Instruments
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Drums used in African traditional music include talking drums, bougarabou and djembe in West Africa, water drums in Central and West Africa, and the different types of ngoma drums (or engoma) in Central and Southern Africa. Other percussion instruments include many rattles and shakers, such as the kosika (kashaka), rain stick, bells and wood sticks. Also, Africa has lots of other types of drums, and lots of flutes, and lots of stringed and wind instruments.
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The lamellophone thumb piano or mbira, a popular instrument in the African Great Lakes. |
The playing of polyrhythms is one of the most universal characteristics of Sub-Sarahan music, in contrast to polyphony in Western music. Several uniquely designed instruments have evolved there over time to facilitate the playing of simultaneous contrasting rhythms. The mbira, kalimba, Kora and dousn'gouni are examples of these instruments which organize notes not in the usual single linear order from bass to treble, but in two separated rank arrays which allows additional ease in playing cross rhythms. The continuing influence of this principle can be seen in the gravi-kora and gravikord modern examples.
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Music Regions
The ethnomusicological pioneer Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) observed that the shared rhythmic principles of Sub-Saharan African music traditions constitute one main system. Similarly, master drummer and scholar C.K. Ladzekpo affirms the profound homogeneity of sub-Saharan African rhythmic principles.
African traditional music is frequently functional in nature. Performances may be long and often involve the participation of the audience. There are, for example, little different kinds of work songs, songs accompanying childbirth, marriage, hunting and political activities, music to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good spirits, the dead and the ancestors. None of this is performed outside its intended social context and much of it is associated with a particular dance. Some of it, performed by professional musicians, is sacral music or ceremonial and courtly music performed at royal courts.
Musicologically, Sub-Saharan Africa may be divided into four regions:
African traditional music is frequently functional in nature. Performances may be long and often involve the participation of the audience. There are, for example, little different kinds of work songs, songs accompanying childbirth, marriage, hunting and political activities, music to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good spirits, the dead and the ancestors. None of this is performed outside its intended social context and much of it is associated with a particular dance. Some of it, performed by professional musicians, is sacral music or ceremonial and courtly music performed at royal courts.
Musicologically, Sub-Saharan Africa may be divided into four regions:
- The eastern region (light green regions on map) includes the music of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as the islands of Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Comor. Many of these have been influenced by Arabic music and also by the music of India, Indonesia and Polynesia, though the region's indigenous musical traditions are primarily in the mainstream of the sub-Saharan Niger–Congo-speaking peoples.
- The southern region (brown region on map) includes the music of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
- The central region (dark blue region on map) includes the music of Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, including Pygmy music.
- West African music (yellow region on map) includes the music of Senegal and the Gambia, of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, of the inland plains of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, the coastal nations of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo as well as islands such as Sao Tome and Principe.
Ancient Music of Northern Africa
Ancient Music of Northern Africa Ancient Egyptian Music
Anthropologists generally agree that the early Nubians and Egyptians share cultural features. Genetic studies of early human remains from both Egypt and Nubia suggest that little physical varia- tion could be detected among the inhabitants of these regions. Karl Butzer has noted that over time, however, physical distinctions became more pronounced. This was perhaps due to an infusion of a new population into Upper Egypt in the Neolithic era (after 7,000 B.C.). Butzer asserts that the Upper Egyptians of the Neolithic and Predynastic eras were not the descendants of the earlier palaeolithic in- habitants, but were immigrants to Upper Egypt. The more recent inhabitants may have arrived proba- bly from the northern Libyan Desert and its oases, which were in a slow process of desiccation at that time.
Egypt dominated parts of Nubia from about 1950 to 1000 B.C. Egyptian colonization resulted in the disappearance of a particular Nubian C-Group, including the Nubian elite who adopted both the worship of Egyptian gods and the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system. During the reign of Tutank- hamen (who was the son of a Nubian woman) colonization was especially bitter. Nubia’s gold, ebony, and ivory contributed to the material wealth of Egypt. Nubian products were used in the creation of a significant number of the famed treasures of the Egyptian kings. Forts, pyramids, trading posts, and Egyptian-style temples were built in Kush.
