1.
String instrument
–
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord or piano, with bowed instruments, the player rubs the strings with a horsehair bow, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician operates a wheel that rubs the strings. Bowed instruments include the string instruments of the Classical music orchestra. All of the string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers. Some types of string instrument are mainly plucked, such as the harp, in the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, string instruments are called chordophones. Other examples include the sitar, rebab, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, in most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates, along with the air inside it, the vibration of the body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber make the vibration of the string more audible to the performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is hollow, some, however—such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on electronic amplification—may have a solid wood body. Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments in Ancient Mesopotamian sites, like the lyres of Ur, the development of lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism to tighten and loosen the string tension. During the medieval era, instrument development varied from country to country, Middle Eastern rebecs represented breakthroughs in terms of shape and strings, with a half a pear shape using three strings. Early versions of the violin and fiddle, by comparison, emerged in Europe through instruments such as the gittern, a four stringed precursor to the guitar and these instruments typically used catgut and other materials, including silk, for their strings. String instrument design refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period of musical history, violins and guitars became more consistent in design, and were roughly similar to what we use in the 2000s. At the same time, the 19th century guitar became more associated with six string models. In big bands of the 1920s, the guitar played backing chords. The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a power amplifier, the development of the electric guitar provided guitarists with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers. Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, volume control knobs and an output jack, in the 1960s, larger, more powerful guitar amplifiers were developed, called stacks
2.
Chordophone
–
A chordophone is a musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. What many would call string instruments are classified as chordophones, violins, guitars, lyres, and harps are examples. However, the word also embraces instruments that many would hesitate to call string instruments, such as the musical bow, Hornbostel-Sachs divides chordophones into two main groups, instruments without a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, and instruments with such a resonator. Most western instruments fall into the group, but the piano. Hornbostel and Sachs criterion for determining which sub-group an instrument falls into is that if the resonator can be removed without destroying the instrument, then it is classified as 31. This is not true of the violin, because the passes over a bridge located on the resonator box. Electric string instruments often have a pickup that produces a signal that can be amplified. The electric guitar is the most common example, but many other chordophones use pickups—including mandolins, violins, when a chordophone is played, the strings vibrate and interact with each other. There is usually something that makes the sound resonate, such as the body of a guitar or violin, the strings are set into motion by either plucking, strumming, by rubbing with a bow, or by striking. Common chordophones are the banjo, cello, double bass, dulcimer, guitar, harp, lute, piano, sitar, ukulele, viola and violin
3.
Pizzicato
–
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies depending on the type of stringed instrument. On bowed string instruments it is a method of playing by plucking the strings with the fingers and this produces a very different sound from bowing, short and percussive rather than sustained. On a keyboard string instrument, such as the piano, pizzicato may be employed as one of the variety of techniques involving direct manipulation of the strings known collectively as string piano. On the guitar, it is a form of plucking. For details of technique, see palm mute. When a string is struck or plucked, as with pizzicato and this complex timbre is called inharmonicity. The inharmonicity of a string depends on its characteristics, such as tension, composition, diameter. The first recognised use of pizzicato in classical music is found in Tobias Humes Captain Humes Poeticall Musicke, wherein he instructs the viola da gamba player to use pizzicato. Another early use is found in Claudio Monteverdis Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, later, in 1756, Leopold Mozart in his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule instructs the player to use the index finger of the right hand. This has remained the most usual way to execute a pizzicato, the bow is held in the hand at the same time unless there is enough time to put it down and pick it up again between bowed passages. In jazz and bluegrass, and the few popular music styles which use double bass, in classical double bass playing, pizzicato are often performed with the bow being held in the hand, as such, the string is usually only plucked with a single finger. In contrast, in jazz, bluegrass, and other non-Classical styles, in classical music, however, string instruments are most usually played with the bow, and composers give specific indications to play pizzicato where required. Pieces in classical music that are played entirely pizzicato include, J. S. Bach, johann Strauss II, Neue Pizzicato Polka. 4 Benjamin Britten, the movement of the Simple Symphony Leroy Anderson. He also included pizzicato in the movement of Winter from The Four Seasons. In music notation, a composer will normally indicate the performer should use pizzicato with the abbreviation pizz, a return to bowing is indicated by the Italian term arco. If a string player has to play pizzicato for a period of time
4.
Range (music)
–
In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. For a singing voice, the equivalent is vocal range, the range of a musical part is the distance between its lowest and highest note. The terms sounding range, written range, designated range, duration range, a piccolo, for example, typically has a sounding range one octave higher than its written range. The designated range is the set of notes the player should or can achieve while playing, all instruments have a designated range, and all pitched instruments have a playing range. Timbre, dynamics, and duration ranges are interrelated and one may achieve registral range at the expense of timbre, the designated range is thus the range in which a player is expected to have comfortable control of all aspects. The duration range is the difference between the shortest and longest rhythm used, dynamic range is the difference between the quietest and loudest volume of an instrument, part or piece of music. Although woodwind instruments and string instruments have no upper limit to their range. Brass instruments, on the hand, can play beyond their designated ranges. Notes lower than the brass instruments designated range are called pedal tones, the playing range of a brass instrument depends on both the technical limitations of the instrument and the skill of the player. Classical arrangements seldom make woodwind or brass instruments play beyond their designed range, string musicians play the bottom of their ranges very frequently, but the top of a string instruments range is rather fuzzy, and it is unusual for a string player to exceed the designated range. It is quite rare for wind musicians to play the extremes of their instruments, the most common exception is that in many 20th century works, pedal tones are called for in bass trombones. This chart uses standard numberings for octaves where middle C corresponds to C4, in the MIDI language middle C is referred to as MIDI note number 60. The lowest note that an organ can sound is C−1. However, if acoustic combination counts, the lowest note is C−2, *This chart only displays down to C0, though some pipe organs, such as the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ, extend down to C−1. Also, the frequency of the subcontrabass tuba is B♭−1
5.
Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
6.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Folk music
–
Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre
8.
Irish traditional music
–
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland. In A History of Irish Music, W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit and clairseach, the timpan, the feadan, the buinne, the guthbuinne, the bennbuabhal and corn, the cuislenna, the stoc and sturgan, there is also evidence of the fiddle being used in the 8th century. There are several collections of Irish folk music from the 18th century, important collectors include Colm Ó Lochlainn, George Petrie, Edward Bunting, Francis ONeill, James Goodman and many others. Irish traditional music has survived more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and this was possibly because the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars. Another potential factor was that the economy was agricultural, where oral tradition usually thrives. From the end of the world war until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil helped lead the revival of the music, the English Folk music scene also encouraged and gave self-confidence to many Irish musicians. Following the success of The Clancy Brothers in the USA in 1959, the lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as The Dubliners. Irish showbands presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, the international success of The Chieftains and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand. Historically much old-time music of the USA grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, by the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the USA and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk rock, like all traditional music, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than two hundred years old, one measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English and Irish, most of the oldest songs and tunes are rural in origin and come from the older Irish language tradition. Modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns, Irish songs went from the Irish language to the English language, unaccompanied vocals are called sean nós and are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing. Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range, a true sean-nós singer will vary the melody of every verse, but not to the point of interfering with the words, which are considered to have as much importance as the melody. To the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more Arabic, non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós singing, and, generally, a similar voice placement. Caoineadh /kˠi, nʲɪ/ is Irish for a lament, a song which is typified by lyrics which stress sorrow, traditionally, the Caoineadh song contained lyrics in which the singer lamented for Ireland after having been forced to emigrate due to political or financial reasons
9.
