{"title":"“It Is More Than Just about Music”: Lifelong Learning, Social Interaction and Connection","authors":"Dawn Joseph, R. Human","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1855082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1855082","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract For older people, participating in leisure activities enhances their sense of social, emotional, mental, spiritual and psychological wellbeing. This article reports on a case study that situated itself across two southern hemisphere countries – Australia and South Africa – and with two ensembles, namely: an instrumental ensemble in Melbourne (all musical readers); and a vocal ensemble in Clarens (all non-readers of music). The authors drew on Seligman's elements of positive emotion, engagement, relationships and meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA) to explore the ensemble members’ engagement as “serious leisure and the wider community”. Using qualitative case study methodology, they employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as an organising tool to analyse and code their questionnaires and interview data. The findings are presented under three overarching themes, namely: meeting for serious leisure; music learning; and connecting with the wider community. While music engagement for older adults is an achievement in itself, sharing it with the wider community is considered most significant for the participants. Discussing two ensembles is a limitation in itself, therefore generalisations to other ensembles cannot be made. The article was written in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown period in both countries. Further research is planned across both countries to explore any implications the lockdown has had on the two groups once they are permitted to recommence rehearsals.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"17 1","pages":"72 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1855082","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43226483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Abàmì Èdá: Personhood and Socio-political Commitment in Fela's Music","authors":"O. Salawu","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1781547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1781547","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is a political maverick not only because of the depth of his musical oeuvre, but also because, as a human rights activist, his personhood unreservedly engages the tempered socio- political space of Nigeria's post-independence phase. Fela's artistic commitment emanates from the genre Afrobeat through which he entrenched his musical ideology of Pan-Africanism and a materialist engagement with the leadership predicament of Nigeria's socio-political milieu. In addition, his performance space called Kalakuta Republic is a symbolic space from where he constantly conscientised his audience about the array of post-independence maladies afflicting the African continent. Through an examination of specific childhood events, I show that Fela's iconoclasm and creative oeuvre are catalysed through his parental inheritance. I then further my argument that, while operating within Nigeria's geographical microcosm, Fela's artistic and humanistic commitment transcends such borders and approximates the predicament of post-independence Africa as a whole. To expand my discussions, I investigate the deployment of his peculiar linguistic tool and vituperative poetics termed Yabis. The article in the end suggests that Fela's personhood significantly evokes how his celebrity life mediates between the state and individuals, and how this personhood has been absorbed into the contemporary Nigerian cultural space.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"21 - 4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1781547","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47611319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“The Times Do Not Permit”: Moerane, South Africa, Lesotho, and Fatše La Heso","authors":"C. Lucia","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1787860","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1787860","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The symphonic poem Fatše La Heso (My Country) was composed in 1941 by Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1904–1980) as a requirement for completing a BMus degree curriculum through Rhodes University College, which in those days was a satellite campus of the University of South Africa (Unisa). This article argues that both the writing of this work and its subsequent reception history have been adversely affected by various factors, beginning with the fact that Moerane was the first black South African orchestral composer and there have been almost no others since. This was Moerane's only work for full orchestra and he is better known as a composer of choral music in tonic solfa notation, but for historical reasons, the fields of African choral and European orchestral composition have not coincided. The work reflects Moerane's Pan- African sympathies and is avowedly nationalistic. Information about the work and about Moerane has always been scant; and finally, Moerane tried in vain to get the work published. He reacted suspiciously when Percival Kirby—with whom he had previously corresponded about the work—began to ask him personal questions in 1966, saying, “The times do not permit.” In this article, the genesis of Fatše La Heso is explained, its structure and relations to African themes are described, and its reception history is explored, in order to promote a better and fairer understanding of this work's personal, historical, political, and cultural significance.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"112 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1787860","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48456293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Moyo wa Mtauni: Imagining the City in Malawian Popular Music","authors":"Syned Mthatiwa, Emmanuel Mzomera Ngwira","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1777187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1777187","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Cities in Africa and beyond have been sites of conflicting and contradictory associations in human cultures from their very beginning. Some regard the African city as a place of hope and fulfilment, freedom and opportunity, while others view it as an emblem of cultural decay and a nexus of corruption, perversion, greed, destruction and death. In this article we explore these ambivalent attitudes towards the city and urban life by focusing on Malawian popular music. We examine ways in which the city and what it stands for is depicted in the music. We also analyse attitudes and associations that converge on the city as a place and how such attitudes reflect the heterogeneity and complexity of individual and collective human experience and emotions contained by the city. We address questions such as: What images of the city and city life emerge in Malawian popular music? What do these images tell us about notions of community, inequality, and poverty in postcolonial Malawi? How do the economic, structural, or material settings of Malawian cities shape perceptions of the city? In addressing these and related questions, we use concepts drawn from cultural studies and urban studies.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"67 - 86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1777187","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42362001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Study of Igbo Folk Songs, by Richard C. Okafor","authors":"Chijioke Ngobili","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1776147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1776147","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"126 - 129"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1776147","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42049840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Street Ideology: Sexual Contours in Nigerian Hip-Hop Music","authors":"Adeola Ojoawo","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1736947","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1736947","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Nigerian hip-hop thrives on open discussion of sex and sexuality. Although it is generally viewed as unacceptable to engage in uninhibited sexual discussion or behaviour in Nigeria, especially where females are concerned, Nigerian female hip-hop artistes freely indulge in blatant sex-talk and overt sexual display in their music and videos. This study examines sexual ideologies in the lyrics of Nigerian female hip-hop artistes with the aim of teasing out the sex and sexual themes portrayed in relation to the prevailing Nigerian cultural attitude towards sex and sexuality. In this regard, ten song excerpts of seven Nigerian female hip-hop artistes are selected for analysis, using ideological strategies and an aspect of Halliday's systemic functional linguistics—the ideation function of language. The analysis reveals that the success of hip-hop music lies in its lyrical appeal to, and the existential representation of, the subculture of sex and sexuality of the artistes on the street. The study also notes the need for rethinking the concept of sexploitation since women themselves exploit sex (as reflected in their music) and their sexuality to wield power against male hegemony and dominance. On balance, the significance of survival, as a vital human instinct, comes to the fore; and this instinct, which is embodied in the street culture of sex and sexuality, can help the Nigerian female hip-hop artistes thrive in a music industry that operates in the context of male domination and a culture that discourages open expression of sex and sexuality.