Papers by Emmanuel Obed Acquah
African Musicology Online
Music practical performance as examined by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is one of... more Music practical performance as examined by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is one of the areas that provide a rich domain for study of both cognitive and motor skills of the students and provide employable skills for them. Unfortunately, for the past two years, chief examiners’ reports indicate poor performance among the candidates. This study is an assessment of the views of Music teachers on this menace and how it could be checked. Through descriptive survey, 40 music teachers were randomly selected from 40 Senior High Schools offering Music as elective subject for the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) across Ghana. All the 40 teachers participated in the study. Hypotheses drawn indicated that there was no significance difference in the views of the Music teachers on all the research questions; however, Chi-square analysis revealed a constant variable with the need for practical music performance at the Senior High School. The paper then...
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International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), 2024
This research delves into the musical iconicity found within Adu Safo's music composition, "Kɔkɔs... more This research delves into the musical iconicity found within Adu Safo's music composition, "Kɔkɔsakyi" (Vulture), going beyond its mere melody to explore its cultural and symbolic dimensions. Employing a semiotic framework, the composition was sampled purposefully and used as case study to examine how various musical elements evoke and symbolize non-musical concepts, particularly focusing on the representation of the vulture as a symbol of procrastination within Ghanaian society. Using the idea of the theory of semiotics and its inherent analytical frame, the study unravels the understanding of Adu Safo's compositional techniques, shedding light on the creation of iconic music. Key findings indicate that "Kɔkɔsakyi" skillfully utilises melody, rhythm, and lyrics to depict the character of the vulture, offering insightful reflections on the perils of procrastination. By integrating sound and text within the cultural context of Kɔkɔsakyi, the composition underscores the capacity of a musical composition as a potent medium for conveying socio-cultural values. Ultimately, this paper serves as a valuable resource for educators, students, and composers alike, offering insights into the use of iconic representations in art music compositions.
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African Journal of Culture, History, Religion and Traditions, 2024
This article presents the findings of a study investigating the socio-cultural dimensions of work... more This article presents the findings of a study investigating the socio-cultural dimensions of work songs among the fisherfolk of the Winneba Fishing Community in Ghana's central region. It explores the significance of work songs in the daily lives of fisherfolk and their broader socio-cultural impact within the community. Employing a qualitative approach and utilizing a case study design, the authors gathered data through interviews, observations, and focus group discussions involving fifteen purposively sampled fisherfolk. The study was underpinned by the theories of Sense of Community as well as Understanding Music Making of a community. It was found that work songs are integral to various fishing activities in the Winneba fishing community, serving to foster community cohesion, enhance productivity, and preserve cultural heritage. The findings offer practical recommendations for the preservation and promotion of work songs within the Winneba fishing community.
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British Journal of Contemporary Education
The Department of Music Education, University of Education Winneba (UEW), trains students to acqu... more The Department of Music Education, University of Education Winneba (UEW), trains students to acquire the skill of playing some Western instruments such as the keyboard, guitar, winds and orchestral strings. Furthermore, students also receive training in playing Ghanaian traditional instruments such as the atenteben and the various traditional drums of the existing ensembles. This practical teaching also include singing, dancing and ensemble making to allow all students perform their instruments in an ensemble. Unexpectedly, training in these instruments and ensembles was despaired by measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. While theory courses in music were conducted via platforms such as Moodle, Google Classroom, the University’s Virtual Class (VClass) and Zoom, the exploratory case study design was used to seek technological means to conduct practical lessons which almost came to a halt as a result of its face-to-face teaching nature. Reviewing literature on technolog...
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The role of indigenous musical performances in traditional festivals has been very significant in... more The role of indigenous musical performances in traditional festivals has been very significant in the lives of Africans. In Ghana, some of such festivals are pivoted on particular distinctive natures of the indigenous music. One of such musical genres is the Abele music performed by the people of Yeji in the Bono-East region of Ghana. This music is formalized in the context of the Kajoji festival celebrated annually by the community. Through ethnographic research design, the study documents the role of Abele music in the context of the Yeji Kajoji annual festival. The reason is to add to the literature of traditional music scholarship in Ghana while the source materials from the music can be used in the music classroom for music learning. In dealing with the study, participant’s observation and interview were used to collect the needed data. Participants for the study included some purposely selected members of the Abele musical ensemble as well as the paramount chief of the area. I...