Old Kingdom Egyptian Music has been classified as secular, sacred, and military, though the categories clearly overlap. Surprisingly, the history of Egyptian music presents little evidence of the use of drums prior to 2000 B.C.3 Egyptian music was apparently melodically driven during early peri- ods. There are exceptions, however. Curt Sachs points out that “a fragment from Ne-user-re’s temple of the Sun (about 2700 B.C.) near Abusir, now in the Munich museum, shows the top of a large drum . . . supposed to be identical with the instrument a-lal. As the instrument is unique in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, we suppose its existence is due to an importation from Sumer.”4
Later, the most common iconography and descriptions depict military trumpets and drums with the processions of the gods. Cylindrical and barrel drums appear prominently during the Middle and New Kingdoms. Sachs continues: “The Cairo museum owns a cylindrical drum which probably was made during the twelfth dynasty, 2000–1788 B.C; it is seventy-five centimeters long and twenty- nine centimeters wide, and has a network of thongs with a tightening tourniquet to stretch the leather skins. A similar drum is still in use on the Congo.”5
Drums and trumpets were played together and separately. Although drums were often omitted from representations of military campaigns, at the Temple at Kawa (25th Dynasty) the drummer Em- hab is shown following his king to war.6 Trumpeters and drummers would join other instrumentalists at various musical functions during times of peace.
Religious rituals and (occasionally) funerals involved priestesses shaking the cult rattles called sistra. The sound of the sistrum was at times accompanied by the rattling of a heavy necklace made of rows of faience beads (menat). Menats were usually carried by women in their free hand rather than worn. Some ensembles, such as the “the musicians of the funeral estate,” had specific names that matched their functions. Feasts and other secular social functions involved instrumental music, song, and dance.7
The instrumental core of Old Kingdom ensembles, according to ancient paintings, included the harp, an end-blown flute, and a simple clarinet. Although it was common to have more than one harp in an ensemble, only a single flute and a clarinet were generally involved. Nonetheless, the ensemble apparently was far from standardized:
One provincial tomb shows seven harps; in another a second flute and clarinet have been added, and in a third we have four flutes, while one scene has no clarinets but two flutes. The recently discovered 5th Dynasty tomb of Niankhknum and Khnumhotep at Saqqara near the ancient capital of Memphis has an eleven-man ensemble, consisting of two harpists, two flautists, a man playing an unusually long clarinet, and six chiro- nomists [instructors]. . . . A wooden model of an ensemble dating from the Middle King- dom has a harpist sitting on either side of the tomb owner and his wife, while three girls sit facing one another at his feet clapping and singing.8
Men and women apparently played most instruments. Arched, angular harps were played by both sexes in Ancient Egypt. The tomb of the Middle Kingdom vizier Antefoker contains four excellent representations in which a man and woman are shown performing side by side. Although male musi- cians generally played the flute, a 12th Dynasty female flautist and chironomist are also depicted in a Theban tomb of Antefoker. Another later scene from the Graeco-Roman temple at Medamud (just north of Thebes) shows three women playing the angular harp, a minute barrel-shaped drum, and a lute, while a fourth woman sings.9
Egyptian women of the Nile Valley (from mortal women, such as Queen Hatshepsut (who wore men’s clothes and ruled as king), to the goddess Sekhmet) held leading roles in family life, religion, and government. In earlier times, Egyptian women owned and managed property, made business con- tracts, represented themselves in litigation, ran businesses, and could divorce their husbands. Mar- ried women were held in higher regard in domestic life than those who were single and mothers were respected most of all. Although marriages were usually arranged, ancient love songs suggest that women and men also married for love. Queens Merneith, Nitokret, Sobeknefru, and Tausret were among the female sole rulers. Other women more often reigned Egypt as regent.
Vocal music was important in Egypt. The variety of forms referred to as the “Harper’s Song” is a genre in Egyptian literature. In Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, Lise Manniche says, “One of its two main themes concerns reflection on life on earth as opposed to life in the hereafter. . . . These songs invite us to spend a happy day, don our best garments, perfume our bodies, and enjoy music and dance with our nearest and dearest at our side.”
Ancient Nubian Written Music
The Late Palaeolithic Age in Lower Nubia produced the Qada Culture, which thrived ca. 15,000–10,500 B.C. The Qada inhabited numerous sites in an area sprawling from the Second Cata- ract northward to Toshka. The earliest extant evidence of human remains in the entire Nile Valley has been discovered within this region.
