1. The Roots of Tertiary Music Education Institutions in Africa.

Western languages officially adopted by the African continent at the dawn of the Independences correspond to a re-partition of Africa into tertiary educational types more or less worked out from the “metropolitan” educational systems. This report limits itself to the Francophone and English-speaking cleavage.

 

2. UNESCO efforts

2.1. For a Pan-African dialogue about Music Education.

It comes nowadays into sight [2] that at a primary school level, a Pan-African dialogue led by the English-speaking intellectual community exists of which an appropriate example has been the workshop organized by the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO and the Music Department of Fine and Performing Arts in July 1997, in Zomba, at the University of Malawi. [3]

 

The discourse carefully elaborated on Educational Philosophy – to enable each area and each country cope with its cultural identity and specificities – before planning tangible models for a classroom situation, with a continuous reference to cultural identity in the choice of resource materials. The “Guide for the Preparation of Primary School African Music Teaching Manuals” published as the proceedings of the workshop, was designed as follows:

 

The guide shows up (1) the place of Traditional Music in Education, (2) the Orientation of the Music Teacher, and (3) after developing a Philosophy of Music Education, (4) presenting Music as a subject of Instruction and (5) having considered the Socio-cultural development of the Child, the recommendations turned to actual in-classroom models for planning the Teaching of Fundamentals, Music in the Community, Songs, Musical Instruments, Instrumental Ensembles and Dance, with a note showing how to integrate the “Guide” into Existing Syllabus.

           

2.2. ICM Training programs in Francophone Area

A second type of Music Education Programs organized by UNESCO (ICM) and in which I was involved as a resource person included the 1999 symposium and Francophone workshop for the training of music teachers in French-speaking Africa. Co-hosted by MASA (Abidjan 99) the origin of the participants and resource persons stretched from West Africa (Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali…) to Central Africa (DR of Congo and Congo Brazzaville). Beside the contribution of academic and media experts from diverse horizons, the floor of the Symposium was sensitized to sensible issues between representatives of International Music Syndicates versus Music Festival Organizers mainly based in France, affiliated to ICM and working officially with African Governments. But the workshop gained in sharing in-class experiences with quite empirical music teachers. Song transmission, organology and dance sessions featured among other topics.

 

A conclusion occurs to me that many teachers need a more formalized training in Music to benefit fully from resource persons and materials from their environment.

 

Abidjan symposium/workshop (CIM) 1999

Lomé February 1998: Pan-African Consultation on Cultural Policies for Development. Sponsored by UNESCO, OAU, Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, SIDA. Opposite: the DR of Congo participants.

 

3. Training of music scholars and educators in Francophone and English-speaking Africa.

3.1. The Legacy:

The use of the abovementioned “Guide” presupposes an Africa-centered production, or review and organization of knowledge about music and its dissemination in each country. The other way round of looking at music as a subject of instruction with an integrated corpus – at all educational levels – is to observe the training of scholars and educators who have taken on to consolidate the efforts carried at a variable level by non-Africans.   

 

Although a team of fellows in African Studies, Legon, put in place as soon as 1952, focused on musical aspect of area studies, it appears that in Sub-Saharan Africa, Music Education settings corresponding to the tertiary level whose curricula fall under my comparison are not likely to be found before the 60’s. Sources of musical erudition were either church, seminaries and other mission-driven associations, meant to meet church needs and ensuing socio-cultural activities [4] , or they followed from private [5] schooling initiatives primarily made for expatriate youth related to western culture but including finally a small number of Africans.

 

3.2. The Advent of Tertiary Education in Francophone area.

Recruitment of candidates to a Tertiary Educational level in music poses problems that are not peculiar to Africa. Countries with a long tradition of scholarly music owe their yearly quota to a judicious politics of conscription and advertising.

 

In central Africa, the absence of the intensive and generalized choir practice [6] observable in West Africa and the lack of metropolitan distance learning certificates, available in the colonial West-Africa, had in turn favored a flowering of secular popular music which, before the Independences, shrouded its theory and sociology, preventing it, at a municipal level, from gaining a status of subject of instruction as such. In Kinshasa, state initiatives began at an “indefinable” music level, due to the age of some beginners. They started ca. 1968, in a form of a National Conservatory of Music led by Kanza Matondo trained in the 1960’s in Geneva. West-European instrumentalists were recruited to ensure the practice of Classical instruments. The institution got quickly recycled and its objectives reviewed within the University and Scientific Research Tertiary Education ca. 1974. It is this new syllabus that is compared hereafter with its homologues in West-Africa.

 

The Republic of Mali has done extremely well in Preservation of Traditions and Art Gallery compared to the state of its music education. In Brazzaville, eminent linguists by training have written on aspects of music related to language and story-telling. In Central African Republic, ethnologists have pursued tertiary ethnomusicological curricula in Paris before returning to the original academic environment. In Benin, it is a Whole-University choir that recently visited Ghana, Legon. In Lomé, some officers within the Ministry of Culture had been trained in the Music Department of the University of Ghana, Legon. Thus,

 

Since the 1970’s, most acknowledged Francophone poles of Tertiary Music Education have been the National Institutes of Arts of Kinshasa and Abidjan as well as the Conservatory of Dakar. The latter has been renewing its staff by extending the training of gifted candidates abroad – at the Versailles Conservatory (Paris) for instance. Such politics has been weaker in other African Francophone institutions, locking the development of curricula to the three years which started the program. However a worldly innovation intervened in Kinshasa where the need of candidates to a formal tertiary music education was compensated by the creation of artistic humanities – which were in fact common literary humanities but boldly reinforced with music theory and other performing arts and – directly attached to the National Institute of Arts in the same compound.

 

3.3. In English-speaking area

Some beginnings of biographies of adequate personalities will tell us clearly about the state of music education in English-speaking Africa before the Independences and prior to the advent of Tertiary Musical Programs in the area. Hereafter the first 4 profiles provided by the Contemporary Africa Database [7] . The above profiles – re-modeled around the way those personalities started their formal education – show clearly the process of learning music before and at the advent of Tertiary Music Institutions in Nigeria and Ghana...

