AOS 4: Koko – ‘Yiri’
• Sub-Saharan African music
• From Burkina Faso (Western African musical
traditions)
Is it different to
Western music?
Choral
Instrumental
music
What is Sub-Saharan
African music like?
What is its
importance?
Instruments
Drumming
What
occasions is it
used for?
What is it
combined
with?
Who
participates?
Communication
Social
gatherings
What is its
importance?
Emotions
Feelings
Who
participates?
Everybody
Unites
people
Part of everyday life
Regardless of ability
Costumes
Movement
Masks
Body painting
What is it
combined with?
Mime
Speech
Stories
Harvest
Weddings
What occasions is
it used for?
Birthdays
Funerals
Do you think music has the same
role and importance throughout
the world?
Do you think it is appreciated in
the same way?
Drumming
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Certain rhythms mean certain things
Communication
Oral tradition – no traditional notation
Varies from region to region
Will increase in tension
Signal
Solo
Improvisation
Master drummer
Choral
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Music = link to spirit world
Call and response
Short, simple melodies
Improvisation
Harmony varies from region to region
Overlapping textures
Tone languages – Pitch determines the
meaning of words
Instrumental
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Membranophones
Idiophones
Aerophones
Chordophones
Body percussion
Vocables
Interlocks and overlaps
Common features of Sub-Saharan
African music
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Repetition/Cyclic patterns
Improvisation
Polyrhythm
Call & Response
Cyclic structure
Intertwining melodies
Polyphonic texture
Singing in harmony
Cross rhythms
Instruments
Talking
drum/Donno
Djembe
Dundun
Kora
Shaker/
beaded
shekere
/cabasa
Balaphone
Ocarina
Instruments in ‘Yiri’
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Vocals
Djembe
Donno
Dundun
Maracas/shakers
Balaphone
Flute
Kora
Tam-tam (gong)
Questions
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10.
Which instruments are used in ‘Yiri’?
What are the 3 main strands in the piece?
How does the piece start?
Identify a place where heterophonic texture is used. What
is this?
What persists throughout the whole piece?
Describe the dynamics.
Where are triplets used?
How would you describe the texture when all the parts are
playing/singing?
How is variety achieved in this piece?
How does the piece end?