Country music
–
Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
10.
African-American music
–
African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of musics and musical genres largely developed by African Americans. Their origins are in forms that arose out of the historical condition of slavery that characterized the lives of African Americans prior to the American Civil War. The exceptions are hip hop, house and techno, which were formed in the late 20th century from earlier forms of African-American music such as funk and soul. Following the Civil War, black Americans, through employment as musicians playing European music in military bands and these musical forms had a wide-ranging influence on the development of music within the United States and around the world during the 20th century. The earliest jazz and blues recordings were made in the 1920s, African-American musicians developed related styles such as Rhythm and Blues in the 1940s. In the 1960s, soul performers had a influence on white US. In the mid-1960s, black musicians developed funk and they were many of the figures in late 1960s and 1970s genre of jazz-rock fusion. In the 1970s and 1980s, black artists developed hip hop, in the 2000s, hip hop attained significant mainstream popularity. Modern day music is influenced by previous and present African-American music genres. Many of the musical forms that define African-American music have historical precedents. Conversion, however, did not result in slaves adopting the traditions associated with the practice of Christianity, instead they reinterpreted them in a way that had meaning to them as Africans in America. They often sang the spirituals in groups as they worked the plantation fields, Folk spirituals, unlike much white gospel, were often spirited, slaves added dancing and other forms of bodily movements to the singing. Folk spirituals were spontaneously created and performed in a repetitive, improvised style, the most common song structures are the call-and-response and repetitive choruses. The call-and-response is an exchange between the soloist and the other singers. The soloist usually improvises a line to which the other singers respond, song interpretation incorporates the interjections of moans, cries, hollers etc. and changing vocal timbres. Singing is also accompanied by clapping and foot-stomping. Suggested listening, Spirituals The influence of African Americans on mainstream American music began in the 19th century, the banjo, of African origin, became a popular instrument, and its African-derived rhythms were incorporated into popular songs by Stephen Foster and other songwriters. In the 1830s, the Second Great Awakening led to a rise in Christian revivals and pietism, drawing on traditional work songs, enslaved African Americans originated and began performing a wide variety of Spirituals and other Christian music
11.
Minstrel show
–
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of skits, variety acts, dancing. The shows were performed by people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people. There were also some African-American performers and all-black minstrel groups that formed and toured, Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious and happy-go-lucky. Minstrel shows emerged as brief burlesques and comic entractes in the early 1830s and were developed into full-fledged form in the next decade, by 1848, blackface minstrel shows were the national artform, translating formal art such as opera into popular terms for a general audience. By the turn of the 20th century, the show enjoyed but a shadow of its former popularity. The form survived as professional entertainment until about 1910, amateur performances continued until the 1960s in high schools, the genre has had a lasting legacy and influence and was featured in a television series as recently as the late 1970s. Generally, as the civil rights movement progressed and gained acceptance, the typical minstrel performance followed a three-act structure. The troupe first danced onto stage then exchanged wisecracks and sang songs, the second part featured a variety of entertainments, including the pun-filled stump speech. The final act consisted of a slapstick musical plantation skit or a send-up of a popular play, Minstrel songs and sketches featured several stock characters, most popularly the slave and the dandy. These were further divided into such as the mammy, her counterpart the old darky, the provocative mulatto wench. Minstrels claimed that their songs and dances were authentically black, although the extent of the black influence remains debated, spirituals entered the repertoire in the 1870s, marking the first undeniably black music to be used in minstrelsy. Blackface minstrelsy was the first theatrical form that was distinctly American, during the 1830s and 1840s at the height of its popularity, it was at the epicenter of the American music industry. For several decades it provided the means through which American whites viewed black people, on the one hand, it had strong racist aspects, on the other, it afforded white Americans a singular and broad awareness of what some whites considered significant aspects of black culture in America. Although the minstrel shows were popular, being consistently packed with families from all walks of life and every ethnic group. Although white theatrical portrayals of black characters date back to as early as 1604, by the late 18th century, blackface characters began appearing on the American stage, usually as servant types whose roles did little more than provide some element of comic relief. Eventually, similar performers appeared in entractes in New York theaters and other such as taverns. Author Constance Rourke even claimed that Forrests impression was so good he could fool blacks when he mingled with them in the streets, Thomas Dartmouth Rices successful song-and-dance number, Jump Jim Crow, brought blackface performance to a new level of prominence in the early 1830s
12.
Old-time music
–
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as dancing, clogging. It is played on instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle. Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles, Ireland. In some regions French and German sources are also prominent, while many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of purely North American origin. As a label, however, it dates only to 1923. Fiddlin John Carson made some of the first commercial recordings of traditional American country music for the Okeh label, the term thus originated as a euphemism, but proved a suitable replacement for other terms that were considered disparaging by many inhabitants of these regions. It remains the term preferred by performers and listeners of the music and it is sometimes referred to as old-timey or mountain music by long-time practitioners. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries tunes originating in minstrel, Tin Pan Alley, gospel and other music styles were adapted into the old-time style. While similar music was played in all regions of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, important revivalists include Mike Seeger and Pete Seeger, who brought the music to New York City as early as the 1940s. The New Lost City Ramblers in particular took the revival across the country, the band was originally Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley. When Tom left the band, he was replaced by Tracy Schwarz, New Lost City Ramblers sparked new interest in old-timey music. Old-time music is played using a variety of stringed instruments. The instrumentation of a group is often determined by what instruments are available. The most common instruments are string instruments. Historically, the fiddle was nearly always the melodic instrument, and in many instances dances were accompanied only by a single fiddler. By the early 19th century, the banjo had become a partner to the fiddle. The banjo used in music is typically a 5-string model with an open back
13.
