AN APPRAISAL OF YORUBA SPEECH MODE FOR COMPOSING/PERFORMING YORUBA GOSPEL CHORUSES

Abstract

An inherent attribute of Yoruba traditional music resides in tonal inflection which simulates the speech mode. To an alarming degree, composition and performance of Yoruba gospel music in post modernism, choruses inclusive are at variance with such a stance. It is the intention of this study to examine the appropriation of Yoruba speech mode within the context of the contemporary western mode for composing/performing Yoruba gospel choruses and the probable implications of such attempt. Hinged on descriptive methodology, this study employed textual functionality, a theory postulated by Blacking (1973), stressing functional effectiveness and textual intelligibility for composing and performing African music. In addition to oral interviews and song collection, this study drew insights from relevant scholarly works. Deduction from the study unfolded concept/object misrepresentations with the adoption of western diatonic scale for composing Yoruba tonal language, needs for textual modification as well as phrasal repetition of songs to engender alignment with Yoruba speech mode. Furthermore, the study showcased embedded merits of speech mode, spanning textual clarity/intelligibility, message intensification, inculcation of rectitude/societal ethics and cultural uniqueness and sustainability. Lastly, this study elicited defects that plague speech mode adaptation including monotony of textual/phrasal repetition, listening boredom and poor patronage, essentially by the youth audience. The study concluded that notwithstanding the credibility adduced to speech mode in the light of textual functionality, it becomes expedient to device an ambience in which it could be synergized with the western mode with a view to expound its acceptability, and hence, audience scope.