Quarter 2 – Module 1: Afro-Latin American and Popular Music

Some Types of African Music

1. Afrobeat – It is a term used to describe the fusion of West African with Black American music.

2. Apala (Akpala) - It is a musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style to wake up the worshippers
after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of Ramadan.

3. Axe - It is a popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil. It fuses the Afro-Caribbean styles of
marcha, reggae, and calypso.

4. Jit - It is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music played on drums with guitar
accompaniment influenced by mbira-based guitar styles.

5. Jive - It is a popular form of South African music featuring a lively and uninhibited variation of the
jitterbug, a form of swing dance.

6. Juju - It is a popular music style from Nigeria that relies on the traditional Yoruba rhythms. A drum kit,
keyboard, pedal steel guitar, and accordion are used along with the traditional dun-dun (talking drum or
squeeze drum).

7. Kwassa Kwassa – It is a music style that begun in Zaire in the late 1980s popularized by Kanda Bongo
Man. In this dance style, the hips move back and forth while the arms move following the hips.

8. Marabi – It is a South African three-chord township music of the 1930s-1960s which evolved into
African Jazz. It is characterized by simple chords in varying vamping patterns and repetitive harmony
over an extended period.

VOCAL FORMS OF AFRICAN MUSIC

1. Maracatu – It is the combination of strong rhythms of African percussion instruments and Portuguese
melodies. This form of music is being paraded along the streets by up to 100 participants.

2. Blues – It is one of the most widely performed musical forms of the late 19th century. The melodies of
blues are expressive and soulful. The slaves and their descendants used to sing these as they work in the
fields.

3. Soul – It is a popular music genre of the 1950s and 1960s which originated in the African-American
community throughout the United States. It combines elements of African-American gospel music,
rhythm and blues, and often jazz.

4. Spiritual – It originated in the Unites States and created by African-American slaves. It is also known as
“Negro Spiritual”. It became a means of imparting Christian values and a way of venting their hardships
as slaves.

5. Call and Response – It is likened to a question and answer sequence in human communication. The
slaves used to sing these songs while simultaneously doing all their tasks in a day.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF AFRICA

African music has a very wide range of genres. It includes all the major instrumental genres of western
music including strings, winds, and percussion, along with a tremendous variety of specific African
musical instruments for solo or ensemble playing. Get ready to learn their most popular instruments!
Classification of Traditional African Instruments

A. Idiophones – Sound is produced by the body of the instrument vibrating.

1. Agogo - It is a single bell or multiple bells and is considered as the oldest samba instrument based on
West African Yoruba single or double bells. It has the highest pitch of any of the bateria instruments.

2. Shekere – It is a type of gourd and shell megaphone from West Africa, consisting of a dried gourd with
beads woven into a net covering the gourd.

3. Slit/Log drum – It is a hollow percussion instrument. Although known as a drum, it is not a true drum
but is an idiophone. It is usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or
more slits in the top.

4. Atingting Kon (Slit Gong) – It is a hollowed cylinder of wood with a narrow longitudinal opening or slit
whose edges are struck to produce a deep, sonorous tone. They are considered to be portraits of
ancestors so that when played, it is the voices of awakened ancestors which resonate from their interior
chamber.

5. Balafon – It is a kind of wooden xylophone or percussion idiophone which plays melodic tunes. It has
been played in the region since the 1300s. In the 16th century, it became a real art at the royal court of
Sikasso/ Mali and was flourishing under the reign of a generous king.

B. Membranophones – Sound is produced by the vibration of a tightly stretched membrane.

1. Body percussion - It refers to African music using their bodies as instruments. Their body can be used
to produce sound by clapping their hands, slapping their thighs, pounding their upper arms or chests, or
shuffling their feet. Wearing of rattles or bells on their wrists, ankles, arms, and waists enhances their
emotional response.

2. Talking drum – It is used to send messages to announce births, deaths, marriages, sporting events,
dances, initiations or war. It is believed that the drums can carry direct messages to the spirits after the
death of a loved one.

3. Djembe - The West African djembe (pronounced zhem-bay) is one of the best-known African drums. It
is shaped like a large goblet and played with bare hands. The body is carved from a hollowed trunk and is
covered with goat skin.

C. Lamellaphone – Sound is produced by the vibration of tongues of metal, wood or other material.
1. Mbira (Kalimba/ Thumb Piano) – It is a set of plucked tines or keys mounted on a sound board. It is
being played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs. They used
this instrument to drive away evil spirits since it is believed that it was a vector of communication with
ancestors and spirits.