 

Uzoigwe, Joshua

In 1960, Joshua Uzoigwe, born on July 1, 1946 in Umuahia, Imo State, in eastern Nigeria, gained admission to King's College at Lagos, one of the leading secondary schools in Nigeria. It was at King's College that he had his first formal lessons in Western music. The music curriculum included harmony, theory, and history of Western music. Apart from the music classes he took at school, Uzoigwe also received private piano lessons and learned mainly European pieces. After graduating from the King's College, Uzoigwe studied music at the International School, Ibadan (1965-67), and at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1970-73)...

 

Sowande, Fela

Fela Sowande, born in Lagos in 1905 into a musical family, credits his first contact with Western music to his father. 'My father was a priest who taught at St Andrew's College, Oyo, the mission's teacher training institute’. Another influence on his early musical training was Thomas Ekundayo Phillips. Under the tutelage of Phillips, as a chorister at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos, in the 1920s and 1930s, Sowande was exposed to various European sacred music and indigenous church music. He received private lessons in organ playing from Phillips while singing in the Cathedral Choir…

 

Nketia, J.H. Kwabena

Professor Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia, born in 1921 at Asante Mampong, Ghana, displayed exceptional talent and sensitivity to music, during his studies at the Presbyterian Training College, Akropong, under the mentorship of the musical theorist and organist, Robert Danso…

 

Ekwueme, Lazarus

Professor Lazarus Edward Nnanyelu Ekwueme is one of the most learned Nigerian composers. He was born in 1936 in Anambra State of Nigeria and has much of his music education in Britain and the United States of America. He is quite diverse in his musical training and career. He studied at such famous schools as the Royal College of Music, London, Durham University, England and Yale University in the United States of America. Ekwueme holds a number of degrees and diplomas including B.Mus, M.A., Ph.D., L.R.S.M. and F.T.C.L. He spent four years (1960‑1964) at the Royal College of Music in London. He studied composition under Gordon Jacob, conducting with Adrian Boult singing with Mark Raphael, piano under Henry Bronk Nurst, and choir training with Richard Latham. He took a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) degree of the University of Durham, and a Master of Music (M.Mus.) of the Royal College of Music, London, in addition to sixteen professional composition, teaching and performing Diplomas, from the four Colleges of Music . . .

 

From the above, it becomes visible that in terms of musical erudition, the English-speaking area, mostly Nigeria and Ghana, although musically trained through church and private initiatives like the Francophone area, bared a relatively more systematized enculturation specifically in Western music theory, starting digesting it since the 1920’s [8] into a cross-rhythmic Africanized hymn wise compositional idiom, before launching openly into a scholarship in African Music since 1952 [9] .

 

In the early 60’s, the Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah wished to acknowledge the nationalist composer Ephraim Amu by entrusting to him the creation of an African Academy of Music which did not come off. It is in 1962, with the advent of J. H. Nketia as the Director of the African Studies (Legon) that began the Institute of Music and Drama with the collaboration of Western Instrumentalists for the practice of Strings and Brass, while African scholars like Ata Annan Mensah were already available for the theoretical part of the cursus.

 

By lack of candidates coming from secondary schools where music programs were underprovided or inexistent, a preparatory certificate was introduced to start the new School of Music. The candidates already advanced in music, like the ethnomusicologist Fiagbedzi Nissio and the composer Nayo, began straight with the African Studies Diploma in African music.

 

The name of the Institute was rethought around 1967 as the “School of Performing Arts” but it came into practice only in 1976, with the introduction of the Degree and Master programs. Curricula at the Diploma in General Music as well as Diploma in African Music levels that started the program have been stable since then.

 

It will be remembered that the University of Nigeria (Nsukka), started straight on an American educational model in 1948 [10] , with a Degree and Master levels, including music curricula in 1960. But our comparison of curricula will start in the 70’s, when both Francophone and English-speaking Tertiary Institutions in Music were crystallized in Sub-Saharan Africa.

3.4. Comparison between the Francophone and English-speaking Tertiary Programs in Music Education

During the 1976–1979 three academic years, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the auspices of the University and Scientific Research Tertiary Education, the National Institute of Arts of Kinshasa course outline in music included the following:

 

 

1st year (Premier Graduat)	2nd year (Deuxième Graduat)	3rd year (Troisième Graduat)
1.   Français 2.   Anglais 3.   Langue Nationale 4.   Civisme et Développement 5.   Psychologie générale   6.   Philosophie 7.   Solfège 8    Harmonie 9.   Orchestre 10. Histoire de l'Art 11. Histoire des civilizations 12. Transposition 13. Histoire de la musique 14. Linguistique africaine 15. Instrument principal	1.   Français 2.   Anglais 3.   Langue Nationale 4.   Civisme et Développement 5.   Psychologie de la musique   6.   Pédagogie musicale 7.   Ethnomusicologie 8    Solfège 9.   Harmonie 10. Contrepoint 11. Histoire de l’art 12. Problèmes juridiques 13. Instrument principal 14. Histoire de la musique	1.   Harmonie 2.   Pédagogie de la musique 3.   Eléments de composition 4.   Ethnomusicologie 5.   Problèmes économiques          et juridiques de l’art 6.   Contrepoint et Fugue 7.   Esthétique 8    Théâtre musical 9.   Instrument traditionnel 10. Instrument principal 11. Interprétation musicale 12. Ethique et Déontologie 13. Stage 14. Présentation d’un travail       de fin d’études

 

Hereafter a basic translation of the above course tittles:

 

1.   French 2.   English 3.   National Language 4.   Civism and Development 5.   Elements of Psychology 5.   Philosophy 7.   Musicianship 8    Harmony 9.   Ensemble 10. History of Art 11. History of civilizations 12. Transposition 13. History of Music 14. African Linguistics 15. Major Instrument

1.   French 2.   English 3.   National Language 4.   Civism and Development 5.   Psychology of Music 5.   Pedagogy of Music 7.   Ethnomusicology 8    Musicianship 9.   Harmony 10. Counterpoint 11. History of Art 12. Copyright issues 13. Major Instrument 14. History of Music

1.   Harmony 2.   Pedagogy of Music 3.   Rudiments of Composition 4.   Ethnomusicology 5.   Art Copyright issues 5.   Counterpoint and Fugue 7.   Aesthetics 8    Musical Theatre 9.   Traditional Instrument 10. Major Instrument 11. Musical Interpretation 12. Ethics and Deontology 13. Training Period 14. Final Year Dissertation

 

This program (meant for music educators) combines music theory with pedagogical and professionally related disciplines, which brings out its difference from the conservatory that preceded it

 

As an alternative, the 3-year Diploma in General Music offered at the University of Ghana (Legon) represents a more unshelled music curriculum, sharing with the Francophone the compulsory character of the courses and the number of years of tuition.

