Prospects and Experiments on Ẹsà Song/Chant Genre and Its Analytical Studies

Keyword : Prospects, experiments, ẹsà-genre, compositional-elements and analysis

Author(s) : ATINUKE ADENIKE LAYADE

Abstract :

Delta State University, Abraka (DELSU) is one of the few institutions in Nigeria where music is studied, so the musical education of this community depends largely on her impact and output. Educating the members of the public on a genre that was once very important in the traditional worship and setting of other cultures/people has led to the adaptation of this study. This development is due to the inability of music students to interpret and transcribe the hemiolas, syncopated and additive characters of African rhythms accurately. The study of Western music had laid the foundation for scholarly music studies in major institutions where music is studied. Examples of music from this culture had earlier dominated the curriculum, therefore, making the students vast in the analysis of such music but deficient in the transcription and analysis of African music. Chant/song tradition is non-scripted literature that is strictly tied to the worship of the god of thunder and lightning and the masquerade spirit cult worship. Its performance is rhythmically progressive in style with distinct ensemble instrumental accompaniment. Systematic analytical method used in the work reveals how specifically ẹsà songs/chants are studied as part of the curriculum at Delta State University. The findings reveal that the increasing volume of African content in the repertoire for music analysis is a reawakening of indigenous material in music scholarship. The transcription and analysis of the stimulus material in the songs constitute a degree of African
transcribed songs for genre studies, reconstructive musicological analysis, and interpretive academic study purposes for students in higher institution.

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