African music on the internet by Guy Lukebani

Africa is one of the ancient continents where people have their own music and dance. African music has different classifications and most of them are learnt orally. There are no books explaining the music of Africa. African music spread from one generation to another by means of oral tradition. The natural life style and ancient culture of the country are depicted in African music. People who visit Africa as tourists will make trips to concerts where ancient African music is played. You can also find many musical theatres in African countries where ancient music shows are being held. Being one of the ancient music, the tribals of Africa are experts in playing different types of musical instruments. To make the world realize the importance of ancient music, many African musicians are playing a major role in spreading African music.

The rhythmic complexity found in African music is high and there is no other regional music in this world that can compete with African music. While singing songs, polyrhythm is used by superimposing sounds from different instruments like xylophones, drums, rattles and even handclaps. String and wind instruments are also used extensively in addition to vocal songs. These instruments are played in a unique fashion to bring out the real African music. Common African instruments are flutes made of bamboo, trumpets made of ivory and ground bows. As a result of colonization, European instruments were also used in African music but they were used to produce traditional notes.

Music has an essential role to play in Africa. All functions including birth, death, marriage and most of the important political activities are accompanied by music. Music was played for welcoming and entertaining the guests. The only entertainment to the tribal people is to play music and many of them earn their living by organizing the musical shows during the important occasions.

The African music which was played within the country borders was exposed to the world through the African musicians. Many African songs depicting the African culture have been sung by popular musicians. The various musical styles like gospel, jazz, hip hop etc have their origin in Africa and hence, people respect and learn African music. The musical instruments that are used while singing African songs are very unique and different and this has made African music very special among music lovers. Africa is a land of music because different African countries have their own style of music and dance.

The contemporary musicians of Africa are very popular entertainers as African music is itself a great entertaining music. The African culture festival and many live African concerts have been held all over the world and the popularity of African music is increasing. This is reflected in the World Wide Web and if you search for African music, you can find a number of music downloads offering you the traditional musical experience. Many live radios are also available on the internet playing non stop African music. A lot of African musical instruments are also sold online to spread African music across the globe.