 

1st year	2nd year	3rd year
001 ‑ Introduction to Part‑Writing           Techniques I 002 ‑ Introduction to Part‑Writing          Techniques II 003 ‑ Outlines of Music History I 004 ‑ Outlines of Music History II 005 ‑ Musical Form and Analysis I 006 ‑ Musical Form and Analysis II 007 ‑ Music in African Cultures I 008 ‑ Music in African Cultures II 009 ‑ Practicals                      012 ‑ Practicals	041 Harmony and Counterpoint I   042 Harmony and Counterpoint II   043 ‑ Outlines of Music History II 044 ‑ Musical Form and Analysis III 045 ‑ Music in African Cultures Ill 046 ‑ Music in African Cultures IV 047 ‑ Orchestration I            048 ‑ Orchestration II           049 ‑ Musicianship I            052 ‑ Musicianship II           053 ‑ Practicals                      054 ‑ Practicals	071 ‑ Elements of Composition I   072 ‑ Elements of Composition II   073 ‑ Outlines of Music History IV 074 ‑ Musical Form and Analysis IV 075 - Music in African Cultures V 076 ‑ Music in African Cultures VI 077 ‑ Orchestration III         078 ‑ Orchestration IV         079 ‑ Musicianship III         082 ‑ Musicianship IV         083 ‑ Practicals                      084 ‑ Practicals

 

Although a number of candidates at a Diploma in General Music level in Legon have been teachers designed to join back their ministry, Pedagogy of music is better entrusted to specific University Colleges of Education, Winneba and Cape Coast, adding Psychology to a solid practice of music.

 

Coexisting with this Diploma in General Music, a 2-year Diploma in African Music is more centered on Ethnomusicology, linking Analysis to the Anthropology of African Music as follows:

 

1st year

2nd year

013 ‑ Form and Structure in African Music I         014 ‑ Form and Structure in African Music II        015 ‑ African Music and related Arts I 016 ‑ African Music and related Arts II 017 ‑ Ethnography and Musical Styles of Selected Areas I 018 ‑ Ethnography and Musical Styles of Selected Areas II 019 ‑ Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology I 020 ‑ Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology I I 023 ‑ Practicals                      024 ‑ Practicals

055 ‑ Cultural and Historical Background of           African Music I 056 ‑ Cultural and Historical Background of            African Music II 057 ‑ Comparative Musicology I 058 ‑ Comparative Musicology II 059 ‑ Practicals 062 ‑ Practicals                      064 – Long Essay

 

Unlike the Francophone counterparts, Ghana and Nigeria pursued an adequate outreach program of complementary training in music – Masters and Ph.D. in the U.S. and U.K... As a result, African scholars and educators became soon available to run a Degree and Master’s program in music, around the middle of the 70’s, leaving Kinshasa and Abidjan at their initial stage up to now. The following extended program – well-known in English-speaking Music Departments – blends accurately Western requirements with African realities and may serve as a point of departure for a Francophone reflection on the issue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

LEVEL 100 COURSES

BACHELOR OF ARTS

IST SEMESTER

CODE/COURSE NO.                            COURSE TITLE                                                                    CREDITS

MUSC 101                             INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC                                                                          3

MUSC 103                             INTRODUCTION TO MUSICAL TRADITIONS OF AFRICA            3

2ND SEMESTER

MUSC 102                             FUNDAMENTALS OF WESTERN MUSIC                                    3

MUSC 104                             TRADITIONAL AFRICAN MUSIC                                                 3

                                                                                                                               

IST SEMESTER                    COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION                                              CREDITS

MUSC 101                             Introduction to Music                                                                                         3

Learning to listen to and enjoy music. The Human Voice and Musical Instruments as sound sources. Types of Music for Voice and types/forms of Instrumental music. The different kinds of music folk, pop, and art music.

 

Selected musical cultures of the world ‑ Black Africa, Moslem Africa and the Near East, Asia, Europe and the Americas, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands, etc.

 

Music and Culture contact; Musical interaction in different parts of the world. The impact of Western music on non‑Western cultures.

 

MUSC 103                             Introduction to Musical Traditions of Africa                                                  3

 

The musical scene in Africa today. Introduction to the three areas of musical activity ‑ Traditional/ Folk musics of African peoples; Musics from the Americas, Europe and Asia; Contemporary African art and pop music.

 

Context of music making in Africa. Performing groups and their music. Recruitment and training of musicians. Instrumental resources ‑ Idiophones, Membranophones, Aerophones, Chordophones. Organization of Instrumental ensembles and traditional chorus, etc.

 

Students will look at video tapes of music and dance with emphasis on performance and its organization.

 

2ND SEMESTER

MUSC 102                             Fundamentals of Western Music                                                                      3

The concept of scales. Modal structures. Measure, Rhythm Tempo in music. Transposing melodies into other keys. Simple and compound intervals. Two‑part and three‑part writing. Triads. Formation of chords. Cadences. Harmonization of simple tunes. Modulation to related keys. Notation. Terms, signs, Ornaments and Abbreviations.

 

MUSC 104                             Traditional African Music                                                                                  3

Fundamentals of African music ‑ scale, melody, rhythm, form, etc. Text‑tune relationship. Principle of voice separation in African music. Hocket technique, etc.

