![]() ![]() Music is important to religion in Africa, where rituals and religious ceremonies use music to pass down stories from generation to generation as well as to sing and dance to. Harmonization of the melody is accomplished by singing in parallel thirds, fourths, or fifths (see Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony). African music most closely adheres to Western tetratonic (four-note), pentatonic (five-note), hexatonic (six-note), and heptatonic (seven-note) scales. There are subtle differences in pitch and intonation that do not easily translate to Western notation. Traditional music in most of the continent is passed down orally (or aurally) and is not written. ![]() ![]() A core rhythmic pattern is typically played, with drummers then improvising new patterns over the static original patterns. The call-and-response nature extends to the rhythm, where one drum will play a rhythmic pattern, echoed by another drum playing the same pattern. Sub-Saharan African music traditions frequently rely on percussion instruments of many varieties, including xylophones, djembes, drums, and tone-producing instruments such as the mbira or "thumb piano." Īnother distinguishing form of African music is its call-and-response nature: one voice or instrument plays a short melodic phrase, and that phrase is echoed by another voice or instrument. The most common polyrhythm plays three beats on top of two, like a triplet played against straight notes. The complex rhythmic patterns often involving one rhythm played against another to create a polyrhythm. Like the music of Asia, India and the Middle East, it is a highly rhythmic music. Latin American music genres such as cumbia, salsa music, son cubano, rumba, conga, bomba, samba and zouk were founded on the music of enslaved Africans, and have in turn influenced African popular music. The music and dance of the African diaspora, formed to varying degrees on African musical traditions, include American music like Dixieland jazz, blues, jazz, and many Caribbean genres, such as calypso (see kaiso) and soca. African music also uses a large variety of instruments across the continent. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. For the music journal, see African Music (journal). ![]()
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