What instruments do griots play?
Griots often accompany their stories and songs with music from instruments like the kora (a stringed instrument similar to a harp) or balafon (a kind of xylophone).
What instruments are in West African music?
Instruments Used in West African Music The djembe, tama and sabar are drums. The balafon is like a xylophone, and there are several stringed and wind instruments, such as the reed flute, thekora and the kontingo.
What is a griot in West African music?
A griot is a West African storyteller, singer, musician, and oral historian. They train to excel as orators, lyricists and musicians. The griot keeps records of all the births, deaths, marriages through the generations of the village or family.
Which instrument used by griots was similar to a lute?
Many griots play the kora, a long-necked harp lute with 21 strings. In addition to serving as the primary storytellers of their people, griots have also served as advisers and diplomats.
Which is the main role of a griot?
The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African culture. The griots’ role has traditionally been to preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their people; praise songs are also part of the griot’s repertoire.
Are there female griots?
Most griots were men, but women can also be griots. Women griots usually specialized in singing. Another name for griot is “jeli.” Although griots were well-respected (and sometimes feared for their magical powers), they were considered a low-ranking caste in the hierarchy of African social life.
What are the most common instruments used in West African music?
African musical instruments include a wide range of drums, slit gongs, rattles and double bells, different types of harps, and harp-like instruments such as the Kora and the ngoni, as well as fiddles, many kinds of xylophone and lamellophone such as the mbira, and different types of wind instrument like flutes and …
What is the main role of a griot?
What is the difference between a griot and a storyteller?
As nouns the difference between storyteller and griot is that storyteller is a person who relates stories through one medium or another to an audience while griot is a west african storyteller who passes on oral traditions; a wandering musician and poet.
Which instrument is one of Africa’s oldest string instruments?
One of the oldest is the Gankogui, a bell instrument played by the Ewe people of Ghana.
What is a griot and why are they important?
What instruments do the griots play?
They tell their stories to music using four principal instruments—the kora (a 21-string lute that sounds like a harp), the balafon, the ngoni, and the voice. And it is possible that each griot family might stick to one physical instrument, which they then learn to make and harness, and pass that through their family for generations.
Who are the griots of West Africa?
Today griots of West Africa can be found among the Mandé people (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara), Fula, Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups.
What are some traditional African musical instruments?
Without much ado, here are eight traditional musical instruments and their African origin. The Kora is a string instrument with a significant use in West Africa. Typically, the Kora instrument has 21 strings. You play it by plucking the strings with fingers, and it allows performers to display their creativity and virtuosity.
What Is a Griot and Why Are They Important? Since the 13th century, when Griots originated from the West African Mande empire of Mali, they remain today as storytellers, musicians, praise singers and oral historians of their communities.