gahuewe drumming
DESCRIPTION
Gahuewe DrummingTRANSCRIPT
Nathan Haering Gahu
an Ewe tradition
The Gahu ensemble includes a selection of drums very familiar to other Ewe traditions
and dances. There are 6 different variants of drums involved. The master drummer wields the
Boba, the largest drum in this particular ensemble, and provides rhythmics cues to guide tempo
changes, textural markers, as well as any dancers or other choreography involved. Arguably the
next most important percussive tool is the Gankogui. The Gankogui is a two tone iron bell that
provides the fundamental unchanging pattern for the piece. It is one of 3 “timeline”
(thisworldmusic.com) instruments that create a steady groove throughout the performance. The
kagan, a smaller higher pitched drum, and the axatse, a shaker played and muted with two
hands, are the other two timeline instruments and have their own unique ostinato rhythm. These
three rhythms combined to create a rhythmic dissonance that create a fantastic sense of
tension and release through each 4 beat phrase. There are also two response drums, the Sugo
(low) and the kidi (med), they directly respond to and improvise with the Boba. While sharing this
information with a young classroom, it would be significantly easier to maintain their interest if the
actual drums were present and available to be touched. It is also not necessary to discuss
rhythmic dissonance with them, even without the term they’ll feel it in practice.
Once I had established the names sizes and rolls of the drums, I would begin
demonstrating and teaching the different “timeline” rhythms with different claps, slaps, and desk
hits. If it happens to be a beginning music class and they have been learning about notated
rhythms, I would write it on the board, however, if it would just complicate the matter, I would just
teach each rhythm auraly. I would start with the Gankogui rhythm clapped, to replicate its higher
bell timbre, then teach the axatse part by slapping alternating legs, and finally the Kagan by
tapping a pencil on a desk. After each part is learned it would be immediately layered in with the
previous rhythms until the whole groove is achieved. Once they’ve got it they can speed up.
These are the corresponding rhythms
Gankogui
axatse
first beat is beamed differently because it is not suppose to start on one, this beat only happens
on the second repetition and on
Kagan
If the time was extended far beyond the 15 minutes we had in class, I would ask for two
volunteers to come to the front of the class. At this point, I believe it would be worth while to ask
them to have a normal conversation, “How are you?” “I am fine.” and then, have them replicate
this on the drums, responding to one another and feeling the conversational rhythm, even
imagining the beats and hits as words if it helps guide the initial flow. This would help
demonstrate in a very real way what is meant by having leading and responsorial drums and
rolls. The first child, of course, acting as the master drummer with his Boba and the other
playing the role of Sugo or Kidi.
An essential and also particularly fun component of Gahu is the dance. Especially after
unloading a decent chunk of information on a young classroom, I don’t doubt that this could be a
saving grace and highlight of the lesson. I would ask the whole class to stand and, while
emphasizing that fact that most African cultures do not see music and dance in terms of counts
of 1, 2 ,3 ,4, they instead feel where they are within the groove and in this case, the timeline
instruments, I’d simply ask them to follow along with me. It would be very important in this case
to have either a recording of the groove or have a volunteer ensemble (preferably those who
performed particularly well in the earlier rhythmic demonstrations) play along while the rest of the
class dances. One of the most significant parts of the dance is it’s response to the Boba’s
rhythmic cues. There are multiple movements that can be learned and then applied by teaching
how the volunteer Boba coming out of the texture and improvising signals the change from one
of these moves to the other. A large part of this dance also involves moving in a circle, which
could be very fun for a class and would also provide the chance for the Boba to signify
something simpler, like a direction change. If even this is to complicated for the class, even just
demonstrating and mirroring the moves to a count is well worthwhile, because dancing is fun.
I feel that it is always powerful and effective to end activities like this with a discussion on
the sense of unity and family felt during the lesson. There is never a bad time to emphasize the
love shared in a participatory performance, especially when this sentiment is so deeply mirrored
in the African culture and community it originated from.
" Multitrack Mixer #1Gahu: Traditional African Drumming & Dance from Ghana."
ThisWorldMusic. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.