Trad jazz
–
A Dixieland revival began in the United States on the West Coast in the late 1930s as a backlash to the Chicago style, which was close to swing. Lu Watters and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, and trombonist Turk Murphy, adopted the repertoire of Joe King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, handy, bands included banjo and tuba in the rhythm sections. Early King Oliver pieces exemplify this style of hot jazz, however, as individual performers began stepping to the front as soloists, other influential stylists who are still revered in traditional jazz circles today include Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Wingy Manone and Muggsy Spanier. Many artists of the big band era, including Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, by 1958 his band included three saxophones. During the 1950s and well into the 1960s the Three Bs Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, more light-hearted versions were offered by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Temperance Seven and the New Vaudeville Band. Dixieland stylings can be here and there on records by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Small Faces. During the 1950s a number of amateur bands had strong local followings. These bands included the Merseysippi Jazz Band, still active, which toured overseas, Second City Jazzband, Steel City Stompers, Clyde Valley Stompers, and the Saints Jazzband
14.
Helmholtz pitch notation
–
Helmholtz pitch notation is a system for naming musical notes of the Western chromatic scale. Developed by the German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, it uses a combination of upper and lower case letters, and it is one of two formal systems for naming notes in a particular octave, the other being scientific pitch notation. J. Ellis as On the Sensations of Tone, helmholzs system is widely used by musicians across Europe and is the one used in the New Grove Dictionary. The Helmholtz scale always starts on the note C and ends at B, middle C is designated c′, therefore the octave upwards from middle C is c′–b′. Each octave may also be given a name based on the German method, for example, the octave from c′–b′ is called the one-line octave. The English multiple C notation uses repeated Cs in place of the sub-prime symbol, therefore C͵ is rendered as CC. The German method replaces the prime with a bar above the letter. Primes in subscript may be replaced with digits in subscript indicating the number of primes, for example ͵͵C or C2 or 2C, scientific pitch notation is a similar system that replaces primes and sub-primes with integers. Hence C4 in scientific notation is c′ and this diagram gives examples of the lowest and highest note in each octave, giving their name in the Helmholtz system, and the German method of octave nomenclature. Scientific pitch notation Dolmetsch Music theory online, staffs, clefs & pitch notation Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System
15.
The Old Plantation
–
The Old Plantation is an American folk art watercolor likely painted in the late 18th century on a South Carolina plantation. It is notable for its date, its credible, non-stereotypical depiction of slaves on the North American mainland. The artist has been identified as South Carolina slaveholder John Rose, the painting depicts African American slaves between two small outbuildings of a plantation sited on a broad river. The Old Plantation is the only painting of its era that depicts African Americans by themselves, concerned only with each other. Some writers have speculated that the painting depicts a marriage ceremony, however, scholars have suggested that the subjects are performing a secular dance, western African dance patterns traditionally include sticks and a variety of body positions. The headdresses pictured are of West African origin, the painting features two male musicians, one of whom is playing a stringed instrument that resembles a Yoruba molo, the body of this instrument seems to be a hollow gourd. The molo is a precursor to the banjo, and this is the earliest known American painting to picture a banjo-like instrument, the second musician is playing a percussion instrument that may be a Yoruba gudugudu. The two women hold what look like scarves, but are actually sheguras, rattles made of an enclosed in a net of variable length into which hard objects have been woven. For decades the identity of the artist was unknown, as was the paintings provenance prior to 1935, shames further suggests that the image depicts slaves on Roses plantation in what is now Beaufort County, South Carolina, or one nearby. In 1775, Rose was named Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Beaufort District, by 1795, he owned a lot in the town of Beaufort, as well as a rural, 813-acre tract on the Coosaw River in Prince William Parish. He employed slave labor to farm the latter property, at least fifty of these slaves have been identified by name, and he likely he owned others. Shames suggests the slaves and plantation depicted in the image were Roses own, Rose moved to the Dorchester area in present-day Colleton County in 1795, and he died in 1820 in Charleston after a fall from a horse. In his will, Rose left his watercolor of dancing slaves to his son-in-law and it was bought either by an unidentified interim dealer or by Mary Earle Lyles of Columbia. It was certainly in Lyles possession by 1935, when it was purchased by Holger Cahill, according to Lyles, however, it was painted on a plantation between Charleston and Orangeburg. A watermark on the paper has been identified as used by the English papermaker James Whatman II between 1777 and 1794. Rockefeller and Cahill transferred the painting to Williamsburg, Virginia to be part of the Rockefeller collection at the Ludwell-Paradise House and it was later gifted to Colonial Williamsburg. The painting is held by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg, Old Plantation, EMuseum Online Catalog, bontemps, Alex, The Punished Self, Surviving Slavery in the Colonial South, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-3521-8
16.
Beaufort County, South Carolina
–
Beaufort County is a county in the U. S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, its population was 162,233, Beaufort County is part of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Beaufort County is one of the Souths fastest-growing counties, primarily because of development south of the Broad River clustered along the U. S. Highway 278 corridor. The countys northern portions have also grown steadily, due in part to the federal military presence around the city of Beaufort. The countys two portions are connected by the Broad River Bridge, which carries South Carolina Highway 170, despite the connectivity, often the north of Broad and south of Broad populations of the county find each other at odds over county-wide issues dealing with growth management. From the early days of plantations, African slaves outnumbered the European minority in the colony, the plantations on the Sea Islands had large concentrations of slaves, and frequently limited interaction with whites. The islands were sites of the development of the Gullah culture, which preserved elements from a variety of West African roots, the people developed the Gullah language. The county was majority black nearly to the mid-20th century, Union troops took control of Beaufort County and occupied the area beginning in 1861. Many slaves escaped and went to Union lines, in some cases, planters had moved inland for refuge, leaving their slaves on the Sea Islands. Slaves began to organize schools and other parts of their communities early in the war in this county, the Army founded Mitchellville on Hilton Head by March 1863 as a village where blacks could practice self-governance, and in 1865 it had 1500 residents. After the war, the Drayton family reclaimed this land for their use, in some cases the Union Army allocated plots for blacks for housing and cultivating crops. When freedmen were granted citizenship and the franchise after the American Civil War by constitutional amendments, although not the only black majority state, South Carolina was the only southern state during Reconstruction to elect a black majority of representatives to the state legislature. Beaufort County had many prominent black leaders, such as Robert Smalls, Jonathan Jasper Wright, William James Whipper, increasing violence during election campaigns in the state from 1868 on was used by white insurgents and paramilitary groups to suppress black voting, results were also dependent on fraud. In 1876, the Democrats regained control of the legislature and governors office. They were excluded from the system and kept in second-class status for decades. In 1903 the county was reported to have 3,434 literate black males to 927 whites, African Americans went to northern and midwestern industrial cities for jobs and became an urbanized population. The total county population of 35,495 in 1900 dropped by more than one third to 1930, and did not reach the 1900 population level again until well after 1950, when the population was 26,933. In addition, vacation and resort areas were developed that attracted increasing numbers of tourists through the winter season, and then others all year-round as retirees
17.
