A Theoretical Review Towards a Conceptual Framework for Creating ‘Neoclassic Big-Band Highlife Music’

Abstract

It is a truism that highlife, Ghana’s first acculturated popular music, presents various styles employing various musical ensembles and playing to different audiences. However, the diverse highlife stylistic trends have declined in musical works recently due to generational differences and tastes. As a result, modern-day recorded highlife compositions sound similar and, in some cases, the same. Despite its iconicity in Ghanaian popular music, it is also quite surprising that highlife music still struggles for compositional and theoretical relevance in Ghanaian academic programmes of schools, colleges and universities. This paper, therefore, presents a characterisation of the diverse highlife music trends as an attempt to develop a conceptual framework for creating ‘neoclassic big-band highlife music’ that transcends diverse styles and generational tastes. Drawing on my experience as a highlife practitioner and music educator, I reviewed theories, concepts, and literature relevant to highlife music to conceptualise a framework for creating works that transcend the generational differences and tastes of highlife music. This paper expands the frontiers of highlife music practice and scholarship. Therefore, it is not just a recommendation but a call to action for Music composition professors to adopt this conceptual framework as a blueprint to begin a taught course on ‘Highlife Music Composition’ in music institutions. The involvement of Music composition professors in this process is crucial to enhancing the structural and theoretical trajectory of highlife music.