History of Music in Nigeria

The Nigeria music comprises of many types of folk and renowned music and where some of them are known worldwide.

source of picture: naijagists.com

Patterns of the traditional music are linked to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country where each with their own methods, instruments and songs. Little is known about the country’s record of the prior to European contact, though bronze carvings traced back to the 16^th and 17^th centuries have been found portraying artists and their instruments. The biggest ethnic groups include the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. The folk music from Nigeria and all over Africa is almost always functional; in other way, it is performed to indicate a ritual such as a wedding or funeral and not for pure entertainment or artistic pleasure. Though some Nigerians, especially children and the older ones play instruments for their own amusement, solo performance is otherwise unique. The music is closely connected to agriculture and there are limitations on, for instance, which instruments can be played in the time of different part of the growing season.

The work songs are popular form of traditional Nigerian music. They help to keep the rhythm of workers in the field, river canoes and other fields.  The women also use the complex rhythms in housekeeping duties, such as pounding yams to highly decorated music. in the northern areas, farmers work together on each other’s farms and the host is expect to supply artists for his neighbors.

The concern of musical composition is also highly varying. The Hwana for instance, believe that all the songs are taught by the peoples’ forefathers, while the Tiv give acclaim to named composers for almost all songs and the Efik name individual composers only for secular songs. Many parts of Nigeria, artists are allowed to say things in their lyrics that would make as offensive to another.

The most popular arrangement for music in Nigeria is the so called call-and-response choirs, in which a lead singer and a chorus interchange verses where some time it is accompanied by instruments that either shade the lead text or repeat and ostinato vocal phrase. The southern region features difficult rhythms and solo players using melody instruments, while the north more naturally features polyphonic wind bands. The extreme north area is related with monadic (single line) music with a stress on the drums and inclines to be more influenced by Islamic music.

Epic poetry is seen in part of Nigeria and its performance is always watched as musical in nature. Blind nomadic artists, sometimes accompanying themselves with a cord instrument and they are known for reciting long poems of unorthodox Islamic text among the Kanuri and Hausa. These and other linked customs may be descended from related Maghrebian and European customs. The Ozidi saga created in the Niger Delta is a renowned epic that takes seven days to perform and utilizes a narrator, a chorus, drumming, mime and dance.