During periods perhaps even earlier than that of the first pharaohs of Egypt, a line of kings lived in Qustul in northern “Kush” (as Nubia was then called). The people of these early cultures bur- ied their dead in stone-lined pit graves, accompanied by pottery and cosmetic articles. The Egyptians referred to these Nubian people as “Ta Sety” (the “Land of the Bow”) because of the fame of Nubian archers. By 1550 B.C kings at Kerma were ruling Nubia during a time of increased contact between Egypt and “Kush.” People of the Kerma culture were accomplished metalworkers and also turned thin- walled pottery on a wheel.
Most people who think of traditional African music assume that oral and aural traditions were used exclusively throughout the African continent. A sixth-century Ethiopian composer evolved a so- phisticated music writing system and was so highly revered that he became a Catholic saint. Saint Yaréd, the son of a wealthy Christian family who lived between the reigns of Emperor Kaleb and his son Emperor Gabre Masqual, was originally a professor of theology. He composed all the Old Testa- ment oriented music for the Ethiopian church’s chants. Yaréd acquired his knowledge of theology, natural history, and music from his uncle, Gedewon. Gedewon introduced Yaréd to songs used for praying and singing by Ethiopian churchmen inherited from the creative works of the ancient Nubian Empire. rows of faience beads (menat). Menats were usually carried by women in their free hand rather than worn. Some ensembles, such as the “the musicians of the funeral estate,” had specific names that matched their functions. Feasts and other secular social functions involved instrumental music, song, and dance.7
The instrumental core of Old Kingdom ensembles, according to ancient paintings, included the harp, an end-blown flute, and a simple clarinet. Although it was common to have more than one harp in an ensemble, only a single flute and a clarinet were generally involved. Nonetheless, the ensemble apparently was far from standardized:
One provincial tomb shows seven harps; in another a second flute and clarinet have been added, and in a third we have four flutes, while one scene has no clarinets but two flutes. The recently discovered 5th Dynasty tomb of Niankhknum and Khnumhotep at Saqqara near the ancient capital of Memphis has an eleven-man ensemble, consisting of two harpists, two flautists, a man playing an unusually long clarinet, and six chiro- nomists [instructors]. . . . A wooden model of an ensemble dating from the Middle King- dom has a harpist sitting on either side of the tomb owner and his wife, while three girls sit facing one another at his feet clapping and singing.8
Men and women apparently played most instruments. Arched, angular harps were played by both sexes in Ancient Egypt. The tomb of the Middle Kingdom vizier Antefoker contains four excellent representations in which a man and woman are shown performing side by side. Although male musi- cians generally played the flute, a 12th Dynasty female flautist and chironomist are also depicted in a Theban tomb of Antefoker. Another later scene from the Graeco-Roman temple at Medamud (just north of Thebes) shows three women playing the angular harp, a minute barrel-shaped drum, and a lute, while a fourth woman sings.9
Egyptian women of the Nile Valley (from mortal women, such as Queen Hatshepsut (who wore men’s clothes and ruled as king), to the goddess Sekhmet) held leading roles in family life, religion, and government. In earlier times, Egyptian women owned and managed property, made business con- tracts, represented themselves in litigation, ran businesses, and could divorce their husbands. Mar- ried women were held in higher regard in domestic life than those who were single and mothers were respected most of all. Although marriages were usually arranged, ancient love songs suggest that women and men also married for love. Queens Merneith, Nitokret, Sobeknefru, and Tausret were among the female sole rulers. Other women more often reigned Egypt as regent.
Vocal music was important in Egypt. The variety of forms referred to as the “Harper’s Song” is a genre in Egyptian literature. In Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, Lise Manniche says, “One of its two main themes concerns reflection on life on earth as opposed to life in the hereafter. . . . These songs invite us to spend a happy day, don our best garments, perfume our bodies, and enjoy music and dance with our nearest and dearest at our side.”