Tom Turpin
–
Thomas Million John Turpin was an African-American composer of ragtime music. Tom Turpin was born in Savannah, Georgia, a son of John L. Turpin and Lulu Waters Turpin. In his early twenties he opened a saloon in St. Louis, Missouri which became a meeting-place for local pianists, Turpin himself is credited with the first published rag by an African-American, his Harlem Rag of 1897. His other published rags include Bowery Buck, Ragtime Nightmare, St. Louis Rag, and The Buffalo Rag. Turpin was a man, six feet tall and 300 pounds, his piano had to be raised on blocks so that he could play it standing up. In addition to his duties and his ragtime composition, he controlled a theater, gambling houses, dance halls. He served as a deputy constable and was one of the first politically powerful African-Americans in St. Louis and his influence on local music earned him the title Father of St. Louis Ragtime. Turpins date of birth is uncertain, both 1871 and 1873 appear in published sources, the 1900 Federal Census for the city of St. Louis listed his birthdate as November 1871, but on his draft registration card he wrote November 18,1874. However, some believe he was born in 1873
18.
Vess Ossman
–
Sylvester Louis Vess Ossman was a leading 5-string banjoist and popular recording artist of the early 20th century. Sylvester Louis Ossman was born in Hudson, New York, and he became one of the most recorded musicians of his day, recording marches, cakewalks, rags, and other instrumentals. He also accompanied singers including Arthur Collins and Len Spencer. Ossman married Eunice Smith and they had three children, Vess Jr. Raymond, and Annadele, in 1900 and 1903, when Ossmans reputation and fame had spread internationally, he went on tour, as well as recorded, in England. Together with Audley Dudley and Roy Butin, he performed in the Ossman-Dudley Trio and he also led his own dance band, the Ossmans Singing and Playing Orchestra, in Dayton, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The increasing popularity of his rival Fred Van Eps, after 1910 and he temporarily ceased recording in 1913 but resumed his recording career in late 1915. In April 1917, he became a member of the Popular Talking Machine Artists, by the early 1920s, he had left the touring act. On December 14,1917 he made his recordings for the Columbia label. He continued to travel with his dance orchestra working in all over the Midwest while living in Dayton with his family. In 1923, he joined B. F. Keiths Vaudeville houses on tour together with his son Vess Jr, at a theater show in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ossman suffered a heart attack. He was brought to hospital but soon returned to the show, later, in Fairmont, Minnesota, he suffered another heart attack, this time fatal, after his last performance on stage. He was buried in Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, Ossman played in what is now known as the Classic banjo style. He fingerpicked gut strings using a similar to classical guitarists. Vim Records Gracyk, Tim - Hoffmann, Frank W. Popular American Recording Pioneers, 1895-1925, Routledge Heier, Uli, Lotz, Rainer E
19.
Caribbean
–
The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
20.
West Africa
–
West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subregion of Africa. Early human settlers from northern Holocene societies arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B. C, sedentary farming began in, or around the fifth millennium B. C, as well as the domestication of cattle. By 1500 B. C, ironworking technology allowed an expansion of productivity. Northern tribes developed walled settlements and non-walled settlements that numbered at 400, in the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear. The desertification of the Sahara and the change of the coast cause trade with upper Mediterranean peoples to be seen. Local leather, cloth, and gold also contributed to the abundance of prosperity for many of the following empires. Also, based on the archaeology of city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem, the Sosso Empire sought to fill the void, but was defeated by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali, further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in the present-day southeastern Nigeria, the Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, established in the 15th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade. The Benin Empire was an empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo and it should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the hinterland of West Africa. Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa and its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion, in the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa
21.
Oxford English Dictionary
–
The Oxford English Dictionary is a descriptive dictionary of the English language, published by the Oxford University Press. The second edition came to 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, in 1895, the title The Oxford English Dictionary was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in ten bound volumes. In 1933, the title The Oxford English Dictionary fully replaced the name in all occurrences in its reprinting as twelve volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989, when the edition was published. Since 2000, an edition of the dictionary has been underway. The first electronic version of the dictionary was available in 1988. The online version has been available since 2000, and as of April 2014 was receiving two million hits per month. The third edition of the dictionary will probably appear in electronic form, Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press. As a historical dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary explains words by showing their development rather than merely their present-day usages, therefore, it shows definitions in the order that the sense of the word began being used, including word meanings which are no longer used. The format of the OEDs entries has influenced numerous other historical lexicography projects and this influenced later volumes of this and other lexicographical works. As of 30 November 2005, the Oxford English Dictionary contained approximately 301,100 main entries, the dictionarys latest, complete print edition was printed in 20 volumes, comprising 291,500 entries in 21,730 pages. The longest entry in the OED2 was for the verb set, as entries began to be revised for the OED3 in sequence starting from M, the longest entry became make in 2000, then put in 2007, then run in 2011. Despite its impressive size, the OED is neither the worlds largest nor the earliest exhaustive dictionary of a language, the Dutch dictionary Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal is the worlds largest dictionary, has similar aims to the OED and took twice as long to complete. Another earlier large dictionary is the Grimm brothers dictionary of the German language, begun in 1838, the official dictionary of Spanish is the Diccionario de la lengua española, and its first edition was published in 1780. The Kangxi dictionary of Chinese was published in 1716, trench suggested that a new, truly comprehensive dictionary was needed. On 7 January 1858, the Society formally adopted the idea of a new dictionary. Volunteer readers would be assigned particular books, copying passages illustrating word usage onto quotation slips, later the same year, the Society agreed to the project in principle, with the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. He withdrew and Herbert Coleridge became the first editor, on 12 May 1860, Coleridges dictionary plan was published and research was started
22.
Dialect
–
That happens, for example, across large parts of India or the Maghreb. Historically, it happened in various parts of Europe such as between Portugal, southern Belgium and southern Italy, and between Flanders and Austria. Leonard Bloomfield used the dialect area. It is analogous to a species in evolutionary biology. Dialect continua typically occur in long-settled agrarian populations, as innovations spread from their various points of origin as waves, in this situation, hierarchical classifications of varieties are impractical. Instead, dialectologists map variation of language features across a dialect continuum. The influential Atlas linguistique de la France pioneered the use of a trained fieldworker and these atlases typically consist of display maps, each showing local forms of a particular item at the survey locations. Secondary studies may include maps, showing the areal distribution of various variants. A common tool in these maps is an isogloss, a line separating areas where different variants of a particular feature predominate, in a dialect continuum, isoglosses for different features are typically spread out, reflecting the gradual transition between varieties. A bundle of coinciding isoglosses indicate a stronger dialect boundary, as might occur at geographical obstacles or long-standing political boundaries, in other cases, intersecting isoglosses and more complex patterns are found. Standard varieties may be developed and codified from one or more locations in a continuum, in such cases the local variety is said to be dependent on, or heteronomous with respect to, the standard variety. The Scandinavian languages, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, are cited as examples. Conversely, a defined in this way may include local varieties that are mutually unintelligible. The choice of standard is determined by a political boundary. As a results, speakers on either side of the boundary may use almost identical varieties, but treat them as dependent on different standards, the choice may be a matter of national, regional or religious identity, and may be controversial. In the Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, a standard was developed from local varieties within a continuum with Serbia to the north, the standard was deliberately based on varieties from the west of the republic that were most different from standard Bulgarian. Now known as Macedonian, it is the standard of the independent Republic of Macedonia. Europe provides several examples of dialect continua, the largest of which involve the Germanic, Romance and Slavic branches of the Indo-European language family
23.
