Lesson 1

 A. Melody
One of the major characteristics of African
melodies is the use of ostinato, a repeated
pattern. It may be short or long phrases
depending on the choice of musicians and the
purpose in the composition.
 B. Texture
Heterophony, an independent part on a single
melody by two or more instruments or singers.
 C. Rhythm
Upbeat rhythm can be easily identified in
African music through percussion instruments
or using human body movements.
 D. Maracatu
It is a dynamic rhythm, first appeared in the
African state of Pernambuco. The maracatu
groups were called nacao, which means
nation, who paraded with a large drumming
ensemble and accompanied by a singer,
chorus, and dancers.
 Conversation
 Improvisation
 The Voice as an instrument
 The Instrument as a voice
 The drums are the center of almost all music
and dance performances.
 It is believed that drums makers place charms
within the drums and they contain the spirits
that guide the player.
 Professional musicians in Africa are called
griots.
 The musical instruments in Africa is classified
according to its classification: Chordophone,
Membranophone, Idiophone, Aerophone.
 Bombo – is a dual-headed drum made from a deep tree trunk
with patches made up of calf or goat skin.
 Quena – is a flute made of bones or bamboo that has a
vertical-notched reed.
 Chajchas – is a rattle made up of dried hooves from sheep
 Zamponas – is a panpipe-type of reed made from pieces of
bamboo that are tied together
 Charango – is an instrument made from the shell of an
armadillo.
 Cajon – is a rectangular box made of wood; it is played and
used a drum.
 Maracas – are instruments made of gourd-like coconut shells
with beans, seeds, or small pebbles placed inside.
 Claves – are pair of hardwood sticks played by striking them
together.
 A. Blues
It is a gloomy folk music of African American origin,
which is naturally in a twelve-bar order.
It is an expressive and soulful style of singing.
 B. Soul
It is a kind of music combining the basics of rhythm and
blues and gospel music, which was popularized by the
African-Americans.
It refers to gospel-style music with secular lyrics.
Handclaps and body movements are important features of
soul.
James Brown is known as the “Godfather of Soul”.
 C. Call and Response
It is a sequence of two different phrases usually
played by two or more musicians..
A lead singer announces an opening phrase or
call, and the chorus utters a short response.
 D. Spiritual
It is a kind of music always with a Christian or
religious theme.
It is known as Negro spiritual.
The texts are most religious psalms from
Biblical passages.
 Cumbia – is a type of dance ad music similar to
salsa and uses instruments like accordions,
guitars, and percussions.
 Tango – is a lively and spirited dance of two
people.
 Cha-cha – is a Latin American ballroom dance
with the basic pattern of three steps with a
shuffle.
 Bossanova – is a style of music that was derived
from samba, which is an original Brazilian
music.
 Pasodoble – is Spain’s traditional couple dance. It
uses music that is traditionally played in bull
fighting.
 Reggae – is a Jamaican form of music and dance
with strong, accented, and supplementary beats.
 Rumba – is a kind of song and dance that
originated from Cuba with a percussive rhythm
and a combination of Cuba’s musical traditions
 Foxtrot – is a ballroom dance of two slow steps
and two quick steps and is executed alternately in
four time signature
Lesson 2
 It is said to be the music of majority,
something appreciated or has appealed
many.
 It is the “people’s music”.
 A. Ballad
It is a traditional folk music performed by a soloist
that expresses a tale in a strophic form. It is
transferred from one generation to another by
oral performances rather than written works.
 B. Rhythm and Blues (RnB)
It is a combination of different popular music
genres like jazz, gospel, and blues.
 C. Rock and Roll
It is a popular style evolved in the 1950’s from a
combination of rhythm and blues and country-
western music characteristics.
 D. Disco
It is a style of popular music in the 1970s and is
a distinguished form of dance music.
Its name is derived from the French discotheque,
which means a type of dance-oriented
nightclub that first appeared in the 1960’s.
 E. Rap
It is a spoken word delivered quickly in rhymed
verses.
It is a rock music that evolved in the 1970s and
accompanied by hip-hop music.
 F. Ballad
It is a light, simple narrative poem of folk origin,
composed of short stanzas and adapted for
singing.
 G. Jazz
It was developed in America and was
predominantly created by the black American
musicians.
It was rooted in improvisation and characterized
by syncopated rhythm, a steady beat,
drumming, percussive sounds, and distinctive
tone colors and articulations and techniques of
performances.
 H. Alternative music
It is a do-it-yourself type of music of
different musical bands.
Its definition refers its distinction from
typical rock music, which is expressed by
distorting the guitar sound in a different
and defiant attitude.
1. Ragtime
It is a jazz style for piano music. It is in duple
meter with syncopation felt on the weak
beats. Syncopation is the displacement of
an accent from the strong beat to the weak
beat.
2. Blues
It was a vocal music style that contains bent
notes and note slides by lowering or flatting
the third, fifth, and seventh notes of the
major scale.
3. Big Bands and Swing
It was not literally as standard of today’s
marching band, but at least double the size
of the New Orleans.
Swing was said to be the popular jazz style
played by the big band around 1930-40s. It
was very improvisatory with fast tempo and a
danceable beat.
4. Bebop
It is a highly complex modern jazz style played
by a small combo without written music.
5. Cool Jazz
It was related to bop, but more relaxed and
soother. Its pieces were longer than bebop.
6. Free Jazz
It is a kind of jazz music similar to John Cage’s
chance music.
7. Jazz Rock
Due to economic status, jazz musicians had to
adopt rhythm style of the rock rhythm and tone
colors. The combination of jazz and rock was
called jazz-fusion.
8. New Orleans Jazz
They were performed by different groups of
instruments, from small to three-to-four-
combo with accompanied percussion.