2. Array Mbira – It is a hand-crafted instrument with a unique harp or bell-like sound. It is a popular
traditional instrument of the Shona people in Zimbabwe. It is a radical redesign of the African Mbira and
it consists of up to 150 metal tines attached to a wooden board, comprising up to five octaves.

D. Chordophones – Sound is produced by the vibration of a string or strings that are stretched between
fixed points.

1. Musical Bow - The Musical bow is the ancestor of all string instruments. It is the oldest and one of the
most widely used string instruments of Africa. It consists of a single string attached to each end of a
curved stick, similar to a bow and arrow.

2. Zeze - The Zeze is an African fiddle played with a bow, a small wooden stick, or plucked with the
fingers. It has one or two strings made of steel or bicycle brake wire.

E. Aerophones – Sound is produced through the vibration of air.

1. Fulani – It is a type of flute which is widely used throughout Africa and either vertical or side-blown.
They are usually fashioned from a single tube closed at one end and blown like a bottle.

2. Kudu Horn – It is made from the horn of the kudu antelope. Its sound releases a mellow and warm
sound that adds a unique African accent to their music.

Quarter 2 – Module 2: Afro-Latin American and Popular Music

LESSON 3: What is Jazz Music?

Jazz Music is an American music developed especially from ragtime and blues which originated in the
African-American Community.

Characteristics of Jazz Music:

a. syncopated rhythms (making part of music off-beat) - Jazz musicians like to emphasize the notes that
they play on the “upbeats”. Syncopation may be affected by affecting normally weak beats in a measure,
by resting on a normal accented beat, or by tying over a note to the next measure

b. Polyphonic (producing many sounds simultaneously) c. Improvisation (creative activity of immediate

Different Forms of Jazz:

1. Ragtime - an American popular musical style mainly for piano, originating in the Afro-American
communities in St. Louis and New Orleans. Its style was said to be a variation of the “marching mode”,
where the effect is generated by an internally syncopated melodic line pitted against a rhythmically
straightforward bass line. Foremost exponents of ragtime were Jelly Roll Morton who was an American
ragtime and early jazz pianist and who composed Frog I More Rag. Scott Joplin composed the popular
Maple Leaf Rag, Solace, and The Entertainer. Joplin is also known as the “King of Ragtime.”

2. Big Band - refers to a large ensemble form originating in the United States in the mid 1920’s closely
associated with the Swing Era with jazz elements relying heavily on percussion, wind, rhythm section,
and brass instruments with a lyrical string section to accompany a lyrical melody.

3. Bebop - a musical style of modern jazz which is characterized by a fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity,
and improvisation that emerged during World War II. The speed of the harmony, melody, and rhythm
resulted in a heavy performance where the instrumental sound became more tense and free.

4. Jazz Rock - a music of the 1960’s and 1970’s bands that inserted jazz elements into rock music. Jazz
rock is a mix of funk and R&B which stands for “rhythm and blues”, where the music used amplification
and electronic effects, complex time signatures, and extended instrumental compositions with lengthy
improvisations in the jazz style.

Since the 1990s, jazz has been characterized by a pluralism in which no one style dominates, but rather a
wide range of styles and genres are popular. Individual performers often play in a variety of styles,
sometimes in the same performance.

Pianist Brad Mehldau and The Bad Plus have explored contemporary rock music within the context of
the traditional jazz acoustic piano trio, recording instrumental jazz versions of songs by rock musicians.
The Bad Plus have also incorporated elements of free jazz into their music. A firm avant-garde or free jazz
stance has been maintained by some players, such as saxophonists Greg Osby and Charles Gayle, while
others, such as James Carter, have incorporated free jazz elements into a more traditional framework.

LESSON 4: BALLADS

Ballads originated as an expressive folksong in narrative verse dealing typically about love. The word is
derived from both the medieval French chanson balladee and ballade which refer to a dancing song. It
was used by poets and composers since the 18th century until it became a slow popular love song in the
19th century. Today, it refers to a love song in a slightly pop or rock style, with the following variations:

1. Blues Ballads - a fusion of Anglo-American and Afro-American styles from the 19th century that deals
with the anti-heroes resisting authority. The form emphasizes the character of the performer more than
the narrative content and uses a banjo or a guitar as accompaniment.

2. Pop Standard and Jazz Ballads - a blues style built from a single verse of 16 bars ending on the
dominant or half-cadence, followed by a refrain/chorus part of 16 or 32 bars in AABA form. The B section
acts as the bridge, and the piece normally ends with a brief coda.