Bandurria
–
The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in former Spanish colonies. Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a round back and it had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five double courses of strings, tuned in fourths. The original bandurrias of the Medieval period had three strings, during the Renaissance they gained a fourth string. During the Baroque period the bandurria had 10 strings, the modern bandurria has 12 strings. The strings are tuned in pairs, going up in fourths from the low G#. The lowest four strings are a major-third above those of a guitar and the highest two strings are a fourth above a standard guitar, i. e. G♯, c♯, f♯, b, e. Juan Ruiz first mentioned the term mandurria in the 14th century in his Libro De Buen Amor, in the early 1870s, a childs wake was accompanied with the bandurria music in Jijona, Alicante Province. The zapateo, a derived from the Spanish zapateado and introduced by tobacco cultivators from the Canary Islands, is accompanied with bandurria. The Philippine harp bandurria is a 14-string bandurria used in many Philippine folkloric songs, with 16 frets and this instrument probably evolved in the Philippines during the Spanish period, from 1521 to 1898. The Filipino bandurria is used in an orchestra of plucked string instruments called rondalla and it is tuned a step lower than the Spanish version, that is, low to high, F# B E A D G. There are also different varieties of Bandurria in South America, especially Peru. They have 4 courses, unlike the traditional Spanish 6 courses, the 4 courses are double, triple or quadruple, and the tuning is guitar-like, rather than the fourths tuning used on the Spanish type. In Lima, Peru, harp and bandurria duos were common in the early 20th century, nowadays people there still play bandurria accompanying with the popular vals peruano, or vals criollo. Although generally little known in the UK, the bandurria was used by Roy Williamson of the Scottish folk-group The Corrie Folk Trio. When this group became the immensely popular Corries, Williamson incorporated a bandurria into one of the two multi-instrument combolins that he constructed for himself and his partner. Arnel Pineda Bandura Laúd Music in the Philippines Music of Peru Music of Spain Stringed instrument tunings Sparks, Paul
24.
Kora (instrument)
–
The kora is a 21-string lute-bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa. A kora is a mandinka harp built from a large cut in half. The skin is supported by two handles that run under it and it supports a notched double free-standing bridge. It doesnt fit any one category of musical instruments, but rather several. The strings run in two divided ranks, making it a double harp and they do not end in a soundboard but are held in notches on a bridge, making it a bridge harp. They originate from an arm or neck and cross a bridge directly supported by a resonating chamber. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the style, it bears a closer resemblance to flamenco. The player uses only the thumb and index finger of both hands to pluck the strings in polyrhythmic patterns, ostinato riffs and improvised solo runs are played at the same time by skilled players. Kora players have come from griot families who are traditional historians, genealogists. The instrument is played in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, a traditional kora player is called a Jali, similar to a bard or oral historian. Most West African musicians prefer the term jali to griot, which is the French word, Traditional koras feature 21 strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. Modern koras made in the Casamance region of southern Senegal sometimes feature additional bass strings, a vital accessory in the past was the nyenyemo, a leaf-shaped plate of tin or brass with wire loops threaded around the edge. Clamped to the bridge, it produced sympathetic sounds, serving as an amplifier since the sound carried well in the open air, in todays environment players usually prefer or need an electric pickup. By moving leather tuning rings up and down the neck, a player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. These scales are close in tuning to western major, minor, the earliest European reference to the kora in Western literature is in Travels in Interior Districts of Africa by the Scottish Mungo Park. The kora is mentioned in the Senegalese national anthem Pincez Tous vos Koras, nowadays, increasingly, koras are made with guitar machine heads instead of the traditional leather rings. The advantage is that they are easier to tune. The disadvantage is that this limits the pitch of the instrument because string lengths are more fixed
25.
Skin
–
Skin is the soft outer tissue covering vertebrates. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton have different developmental origin, structure, the adjective cutaneous means of the skin. In mammals, the skin is an organ of the system made up of multiple layers of ectodermal tissue. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, all mammals have some hair on their skin, even marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and porpoises which appear to be hairless. The skin interfaces with the environment and is the first line of defense from external factors, for example, the skin plays a key role in protecting the body against pathogens and excessive water loss. Its other functions are insulation, temperature regulation, sensation, severely damaged skin may heal by forming scar tissue. This is sometimes discoloured and depigmented, the thickness of skin also varies from location to location on an organism. The skin on the palms and the soles of the feet is 4 mm thick, the speed and quality of wound healing in skin is promoted by the reception of estrogen. Primarily, fur augments the insulation the skin provides but can serve as a secondary sexual characteristic or as camouflage. On some animals, the skin is hard and thick. Reptiles and fish have hard scales on their skin for protection. Amphibian skin is not a barrier, especially regarding the passage of chemicals via skin and is often subject to osmosis. For example, a sitting in an anesthetic solution would be sedated quickly. Amphibian skin plays key roles in everyday survival and their ability to exploit a range of habitats. Keratinocytes are the cells, constituting 95% of the epidermis, while Merkel cells, melanocytes. Keratinocytes from the stratum corneum are eventually shed from the surface, the epidermis contains no blood vessels, and cells in the deepest layers are nourished by diffusion from blood capillaries extending to the upper layers of the dermis. The epidermis and dermis are separated by a sheet of fibers called the basement membrane. The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress
26.
Drumhead
–
A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates, originally, drumheads were made from animal hide and were first used in early human history, long before records began. In 1957, Remo Belli and Sam Muchnick together developed a polymer head leading to the development of the Remo drumhead company, despite the benefits of plastic heads, drummers in historical reenactment groups such as fife and drum use animal skin heads for historical accuracy. Another common material used for drumheads is aramid fiber, such as kevlar, kevlar heads are also used in marching percussion. The bolts, called tension rods, are screwed into threaded lugs attached to the shell, in order to tighten. A drum key is a four sided wrench used to screw the tension rods into the lugs, drummers muffle their drums using special drumheads. Some drumheads come pre-muffled such as Remo Powerstroke Pro, accessory Fetish A Complete List of Drum Head Manufacturers Resonant Drum Head Explained
27.