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IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 2019
The creative aspect of art music in Ghana and Africa as a whole has focused primarily on the comp... more The creative aspect of art music in Ghana and Africa as a whole has focused primarily on the composition of either choral or few instrumental forms. Apart from Blege's-Kristo‖ and Mereku's-Asomdwee Hen‖, there is, however, comparatively less compositions that combine theatrical elements to an eventual performance. This article therefore sought to establish a compositional model-Anansegorndwom-for creating musical dramas which would be characteristically African to give directions to modern art music composers to create such works intended for wide audience. Through theoretical reviews, the study brings into existence a compositional model for creating musical dramas that convey Ghanaian existing indigenous stories other than the sound elements in our folk traditions through choral and instrumental forms. Indeed, the model established is an explicit demonstration of easy ways of using traditional idioms in one composition without losing both Western and African musical identities. The implication is that, it sets the pace for the creation of more African dramatic works that are significant to generate employment opportunities in music and theatre. Indeed, the modern society craves for a refreshing mode of recreation beyond work and life pressure, thus, the extremely emotional artistic form of Anansegorndwom is likely to grasp the inward emotions of this world of modern audiences as it conforms to the aesthetic demands of the Ghanaian cultural heritage. It is, therefore, envisaged that art music composers begin to use the model to add to the paucity of repertoire of African musical dramas in the 21 st Century.
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Global Scientific Journals, 2022
Over the last six decades or so, art music compositions in Africa have been described as a symbio... more Over the last six decades or so, art music compositions in Africa have been described as a symbiosis of Western and African musical elements by music scholars such as Euba, Agawu and Dor. The description was based on the fact that African composers such as Amu, Nketia, Bankole, Mereku, and others have focused on the usage of indigenous African musical elements in Art music compositions to either identify themselves with their compositions or to situate the compositions in the framework of interculturalism. Ebiawonkasama, an art composition based on Ebibindwom of selected syncretic churches in Winneba was composed by Godfred Sackey, a Ghanaian creative ethnomusicologist. In Ebiawonkasama, Sackey exploited both the indigenous Ghanaian (African) and Western musical elements. This article aims at exposing the reader to the compositional thought and analytical narrative of Ebiawonkasama using Donald F. Tovey's descriptive communicative type of formal analysis to unravel the several compositional styles that were used by the composer. The writers utilized purposive sampling technique and document analysis for data collection. The consequence of this paper is to provide a clear compositional and analytical presentation of a research-based composition (creative ethnomusicology) that utilizes diverse compositional scopes to add to the literature on intercultural music compositions.
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 2023
The study examined the lyrical texts of four Ghanaian highlife music in the 1960s and 1970s to de... more The study examined the lyrical texts of four Ghanaian highlife music in the 1960s and 1970s to decipher their communicative role in giving exposure to post-independence Ghanaian fashion history. Four classical Ghanaian Highlife music of the 1960s and 1970s were purposively selected since they centre on a common subject mattersecond-hand clothing and colonialistinspired fashion artifice critiques. The selected songs were Obroni Woewu, released in 1962, by Ramblers International Band; Ewuraba Artificial, composed by Joe Eyison and recorded by Ramblers International Band in 1963; Wobe tumi No, by Kwadwo Donkoh, and recorded by Uhuru Dance Band in 1966; and Rokpokpo by Joe Mensah in 1977. The selected songs were analysed using textual analysis to unravel their social and historical contents and contexts to fashion practice during the post-independence (republican status change) of Ghana. The four classical Ghanaian Highlife music of the 1960s and 1970s drew attention to the growth of secondhand clothing and colonialist-inspired fashion practice at the time, which the colonialists portrayed as superior to indigenous Ghanaian dress fashion culture. The musicians raised the red flag for the colonialists' undermining of the indigenous Ghanaian dress and fashion culture for policy direction. The musical compositions of the highlife musicians served as Ghanaian dress cultural and beauty standards gatekeepers and ambassadors through their repulsion against colonialists' fashion ideological imposition. It is envisaged that further studies on governmental policy efforts to ban and or minimise secondhand clothing in Ghana from the post-independence period to the present would benefit the study of Ghana's fashion history.
