PRESERVATION OF EBIRA MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS FOR POSTERITY

Abstract

Music making in Ebira culture of Kogi state, Nigeria, is a communal event like many other African societies. Music features in their day-to-day social and religious lives. No festival in Ebira culture could be imagined without music accompaniment. Response to traditional music in Ebira culture is so amazing. Religious dichotomy is ignored when traditional music is performed. Both young and old cherish their traditional music immensely. Ebira people are rich in culture and the community is one of the communities that modernity has little impact on their musical culture. One‟s first contact with Ebira music performance may not give a clear understanding of what the people cherish so much in their traditional music. The reasons are not far-fetched; as they can be attributed to the polyrhythmic nature of Ebira music coupled with Ebira language as a medium through which songs are rendered and the modal scale of the melody make the first comer to be at loss. On the contrary, it will not take long time before the new person begins to appreciate musical content of their performance. Although, it takes intelligent listening to be able to decipher the instrumental accompaniment of Ebira music, yet when one actually accomplishes this task, he will understand and appreciate the complexity of instrumental performance or accompaniment of Ebira music.