INDIVIDUAL  RESEARCH REPORTS

42.

about their own and their siblings up-brining, and marriages, and about
their children's  rearing histories.  With this material  it should be able
to trace fostering ties through three generations and to discover the
effect of the variables noted above.  An additional  40% interviews
were obtained from Daboya in Central Gonja.  The sample of  "successful"
men was repeated in Bole.

Almost none of this data has yet been analysed, but taken

together with observations and more general material  it should provide
the basis for answering the three questions raised in planning the study.

Esther Goody

MUSICALITY AND MUSICIANSHIP  IN
NORTH-WESTERN  GHANA

This report  is based on three surveys made during the months of
July, 19631 April,  1964 and February,  1965,  in the Northern and Upper
Regions of Ghana.  It deals with some aspects of xylophone traditions of
the Dagaba, the  Lobi and the Brifor-Wilii,  three language groups  living
in widely over-lapping territories  in the north-west of Ghana.

In this area the accomplishment of the xylophone player reveals
uncommon depth of musical ity and musicianship.  By musical ity  I mean
a musical intelligence sharpened and broadened by wide experience  in
music; I use the term musicianship to cover the kind of accomplishment
which comes with  intensive training and practice.

The work of three of those interviewed and seen at work  clearly

depicts these qualities.  The Tizza Na (The Chief of Tizza village), who
was also a great hunter of elephants, began to play the xylophone at the

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INDIVIDUAL  RESEARCH REPORTS-

age of seven .  His grandfather was a xylophone maker and player,  and
his performance showed that he had made good use of the opportunities
of his early  days.  But more striking,  perhaps,  was his sensitivity  to music.
When a  recording of another great  player was played to him he said with
great feeling,  "Ah,  that's  Ninkara's  performance.  The beauty of the
music cuts deep. 
hear that  charming part  ?"

It  is full  of  feeling  and compelling 

Listen,  can you

It was clear that the Tizza  Na  was in possession of a knowledge of
style and a musical perception  that none of his visitors had yet acquired.
His reaction  forcefully  suggested a system of musical knowledge that would
be worth exploring. 

It was a manifestation of unusual musicality.

Sazu  Ninkara of Birifor,  whose recording had so touched the  Tizza
chief,  had not only  shown virtuosity  and sensitivity  of execution.  He had
showed also a deep knowledge of practical  acoustics and a high skill  for
making xylophones,  which he said he had acquired from his father.  His
description of his method of firing  the wood for his instruments, shaping,
tuning,  boosting up and tempering the sound quality of the keys  included
many significant  considerations,  such as ensuring the uniform vibration  of
the keys when sounded, adjusting frequencies of vibration to  resonating
gourds,  and the enrichment of the tone of his instrument by what  he described
as the  independent  "singing" of the spider's membranes he had used to cover
sound holes made on the gourd resonators.

Another xylophone maker,  Mr.  Lanyaare,  a  Lobi residing at  Lawra,

was observed at a  public  performance,  later  interviewed  in his home, and
subsequently closely studied as he demonstrated at  Legon.  His histrionic
gifts,  his deep  involvement,  his breadth of repertory,  and his dexterity  at
performance  put him  in the same class as Ninkara  and the  Tizza  N a,  if a
little  less clear  in explaining  his art.  Lanyaare claimed to have taught
himself to make and play xylophones. 
at both crafts should be ascribed not only to his own personal gifts but also
to the society which had inspired him.

If this is accurate,  his excellence

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44.

Besides their practical  skills,  taste  and mental attitudes,  the

musical accomplishments of these three men (and their societies)
indicated many opportunities for high  level musicaiity and musicianship.
This was also evident  in the variety of musical types associated with
festival dances and general entertainment.  The popular music of Bawa,
a social dance,  the traditional music ofkobenethe  Lo-Brifor  pre-harvest
dance,  the  Lobi harvest circle dance,Soer,  and its postlude form, Bofbene,
as well  as specific  funeral  pieces like  Darakpoip «. Benkpeq  and  Pokpbo
form the basic  framework  of a classificatory  system covering form and
structure  in music.

Performance  seemed to be conceived  in terms of extended

movements usually arranged  in a specific order.  For instance, extended 
soer dances were always followed byBp-ybenswhich was described as a
dispersal dance.  Every set of movements was preceded by a  prelude
consisting of a rhapsodic,  moodsetting  introduction  called doon 
In
performances with singers,  this also set the pitch and defined the song to
be  sung.  ThePoon led straight  into the main opening piece called  Kyuo  or

•

aobo  by the  Dagaba.

Performers tended to use the sameDoon for the various pieces  in one

dance type,  though slight variations seemed to be allowed.  The opening
piece,  however,  tended to be  less variable. 
developed  into an opening danos  called  Dero»

In Boybecc  the  Doon  gerierally

Each piece  (or movement) within a set (or dance type) was

characterised by stock  rhythmic and melodic  figurations,  motifs and patterns
which were elaborately  improvised upon and re-shuffled  according to the
performer's skill  and artistry.  A  piece which began with phrase A at one
performance could begin with phrase B at another,  and each of these phrases
could appear with different  figurations at both performances.  A piece was
normally brought to>an end by a  reversion, to the Doon(?ntroductory)  style,
which might be gradually broken off or re-organised  into a new one for the
next piece.  Sazu Ninkara gave warning about coming Dooncodas by
repeated octaves on the treble keys and a sudden jump to rhe lowest keys.

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INDIVIDUAL  RESEARCH  REPORTS

This never failed  to draw even visitors' attention  to the coming of
something new.

Xylophone  technique  in north-west  Ghana  is a combination of

hocket and accompaniment.  Players were found in ensembles of two  and
three  with support  from gourd drums ( kuor  ),  one or two mini-drums  (Deli  or  Dali)
each consisting of the neck of a clay  pot severed from its body and
covered with eguana skin,  and a number of  iron castanets (Kpekpe).
The  Lobis have also a tradition of solo playing  in which a virtuoso
player  combines the hocket with a self-accompaniment  technique of
great  artistry.

In many other ways -  in the classification  and sub-divisions of
their musical  instruments,  in their naming of  individual  keys,  in their
musical  terms describing  tessitura and tone colour,  in their orchestral
combination and rhythmic organisation  -  the xylophone societies in
north-westem  Ghana not only  provide  rich traditions which fully  involve
all  their members,  but also depict a versatility  of culture  that provides
abundant material  for the student of musicology.

Arta Annan Mensah

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