Ancient Nubian Written Music
The Late Palaeolithic Age in Lower Nubia produced the Qada Culture, which thrived ca. 15,000–10,500 B.C. The Qada inhabited numerous sites in an area sprawling from the Second Cata- ract northward to Toshka. The earliest extant evidence of human remains in the entire Nile Valley has been discovered within this region.
During periods perhaps even earlier than that of the first pharaohs of Egypt, a line of kings lived in Qustul in northern “Kush” (as Nubia was then called). The people of these early cultures bur- ied their dead in stone-lined pit graves, accompanied by pottery and cosmetic articles. The Egyptians referred to these Nubian people as “Ta Sety” (the “Land of the Bow”) because of the fame of Nubian archers. By 1550 B.C kings at Kerma were ruling Nubia during a time of increased contact between Egypt and “Kush.” People of the Kerma culture were accomplished metalworkers and also turned thin- walled pottery on a wheel.
Most people who think of traditional African music assume that oral and aural traditions were used exclusively throughout the African continent. A sixth-century Ethiopian composer evolved a so- phisticated music writing system and was so highly revered that he became a Catholic saint. Saint Yaréd, the son of a wealthy Christian family who lived between the reigns of Emperor Kaleb and his son Emperor Gabre Masqual, was originally a professor of theology. He composed all the Old Testa- ment oriented music for the Ethiopian church’s chants. Yaréd acquired his knowledge of theology, natural history, and music from his uncle, Gedewon. Gedewon introduced Yaréd to songs used for praying and singing by Ethiopian churchmen inherited from the creative works of the ancient Nubian Empire.
Anthropologists generally agree that the early Nubians and Egyptians share cultural features. Genetic studies of early human remains from both Egypt and Nubia suggest that little physical varia- tion could be detected among the inhabitants of these regions. Karl Butzer has noted that over time, however, physical distinctions became more pronounced. This was perhaps due to an infusion of a new population into Upper Egypt in the Neolithic era (after 7,000 B.C.). Butzer asserts that the Upper Egyptians of the Neolithic and Predynastic eras were not the descendants of the earlier palaeolithic in- habitants, but were immigrants to Upper Egypt. The more recent inhabitants may have arrived proba- bly from the northern Libyan Desert and its oases, which were in a slow process of desiccation at that time.
Egypt dominated parts of Nubia from about 1950 to 1000 B.C. Egyptian colonization resulted in the disappearance of a particular Nubian C-Group, including the Nubian elite who adopted both the worship of Egyptian gods and the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system. During the reign of Tutank- hamen (who was the son of a Nubian woman) colonization was especially bitter. Nubia’s gold, ebony, and ivory contributed to the material wealth of Egypt. Nubian products were used in the creation of a significant number of the famed treasures of the Egyptian kings. Forts, pyramids, trading posts, and Egyptian-style temples were built in Kush.
Old Kingdom Egyptian Music has been classified as secular, sacred, and military, though the categories clearly overlap. Surprisingly, the history of Egyptian music presents little evidence of the use of drums prior to 2000 B.C.3 Egyptian music was apparently melodically driven during early peri- ods. There are exceptions, however. Curt Sachs points out that “a fragment from Ne-user-re’s temple of the Sun (about 2700 B.C.) near Abusir, now in the Munich museum, shows the top of a large drum . . . supposed to be identical with the instrument a-lal. As the instrument is unique in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, we suppose its existence is due to an importation from Sumer.”4
Later, the most common iconography and descriptions depict military trumpets and drums with the processions of the gods. Cylindrical and barrel drums appear prominently during the Middle and New Kingdoms. Sachs continues: “The Cairo museum owns a cylindrical drum which probably was made during the twelfth dynasty, 2000–1788 B.C; it is seventy-five centimeters long and twenty- nine centimeters wide, and has a network of thongs with a tightening tourniquet to stretch the leather skins. A similar drum is still in use on the Congo.”5
Drums and trumpets were played together and separately. Although drums were often omitted from representations of military campaigns, at the Temple at Kawa (25th Dynasty) the drummer Em- hab is shown following his king to war.6 Trumpeters and drummers would join other instrumentalists at various musical functions during times of peace.