African Americans
–
African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. The term may also be used to only those individuals who are descended from enslaved Africans. As a compound adjective the term is usually hyphenated as African-American, Black and African Americans constitute the third largest racial and ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved peoples within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of 73. 2–80. 9% West African, 18–24% European, according to US Census Bureau data, African immigrants generally do not self-identify as African American. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants identify instead with their own respective ethnicities, immigrants from some Caribbean, Central American and South American nations and their descendants may or may not also self-identify with the term. After the founding of the United States, black people continued to be enslaved, believed to be inferior to white people, they were treated as second-class citizens. The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited U. S. citizenship to whites only, in 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. The first African slaves arrived via Santo Domingo to the San Miguel de Gualdape colony, the ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, the settlers and the slaves who had not escaped returned to Haiti, whence they had come. The first recorded Africans in British North America were 20 and odd negroes who came to Jamestown, as English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought to work as laborers. Typically, young men or women would sign a contract of indenture in exchange for transportation to the New World, the landowner received 50 acres of land from the state for each servant purchased from a ships captain. An indentured servant would work for years without wages. The status of indentured servants in early Virginia and Maryland was similar to slavery, servants could be bought, sold, or leased and they could be physically beaten for disobedience or running away. Africans could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom and they raised families, married other Africans and sometimes intermarried with Native Americans or English settlers. By the 1640s and 1650s, several African families owned farms around Jamestown and some became wealthy by colonial standards and purchased indentured servants of their own. In 1640, the Virginia General Court recorded the earliest documentation of slavery when they sentenced John Punch. One of Dutch African arrivals, Anthony Johnson, would own one of the first black slaves, John Casor
28.
Shamisen
–
The shamisen or samisen, also called sangen, is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually shamisen but sometimes jamisen when used as a suffix, the construction of the shamisen varies in shape, depending on the genre in which it is used. The instrument used to accompany kabuki has a neck, facilitating the agile. The instrument used to accompany puppet plays and folk songs has a longer and thicker neck to match the more robust music of those genres, the shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument. Its construction follows a similar to that of a guitar or a banjo, with a neck. The neck of the shamisen is fretless and slimmer than that of a guitar or banjo, the body, called the dō, resembles a drum, having a hollow body that is covered front and back with skin, in the manner of a banjo. The skin used depends on the genre of music and the skill of the player, student shamisen often use dog skin, and sometimes plastic, as they are cheaper to replace, and more durable. The shamisen of professional players are often covered in cat skin, as it is more delicate and it is said that the best sound quality is produced from a shamisen bound in cat skin. In the past a special type of paper was used and recently various types of plastics are being tried, on the skin of some of the best shamisen, the position of the cats nipples can still be seen. The sao, or neck of the shamisen is usually divided into three or four pieces that fit and lock together, indeed, most shamisen are made so that they can be easily disassembled and stowed to save space. The neck of the shamisen is a rod that crosses the drum-like body of the instrument, partially protruding at the other side of the body. The pegs used to wind the strings are long, thin and they were traditionally fashioned out of ivory, but as it has become a rare resource, they have been recently fashioned out of other materials, such as various kinds of wood and plastic. The three strings are made of silk, or, more recently, nylon. They are stretched between the pegs at the head of the instrument, and a cloth tailpiece anchored at the end of the rod which protrudes on the side of the body. The strings are stretched across the dō, raised from it by means of a bridge, or koma, the lowest string is purposefully laid lower at the nut of the instrument, so that it buzzes, creating a characteristic timbre known as sawari. The head of the instrument known as a tenjin may also be protected by a cover, the material of the strings will depend on the skill of the player. However, silk breaks easily over a time, so this is reserved for professional performances
29.
Tar (string instrument)
–
Tar is an Iranian long-necked, waisted instrument, shared by many cultures and countries like Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Republic of Azerbaijan, and other areas near the Caucasus region. The word tār means string in Persian, though it might have the meaning in languages influenced by Persian. This has led some Iranian experts to hold that the Tar must be common among all the Iranian people as well as the territories that are named as Iranian Cultural Continuum by the Encyclopædia Iranica. This is claimed to be the root of the names of the Persian setar and the guitar as well as less widespread instruments such as the dutar and the Indian sitar. Though it was developed in the Persian Empire, the exact region in which it was first made. Tar is one of the most important musical instruments in Iran, the formation, compilation, edition, and inheritance of the most authentic and most comprehensive versions of radif are all worked on tar. The general trends of Persian classical music have deeply influenced by tar players. In 2012 art of Azerbaijani craftsmanship and performance art of the tar was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the tar appeared in its present form in the middle of the eighteenth century in Persia. The body is a double-bowl shape carved from wood, with a thin membrane of stretched lamb-skin covering the top. The fingerboard has twenty-five to twenty-eight adjustable gut frets, and there are three courses of strings. Its range is two and one-half octaves, and it is played with a small brass plectrum. The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate pegbox with six wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect. It has three courses of double singing strings, that are tuned in fourths plus one flying bass string that runs outside the fingerboard, every String has its own tuning peg and are tuned independently. The Persian tar used to have five strings, the sixth string was added to the tar by Darvish Khan. This string is todays fifth string of the Iranian tar, the melodies performed on tar were considered useful for headache, insomnia and melancholy, as well as for eliminating nervous and muscle spasms. Listening to this instrument was believed to induce a quiet and philosophical mood and its solemn melodies were thought to cause a person to relax and fall asleep. The author of Qabusnameh recommends that when selecting musical tones, to take account the temperament of the listener. The tar features prominently in Jeff Waynes Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, in the section Horsell Common, george Fenton played it on the original album, and Gaetan Schurrer can be seen playing one on the DVD of the 2006 production
30.
Sintir
–
The sintir, also known as the Guembri, Gimbri or Hejhouj, is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a carved from a log. The camel skin has the same function as the membrane on a banjo. The neck is a stick with one short and two long goat strings that produce a percussive sound similar to a pizzicato cello or double bass. The goat gut strings are plucked downward with the side of the index finger. The third string is tuned a fourth above the drone, the buzzing sound often heard emanating from the sintir is caused by metal rings dangling off of a galvanized metal feather mounted on the end of the sintirs neck. The feather and rings vibrate in rhythm with the sintir, the body of the instrument is hollowed out from a single piece of wood, and covered with camel skin. The long neck passes through the top of the body and runs under the face, coming out through the skin near the base of the instrument, to serve as a tailpiece or string-carrier. The sliding leather tuning rings and the metal sound modifier are commonly found in such West African instruments as the kora. The percussive playing style is reminiscent not only of West African technique, as the sintir is used mainly by Gnawa, it is likely that the instrument derives from similar skin-covered lutes of the region around Mali or other areas of the Sahel. Sintirs are usually applied to different styles of music, Tagnawit, is the music of the Gnawa people, the Guembri they use is the biggest, a long body rectangular in shape. There is a hole in the skin at the area for enhanced acoustics. Three strings are used, two that reach the end of the neck, and one reaches the middle. The two strings are tuned in fourths and are fixed to the neck using a special knotting. How the strings stay in tune is a mystery that only the Gnawa hold the secret for, the shorter string, which is also thinner, is tuned like the lowest string and is considered a drone string. Depending on the area where the Gnawa Zaouia is located, there are different keys to the tuning, the most common ones however are C, F, D and G. When the Gnawa are clapping and not playing with the Krakebs, the plucking of the strings is done with the thumb and/or the index, and sometimes the player hits the body under the strings for a percussive sound. The Gnawa player who plays with the Guembri is called the Maalem, the Gnawa also refer to the Guembri as Hajhouj or Sintir
31.