 

Speech rhythm and song rhythm. Concept of time span in bell patterns and supporting drum parts. Polyrhythm.

 

Call and Response pattern/Antiphonal technique, Influence of dance on form in music.

 

Students will listen to illustrations of melodies, rhythms, forms, etc. from composite tapes of music from different parts of Africa.

 

B.A./B.MUS (LEVEL 200) SEMESTER COURSES

IST SEMESTER

CODE AND COURSE NO.  COURSE TITLE                                                                    CREDITS

MUSC 201                             Literature and Materials of Music                                                                     2

MUSC 203                             Introduction to Musical Cultures of the World                                              2

MUSC 205                             Practicals:                                                                                                              2

i) African Percussion and Melodic instruments

ii) Western Keyboard and Orchestral Instruments

2ND SEMESTER

MUSC 202                             Functional Harmony and Counterpoint                                                           2

MUSC 204                             Music History and Literature                                                                            2

MUSC 206                             Practicals                                                                                                               2

i) African Percussion and Melodic instruments

ii) Western Keyboard and Orchestral Instruments.

 

B.A./B.MUS (LEVEL 200) SEMESTER COURSES

DETAILS OF SYLLABUS

IST SEMESTER

CODE AND COURSE NO.  COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION              CREDITS

MUSC 201                             Literature and Materials of Music                                                                     2

The fundamentals of melody, rhythm, harmony, form and Structure studied through representative record­ings of music of different stylistic periods.

 

Systematic study of harmonic and other usages of the common practice period (18th and 19th century Europe) with particular reference to triads and their inversions, diatonic chords of the seventh and their inversions in major and minor keys, and higher dominants (ninth, eleventh and thirteenth) and their inversions. Modulation to related keys.

 

Introduction to contrapuntal techniques in two part writing.

 

MUSC 203                             Introduction to Musical Cultures of the World                                              2

Contemporary concepts of a world view of music. The concept of a musical culture; social and stylistic differentiations within music cultures.

 

Stylistic characteristics of music in the major geo‑cultural regions of the world, illustrated through selected recordings, performance organiza­tion, musical instruments, concepts of aesthetics, artistic and philosophical values. Survey will include selections from Africa, Caribbean and Latin America, North America and Europe, the Near East and Asia.

 

MUSC 205                             Practicals                                                                                                               2

Individual and group lessons in vocal and instru­mental playing techniques, mastery of scales and arpeggios where appropriate and selected pieces for chosen instrument or voice. Instruments available for instruction include a selection of

 

African percussion and melodic instruments, Western keyboard instruments and Western orchestral instruments.

 

The study of piano is compulsory for all music majors.

 

Participation in performance ensembles.

 

MUSC 202                             Functional Harmony and Counterpoint                                                           2

Advanced diatonic modulation; figured bass harmony: harmonization of upper and inner melodies. Appoggiaturas, anticipations, suspensions, accented and unaccented passing notes.

 

Contrapuntal techniques in two‑part writing.

 

MUSC 204                             Music History and Literature                                                                             2

Outlines of the History of Western Music from 1600 to the present. Selected topics including the plain song, suite, orchestra, programme music, impressionism and twentieth century trends.

 

Forms: Minuet and Trio, Scherzo, Rondo, Sonata, Concerto, Divertimento, Serenade, Fugue and others will be studied.

 

Outlines of African Music History: Early historical accounts of African music by travelers, traders and missionaries; evolution of bi‑musical education in Africa; growth of new musical idioms (the music of contemporary African composers, etc.)

 

MUSC 206                             Practicals                                                                                                               2

Further development of skills and techniques in the playing of scales and arpeggios where appropriate, technical exercises and studies. Improvement on skills acquired in MUSC 205 and the widening of the scope of repertoire with a greater emphasis on interpretation.

 

The study of piano is compulsory for all music majors. Participation in performance ensembles.

 

BACHELOR OF MUSIC

LEVEL 300 SEMESTER COURSES

 

SINGLE MAJOR PROGRAMME

A student intending to major in Music is required to take the following core semester‑courses and two prescribed‑electives to obtain at least 36 credits by the end of the year.

CODE AND NUMBER                        COURSE TITLE                                                                    CREDITS

CORE

MUSC 301¹                                            Diatonic Harmony                                                                               3

MUSC 302²                                            Chromatic Harmony                                                                            3

MUSC 303³                                            Renaissance Counterpoint                                                                 3

MUSC 305                                             Music of the Baroque and Classical Periods                                   3

MUSC 306                                             Music of the Romantic Period                                                           3

MUSC 308                                             Orchestral Techniques                                                                        3

MUSC 309                                             Music of West African                                                                       3

MUSC 314                                             Contemporary Compositional Practice                                             3

MUSC 315                                             Practicals                                                                                               3

MUSC 316                                             Practicals                                                                                               3

 

ELECTIVES

MUSC 304⁴                                            Baroque Counterpoint                                                                        3

MUSC 307                                             The Orchestra                                                                                       3

MUSC 312                                             Music of East Africa                                                                           3

MUSC 313                                             Traditional Compositional Techniques                                            3

(The above courses which have no prerequisites may be offered as FREE ELECTIVES by students from other departments).

_______________________________________________

1 Prerequisite:       MUSC 201

2              “                              “              202

3              “                              “              202

4              “                              “              202

 

BACHELOR OF MUSIC

LEVEL 300 SEMESTER COURSES

SINGLE MAJOR PROGRAMME

A student who wishes to offer Music as a Single Major is required to take the following core semester‑courses and two prescribed electives to obtain at least 36 Credits by the end of the year.

