Traditional African Music Essays -- Musical Traditions Essays Papers

customs dutyal African MusicAn attempt to pin down a single centre for the word traditional, presents a problem in many ways. The implications of the word argon many, and argon tied to various connotations. Some people, Westerners in particular, may rattling shun the traditional, as they feel that it implies a resistance to freshity. This view is incorrect, and there exists an ethnocentric double standard when Westerners consider their tradition versus African tradition. Others digest on tradition as that which has always been done, for whatever reason, and that it must be move to maintain the community, a universal balance, a relationship with the gods, or round another(prenominal) goal. Africa and its people birth experienced many hardships over the crinkle of history, from colonization to current attempts at development. Oppression, forced enslavement or other forms of brutality have been constant threats. These dangers have helped create a stronger African identity in many senses. Difficult times bring out in humans a desire to cling to that which is known and familiar, as everything else seems to spiral out of control. As many slaves journeyed across the Middle Passage, for example, they ignore language and ethnic barriers, and collaborated to make music as an escape from the horrors of their circumstances, in order to create a tie to the homeland. Groups such as the Tumbuka and Dagbamba have also done this. They have managed to retain a strong identity, partly due to the continued use of musical usages paradoxically, this has tied them to ancestral practices, merely also made the transition to modernity easier. In dealing with societies where that which is modern is completely foreign and different from customary, holdin... ... Instead, it is multifaceted and complex. Contrary to what many believe, the remembering of traditional practices and a transition to a modern state are not mutually exclusive. The role that tradition and customary behavior and practice play in society depends heavily on the situation and the person reckoning of the importance of maintaining traditional musical practices, the value placed on time and its rationing, and the possible symbiotic relationship between the modern and the traditional. The abbreviation of how these three seemingly unrelated concepts interact with each other forms a basis for understanding the extent to which ?traditional? musical elements will be accepted or rejected by a particular society. ?Tradition? does not entail backwardness or inability to react to changes, moreover rather a continued respect for those who came before and their way of life.