Akonting
–
The akonting is the folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is an instrument with a skin-headed gourd body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string, akin to the short fifth thumb string on the five-string banjo. Jola oral tradition places the birthplace of the akonting in the village of Kanjanka in Lower Casamance, the name of the instruments home village is recalled in the most common tuning pattern for the akontings three open strings, kan, jan, ka. Like in the traditional styles of playing the 5-string banjo. Using the kanjanka tuning pattern of 5/1/-7, a tuning in Casamance is dGF. In Gambia, for another variant the 1st long melody is raised a semitone higher to make a natural 7th note, usually they are between two to three notes. The mechanics involved in playing the akonting is the sounding of the short string when playing any melody. It acts as a drum to add beauty to the melody, the middle string is also sometimes used as drone string. All the noting is done on the long string, the music of the akonting has been and still is folk music. Akonting players do not play music to confer status to their patrons and they play their music, usually in the evenings after work to relax and have a nice time before going to bed. Also when in their rice field bars they play the Akonting in the evening after working in their rice fields, the music of the Akonting deals with all matters of life and does not need to be augmented by any other instrument to be danceable. It is rhythmic enough to one to dance. Other varieties include the Frafra koliko, The Kotokoli lawa, the Gwari kaburu, the earliest forms of the banjo were, in fact, very similar gourd-bodied lutes, which enslaved West Africans in the Caribbean began making and playing sometime in the early 17th century. Of all the variety of West African plucked lutes, the Jola akonting stands out as the one instrument today that bears the strongest resemblance to early North American gourd banjos. This action is followed by the players thumb catching on the top short thumb string to create a rhythmic back-beat accompaniment. It was the style of banjo that European American performers. This was the prevalent form of playing the 5-string banjo until the advent of the style of up-picking in the late 1860s. Remarkably, the Jola oteck technique of playing the akonting is the only extant down-picking style of lute playing found in all of West Africa thus far
32.
Jola people
–
The Jola are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. There are great numbers on the Atlantic coast between the banks of the Gambia River, the Casamance region of Senegal and the northern part of Guinea-Bissau. They migrated from southern Egypt into the Senegambia region around 13th - 14th century to where they brought palm seed, cotton, in the 1880s the Jolas were engaged in palm wine tapping in Bathurst. By the end of 19th century some Jola had moved to producing groundnuts as a cash crop and they also reared livestock and produced other crops including sweet potatoes, yams and watermelon. The Jola language is distinct from the Dioula language of the Dioula Mande people of the Gambia, Upper Niger and the Kong highlands of Burkina Faso. The Jola speak a variety of Jola dialects which may not, at times, be mutually intelligible, including, kuDiola spoken in a handful of villages south of Oussouye. Gusilay spoken in the village of Thionck Essyl, karon spoken along the coast of Casamance south of Diouloulou. Kuwaataay spoken along the coast south of the Casamance River, Mlomp spoken in the village of Mlomp. The Jolas were the last ethnic group in the Senegambian region to accept Islam, even though some accepted Islam after the Soninke-Marabout war, they honour the traditional use of palm wine in their rituals. They have one God that they associate with the phenomena like sky, rain. They have charms and sacred precincts that they honour and with which they communicate, the Jola people believe that spirits called Bakin or Eneerti can protect their families, their villages, and their rice fields, and can even protect them from conversion to Islam and Christianity. Jolas believed strongly in living a good life in this world. They believe that if one lives a bad life in this world, in the Jola Cassa subgroup this exile spirit is called a Holowa. This exile spirit becomes a spirit with no respect from the other spirits. Unlike most ethnic groups of the Senegambian region, the Jola have no system of griots, slaves, nobility, leather workers. Jolas are also able herbal medicine practitioners, but this does not mean they did not develop a sophisticated political system. In a sense the Jolas political achievement in the village was socialism and it was totally tied to their religious belief in the Bakin. This political achievement is not easy to reach if the society runs it does not have well-defined rules of administration
33.
Senegambia Confederation
–
The confederation was founded on 1 February 1982 following an agreement between the two countries signed on 12 December 1981. It was intended to promote cooperation between the two countries, but was dissolved by Senegal on 30 September 1989 after the Gambia refused to move closer toward union, as a political unit, Senegambia was created by dueling French and English colonial forces in the region. Competition between the French and the English began in the 16th century when both started to establish trading centers, although there was some overlap in their areas of influence, French trade centered on the Senegal River and in the Cap-Vert region and English trade on the Gambia River. From 1500 to 1758, the two used their naval power to try to remove each other from the region. In 1758, during the Seven Years War based in Europe, the unified region collapsed in 1779. With the British occupied by the American Revolutionary War in North America, the unified region ended officially in 1783 in the aftermath of the British defeat and independence by the United States. The Treaty of Versailles created a balance between France and Britain, Saint Louis, l’île de Gorée, and the Senegal River region were restored to France, and the Gambia was left to the British. Although the areas were ruled by separate, competing powers, they did not determine an official border between the French and British Senegambian colonies until 1889, at the time, France agreed to accept the current border between the two countries and remove its border trading posts. For each country, the lock and key border situation has posed problems for international relations, especially in trade. One of the greatest problems for both countries is the ease with which violence could spread through the region and this fear was realized during the 1981 coup attempt to oust President Dawda Jawara of the Gambia. Specific threats came from Kwame Nkrumahs Ghana, Moussa Traorés Mali, Ahmed Sekou Tourés Guinea, João Bernardo Vieiras Guinea-Bissau, while the Senegalese government speculated about some dangers, in the late 1980s it had border skirmishes with Mauritania. After the coup attempt, the government realized that its forces were not adequate to stop, or prevent. Security of the region was becoming more and more difficult to maintain, the opposing trade policies fueled a large black market around the Senegal–Gambia border, which brought cheaper manufactured goods into Senegal. The black market also attracted an export drain into the Gambia, the Senegalese government began to institute a delayed payment system with its groundnut farms. When farmers sold their harvest to the Senegalese government, they would get a voucher, known as a chit, in the short term, the Senegambia Confederation was a pragmatic union based on a mutual security interest. As noted, the Senegalese government feared national instability caused by uprisings in either the Gambia or the Casamance region and this fear nearly became reality on 30 July 1981 when Gambian leftists attempted a coup détat against President Sir Dawda Jawara. At the request of President Jawara, the Senegalese army entered the Gambia, the attempted coup resulted in both countries leaders promoting the unification ideas which had been developing in the region. Senghor’s belief in Negritude informed the possibility of unification between Senegal and the Gambia, and fostered the belief that unification would happen as an organic process
34.
