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Seperewa
The seperewa, also known as seprewa or sanku, is a Ghanaian (specifically Akan people, Akan) harp-lute, similar to the dagaare/sisaala ''koriduo'', the Mandé kora (instrument), kora, the Gere people, Gere duu, and Baoule aloko. Description The seperewa belongs to a class of harp-lute chordophones typical in West Africa, with Ghana marking the easternmost area where harp-lutes are played in the region. The seperewa is one of two types of harp-lutes played in Ghana, the other being the koriduo. Modern seperewa typically have anywhere between 10 and 14 strings, set onto a standing bridge, and are connected to the neck of the instrument by winding them around it directly. They are recognisable by their square wooden box resonator, which differ from the calabash resonators of Mande people, Manding harp-lutes like the kora (instrument), kora or kamalengoni. They are either played with the thumbs, or rarely with the forefingers or bow. The sound is produced on them by setting the stri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolon (musical Instrument)
The bolon ( bm, ߓߐ߬ߟߐ߲, italics=no) or M'Bolon is a traditional harp played in Mali, as well as Guinea. It was notably played in hunting ceremonies or before a battle, to rouse warriors' valor. It was also used by the Jola in Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ... for accompaniment for men's choruses.Stone, Ruth M., ed. "West Africa: An Introduction." ''Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Volume 1: Africa''. New York: Routledge, Array. 458-86. ''Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music''. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. Among other string instruments played in Guinea, the bolon is the oldest. The bolon is a three-stringed instrument, constructed from a large calabash covered by unshaven goat skin, and a bow-shaped neck. When playing, it is placed betwee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kora (instrument)
The kora (Manding languages: ''köra'') is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It combines features of the lute and harp. Description The kora is built from gourd, cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is supported by two handles that run underneath it. It has 21 strings, each of which plays a different note. These strings are supported by a notched, double free-standing bridge. The kora doesn't fit into any one category of musical instrument, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridge-harp-lute." The strings run in two divided ranks, characteristic of a double harp. They do not end in a soundboard but are instead held in notches on a bridge, classifying it as a bridge harp. The strings originate from a string arm or neck and cross a bridge directly supported by a resonating chamber, also making it a lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simbing
The simbing is an malian harp-lute, used by the Mandinka people of Mali, and Mandinka and Jola peoples of Senegal and Gambia. The instruments consist of a calabash resonator, a (usually curved) stick for a neck, a metal jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ... attached to the neck, and a bridge that holds the string over the skin soundboard in a vertical line. For comparison lutes (such as the guitar) usually have the strings held in a horizontal line above the soundboard. The instruments have five to nine strings. The instrument from the 1790s was reported as having seven strings by Mungo Park. The instrument was played in Mandinka and Jola cultures in the context of hunting. With the Mandingas, the instrument was played by "the hunter's musician" who narrated so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stringed Instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, the player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra in Western classical music (violin, viola, cello and double bass) and a number of other instruments (e.g., viols and gambas used in early music from the Baroqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire (Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Mālī) was an empire in West Africa from 1226 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 – c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th-century Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th-century Andalusian traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, as recorded by storytellers known as griots. The empire began a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashanti Empire
The Asante Empire ( Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British authors than any other indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa.Collins and Burns (2007), p. 140. Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu ( – 1717) and his adviser Okomfo Anokye established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol. Osei Tutu oversaw a massive Ashanti territorial expansion, building up the army by introducing new organisation and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine. In 17 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandé Peoples
The Mandé peoples are ethnic groups who are speakers of Mande languages. Various Mandé speaking ethnic groups are found particularly toward the west of West Africa. The Mandé Speaking languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé. The Mandinka people, Mandinka or Malinke people, Manding (Malinke, Bambara and Dioula), a western branch of the Mandé, are credited with the founding of the largest ancient West African empires. Other large Mandé speaking ethnicities include the Soninke people, Soninke and Susu people, Susu as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the Ligbi language, Ligbi, Vai (ethnic group), Vai, and Bissa people, Bissa. Mandé speaking people inhabit various environments, from coastal Guinean Forests of West Africa, rainforests to the sparse Sahel. They have a wide range of cuisines, cultures, and beliefs, and are organized mainly by their language group. Today they are predominantly Muslim and follow a caste system. Islam has play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonoman
