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| The study of instruments’ classification. |
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| A minority ethnic group in West Africa (Ghana and Togo) with a reputation as warriors, extended family-based social order, and spiritual view of music that attributes fortune and talents to ancestral spirits. Creators of the Agbekor music. |
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| An Ewe form of war music, now adapted to non-war purposes, such as funerals. A style of drumming that was, according to legend, learned by Ewe hunters from monkeys; exciting, polyrhythmic, meant for prewar and postwar playing. Translates to “clear life;” makes use of language’s tonality to “speak” with drums, recounting stories of battle and preparing for the fight. |
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| Musical call-and-response. |
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| A central rhythmic instrument in Agbekor, with whose beat all other instruments in the ensemble interact. Includes two tones, form a larger and smaller bell. |
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| Consists of a “rectangle within a circle,” traditionally composed of 10 male drummers, 15 male dancers, and 10 female singers, though the roles are now less gender-specific. Includes a double bell, gourd rattles, ad four single-headed drums. A typical full performance will include 3 slow songs, 1 free rhythm song, and 1 fast song. |
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| A rhythmic feel common in African music that does not rely on a strict hierarchy of beats with a unified meter, but rather arises from the intertwining of multiple feels at once, generally based on simple individual rhythms, to create a dense sound. |
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| An ethnic group in Senegal and Gambia, part of the larger Mande group of peoples, who have a tradition of jalolu/griots. |
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| A class of poets, musicians, and oral historians in West Africa, translating to “blood” and “servant” respectively. Traditionally employed by nobility, but contemporarily play more freelance; sang the praises of kings and kept oral histories of heroic and political exploits, as well as reciting wise sayings. Transmission based on formal apprenticeship with a single master. |
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| A harp-like stringed instrument of Guinea. Has 21 strings across a high bridge; plucked in left-right alternation; bass strings considered “high” and vice-versa; learned under a master, who teaches (difficult) tuning last. Historically male performers. |
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| A xylophone-like instrument from Burkina Faso. |
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| A lute-like instrument from Mali. |
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| In kora music, tuneful singing, the “meat” of the vocals. |
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| In kora music, the extemporaneous, less melodic vocal passages. |
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| Ostinato played on the resonator of the kora. |
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| Ostinato played on the strings of the kora. |
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| Instrumental passages in kora music. |
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| The people of Dagbon, a centralized, hierarchical West African kingdom. |
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| A hereditary clan of drummers in Dagbon. |
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| “Talking drum,” the instrument of choice of the lunsi – includes two pitches that can be modified by squeezing the leather cords on its side to mimic the tonal language. |
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| Bass drum used in lunsi music. |
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| Double “talking drums” in lunsi music to mimic tonal language. |
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| A Muslim vocalist who gives the call to prayer atop the minaret. |
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| The region of North Africa north of the Sahara and to the west of Egypt. |
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| Indigenous people of North Africa. |
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| A Berber ethnic minority in the Sahara. |
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| Southern Spain, which was under Muslim rule for several hundred years, and whose music spread to North Africa following the Muslim emigrations. |
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| The black population of the Maghrib, composed of the descendants of slaves/immigrants. |
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| A classical Andalusian form of music – there are 24, each tied to an hour of the day as well as various body organs, temperaments, etc. Tied to court poetry. |
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