African

POA

The music of Africa is as vast and varied as the continent's many regions, nations and ethnic groups. A general description of African music is thus not possible. Although there is no distinctly pan-African music, there are common forms of musical expression, especially within regions.

Some musical genres of northern and northeastern Africa, and the Islands off East Africa, share both traditional African and Middle Eastern features. The music and dance forms of the African diaspora, including many Caribbean and Latin American music genres like rumba and salsa, as well as African American music, were founded to varying degrees on musical traditions from Africa, taken there by African slaves.

Sub-Saharan African music has as its special feature a rhythmic music that has spread to other regions, especially to the Americans. The unique way of African polyrhythm is the distinguishing coherence of the African rhythmic pattern. Besides using the voice, which has been developed to use various techniques such as complex melisma and yodel, a wide array of musical instruments are used.

African musical instruments include a wide array of drums, slit gongs, rattles, double bells as well as melodic instruments like string instruments, (musical bows, different types of harps and harp-like instruments like the Kora as well as fiddles), many types of xylophone and lamellophone such as the mbira and different types of wind instrument like flutes and trumpets. Drums used in African traditional music include tama talking drums, bougarabou and djembe in West Africa, water drums in Central and West Africa, and the different types of ngoma drums (pronounced by some "engoma") in Central and Southern Africa.