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African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 2021
Culturally responsive teaching and learning in schools creates an engaging and accessible learnin... more Culturally responsive teaching and learning in schools creates an engaging and accessible learning environment that ensures continuity in the traditions of the people. One of the aspects of culture which engages students effectively in the learning process is music and dance. However, the instructional delivery of Music and Dance in Tamale International School scarcely includes the indigenous music content to a broader perspective. The paper was an investigation to find out how music and dance was taught in Tamale International School. It also highlights the attitudes of students towards the teaching and learning of Music and Dance. Using the cultural theory of Education as the theoretical framework, and a case study research design, participants were drawn from the pupils, the music teacher as well as the headteacher of the school. Interview and observation were the main instruments for the data collection. It was revealed that teaching of music and dance in the Tamale International School was a problem due to the fact that the school is one of the Western colonized schools with much historical orientation on Western music thereby relegating African music to the background. Attitudes of pupils towards the study of African music component of the music and dance syllabus being negative due to their religious background and the orientation received from their parents. Situated within the cultural education theory, the paper concludes that when students are given the opportunity to learn traditional music very often at school, it will help them to know theirs as Africans and embrace it in spite of their orientations from their religious background.
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British Journal of Contemporary Education, 2021
This paper examined the nature of the Junior High School (JHS) music and dance syllabus in the co... more This paper examined the nature of the Junior High School (JHS) music and dance syllabus in the context of growing cultural education and current socio-cultural transitions in Ghana. It also sought to highlight the challenges of teaching the syllabus in the schools. The design used was a case study while archival document analysis and interview incorporated the data collection instruments to collect the appropriate data to answer the research questions. The content of the syllabus was analyzed while two main participants of the study were also interviewed. The study reveals a mismatch in the relationship between the content of the music and dance taught in the classroom and what actually exists in the syllabus to be taught. It is recommended that music teachers properly align their instructional content to the syllabus since it contains enough African music content that can prepare the pupils to appreciate their musical culture.
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THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL STUDIES , 2020
It is traditionally and culturally known that the role of women in any musical practice in Africa... more It is traditionally and culturally known that the role of women in any musical practice in Africa has been dominated with singing and dancing. Even in female musical types, accompaniment has always been the prerogative of men. However, recent scholarly documentations have changed the status-quo on their roles in such ensembles. For instance, Ebeli (2015), citing Acheampong (1996) highlighted the monopoly of women in performing music during bragoro (a traditional initiation that usher's a young female into adulthood). Ebeli (2015) reported that 'there were no men, only women played the dondo (a traditional drum), drummed, sang and danced' (p.21). This was a report of an event that occurred in the 1910s. Ampene (2005) had also devoted several pages to the role of women in the perpetuation of nnwomkorↄ (a music that accompanies Adowa dance) in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana, giving credence to prominent personalities who deserve publicity. Mmensoun ensemble is one of such ensembles which have culturally been the preserve of men. As Arhine (2009) explained, they are traditionally considered sacred and mostly associated with political hierarchy, therefore, women were not made to participate. The belief was that women would contaminate the instrument and render them ineffective, and since one would not tell when a woman was in her menses, the best thing was to forbid them from touching the mmensuon. Arhine (2009) vividly explains the nomenclature of the Fante mmensoun: The Fante language has grouped all air-blown instruments as mmen (plural) or aben (singular), which is very difficult to translate in English. The mmen could be trumpets, horns or flutes. They are practically air-blown instruments. Usually, it is the material used in making the instrument, the size or the number of instruments put together in an ensemble that identifies one group of mmen from the other; for example, abentsia (short horn/trumpet/flute), and mmensuon (seven horn/trumpet/ flute. (p.108) To corroborate what Arhine has explained, etymologically, mmensoun, as used by the Fante is from the words mmen (horns) and esoun (seven). Mmensoun therefore means seven horns. The participation of this horn ensemble has been in the hands of men. Indeed, most African cultural environment excludes females because they see females to be impure. The Department of Music Education of the University of Education, Winneba has an established Mmensoun ensemble comprising both males and female performers. They are seen performing with power and enthusiasm in University functions as well as at special programmes they are invited to perform. The questions then arise? What has been the motivation of these female student performers in the ensemble? How has their participation impacted on their general wellbeing and the ensemble as a whole? The paper therefore unravels the motivation behind female's involvement in the mmensuon group in the Department and how their participation has influenced the general aesthetic performance of the ensemble.
