Beyond the classroom : Arabic and Asain Music

 

For this blog, I will be writing about the music of Mali. My friends, Trevor and Robin Barton, were missionaries in Mali. Robin is a Zumba Teacher and loves music, so I reached out to her. She shared a lot of this information with me and shared her Spotify playlist below. The music of Mali is a blend of traditional African drums and lyrics but also has an Arabic influence. The topics of Mali Music are farming, history, and family issues. Some songs go so far back as to tell when their people were stolen and put into slavery. It is rarely about romantic love. This is very different from American music, which is frequently about romantic love.

Malian music is very different from the music I usually listen to, which intrigues me. My friend says the Malian singing style is very nasal, dissonant, and often uses minor keys. This gives the music a tone and style, which is not common in American music. Robin said it took her a while to get her ears used to it, but now she likes it a lot. 

Instrumentation of Malian Music - 
One of the instruments used for Malian music is the Ngoni. It s a stringed instrument, similar to a guitar. The Ngoni is made of wood or calabash with dry animal skin over it. The Ngoni can produce fast melodies. Griots - village storytellers and elders -  often play the Ngoni at celebrations and special occasions. 

The Kora is also used extensively in Malian music. The Kora combines features of the Lute and the Harp. Traditional Malian artist plays the Kora at big celebrations in the city. The Kora is a cool instrument, and it is interesting to watch how the artist plays it. 

Malian Musicians:
Rokia Traoré is a Malian-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She was born in Beledougou, Mali. Her father was a diplomat, so she spent a lot of her childhood traveling to different continents like Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and France. There she was exposed to different styles of music like classical, jazz, pop, and Indian. She was part of the Bamana Ethnic Group. They had a musical tradition of their own, especially among the women. They performed with Griots traveling to perform at weddings and other big gatherings. Rokia's most famous song is called "Beautiful Africa." Her style is a true blend that is hard to put into a category. It is influenced by Afro-Pop, Malian music, West African, and African Folk music. 

Oumou Sangare is another famous Malian artist born in Bamako, Mali. She is a Malian singer-songwriter known for championing women's rights in a musical style called Wassoulou. This style of music uses the vocal and instrumental traditions of rural Southern Mali. Oumou was influenced by her mother, who introduced her to the Wassulous region, where women were prominent in traditional music performance. The most famous song she sings is called "Ah Ndiya." 

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Oumou Sangaré. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oumou-Sangare 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, January 15). Rokia Traoré. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokia_Traor%C3%A9 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, August 29). Ngoni (instrument). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngoni_(instrument) 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, December 2). Kora (instrument). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_(instrument)