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"38 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1736947","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46873682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Positive Impact of African Drumming on Elderly Participants’ Mood and Demeanour","authors":"Michael Roy, Karendra Devroop, Alicia Bohn","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1794945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1794945","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article reports on a study that examined the effects of African drumming on the mood and demeanour of older individuals, both those with and those without dementia, in Hong Kong. Previous research indicated that music-making has a positive effect on older adults’ overall health and well-being. The study participants’ mood and demeanour were measured through observer and self-rating before and after taking part in one of three African drumming sessions. There was a significant improvement in all aspects of all the participants’ mood and demeanour after participating in the drumming sessions. A positive impact of the drumming session was also found on the caregivers. The drumming sessions involved physical activity, skill acquisition, reminiscence, joint music making and social interaction that all could have led to the large positive changes in mood and demeanour found in the study participants.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"113 - 125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1794945","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48262512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Framing Subalternity, Precarity and Poverty in Selected Songs by Leonard Zhakata","authors":"Leonard Chitongo, J. Taru","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2020.1784037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2020.1784037","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines the ways in which poverty is portrayed in selected songs composed and performed by Leonard Karikoga Zhakata. Zhakata is renowned for his songs that depict the deprivation, failed governance, greediness, and everyday hardships that most Zimbabweans experience in postcolonial Zimbabwe. In this article, we situate media framing theory within the processes that inform people's vulnerability. Through thematic analysis of four songs composed and performed by Zhakata, we bring to the fore the complexity of music, power and subalternity in Zimbabwe as well as the complexity of poverty, deprivation and vulnerability in Zimbabwe as portrayed in art. Zhakata's songs reflect that poverty in Zimbabwe is a result of poor governance and an inability and unwillingness by the leadership to improve the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans. Zhakata appreciates that poverty and vulnerability are multifaceted phenomena influenced by complex structural conditions in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the songs illustrate dimensions of poverty as well as the plurality of meanings that Zimbabweans from different class, cultural, and religious backgrounds attach to everyday struggles. We argue that through his music, Zhakata captures subaltern experiences and realities, and challenges those in power to transform governance models in ways that benefit marginalised categories of society. This makes Zhakata's music political and accounts for the complex relationship Zhakata has had with the political leadership in government. The article makes a contribution to the complexity of music, power, and subalternity in postcolonial Zimbabwe.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"22 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2020.1784037","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60515221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Influence of Foundation Phase Male Teachers on Their Learners: A Musical Perspective","authors":"Eurika Naomi Jansen van Vuuren","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2019.1634486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2019.1634486","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The influence of male teachers on Foundation Phase learners needs to be explored to allow for subtle adjustment of programmes in higher education to empower them in a previously female world. When an unusually high entry of male students in a BEd Foundation Phase programme was experienced, adaptations had to be made to the music module to make provision for a tendency to sing in harmony rather than singing the melody and to avoid the influence of biological differences on timbre. With singing being an integral part of childhood education, generalist teachers, who do not have suitable singing abilities and confidence, will find the classroom situation challenging. Confidence is often influenced by the lack of proper singing ability. In addition, traditional African male singers have cultural influences that need to be considered when preparing them as Foundation Phase teachers. The main research question asks: How does an African male voice model impact on the acquisition of singing skills of learners in the Foundation Phase classroom? Literature, questionnaires, observations and interviews contributed to knowledge in this mixed method study using a constructivist paradigm. Findings include that cultural and biological aspects impact African male educators’ singing behaviour, influencing the singing voices of children in their care.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"100 - 116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2019.1634486","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48377360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"John Heavyside's Manual of Psalmody for Public Worship of 1839: South Africa's First Anglican Collection of Metrical Psalms and Hymns","authors":"Andrew-John Bethke","doi":"10.1080/18125980.2019.1623712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2019.1623712","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines and contextualises John Heavyside's Manual of Psalmody for Public Worship (hereafter simply referred to as the Manual). It was published in 1839 in Grahamstown which, at the time, was in the Cape Colony. The Manual is the earliest South African Anglican collection of metrical psalms and hymns from the era. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Manual's editor clearly understood and appreciated the gradual popularisation of hymnody after the monopoly of metrical psalmody had been broken in 1820. It shows, too, that he was keen to introduce his own congregation to the newest international trends, not only from Anglican circles, but also Methodist and Congregational hymnody. It continues by concentrating on Heavyside's compilation, examining its contents and attempting to deduce which sources were consulted for the choice of hymns. An examination of Heavyside's editorial techniques is included to determine his contextual positioning of certain hymns. The analysis includes a commentary on the four locally composed hymns which form part of the Manual, along with an introduction to their possible author. The article concludes with a brief examination of how the hymnbook was received by the local community.","PeriodicalId":42523,"journal":{"name":"Muziki-Journal of Music Research in Africa","volume":"16 1","pages":"74 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/18125980.2019.1623712","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42244117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}