Music of Africa

Calendar

LEC #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
Unit 1: Introduction: Ethnomusicological Approaches to African Music
1	Preliminaries; Overview of Course
2	The Field of Ethnomusicology, the Concept of “Soundscapes” and its Application to the Study of World Music Building a Cross-Cultural Musical Vocabulary
3	Organology and Instruments: The Sachs-Hornbostel System of Instrument Classification
4	African Music: A Review of Ethnomusicological Literature	Paper 1 due
Unit 2: Senegal
5	Senegalese History, Culture, and Music Focus on Wolof Griots, Masters of the Sabar Drum
6	Popular Music in Senegal: mbalax and Hip-Hop
7	Sabar Drumming: An Introduction to Basic Hand Techniques, Rhythms, and bàkks
8	Sabar Drum Workshop with Artist-in-Residence, Lamine Touré
9	Interlude: Southern Africa
Unit 3: Mali
10	Music of the Mande: The jali and his Instruments	Musical transcription exercise due
11	Guest Lecture - Demonstration by Balla Kouyate, a Balafon Player from New York City
12	Malian Superstars: Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare and Ali Farke Touré
13	Midterm Exam
	Evening Performance by Lamine Touré and Group Saloum
Unit 4: Ghana
14	Music Cultures of the Ewe and Dagbamba
15	Case Study: Agbekor (Ewe)	Paper 2 due
16	Urban Music Roots: Highlife and Palm-wine Music	Submit final project proposal
17	Interlude: Central Africa
Unit 5: Nigeria
18	Music and Identity: jùjú and fúji Bands
19	Music and Politics: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Afro-Beat
20	Music and Ritual: Hausa Music and the bori Ceremony	Submit final project progress report
21	Interlude: East Africa
Unit 6: Conclusions
22-24	Final Presentations
25	Conclusions	Final paper due