Bono State (or Bonoman) was a trading state created by the Bono people, located in what is now southern Ghana. Bonoman was a medieval Akan kingdom in what is now Bono, Bono East and Ahafo region respectively named after the (Bono and Ahafo) and Eastern Ivory Coast. It is generally accepted as the origin of the subgroups of the Akan people who migrated out of the state at various times to create new Akan states in search of gold. The gold trade, which started to boom in Bonoman as early in the 12th century, was the genesis of Akan power and wealth in the region, beginning in the Middle Ages. Origin The origin of the Akan people of Bonoman was said to be further north in what is now called the Sahel or the then Ghana Empire when Bono natives wanted to remain with their traditional form of Bono ancestral worship and spirituality, those Akans that disagreed and fought wars against Islam, migrated south of the Sahara, in present-day Ghana. Trading centers used by state Bono M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Ghana
The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and was the largest of the sixteen regions, covering an area of 70,384 square kilometres or 31 percent of Ghana's area until December 2018 when the Savannah Region and North East Region were created from it. The Northern Region is divided into 14 districts. The region's capital is Tamale. Geography and climate Location and size The Northern Region is bordered on the north by the North East region, on the east by the eastern Ghana-Togo international border, on the south by the Oti region, and on the west by the Savannah Region. Northern region is made up of 14 districts. Climate and vegetation The Northern Region is a Guinea Savanna grassland. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland, especially savanna with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or acacias. Between January and March is the dry season. The wet season is between about July and December ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyula People
The Dyula (Dioula or Juula) are a Mande ethnic group inhabiting several West African countries, including Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Characterized as a highly successful merchant caste, ''Dyula'' migrants began establishing trading communities across the region in the fourteenth century. Since business was often conducted under non-Muslim rulers, the ''Dyula'' developed a set of theological principles for Muslim minorities in non-Muslim societies. Their unique contribution of long-distance commerce, Islamic scholarship and religious tolerance were significant factors in the peaceful expansion of Islam in West Africa. Historical background The Mandé embraced Islam during the thirteenth century following introduction to the faith through contact with the North African traders. By the 14th century, the Malian empire (c.1230-1600) had reached its apogee, acquiring a considerable reputation for the Islamic rulings of its court and the pilgrimages of several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ligbi
The Ligbi (or Ligby) people speak a Mande language in Ghana, in the north-west corner of the Brong-Ahafo Region. Ligbi is spoken by approximately 10,000 speakers (1988 GILLBT/SIL). It is fairly closely related to Jula, Vai and Kono. A small population of Ligbi speakers (around 4,000) is reported to live in Ivory Coast (Vanderaa 1991). Ligbi is also known as Wela (Hwela) or Numu. The latter of these refers to a subsection of the Ligbi people; is Dyula for 'blacksmith'. (See blacksmiths of western Africa.) The Ligbi area in Ghana is bordered to the west by Nafaanra, the Senufo language of the Nafana people. The Ligbi people have come to the area of Begho (Bighu), an ancient trading town on the Tain river in Ghana, in the early 17th century before the Nafana.Jack Goody, "The Mande and the Akan Hinterland", in: The Historian in Tropical Africa, J.Vansina, R.Mauny and L.V.Thomas eds., 1964, London, Oxford University, 192-218 Ligbi has seven oral and seven nasal vowels. It is a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bissa People
Bissa (or Bisa (singular), Bisan, Bissanno (plural)), is a Mandé peoples, Mande ethnic group of south-central Burkina Faso, northeastern Ghana and the northernmost tip of Togo. Their language, Bissa language, Bissa, is a Mande language that is related to, but not the same as, a cluster of languages in the old Borgu Kingdom area of Northeast Benin and Northwest Nigeria, including Busa language (Mande), Busa, Boko language, Boko, and Kyenga language, Kyenga. An alternate name for the Bissa is Busansi or Busanga which is used by the Mossi people. Daniel McFarland's ''Historical Dictionary of Upper Volta'' refers to them as "intrusive Mandé peoples, Mande who settled the area along the White Volta below Tenkodogo by 1300. Some live across the border in modern northern Ghana and Togo. According to some traditions, Rialle, progenitor of the Nakomse line of Mossi rulers was Busansi." They are known for their cultivation of peanuts. Traditionally, a Bissa man who wants to court a Bissa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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