CODE AND NUMBER                        COURSE TITLE                                    CREDITS

CORE

MUSC 301                             Diatonic Harmony                                                                                                3

The Diatonic Triads of the Major key and their inversions. The Minor key: Its Diatonic Triads and their inversions. The Six‑Four Chord. The chord of the Dominant Seventh. Key Relationship ‑ Modulation to Nearly Related keys. Unessential discords ‑ Auxiliary Notes, Passing Notes, and Anticipations: Suspensions. The chords of the Dominant Ninth, Dominant Eleventh, Dominant Thirteenth.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 201

 

MUSC 302                             Chromatic‑Harmony                                                                                            3

Chromatic Triads ‑ The chromatic scale. Chromatic chords of the Ninth ‑ False Notation. Enharmonic Modulation. Chromatic chords of the Eleventh and Thirteenth. The chord of the Augmented Sixth. Pedals and other Sustained notes. Harmony in fewer and more than four parts. Modern harmonic tendencies.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 232

 

MUSC 303             ‑               Renaissance Counterpoint                                                                                 3

Listening and reading (including sight‑singing) ‑ of selected excerpts from the works of Palestrina, Victoria, Byrd, Lassus and others. The work of Fux in general aspects only. Species or Strict Counter­point: broadly, for example, permissible horizontal and vertical interval relationships. Exercises in all the five species up to three voices.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 202.

 

MUSC 305             ‑               Music of the Baroque and Classical Periods                                                   3

Principal forms, their rise and developments: Opera, the Masque, the Chorale, the Oratorio (including the Cantata); Occasional Music. Baroque instrumental music; the Thorough Bass; Virginals and Harpsichord music; Ensemble and Orchestral music. Handel and Bach. Classical period ‑ Transition and break with Baroque. The sons of Bach, Mozart and contemporaries. The Symphony; Chamber music; The Concerto. Influence of Classical and Baroque music on the course of the growth of music in Africa.

 

MUSC 306             -               Music of the Romantic Period                                                                          3

Social foundations of West European romanticism. Heritage of Romantic composers and performers. Precursors of Romanticism in Western music. Prevailing course of development of the period: orchestral structural and architectonic develop­ments in opera, symphonic music, song form, etc. Reflections of European Romanticism in the African music‑making world. Selected composers: Berlioz, Schumann, Wagner, Brahms, Wolf, Graves‑Abayie or substitutes.

 

MUSC 303             ‑               Orchestral Techniques                                                                                        3

Coverage of listening programmes with strategic exercises to test student's grasp of illustrated principles of orchestration. Aspects covered will include: ‑ texture, inter‑sectional blends, balance, influence of dynamics of selection of instruments, etc. Selections will cover Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century models. Critical reviews of ensembles of African instruments.

 

MUSC 309             ‑               Music of West Africa                                                                                         3

West Africa as a geo‑cultural area and the concept of musical cultures. Historical background of music in West Africa ‑ Interaction of musical traditions in the pre‑colonial period. A survey of the musical practices with particular reference to musical forms/styles, instruments and aesthetics and the relationship of music to its culture. Contemporary trends in West African music.

 

MUSC 314             ‑               Contemporary Compositional Practice                                                             3

Construction of little models of African creativity in response to Western music, depicting: popular types, worship music, celebration music, modal tendencies, chromaticism, etc. in accordance with existing pioneering examples. Creativity in atonal models. Original piece of up to five minutes duration depicting some origina1 principle of piece construction: to be worked out in outline under close supervision and then completed by student without further guidance from instructor.

 

MUSC 315             ‑               Practicals                                                                                                               3

Individual and group instruction in vocal and instrumental playing techniques. Development of skills and techniques in the performance of moderately difficult pieces/songs from chosen instrument or voice. Instruments available for instruction include African percussion or melodic instruments, Western keyboard and orchestral instruments. Participation in performance ensembles.

 

MUSC 314             ‑               Practicals                                                                                                               3

Further development of skills and techniques acquired in the singing and playing of exercises, studies and selected moderately advanced pieces for chosen instru­ment ‑ Voice, African percussion or melodic instrument, and Western keyboard or orchestral instrument, Participation in performance ensembles.

 

ELECTIVES

MUSC 304             ‑               Baroque Counterpoint                                                                                        3

Study and analysis of J. S. Bach's Two‑Part and Three­-Part Inventions. Quick review of favourite examples of 18th century contrapuntal writing. Elementary Two-­Part writing. Two‑Part writing with imitation. Three and Four‑Part contrapuntal writing. Invertible counter­point.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 202

 

MUSC 307             -               The Orchestra                                                                                                       3

The Western orchestra: Past and Present. The instru­ments of the Western orchestra: the strings, the wood­wind, the brass, the keyboard and the percussion instruments. Orchestral musics: Conducting and conductors.

 

MUSC 312             ‑               Music of East Africa                                                                                           3

East Africa as a geo‑cultural area and the concept of musical cultures. Historical background of music in East Africa ‑ Interaction of musical traditions in the pre‑colonial period. A survey of the musical practices with particular reference to musical forms/styles, instruments and aesthetics and the relationship of music to its culture. Contemporary trends in East African music.

 

MUSC 313             ‑               Traditional Compositional Techniques                                                            3

Devices of Creative Construction in African Music: rhythm construction and combination; melody; pitch combination; devices of extension. All studies to be modeled on traditional African examples. Creative adventures through given exercises requiring application of musical concepts deriving from cultures external to African traditions e.g.: Arab nauba, Indian raga/tala/rasa, Nippon naga uta, etc.

 

BACHELOR OF MUSIC

LEVEL 400 SEMESTER COURSES

SINGLE MAJOR PROGRAMME

A student intending to major in Music is required to take the following core semester‑courses and two prescribed‑electives to obtain at least 37 credits by the end of the year.

CODE AND NUMBER                        COURSE TITLE                                                                    CREDITS

CORE

MUSC 401¹                                            20th Century Composition                                                                3

MUSC 402²                                            Extended Composition                                                                       3

MUSC 403³                                            History of Contemporary Music                                                      3

MUSC 405                                             The Small Orchestra                                                                            3

MUSC 407                                             Music of Southern Africa                                                                   3

MUSC 409⁴                                            Fugue                                                                                                     3

MUSC 411                                             Musical Traditions of the African Diaspora                                    3

MUSC 400                                             Long Essay/Original Composition                                                    3

MUSC 413                                             Practicals                                                                                               3

MUSC 414                                             Practicals                                                                                               3

 

ELECTIVES

MUSC 404                                             Selected Composers of the 20th Century                                         3

MUSC 406                                             The Full Orchestra                                                                               3

MUSC 403                                             Music of North Africa                                                                         3

MUSC 412                                             The Complete Fugue                                                                           3

The above courses which have no prerequisites may be offered as FREE ELECTIVES.