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British Journal of Education, Learning and Development Psychology, 2021
The teaching of performing arts at the Basic Schools in Ghana is geared towards the acquisition o... more The teaching of performing arts at the Basic Schools in Ghana is geared towards the acquisition of skills by learners. Apart from the use of various techniques for teaching the performing arts, the use of the instructional materials is eminent and legitimate for the pupils to have exposure to these materials in order to have first-hand information. However, the selection of instructional materials for teaching and learning of the performing arts, a strand (an aspect) of the creative arts at the Basic Schools has been a daunting task for both new and old teachers, especially, in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. Using the studio-based design, local materials from Wa municipality were collected and new ones were created through the adaptive creative process. It was found out that the preparation of Teaching and Learning materials for creative arts from the local materials is sine qua non to create a hub of teaching resources for instructional deliveries. It is recommended that the headteachers liaise with the appropriate experts to train teachers to use local materials to prepare instructional resources since they are not readily available in the schools for use.
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International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 2015
The total well being of the child in the school setting is undoubtedly an important role of the t... more The total well being of the child in the school setting is undoubtedly an important role of the teacher and the rearing environment, including musical rearing environment. The teacher is responsible to design activities geared towards developing the strength, speed and precision in the use of the child's arms, legs, other bodily muscles, the mind and the heart. The penchant for singing and musical games in the early childhood is an opportunity to optimally develop the capacity of the children using the appropriate musical games and the accompanying songs because children are more fun experimenting with songs they have heard and games they have learnt. This study explores from an intervention perspective the use of musical games as a vehicle for large proportion of the child's social contact and his/her ways of learning and cooperation with others. The study charts on assisting teachers to use the appropriate musical games to enhance the total development of the child in terms of cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. The implication is that appropriate musical games can be used as an efficient complementary educational approach to facilitate the total well being of the child in the classroom.
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African Journal of Culture, History, Religion and Traditions, 2021
Some centuries ago, the contact that was established between Ghanaians and the Europeans aided th... more Some centuries ago, the contact that was established between Ghanaians and the Europeans aided the creation of some hybridized musical types using the existing traditional tunes such as Asafo, Adenkum, Adzewa, Ͻmpɛ and others as the main source materials for such creations. Ebibindwom, an example of such hybridized musical types has evolved over the years due to the melodies that drive the music. Using a case study as a design, this paper sought to examine the melodies in Ebibindwom, focusing on how they are organized with texts. With the Donald F. Tovey's descriptive communicative type of formal analysis as the analytical stance, the paper sought to analyse the Ebibindwom melodies under specific boundaries of analysis for academic purposes. Interview and observation are the main instruments for data collection. Indeed, while some melodies of Ebibindwom are dependent on the speech surrogate and the rhythmic inflections of the spoken language of the indigenous people, some are not. Due to the simplistic nature of the Ebibindwom melodies, children play songs and simple instructional materials can be composed out of the compositional elements for educational purposes.
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International Journal of African Society Cultures and Traditions, 2014
The paper presents the authors' insights into the various types of asafo music as performed by Ky... more The paper presents the authors' insights into the various types of asafo music as performed by Kyirem Asafo No. 1 of Ajumako Mando. It highlights the contexts of performance of Asafo musical genre and shows the instrumental usages of the musical types including performance practice. Based on the theory of homology, the authors present a relation between musical performance and social structure that expresses musical identity of the Mando people and the Fante at large. It is noted that beside its contextual obligation of performing at the traditional Akwambɔ festival, which has been structured for seven days, the asafo group also features at funerals of men in the community as well as women who are members of the group. The paper concludes that instrumental organizations solely depend on the asafo musical type as well as the context in which it is performed, giving the Mando people a firmer sense of cultural identity.