3. Pop and Rock Ballads - an emotional love song with suggestions of folk music. This style is sometimes
applied to strophic (verse-repeating) story-songs. Some enduring pop standard and jazz ballads include
“The Man I Love” (George Gershwin, above left), “Always” (Irving Berlin, above center), and “In a
Sentimental Mood” (Duke Ellington, above right
STANDARDS

In music, the term “standard” is used to denote the most popular and enduring songs from a particular
genre or style. Its style is mostly in a slow or moderate tempo with a relaxed mood. It features highly
singable melodies within the range and technical capacity of listeners.

Among the foremost proponents of this style are the following:

Frank Sinatra. His genre was categorized as traditional pop and jazz. He was a successful singer, actor,
producer, director, and conductor. His hit singles include “My Way” and “Strangers in the Night”.

Another well-loved standards singer was American balladeer Nat King Cole. He owes most of his popular
musical fame to his soothing baritone voice. His famous hits include “L-O-V-E” and “Unforgettable”.

Matt Monroe was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers in the
international music scene during the 1960s. His hit singles include “Portrait of My Love” and “Born Free”.
Below are links to access the music of Standards from different artists.

ROCK AND ROLL

Rock and Roll is the combination of Afro-American forms such as the blues, jump blues, jazz, and gospel
music with the Western swing and country music. The lead instruments were the piano and saxophone
and were eventually replaced by modern instruments. This form came during the age when electric
guitars were supplemented by amplifiers and microphones to raise the volume. Its name is derived from
the motion of a ship on the ocean, “rock and roll.”

The greatest proponent of the rock and roll style was the legendary Elvis Presley. His hit songs such as
“Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes” were complemented by his good looks and elaborate
movements that included hugging the microphone as he sang.

Presley’s style was the precursor of the British band known as The Beatles, whose compositions further
boosted rock and roll as the favorite genre of the times. Examples of The Beatles’ songs in this genre are
“I Saw Her Standing There”, “Get Back” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

DISCO

Another form of pop music known as “Disco” rose in 70s. This type of music pertained to rock music that
was more danceable, thus leading to the establishment of venues for public dancing also called discos.
The term originated from the French word discotheque which means a library for phonograph records.
The disco style had a soaring and reverberating sound rhythmically controlled by a steady beat for ease
of dancing accompanied by strings, horns, electric guitars, and electric pianos or synthesizers.

Famous figures of the disco genre include ABBA, Donna Summer (“The Queen of Disco”), The Bee Gees
and Gloria Gaynor, bringing us such hits as “Dancing Queen”, “Stayin’ Alive”, “Boogie Wonderland”, and
“Hot Stuff”.

POP MUSIC

Parallel with the disco era, other pop music superstars continued to emerge. Among them were Diana
Ross and the Supremes (“Stop in the Name of Love”), Olivia Newton John (“Hopelessly Devoted to You”),
Elton John (“Skyline Pigeon”) and The Carpenters (“We’ve Only Just Begun”).
Pop superstars in more recent years were Celine Dion (“My Heart Will Go On”), Whitney Houston (“I Will
Always Love You”), Mariah Carey (“Hero”), Beyonce (“Listen”), Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance”), and Bruno
Mars (“Just The Way You Are”) and many more.

Michael Jackson, “The King of Pop”

Perhaps the most popular solo performer of all time is Michael Joseph Jackson who was born on August
29, 1958 and died on June 25, 2009. He was an American recording artist, entertainer, singer-songwriter,
record producer, musical arranger, dancer, choreographer, actor, businessman, and philanthropist.
Jackson's 1982 album “Thriller” remains the world's best-selling album of all time, and four of his other
solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: “Off the Wall” (1979), “Bad” (1987),
“Dangerous” (1991), and “History” (1995).

Today’s Pop Music Idols include music groups like Black Eyed Peas, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boys,
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Souja Boy, Train, Maroon 5, One Direction including popular Kpop like BTS,
Blankpink anAstro; and solo performers include Adele, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Chris Brown,
Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Selena Gomez, Charlie Puth, Jessie J
and others.

HIP HOP AND RAP

Hip hop is a stylized, highly rhythmic type of music that usually includes portions of rhythmically chanted
words called rap.

Rap is characterized by the artist speaking along with an instrumental or synthesized beat. It has evolved
into a subculture that encompasses music like rapping, DJ’ing, scratching and beatboxing. Among the
early hip hop artists were LL Cool J and Run D.M.C. While recent popular names include Beastie Boys,
Eminem and Kanye West. Below are links to access Pop Music from different artists.