_______________________________________________

1 Prerequisite:       MUSC 302

2              “                              “              401

3              “                              “              301

4              “                              “              303 and 304

 

 

B.MUS (LEVEL 400) SEMESTER COURSES

SINGLE MAJOR PROGRAMME

A student who wishes to offer Music as a Single Major is required to take the following core semester‑courses and two prescribed electives to obtain at least 37 Credits by the end of the year.

CODE AND NUMBER        COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION                                              CREDITS

CORE

MUSC 401             ‑               20th Century Composition                                                                                 3

Compositional techniques of the 20th Century including Secundal, Tertial and Quartal harmony, Dodecaphony, Microtonal and Aleatory music. Compo­sition in the styles of the various African composers.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 302

 

MUSC 402             -               Extended Composition                                                                                        3

Harmonic textures in not more than six voices using both diatonic and chromatic harmony. Writing for Strings, Woodwinds, Brass instruments and the piano. Pianoforte accompaniment. Setting words to music. Unaccompanied choral composition including text‑tone relationship in African music. Contrapuntal writing in the 16th Century styles of Palestrina, Byrd and Victoria. Motet in not more than six parts.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 401

 

MUSC 403             -              History of Contemporary Music                                                                       3

The current African scene of music and musicians: evidence of African responses to external pres­sures in terms of musical vocabulary, structural forms and instrumentation; selected composers. The contemporary composer’s artistic and technical resources: pitch combinations, scale patterns: (vertical and horizontal structures) course of development of these resources to be followed through the works of selected composers of the West, including Latin America. The challenges of con­temporary choreography and theatre: examples by Stravinsky, Kurt Weill, etc.

 

Prerequisite: MUSC 301

 

MUSC 405             -               The Small Orchestra                                                                                            3

Scoring for the Brass, Percussion and the Harp, the Full Orchestral tutti. Rearrangement of music for various sets of transposing instruments including African instruments. Reading from orchestral scores on the pianoforte.

 

MUSC 407             ‑               Music of Southern Africa                                                                                   3

Southern Africa as a geo‑cultural area and the concept of Musical cultures. Historical background of music in Southern Africa. A survey of the musical practices with particular reference to musical forms/styles, instruments and aesthetics and the relationship of music to its culture.

 

MUSC 409             ‑               Fugue                                                                                                                     3

Writing contrapuntal textures in the 18th Century ''style; Imitation, Invertible counterpoint. Subject and Answer, Countersubject. Exposition of a fugue.

Prerequisite. MUSC 303 and 304.

 

MUSC 411             ‑               Musical Traditions of the African Diaspora                                                    3

The Musical heritage of the African‑American ‑ Blues, Spirituals, Gospel songs, Ragtime and Jazz. Developments of Jazz from 1920 to 1950; Symphonic jazz. Caribbean and Latin American music; popular (calypso, skar, reggae, soca, etc.) religious (cult), and other music genres. Retentions and reinter­pretation of African music in the Caribbean and Latin America. Early and Contemporary African‑American performers/music-ians, their instruments and sounds/styles.

 

MUSC 400             ‑               Long Essay/Original Composition                                                                    3

Either: Long Essay

Each candidate will be required to present a thesis of about 80 pages, including illustrative musical examples:

 

Or        Original Composition of not more than 15 minutes and not less than 10 minutes duration. Such a work should address a specific audience or a specific method of composition.

 

Topics of Long Essays and genre of original composition are to be approved by the Head

of Department by the end of the First Semester.

 

MUSC 413             ‑               Practicals                                                                                                               3

Advanced study of the performance practice of voice, traditional African melodic or percussion instru­ment, and/or Western keyboard or orchestral instrument. Emphasis is laid on the use of a wider scope of repertoire. Participation in performance ensembles.

 

MUSC 414             -               Practicals                                                                                                               3

Advanced instruction in the performance of selected pieces for voice, traditional African melodic or percussion instruments, as well as Western keyboard or orchestral instruments, one of which is chosen by the student in the first year. Participation in performance ensembles.

 

ELECTIVES

 

MUSC 404             ‑               Selected Composers of the 20th Century                                                         3

Six composers to be studied in depth to illustrate the following schools and trends: ‑ neo‑classicism, nationalism and democracy; pre‑serial and serial techniques; music theatre; African musical values in extended writing: composers from Africa, Caribbean and South America, as well as North America and Western Europe to be included in the selection of composers.

 

MUSC 406             ‑               The Full Orchestra                                                                                               3

Advanced scoring for a full orchestra. Scoring for African ensemble. Microtonal and Multi­phonic scoring.

 

MUSC 408             ‑               Music of North Africa                                                                                         3

North Africa as a geo‑cultural area and the concept of musical cultures. Historical background of music in North Africa. A survey of the musical practices with particular reference to musical forms/types, instruments and aesthetics and the relationship of music to its culture. Western influences on North African composers.

 

MUSC 412             ‑               The Complete Fugue                                                                                           3

Development; writing of episodes, inversion, augmentation, diminution, stretto devices, canon. The final section. Fugue with not more than two subjects.

*              The above courses which have no prerequisites may be offered as FREE ELECTIVES by students from other departments.

 

POST‑GRADUATE PROGRAMMES

M.A/M. PHIL SEMESTER COURSES

 

ADMISSION REQUIREMENT

M.A.                 -                    A good first degree in Music or Music in combination with another subject.

M.PHIL            -     A good first degree in Music

 

COURSE STRUCTURE AND UNIT REQUIREMENTS (LEVEL 600)

M.A. (Music) Students require 39 credits to graduate, while those offering M.Phil (Music) require a minimum of 66 credits to graduate.