Religious rituals and (occasionally) funerals involved priestesses shaking the cult rattles called sistra. The sound of the sistrum was at times accompanied by the rattling of a heavy necklace made of rows of faience beads (menat). Menats were usually carried by women in their free hand rather than worn. Some ensembles, such as the “the musicians of the funeral estate,” had specific names that matched their functions. Feasts and other secular social functions involved instrumental music, song, and dance.7
The instrumental core of Old Kingdom ensembles, according to ancient paintings, included the harp, an end-blown flute, and a simple clarinet. Although it was common to have more than one harp in an ensemble, only a single flute and a clarinet were generally involved. Nonetheless, the ensemble apparently was far from standardized:
One provincial tomb shows seven harps; in another a second flute and clarinet have been added, and in a third we have four flutes, while one scene has no clarinets but two flutes. The recently discovered 5th Dynasty tomb of Niankhknum and Khnumhotep at Saqqara near the ancient capital of Memphis has an eleven-man ensemble, consisting of two harpists, two flautists, a man playing an unusually long clarinet, and six chiro- nomists [instructors]. . . . A wooden model of an ensemble dating from the Middle King- dom has a harpist sitting on either side of the tomb owner and his wife, while three girls sit facing one another at his feet clapping and singing.8
Men and women apparently played most instruments. Arched, angular harps were played by both sexes in Ancient Egypt. The tomb of the Middle Kingdom vizier Antefoker contains four excellent representations in which a man and woman are shown performing side by side. Although male musi- cians generally played the flute, a 12th Dynasty female flautist and chironomist are also depicted in a Theban tomb of Antefoker. Another later scene from the Graeco-Roman temple at Medamud (just north of Thebes) shows three women playing the angular harp, a minute barrel-shaped drum, and a lute, while a fourth woman sings.9
Egyptian women of the Nile Valley (from mortal women, such as Queen Hatshepsut (who wore men’s clothes and ruled as king), to the goddess Sekhmet) held leading roles in family life, religion, and government. In earlier times, Egyptian women owned and managed property, made business con- tracts, represented themselves in litigation, ran businesses, and could divorce their husbands. Mar- ried women were held in higher regard in domestic life than those who were single and mothers were respected most of all. Although marriages were usually arranged, ancient love songs suggest that women and men also married for love. Queens Merneith, Nitokret, Sobeknefru, and Tausret were among the female sole rulers. Other women more often reigned Egypt as regent.
Vocal music was important in Egypt. The variety of forms referred to as the “Harper’s Song” is a genre in Egyptian literature. In Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, Lise Manniche says, “One of its two main themes concerns reflection on life on earth as opposed to life in the hereafter. . . . These songs invite us to spend a happy day, don our best garments, perfume our bodies, and enjoy music and dance with our nearest and dearest at our side.”
Ancient Nubian Written Music
The Late Palaeolithic Age in Lower Nubia produced the Qada Culture, which thrived ca. 15,000–10,500 B.C. The Qada inhabited numerous sites in an area sprawling from the Second Cata- ract northward to Toshka. The earliest extant evidence of human remains in the entire Nile Valley has been discovered within this region.
During periods perhaps even earlier than that of the first pharaohs of Egypt, a line of kings lived in Qustul in northern “Kush” (as Nubia was then called). The people of these early cultures bur- ied their dead in stone-lined pit graves, accompanied by pottery and cosmetic articles. The Egyptians referred to these Nubian people as “Ta Sety” (the “Land of the Bow”) because of the fame of Nubian archers. By 1550 B.C kings at Kerma were ruling Nubia during a time of increased contact between Egypt and “Kush.” People of the Kerma culture were accomplished metalworkers and also turned thin- walled pottery on a wheel.
