Musical styles: African

In African music repetition is often used to organise the music.

In the mbira music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, the interaction of players hands establishes a repeating pattern which players use as a basis for improvisation [Improvisation: The creation of a musical passage by a musician whilst it is being performed. ].

Polyphony and Polyrhythm are also important. Polyphony has many musical parts or rhythms interweaving with each other. Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more individual rhythms (eg 3 against 4).

In West Africa, drum ensembles have 3-5 players, each with a distinctive method of striking their drum and playing interlocking patterns. Sometimes other percussion instruments join in, creating a thick musical texture.

Call-and-response is very popular. The chorus repeats a fixed refrain in alternation with a lead singer, who then has more freedom to improvise. This makes the music conversational.

Pitch in African music is largely determined by the tuning of the drums.

Drum rhythms can imitate well-known phrases. It's said that when Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Waterloo, the native people in West Africa knew about it before their English or French governors, because the news was drummed down the coast from North Africa.

Talking drums are used to send messages, using a combination of pitch and rhythm to imitate speech.