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International Journal of Education Humanities and Social Science, 2021
The paper was a result of a case study conducted to examine challenges of preparing students for ... more The paper was a result of a case study conducted to examine challenges of preparing students for music practical performance test at the Senior High School (SHS) in the Central Region of Ghana for the purpose of providing an avenue for improving students' musicianship. The study used interview and observation to collect data from music teachers and music students in order to make contextual conclusions. It was revealed that schools do not have adequate instruments for music practical performance lesson. Similarly, students are ill prepared although, most students who offer music at the SHS had no background in music at the entry point. It is recommended that head teachers of the Senior High Schools look for assistance from the government, old students and other stakeholders to support music students with facilities while music and practical performance lessons is intensified and examined at the Junior High School (JHS) level to prepare students to excel at the Senior High School.
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Journal of Culture, Society and Development , 2020
The paper reports an ethnographic study of music making and ban on drumming among the Winneba peo... more The paper reports an ethnographic study of music making and ban on drumming among the Winneba people of Ghana. Despite the volume of research on the use of music for several occasions in the African community, much attention has not been given to the observance of complete silence as part of the life of some African Societies. This paper discusses the place of ban on drumming in a community where music making permeates the lives of the people. It sought to document how the period of silence is negotiated in the contemporary society. Through purposive sampling and snowballing, traditional leaders and priests, members of historical missionary churches, and those of the Pentecostal/Charismatic orientation were interviewed and their activities within the period of the ban observed. Observance of the ban was, however, not uniform among the Christians. While the mission churches have a policy of accommodating local tradition and to observe the ban by reducing the intensity of music making during the period, the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches, however, insist on not observing the ban, because of its association with traditional deities. The paper reveals that though music forms an important part of the life of the Winneba people in Ghana just as most African communities, ban on drumming is not only a belief that had purely been held as a traditional custom from ancestors, it also conveys the principle of silence, which is beneficial to humans in many respects.
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Journal of Advanced Research and Multidisciplinary Studies, 2021
The paper aimed at developing a music compositional model, Asanka, for guitar-band highlife compo... more The paper aimed at developing a music compositional model, Asanka, for guitar-band highlife composition with BATTERY 4 VSTi whereby traditional sound elements in guitar-band highlife are retained.. In establishing the model, concept of African Guitarism, creative ethnomusicology theory and the model of creative thinking were reviewed. Guitarband highlife music creation with asanka model through MIDI configuration will assist composers avoid overreliance of foreign sound libraries and rather, feature traditional musical elements in their computer-assisted highlife compositions. The use of the model recommends simulation of Ghanaian traditional sound patterns in BATTERY 4 VSTi from its natural setting for guitar-band music creations.
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JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ARTS & CULTURE, 2018
This article aims to introduce and analyse C.W.K. Mereku's Asomdwee Hen, an operetta, which has b... more This article aims to introduce and analyse C.W.K. Mereku's Asomdwee Hen, an operetta, which has been the most performed African oriented musical drama in Ghana. The work which combines drama with music tells the story of the faith of Christians on the birth of Christ. The article does not only examine the African musical compositional features but pulls out the aesthetics of this traditional musical drama through musical analysis and delves to unearth the relevance of the work in the field of practical African musical drama composition. It concludes that the potential vivifying catalyst of the work is seen in the several artistic multicultural vicissitudes of thought, such as drum patterns, tonality, vocal style and language, submitted to the musical treatment by the composer. Asomdwee Hen is indeed a fundamental platform for the creation of African musical drama and pursuit of its aesthetics.
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African Journal of Culture, History, Religion and Traditions, 2021
There has been a remarkable rise in documentation of festivals in Ghana in recent decades. Specif... more There has been a remarkable rise in documentation of festivals in Ghana in recent decades. Specific historical accounts as well as music making activities of some festivals in the Fante communities have not received sufficient scholarly attention, especially, in social and cultural terms. This paper was a qualitative research to document the of Gomoa Fetteh Ahobaa festival: Origin, musical performance and socio-cultural impact geographies of one of the Fante communities; Gomoa Fetteh in terms of its origin, festival, musical performance as well as the socio-cultural impact of the festival on the people. In gathering the data for the study, the chief, chief priest, elders of the chief palace, the musical ensembles as well as a cross section of some citizens were selected. Interview and observation were used to garner the needed data to answer the research questions. Indeed, while the Gomoa people found themselves in the present location from the major Fante ethnic group, their Ahobaa festival is a vehicle of economic generation and development of tourism. Ultimately, celebrating the festival with its enchanting spontaneous music making brings unity and improve their quality of life.
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Papers by Emmanuel Obed Acquah