The breakdown is as follows:

 

M.A.

Course Work                                                                                        -           24            Credits

Seminar Presentation                                                                           -           3                  “

Dissertation                                                                                         ‑           12                  "

Tota1                      -               39            Credits

M.PHIL

1st Year

Course Work                                                                                        -             30           Credits

 

2nd Year

Seminar Presentation           (l)                                                                           3           Credits

Seminar Presentation           (2)                                                           -              3                 “

Thesis                                                                                                    -              30                “

Tota1                      -                 66          Credits

M.A. COURSES

An M.A. student is required to take the following four courses each semester.

MUSC 601             ‑               Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology I

MUSC 602             ‑               Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology II

MUSC 603             ‑               Organology, I

MUSC 604             ‑               Organology II

MUSC 605             ‑               Area Studies in Music I

MUSC 606             ‑               Area Studies in Music II

MUSC 607             ‑               Practicals

MUSC 607             ‑               Practicals Il

 

M.PHIL COURSES

It is recommended that M.Phil students take the following core courses and three prescribed electives each semester during the first year of the programme.

 

Core

MUSC 601             ‑               Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology I

MUSC 602             ‑               Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology II

MUSC 611             ‑               Practicals

MUSC 612             ‑               Practicals

 

Electives

MUSC 603             ‑               Organology, I

MUSC 604             ‑               Organology II

MUSC 613             ‑               Music Theory and Composition I

MUSC 614             ‑               Music Theory and Composition II

MUSC 615             ‑               Orchestration I

MUSC 616             ‑               Orchestration II

MUSC 617             ‑               History of Music (Western)

MUSC 618             ‑               History of Music (African)

MUSC 621             ‑               Counterpoint I

MUSC 622             ‑               Counterpoint II

MUSC 623             ‑               Aesthetics and Music Criticism I

MUSC 624             ‑               Aesthetics and Music Criticism II

MUSC 625             -               Sociology of Music l

MUSC 626             ‑               Sociology of Music II

MUSC 627             -               African Popular Music and Jazz I

MUSC 628             ‑               African Popular Music and Jazz II

MUSC 631             ‑               Literature and Performance Techniques of Selected

African Instruments I

MUSC 631             ‑               Literature and Performance Techniques of Selected

African Instruments II

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

M.A. (MUSIC)

IST SEMESTER

CODE AND NUMBER        COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION                                              CREDITS

MUSC 601                             Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology                                                   3

Introduction to the main branches of Musicology: historical, systematic, and ethnomusicology. Research methods and bibliography in ethno­musicology. Readings covering main theories and methods. Important types of music information, technology and scientific tools of music research.

MUSC 603                             Organology                                                                                                           3

History and ethnography of musical instruments. Systems of classification of musical instruments.

 

MUSC 605                             Area Studies in Music                                                                                        3

Detailed study of the socio-cultural background, the musical instruments, and the musics of selected societies in Africa and the Middle East.

 

MUSC 607                             Practicals                                                                                                               3

Students shall study traditional African instrumental music practices. The course shall consist of instruction on traditional percussion instruments (drums, etc.) and a melodic instrument (xylophone, lute, harp, hand‑piano (mbira), lyre, flute, (etc). Students should demonstrate proficiency as master instrumentalists at the end of the semester.

2ND SEMESTER

MUSC 602                             Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology                                   3

Notation and transcription. Field and laboratory techniques. Main theories of ethnomusicological analysis: approaches by Hornbostel, Herzog, Curt Sachs, Lomax, Bartok, and others. Historical and systematic approaches in ethnomusicology. Selected readings.

 

Pre‑requisite: MUSC 601 ‑ Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology. Subject to approval by the department, a student may be exempted from this pre‑requisite.

 

MUSC 604                             Organology I                                                                                                        3

Techniques employed in the performance of musical instruments. The Acoustics of musical instruments.

 

MIJSC 606                             Area Studies in Music                                                                                        3

The ethnography, instruments and musical styles of Indonesia, the Far East, the Caribbean and other areas of the Diaspora.

 

MUSC 608                             Practicals                                                                                                               3             

Development of the skills and techniques in the performance of selected Music on the various traditional African percussion and melodic instruments. Students shall be requested to produce ensemble performance in a concert situation.

 

M. PHIL (MUSIC) YEAR I

CODE AND NUMBER        COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION              CREDITS

CORE

MUSC 601                             Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology                                                   3

Introduction to the main branches of Musicology: historical, systematic, and ethnomusicology. Research methods and bibliography in ethno­musicology. Readings covering main theories and methods. Important types of music information, technology and scientific tools of music research.

 

MUSC 611                             Practicals                                                                                                               3

Traditional African instrumental music practices. The course shall consist of instruction on African percussion instruments (drums, etc.) and a melodic instrument (xylophone, lute, harp, mbira. lyre, flute, etc.) Students should demonstrate proficiency as master instrumentalists at the end of the semester.

 

MUSC 603                             Organology                                                                                                           3

History and ethnography of musical instruments. Systems of classification of musical instruments.

 

MUSC 613                             Music Theory and Composition                                                                       3

Western Music: Polyphony, chords of figured bass. New systems of music theory; Generation of harmony and other theoretical approaches of Rameau. The theoretical importance of the chord of the ninth; development of the added third; theory of chord generation; origin of its diminished seventh chord.

 

African Music: Compositional procedures in African Music: Conventional procedures in traditional African vocal and instrumental music and the different ways in which they are applied in the creative practice of traditional musicians.

 

MUSC 615                             Orchestration                                                                                                        3

Study of stylistic scoring and score analysis. Transcription and editing.

 

MUSC 617                             History of Music                                                                                                  3

History of Western Music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Styles and forms from the Gregorian chant to polyphony. Medieval and mensural notation, tablatures, emergence of' modern systems of notation.

