Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES Winter 2020 15 MUSIC OF GHANA resonators that hang from each key on a Euro- American marimba. Traditionally, there were spider egg sacs attached to the calabash gourds that gave the gyil a characteristic buzzing sound that is sought aer in many African music traditions. Now, however, gyil makers oen attach small pieces of plastic to the resonators to create the buzzing sound instead of using spider egg sacs. To play the gyil, one would sit on a short wooden stool on the ground and hit the keys with mallets whose heads are made out of rubber. is rubber oen comes from old tires, rubber bands, and other recycled objects. e kpanlogo drums are barrel-shaped, wooden drums with a goat skin head. e head is tensioned by rope fastened to wooden spikes that stick out from the top of the drum, beneath the head. e drums differ in height and width, and each of them are carved with intricate designs that are unique to the maker. To play the kpanlogo drums, one would sit with the drum between his or her legs and hit the drum head with the palm of the hand in one of three ways: bass, tone, and slap. ough some songs were meant to be played on kpanlogo drums, we learned them on djembes because there were more djembes than kpanlogo drums at the DMC. e djembe is a drum shaped like a goblet, tuned with tensioned ropes, and covered with a goat skin head. Similarly to the kpanlogo drums, djembes are carved with unique and intricate designs and are played in the same fashion, but the head is tuned significantly tighter to get a higher pitch. e djembe is frequently used as the lead drum. In the Ghanaian tradition, music is taught by rote. is was a new experience for me, coming from a Western classical trumpet background, but my percussion friends were much more accustomed to learning music with this approach. We learned three gyil songs that came from the Bewaa style of the Dagara people: To Me Na, Ya Ya Kole, and Sa Be Wa Na. We also learned Kpanlogo and Fume Fume, which are drumming styles from the Ga people. We learned each facet of the music: the gyil parts, the drum parts, the bell part (played on the gankogui, an instrument similar to the Agogo bells), the choreography, and the vocal part with traditional lyrics. A Typical Day at the DMC A typical day at the DMC started with breakfast at 7:30 a.m., which included mango, watermelon, pineapple, oatmeal, toast with jam, and eggs eaten at a long table on the back porch. Aer breakfast, the first lessons of the day started at approximately 9:00 a.m. Our ravel group was divided into two subgroups, one studying gyil and the other studying kpanlogo drums and djembe, and then we would switch. Gyil lessons were taught by Alex Woma in the courtyard under a gazebo, while kpanlogo drum lessons were taught by Agbeko and Eddy under a pavilion behind the DMC. Even though the lessons took place in the shade, sweating was unavoidable because of southeast Ghana's humidity and close proximity to the equator Three Epsilon Iota initiates in the traveling group, from left, Michaela Johnson, Emily Sanford, and Mary Emmons.

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