“The Interrelationship of Musical and Social Structures of Yoruba Traditional Music: A Perspective on Music as an Art”. Journal of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists. 10, 190-195. (original) (raw)

The Social Contexts of Selected Yoruba Traditional Musical Forms

For the award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) is a record of original research carried out BY vicissitudes and travails of life up to the present moment. His mercy, all through the years, was steady and sufficient. I am indeed very grateful for the grace given me. My special appreciation goes to Professor Anthony Mereni, my supervisor, teacher, mentor, friend, and icon of musicology, doyen of African musicology, linguist and a distinguished scholar. Indeed, I am overwhelmed and short of words to describe him. Failure to acknowledge his efforts since 2008 when I started my PhD programme would be a "suppressioveri"; which I would not venture to do even in dream. His painstaking corrections on my work in order to see it through and constant feeding given to me at the "Unilag" Staff club depict him as rare progressive specie among human beings: I appreciate "you" sir and pray God to continue to bless "you". I also thank Dr Stephen Olusoji, my second supervisor for your moral support and editorial work on this thesis.

SOUND, STRUCTURAL PATTERNS AND ICONOGRAPHY IN THE TRADITIONAL MUSIC OF GBEDU OLÚ OF EPE , LAGOS, NIGERIA

IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities (IAAJAH), 2020

Traditional music is central to the lives of the Yorùbá people. This genre of music is constantly being challenged by emerging trends in musical arts in the Yorùbá states of the South Western Nigeria. It has continued to writhe under the stress of urbanization and globalization. The challenge of upholding this waning musical tradition falls on the surviving socio-political institutions. This paper therefore, examines the Gb du traditional music of the of p people of Lagos State. The article examines the sound, the structural patterns and other extraneous content of this particular traditional drums as performed in p land. Exploring ethnomusicological approach, the study relies on archival and ethnographic sources for its methodology. The article employs as research instruments, focus group discussion, key informant interview, non-participants' observation methods to elicit data. This article aims at bringing into focus critical perspectives of traditional music of the Yorùbá people. Primary data for the article were collected from the palace of Olú of p , a prominent and ancient Yorùbá town in Lagos state, South West Nigeria. This article concludes that efforts need to be made by concerned authorities to promote Yoruba traditional music and preserve it from going into extinction.

Indigenous music and religion among Ilorin people of North Central Nigeria

Journal of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists, 2021

The diachronic realities of indigenous African culture (especially that of music) in the consciousness of rising modern popular culture calls for urgent attention. Hence, it is imperative for scholars and researchers to pay attention to the dwindling knowledge of culture. Against this backdrop, this study documents the indigenous music arts among Ilorin people of Kwara State in North Central, Nigeria. This ethnographic research relies on descriptive method, field observations of indigenous musicians in Ilorin and book reviews. This study reveals the influence of the Islamic religion on the indigenous musical arts in Ilorin vis-à-vis urbanization and modern culture as acceptance and popularity of the indigenous practices is reliant on the permeation of religion. Findings reveal the multifaceted functionalities of these indigenous styles and the issue of gender relativity in their musicianship. This study posits that, the syncretic effects of western culture, civilization, religion, the issue of culture change against the culture of restraint contributed to the evolution and emergence of new indigenous styles, thereby, sending old styles into oblivion. This study therefore recommends the need for more efficiency of designated centres and repositories of culture discussed in this study, in the bid to preserve music of the Ilorin people.

Yoruba Culture and Its Influence on The Development of Modern Popular Music in Nigeria

2010

YORÙBÁ CULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN POPULAR MUSIC IN NIGERIA This thesis focuses on the contributions of the Yorùbá culture to the development of modern Nigerian popular music. It traces the origin, conception and growth of popular music styles in Nigeria and highlights the underlying Yorùbá cultural cum linguistic influence that nurtured their growth within the urban space of Lagos city. It examines thanks and appreciation. First I would like to thank my teacher and ‗friend' way back as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan, Dr Lanrele Bamidele who over the years has been a source of encouragement for me academically. I also want to show my appreciation to the University of Sheffield for the fee scholarship and the entire Music Department staff for their kindness and support during the period of this study. My supervisor, Dr Andrew Killick deserves a very special mention. He is a great teacher and friend who has been of tremendous assistance without whom this work would not have been possible. I have learnt a lot from your pool of experience intellectually and your kindness and thoughtfulness saw me this far, I am most grateful.

Yoruba Indigenous Music as a Medium of Communication in Yoruba Traditional Religious Sacrifices

Human beings are spiritual creatures with instincts and consciousness that are usually communicated through the medium of music in worship, prayer and sacrifices. Music is the agglomeration of physical and spiritual experiences of human beings which are extremely diverse and expressed through the sound of music. Therefore, traditional music and sacrifice are indivisible twin-sisters that occupy a uniquely central position in religious traditions all over the world. In Yoruba traditional belief system, music serves as a medium of communication through which sacrifices are transported to the throne of God. The centralization of music in sacrifice, among the Yoruba's, is not in doubt because all the sacrificial wishes are made known to gods through the sound of indigenous music. This study critiques Yoruba traditional music as a means of transporting sacrifices to the presence of God. An attempt is made to analyze the various circumstances in traditional religion that demand sacrifice with musical accompaniments. This study relied on two different ethnographic methodologies of data gathering, which are observation techniques and key informant methods. The direct observation of Yoruba musical performances during sacrifice exposes the researchers to various methods of performances, and the key informants enable the researchers to have access to important places, performances and sacred information and objects. The sources of data are both primary and secondary. Primary data was collected through direct observation of music performances, and secondary data were sourced through libraries and recorded music. The study adopted the qualitative method in the presentation and analysis of data. This study interprets the Yoruba cultural practices as factors that shape the musical forms and proffers answers to the research question: what is the place and role of traditional music in the Yoruba traditional religious sacrifices?

“Our tradition is a very modern tradition": popular music and pan-Yoruba identity.

Ethnomusicology 34(3):367-79. , 1990

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Rethinking Yoruba Philosophy And Colonial Music: What Yoruba Dundun Music Is Not

2019

What brought about changes in the context of music performance in Yoruba region of Nigeria is yet to be subjected to analysis within ethnomusicologicalframework. Assumptions are that there is a departure from Yoruba music philosophy and more dearly, the colonization project has put unwanted strength on Yoruba music. This paper reconstructs narratives and counter-narratives in Yoruba philosophy and colonial music to contribute to the musicological understandings of what Yoruba dundun music is not. The dundun music is an instrumental performance on hourglass drums containing at least Ìyá-lù, and any two of Gúdúgúdú, Isaájú, Àtèlé, Aguda, Sèkèrè-ajé, orAro.It ranges from a solo performance to group performance with a purpose of communication; showcasing its versatility because of its ability to imitate human voice. Five groups of dundun performers in IleIfe districts of OsunState were interviewed in this study. Analysis engaged the Kimmerlie three philosophical themes in the African wa...

Traditional Music in Nigeria: Example of Ayinla Omowura’s Music

Developing Country Studies, 2012

Music is a universal language of mankind. It is also a product of the creative genius in man. Good music makes this world a desirable place for all. It plays significant roles in shaping the society, takes away sadness and gives us happiness. To this effect, this paper concerns itself with traditional music in Nigeria with a particular focus on Apala-a popular Yoruba traditional music. It traced the origin and forms of Apala as emanating from diverse Yoruba subgroups and most importantly, examined the significant role of traditional music as agent of change in Nigerian society, it also emphasized that music and musicians are not mere entertainers, but also instruments of social change. The music of Late Alhaji Ayinla Omowura, popularly called Egunmogaji was used as case study.