Most people who think of traditional African music assume that oral and aural traditions were used exclusively throughout the African continent. A sixth-century Ethiopian composer evolved a so- phisticated music writing system and was so highly revered that he became a Catholic saint. Saint Yaréd, the son of a wealthy Christian family who lived between the reigns of Emperor Kaleb and his son Emperor Gabre Masqual, was originally a professor of theology. He composed all the Old Testa- ment oriented music for the Ethiopian church’s chants. Yaréd acquired his knowledge of theology, natural history, and music from his uncle, Gedewon. Gedewon introduced Yaréd to songs used for praying and singing by Ethiopian churchmen inherited from the creative works of the ancient Nubian Empire. rows of faience beads (menat). Menats were usually carried by women in their free hand rather than worn. Some ensembles, such as the “the musicians of the funeral estate,” had specific names that matched their functions. Feasts and other secular social functions involved instrumental music, song, and dance.7
The instrumental core of Old Kingdom ensembles, according to ancient paintings, included the harp, an end-blown flute, and a simple clarinet. Although it was common to have more than one harp in an ensemble, only a single flute and a clarinet were generally involved. Nonetheless, the ensemble apparently was far from standardized:
One provincial tomb shows seven harps; in another a second flute and clarinet have been added, and in a third we have four flutes, while one scene has no clarinets but two flutes. The recently discovered 5th Dynasty tomb of Niankhknum and Khnumhotep at Saqqara near the ancient capital of Memphis has an eleven-man ensemble, consisting of two harpists, two flautists, a man playing an unusually long clarinet, and six chiro- nomists [instructors]. . . . A wooden model of an ensemble dating from the Middle King- dom has a harpist sitting on either side of the tomb owner and his wife, while three girls sit facing one another at his feet clapping and singing.8
Men and women apparently played most instruments. Arched, angular harps were played by both sexes in Ancient Egypt. The tomb of the Middle Kingdom vizier Antefoker contains four excellent representations in which a man and woman are shown performing side by side. Although male musi- cians generally played the flute, a 12th Dynasty female flautist and chironomist are also depicted in a Theban tomb of Antefoker. Another later scene from the Graeco-Roman temple at Medamud (just north of Thebes) shows three women playing the angular harp, a minute barrel-shaped drum, and a lute, while a fourth woman sings.9
Egyptian women of the Nile Valley (from mortal women, such as Queen Hatshepsut (who wore men’s clothes and ruled as king), to the goddess Sekhmet) held leading roles in family life, religion, and government. In earlier times, Egyptian women owned and managed property, made business con- tracts, represented themselves in litigation, ran businesses, and could divorce their husbands. Mar- ried women were held in higher regard in domestic life than those who were single and mothers were respected most of all. Although marriages were usually arranged, ancient love songs suggest that women and men also married for love. Queens Merneith, Nitokret, Sobeknefru, and Tausret were among the female sole rulers. Other women more often reigned Egypt as regent.
Vocal music was important in Egypt. The variety of forms referred to as the “Harper’s Song” is a genre in Egyptian literature. In Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, Lise Manniche says, “One of its two main themes concerns reflection on life on earth as opposed to life in the hereafter. . . . These songs invite us to spend a happy day, don our best garments, perfume our bodies, and enjoy music and dance with our nearest and dearest at our side.”
Ancient Nubian Written Music
The Late Palaeolithic Age in Lower Nubia produced the Qada Culture, which thrived ca. 15,000–10,500 B.C. The Qada inhabited numerous sites in an area sprawling from the Second Cata- ract northward to Toshka. The earliest extant evidence of human remains in the entire Nile Valley has been discovered within this region.
During periods perhaps even earlier than that of the first pharaohs of Egypt, a line of kings lived in Qustul in northern “Kush” (as Nubia was then called). The people of these early cultures bur- ied their dead in stone-lined pit graves, accompanied by pottery and cosmetic articles. The Egyptians referred to these Nubian people as “Ta Sety” (the “Land of the Bow”) because of the fame of Nubian archers. By 1550 B.C kings at Kerma were ruling Nubia during a time of increased contact between Egypt and “Kush.” People of the Kerma culture were accomplished metalworkers and also turned thin- walled pottery on a wheel.
Most people who think of traditional African music assume that oral and aural traditions were used exclusively throughout the African continent. A sixth-century Ethiopian composer evolved a so- phisticated music writing system and was so highly revered that he became a Catholic saint. Saint Yaréd, the son of a wealthy Christian family who lived between the reigns of Emperor Kaleb and his son Emperor Gabre Masqual, was originally a professor of theology. He composed all the Old Testa- ment oriented music for the Ethiopian church’s chants. Yaréd acquired his knowledge of theology, natural history, and music from his uncle, Gedewon. Gedewon introduced Yaréd to songs used for praying and singing by Ethiopian churchmen inherited from the creative works of the ancient Nubian Empire.