African Music Series Vol. 1: Adenkum

African Music Series Vol. 1: Adenkum
(Chants, Songs and Gourds)
By Sowah Mensah
Book and DVD
40 pages

A Step-by-Step Guide to Learning, Teaching and Performing African Music.

The book and DVD should be used together as tools for the teacher or director to learn and practice this music until the leader is comfortable to teach others by rote.

The book has the music notation for the instrumental parts and traditional Akan songs. The DVD shows how to play the parts as well as performances of the pieces by the Macalester College African Music Ensemble,  an ensemble from the Rondo Educational Center and an ensemble from the Turtle Lake Elementary School.

The Adenkum is a stamping tube (rhythmic idiophone) and this book deals with the Asante type which has a long narrow neck, open-ended, with another hole on either the side or bottom of the gourd. A bell and rattle are also used in the pieces.

Instruments used in the pieces: Adawura (banana-shaped bell or boat bell), Trowa (enmeshed gourd rattle, shekere, axhatse or akasha), and Adenkum (gourd).

For elementary through adult ages.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Introduction of Adenkum
• The Instruments
• The Book, the Music and the DVD
• Pronunciation Guide
• Songs and Meaning
     Osee Yeii, Sika Donno, Anowa, Me Bo Wo Din A, Barima Ye Na, See Ne So Mmae Da
• Adenkum Phrases
• Full Score