LESSON 5: PHILIPPINE POP MUSIC

OPM started in Manila where Tagalog and English are the dominant languages for its texts. However,
other ethno-linguistic groups such as the Visayan, Bikol, Kapampangan, and Ilocano also began to sing
and record their songs in their native dialects.

Pop music in the Philippines started as an adaptation or translation, if not complete imitation, of
Western hits. It started with Bobby Gonzales’ “Hahabolhabol” (Hot Pursuit), a local version of the rock
and roll songs of the 1950s, and Rico Puno’s “Luneta”, a local adaptation of “The Way We Were”. This
immediately clicked with the youth and eventually gained wide acceptance even among the burgis
(bourgeois or elite) crowd.

Here are the following artists in Philippine Pop Music by decades:

1960s-1970s - Nora Aunor, Pilita Corrales, Eddie Peregrina, Victor Wood, Asin, APO Hiking Society, and
others were highly popular OPM singers.
1970s - 1980s. Major commercial Philippine pop music artists were Claire dela Fuente, Didith Reyes, Rico
Puno, Ryan Cayabyab, Basil Valdez, Celeste Legaspi, Hajji Alejandro, Rey Valera, Freddie Aguilar, Imelda
Papin, Eva Eugenio, Nonoy Zuñiga and many more.

1980s to 1990s. This is regarded as the “Golden Era of Philippine Ballads”. Among the classics that
emerged were those created by Ryan Cayabyab, “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika”; George Canseco,
“Kastilyong Buhangin”; Willie Cruz, “Bituing Walang Ningning”; Jose Mari Chan, “Please Be Careful With
My Heart”; and Gary Valenciano and Regine “Sana Maulit Muli”.

We also have Martin Nievera, Lea Salonga, Regine Velasquez, Sharon Cuneta, Vina Morales, Francis
Magalona, Pops Fernandez, Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid, Joey Albert, Leah Navarro, ZsaZsa Padilla and
many other singers in this period.

1990s to Present. The famous solo artists and bands included The Eraserheads, Smokey Mountain,
Donna Cruz, Ariel Rivera, Southborder, Afterimage, Andrew E., Jaya, Rivermaya, and Parokya ni Edgar.
More recently, OPM stars also included Yeng Constantino, Sarah Geronimo, Aiza Seguerra, Eric Santos,
Christian Bautista, Morissette Amon, Darren Espanto, Acapellago and international singers Arnel Pineda
and Charice Pempengco.

PHILIPPINE JAZZ

Philippine musicians have also been inspired by jazz music. Among them are jazz pianist and recording
artist Boy Katindig, who comes from the well-known clan of musicians that includes jazz piano legend,
Romy Katindig and saxophonist, Eddie Katindig. The Katindig family pioneered Latin jazz in Manila. Other
notable Filipino jazz musicians include Lito Molina, Angel Peña, Emil Mijares, and internationally known
jazz pianist, Bobby Enriquez.

PHILIPPINE ROCK

The year 1973 saw the birth of Philippine or “Pinoy” rock music which successfully merged the rock beat
with Filipino lyrics. This new sound was introduced by the legendary Juan de la Cruz Band, with their
song “Ang Himig Natin”. Continuing this legacy of Pinoy rock today are vocal groups and bands that
include River Maya, The Dawn, True Faith, The Eraserheads, Wolfgang, Bamboo, Parokya ni Edgar, Hale,
Sandwich, SugarFree, Sponge Cola and others.

PHILIPPINE ALTERNATIVE FOLK MUSIC

The Philippines also saw the rise of alternative folk music which was different from the traditional and
popular form. This new form combined ethnic instrumentation with electronic accompaniment, while
presenting themes or issues of society and the environment.

Some of the Filipino composers who championed this style were Joey Ayala, Grace Nono, and Edru
Abraham. Among other Filipino composers whose styles ranged from folk to semi-ethnic were Freddie
Aguilar “Anak”, Yoyoy Villame “Magellan”, and Florante “Ako’y Isang Pinoy”.

PINOY RAP

In the Philippines, rap was also made popular by such composers and performers as Francis Magalona
“Mga Kababayan Ko”, “Watawat” and Andrew E “Humanap Ka ng Pangit”.
Francis Magalona is also known as Francis M., “Master Rapper,” and “The Man from Manila.” He was a
Filipino rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, director, television host, and photographer. He is often hailed
as the “King of Pinoy Rap” and is considered a legend in the Philippine music community. Magalona was
the first Filipino rapper to cross over to the mainstream. He is also credited for having pioneered the
merging of rap with Pinoy rock, becoming a significant influence on artists in that genre as well.