Context and Major Themes
This lesson has been written specifically for 7th grade Social Studies students at John F. Kennedy
and John W. McDevitt middle schools, and is intended to precede an October 14th performance
by Lamine Touré and members of the group Saloum at Waltham High School.
This lesson, its content and much of the text used in its worksheets, is based on the book Masters
of the Sabar by Patricia Tang.
Lamine Touré is a Senegalese percussionist. His music has its roots in the tradition of the griot,
the oral historians of West Africa whose skill with spoken-word have gradually transitioned
within Wolof culture in Senegal to a focus on percussion, specifically a mastery of the sabar
drum. These dynamic traditions offer a compelling framework for students to consider the
diverse roles that music and musicians can play within cultural communities, and the ways in
which these traditions may change over time.
Essential Questions
What role does music play in shaping community and identity?
How can traditions change over time?
How does historical context impact artistic and cultural traditions?
What role does a griot play in his or her community?
How has this role changed over time?
Note to teachers: This lesson contains several activities that are intended to build on and inform
one another. However, they are also meant to be able to function alone or in pairs to
accommodate differing teacher time frames.
Materials:
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Masters of the Sabar CD compiled by Patricia Tang
Lamine Touré Live at Berkley DVD
CD and DVD players
Bákk Worksheet
Griot Graphic Organizer
Primary Source Worksheets 1 – 4
Senegal Map Worksheet
Glossary of terms
Frameworks:
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A.4 Identify when modern African countries became independent nations and explain how
independence was achieved. (H, G)
Describe major ethnic and religious groups in various countries in Africa. (G, H, E)
Procedure
Warm Up and Introduction
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Do Now: Students begin class by spending 3-5 minutes brainstorming responses
in their notebooks to the question:
o How could you learn about the history of your country, your town, or your
family if you did not read or write?
After 3-5 minutes have students share their answers while the teacher records various
responses on the board. Answers will vary but students may begin to think about the
themes of community members and oral tradition as resources for transmitting
community memory and history.
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Observation and Spiral Questioning: Teacher will cue a 2 minutes clip from the
DVD Lamine Touré Live at Berkley. Using spiral questions, teacher will guide
students in observation beginning with basic information and moving to higher
levels of thinking.
o What do you see?
o What sounds do you hear? What instruments can you identify?
o What else do you notice?
After several students have shared answers to these questions teacher will share the
following quote: “The sabar is our history. It is our family. We have no stories without
the sabar.”
Continue question asking:
o What do you think this quote means?
o How can drumming be used to share history and identity?
o Who do you think the drummer would share his history and stories with?
Activity One: Bákks: student experience and close listening
Bákks are the musical phrases which, along with shorter rhthmes, make up the building
blocks of Wolof percussionist’s repertoire. They are defined by combinations of rhythms and
alternating hand positions which form musical phrases rich with meaning: they may be
unique to a particular drummer, family or social context, or originate from a particular time
period. These rhythmic expressions have their roots in spoken word phrases which became
“translated” into the sounds of the drum, and have since developed into more complex
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phrases, independent of spoken-word origins. In this activity students will experience and
reflect on the development of this tradition.
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Teacher passes out Bákk Worksheet (see Appendix 1) and explains to students
that they will be learning about the connection between the spoken word of the
griot and the Wolof tradition of the sabar drum.
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Working in pairs, their first task will be to practice “translating” a phrase into
percussion. The teacher can start off by demonstrating this with a partner in front
of the class. One member supplies a short phrase (ex.: “Hey! How are you?”
“Oh maaaan I’m tired.” Etc…) and the other tries to imitate it using their hands as
percussion instruments on their desks. Varying the rhythm, volume, and hand
position are ways to imitate the tones and cadence of speech. The idea is not to
get this perfectly as a master to percussionist, but to get some kinetic experience
with the process of translating and creating sound. Students should pair off with
worksheets to try this on their own. As others are working, they can also share
their percussion phrases with other pairs, so see if they can guess what kind of
phrase inspired them.
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After students have completed this exercise, the teacher may want to solicit some
student responses to the question on their worksheet.
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The class will then move on to listening to several tracks from the CD “Masters of
the Sabar” compiled by Patricia Tang. Students can continue working in pairs as
they follow along with the background and question prompts for each prompt on
their worksheets
o Track 3: ya nu moon
o Track 22: How Are You? bákk
o Track 23: ku Jaan Matt signal bákk
Activity two: Who is the Griot? Using student’s prior experience to build reflection.
The role of the griot in Wolof society is important and complex, and has changed over
time, reflecting adaptation to modern context and the dynamic nature of cultural
traditions. In this activity students will work first individually, and then in jigsaw groups
to learn, share, and reflect on this dynamic figure. They will use primary sources and
parallel format graphic organizers to compare and contrast their own experience with
the tradition about which they are learning.
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Pass out copies of the Griot Graphic Organizer (Appendix 2) to each student.
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Pass out copies of Primary Source Readers (Appendices 3 – 6). There are
three different primary source sheets, each with different readings from griot and
sabar players gathered by Patricia Tang in her book “Masters of the Sabar.”
Review directions with students: they will fill in the first concentric circle with
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answers about how music is taught, where, when, and why it is performed from
their own experience. In the second concentric circle fill in answers from their
primary source sheet. They won’t be able to fill in all the answers in the second
circle on their own: they will be grouped with other students to share and compare
answers.
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Students will first work independently to fill in their graphic organizers.
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After 10-15 minutes the teacher will signal that it is time to stop work on their
organizers. Students will now need to get up and form groups of three by
grouping with one person who has Primary Source sheet 1, 2, and 3. They will
then share information to finish filling in their organizers.
Full Group Discussion: Sharing, Organizing, Reflecting
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After the groups have met to share their answers, the teacher will bring the class
pack for a full group discussion.
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The teacher can write the categories on the board “Who?” “What?” “Where?”
“When?” and Why?” on the board, and have students share answers. As students
begin to share and record their answers, teacher should guide students in thinking
about which of these represent past contexts for performance, and which are
present. During this time teacher can also lead a discussion of student reflection
and observation on each question:
o What did students notice about Who teaches this musical tradition? [It is
taught within families and usually begins very young] Is this similar or
different from students’ experience with teacher and learning music?
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What did students notice about Where and Why it is performed? [In past
tradition it was party of the court system of the Mali Empire. In
contemporary Senegal it is a part of many social gatherings and events,
and has also developed into professional performances in commercial
venues.] Is this similar or different from students’ experience with seeing
and performing music?
o The role of contemporary performance spaces and contexts is an important
one, both for noting the ways that griot and sabar artists have adapted
their skill to a contemporary context, and for students to begin reflecting
on the experience they will have the following week. The teacher may
here want to guide students to reflect on the questions:
o We have learned that griot musical tradition is about communicating with
the drum and forming community. What do you think Lamine Touré
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would like to communicate to you when he plays at Waltham High School?
What kind of community is formed during a performance like this?
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