 

MUSC 621                             Counterpoint                                                                                                        3

Counterpoint in not more than eight voices including the Italian and English styles from the Renaissance period to the 18^th Century. Study of contrapuntal textures; consideration of cadence and form; melodic contour and motive; rhythm, text handling, simple and complex imitation. Treatment of dissonance in the sacred music of Orlando di Lasso, Josquin de Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, William Byrd, Thomas Luis de Victoria and others.

 

MUSC 623                             Aesthetics and Music Criticism                                                                        3

A survey of the main forms of aesthetic thought and criticism in Western music from the Greek times to the present. Selected readings and seminar papers on prescribed topics of interest.

 

MUSC 625                             Sociology of Music                                                                                             3

A review of the relationship between music‑makers and society as exemplified in the social history of Western music from the Greek times to the present. An in-depth study of the musical life of a society within a given period in western music history. Term papers on the above.

 

MUSC 627                             African Popular Music and Jazz                                                                        3

African popular music in traditional and contemporary idioms. African popular music in history. Popular music and social change.

 

MUSC 628                             Literature and Performance Techniques

of Selected African Instruments                                                                        3             

The Course will cover important historical and current sources, as well as usages of traditional African percussion instruments.

 

2^ND SEMESTER

 

MUSC 602                             Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology                                                   3

Notation and transcription. Field and laboratory techniques. Main theories of ethnomusicological analysis: approaches by Hornbostel, Herzog, Curt Sachs, Lomax, Bartok, and others. Historical and systematic approaches in ethnomusicology. Selected readings.

 

Pre‑requisite: MUSC 601 ‑ Theories and Methods in Ethnomusicology. Subject to approval by the department, a student may be exempted from this pre‑requisite.

 

MUSC 612                             Practicals                                                                                                               3

Development of the skills and techniques in the performance of selected music on the various traditional African percussion and melodic instruments.

Student shall be requested to produce ensemble performance in a concert situation.

 

ELECTIVES

MUSC 604                             Organology                                                                                                           3

Techniques employed in the performance of musical instruments. The Acoustics of musical instruments.

 

MUSC 614                             Music Theory and composition                                                                        3

Western Music - Theoretical writings of the German theorists: Kirnberger, Fetis, Hauptmann, Helmholtz, Ottingen, and Dr. Riemann. Theoreti­cal writings of the English theorists: Dr. Alfred Day, Macfarren, Ouselay, Stainer, E. Prout. Techniques of analysis developed by Schenker, Reti, Hindemith, and others.

 

African Music – Further examination of selected works that exemplify the traditional techniques and usages and other aspects of contemporary African compositions. Contemporary applications of traditional techniques and usages in students' own compositions.

 

MUSC 616                             Orchestration                                                                                                        3

Scoring and arranging of music for various instrumental groups.

 

MUSC 618                             History of Music                                                                                                  3

History of African Music - the musical history of particular areas in Africa; the effects of Islam on the musical traditions of different areas in Africa. Euro-American music traditions in Africa. The application of historical and archaeological data in musicological research.

 

MUSC 622                             Counterpoint                                                                                                        3

Imitative texture; Invertible counterpoint and techniques associated with canon and fugue in the style of J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel and other composers, Contrapuntal Techniques in tradi­tional and contemporary African musics.

 

MUSC 624                             Aesthetics and Music Criticism                                                                        3

The problem of aesthetic evaluation and meaning in African and Oriental musical cultures. Rationalizations by Merriam, MacAlester, d’Azevedo, Steber, Nketia, Bebey, etc; the concept of the raga in Indian thought; systems relating music to State structure and welfare, etc.

 

Practice in music criticism.

 

MUSC 626                             Sociology Of Music                                                                                            3

A critical examination of the systematic aspect of the field. The application of sociologic principles, concepts and research methods and techniques to the study of music and social behaviour and processes in Ghana. Term papers on aspects of the study.

 

MUSC 628                             African Popular Music and Jazz                                                                        3

African popular musicians as innovators; their function as role models. Jazz and other popular musics of Africa and the Black Diaspora. The African retentions. Specific research projects on individual popular artistes.

 

MUSC 632                             Literature and Performance Techniques of Selected African Instruments  3

Study of the historical and current sources, as well as usages of selected traditional African melodic instruments.

 

Ph.D. programs are nowadays available in the English-speaking area. This, even in terms of an Africa-oriented production and organization of musical knowledge, preparation of pedagogical material, training of music educators, philosophy of music education, transcription of traditional music and Art Music, might become at the long run detrimental to the Francophone area.

 

4. Steps for Developing Musical Tertiary Education in Francophone Africa

If the above goals justify the coexistence of Music Tertiary Education beside the preservation, festivals and marketing goals which prevail in Francophone Africa, then

1.        English-speaking Tertiary Institutions in Africa might lend a helping hand to their homologues by accepting a generation of Francophone finalists in the missing degrees before those badges of scholars, educators and composers come back and handle an extended education in their countries.

2.        If any fund raising were to intervene, it would be limited to the previous step and possibly extended to the initial period of creation of jobs, before handing over this financial effort to the respective governments without bearing insurmountable limitations on the infrastructures.

3.         It is also possible to wait for history to improve things from inside the Francophone area, provide a closer dialogue with the English-speaking world brings a sustained awareness on Music Education issues at all levels.

Most Francophone scholars whose essentially musical profile matches the English-speaking high standards:

         - Kazadi wa Mukuna (University of Kent)

         - Damien Pwono (Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, CIM Secretary-General…)

         - Adepo Yapo (CIM Regional Secretary, PASMAE Vice-President)

- Pascal Zabana Kongo (PASMAE, ICAMD, University of Ghana, Legon)

- Anicet Mundundu (University of Pittsburgh), etc…

have already penetrated the English-speaking environment. At this stage, landing from my theory-driven perspective, it appears worthy to pay tribute to the worldly contribution by many Francophone Music scholars and educators from a linguistic, psychological, philosophic, history and journalistic background.

 

 

Pascal Zabana KONGO (Dr)

 

PASMAE Ambassador-Extraordinary in Francophone area