EMPLACING AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND COUNTER ISSUES
Abstract
Permit me to start by citing elaborately, an African- American, Julio Finn who posits that:
Drums are held to be the African instruments par excellence - and they are- but not because of the generally held notion that they are the only type of instruments Africans have produced. On the contrary, every type of instrument known to man - strings, woodwinds, brass - exists in an African version. Likewise drums exist everywhere in the world. However, the special role they play in African music and life place them in a privileged category. Each drum has specific function, and in the case of the ‘sacred’ drum, dwelling place of a deity. All speak the language of the community to which they belong; secular drums are treated with respect and sacred ones with reverence.... It is inseparable from its community and shares its fate (1992:83).
Drums are held to be the African instruments par excellence - and they are- but not because of the generally held notion that they are the only type of instruments Africans have produced. On the contrary, every type of instrument known to man - strings, woodwinds, brass - exists in an African version. Likewise drums exist everywhere in the world. However, the special role they play in African music and life place them in a privileged category. Each drum has specific function, and in the case of the ‘sacred’ drum, dwelling place of a deity. All speak the language of the community to which they belong; secular drums are treated with respect and sacred ones with reverence.... It is inseparable from its community and shares its fate (1992:83).
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