. During this dance the leader sings and the group responds.
Muthuu
Sometime before the circumcision boys sing to the old folks to show that they are ready.
Irua
Two weeks before circumcision there are songs and dances for boys and girls, while the adults watch. Boys that are to be circumcised visit their friends and sing and dance. This continues until one and a half days before the circumcision day.
During preparation for girls, there is singing along with whistles blown by women and the dance continues the night before. Drinking also happens at this time.
Thaage
The song that is sung when the women come to prepare the food and no men are allowed.
Urigu wa airitu
Singing this song meaning the uncircumcised state of the girls women sing wearing leg rattles.
Matuumo
Before dawn, the day of circumcision, songs and dances continue the whole day.
Nguro
This is song by boys and adult males if they care to join in. This is song during the eight day period to the initiates as they are being fed soup to regain strength.
Waine
For period of three months these boys do not do any work. Instead they spend most of their time going from place to place singing their initiation song.
Kibaata
Young men who were circumcised a year ago, present themselves for battle with singing and dancing.
Manhood
Gicukia
This dance is for both sexes, young men form a circle and girls stand in a smaller inner circle facing them. The boys perform their dancing skills.
Mugoiyoo
This dance is also for boys and girls, and is performed at night by the firelight, during the months of July and August. Any dancer who does not perform correctly is touched with a live torch.
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Harvest
Mucung’wa
Boys and girls participate. It consist of a series of dance songs that carry the same feelings. They dance in two lines facing each other. Boys wear leg rattles.
Njukia
This is the last dance after the mucung’wa. It is more like a finale and after it, people start leaving.
Weddings
Mwaguna
A women’s dance performed after a wedding has taken place. After the marriage and the couple is at the home of the husband. Two trays are put in front of them where gifts are put, usually money. The middle and old age women come with all their bodies covered in leaves, and they start to sing and dance.