Igbo people
–
The Igbo people, also erroneously known as the Ibo people, are an indigenous linguistic and cultural people of southern Nigeria. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two sections by the Niger River – an eastern and a western section. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects, the Igbo homeland is almost surrounded on all sides by other ethnic peoples of southern and central Nigeria namely, the Ijaw, Edo, Isoko, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, in rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam, celebrations take place annually to celebrate its harvesting, other staple crops include cassava and taro. Before British colonial rule, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group, there were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage, village affiliation, there were not many centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the early 20th century, the Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization. Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart is one of the most popular novels to depict Igbo culture, by the mid-20th century, the Igbo people developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Certain conflicts with other Nigerian ethnicities led to Igbo-densely populated Eastern Nigeria seceding to create the independent state of Biafra, the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War broke out shortly after. With their defeat, the Republic of Biafra once again was part of Nigeria, MASSOB, a sectarian organization formed in 1999, continues a non-violent struggle for an independent Igbo state. Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations in such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Their exact population outside Africa is unknown, but today many African Americans, according to Liberian historians the fifth president of Liberia Edward James Roye was of Igbo descent. The Igbo people have had fragmented and politically independent communities, before knowledge of Europeans and full exposure to other neighbouring ethnic groups, the Igbo did not have a strong identity as one people. As in the case of most ethnic groups, the British, Chinua Achebe, among other scholars, challenged this because of its negative connotations and possible wrong definition. He suggested defining the Igbo people as a nation although the Igbo do not have an officially recognized state of their own. The most common name for the Igbo in English was formerly Ibo and they have also been known as the Iboe, Ebo, Eboe, Eboans, or Heebo. Their territory and main settlement have also been known by their name
35.
Xalam
–
Xalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, many believe that it is an ancestor to the African American banjo. Someone who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat, the xalam, in its standard form, is a simple lute chordophone with one to five strings. The wooden body membranophone of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle, by moving these strips, the instruments tune can be adjusted. The xalam usually has two melody strings that are fingered by the left hand and two to three supplementary strings of fixed pitch. Most xalam players construct their own xalams, although they call on woodworkers to carve the body, neck. In most Wolof-speaking parts of Senegal, the xalam has three principal tunings, all of which involve tuning the two strings a perfect fourth apart. In the first tuning, the strings are tuned 1 and 4. In the third tuning, the fundamental is a third above the lowest main string. The third supplementary string is ignored or is tuned to 6 or 2´. In most areas the xalam is played by griots, or praise singers who are born into the profession. It most often acts as a solo or duo instrument to accompany praise songs and historical recitations, and in areas it may form part of a larger group including kora, drums. It is traditionally heard at weddings, infant naming ceremonies, and is now a member of folklore ensembles, popular mbalax groups. Important past and present Senegalese xalam masters include Sàmba Jabare Sàmb, Ama Njaay Sàmb, Abdulaay Naar Sàmb, Abdulaay Soose, the best known Malian ngoni players are Banzumana Sissoko, Bassekou Kouyate, Mama Sissoko, Moriba Koïta, Sayan Sissoko, and Fuseini Kouyate. Akonting Cheick Hamala Diabate Kora Ngoni Cosaan, Senegalese Culture—Xalam and Virtual Xalam Video of Cheick Hamala Diabate performances from Kennedy Center Millennium Stage site
36.
Senegal
–
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegals economic and political capital is Dakar and it is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia, and owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The name Senegal comes from the Wolof Sunuu Gaal, which means Our Boat, Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of about 15 million. The climate is Sahelian, but there is a rainy season, the territory of modern Senegal has been inhabited by various ethnic groups since prehistory. Organized kingdoms emerged around the century, and parts of the country were ruled by prominent regional empires such as the Jolof Empire. The present state of Senegal has its roots in European colonialism, which began during the mid-15th century, the establishment of coastal trading posts gradually led to control of the mainland, culminating in French rule of the area by the 19th century, albeit amid much local resistance. Senegal peacefully attained independence from France in 1960, and has since been among the politically stable countries in Africa. Senegals economy is centered mostly on commodities and natural resources, major industries are fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, and ship construction and repair. As in most African nations, agriculture is a sector, with Senegal producing several important cash crops, including peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, green beans, tomatoes, melons. Owing to its stability, tourism and hospitality are also burgeoning sectors. A multiethnic and secular nation, Senegal is predominantly Sunni Muslim with Sufi, French is the official language, although many native languages are spoken and recognized. Since April 2012 Senegals president has been Macky Sall, Senegal has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie since 1970. Senegal is named after the Senegal River, the etymology of which is contested, one popular theory is that it stems from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, which means our canoe, resulting from a miscommunication between 15th-century Portuguese sailors and Wolof fishermen. The our canoe theory has been embraced in modern Senegal for its charm. It is frequently used in appeals to national solidarity, frequently heard in the media, modern historians believe the name probably refers to the Sanhaja, Berbers who lived on the northern side of the river. A competing theory is that it derives from the town of Sanghana
37.
Ngoni (instrument)
–
The ngoni or ngoni is a string instrument originating in West Africa. Its body is made of wood or calabash with dried animal skin stretched over it. The ngoni, which can produce fast melodies, appears to be related to the akonting. This is called a jeli ngoni as it is played by griots at celebrations, another larger type, believed to have originated among the donso is called the donso ngoni. This is still reserved for ceremonial purposes. The donso ngoni, or hunters harp has six strings and it is often accompanies singing along with the karagnan, a serrated metal tube scraped with a metal stick. The smaller kamale ngoni has entered popular musical styles such as Wassoulou music, the ngoni is known to have existed since 1352, when Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveller reported seeing one in the court of Mansa Musa. It is believed to have evolved into the banjo in North America after Mande slaves were exported there, the kamale ngoni or young mans harp was invented by the musician Alata Brulaye in the 1960s. It is smaller than, and tuned a fourth higher than, the traditional ngoni, often made of calabash rather than wood and it became popular in the Wassoulou region and contributed to the rise of Wassoulou music in the 1980s and 90s
38.
Wassoulou
–
Wassoulou is a cultural area and historical region in the Wassoulou River Valley of West Africa. It is home to about 160,000 people, and is also the land of the Wassoulou genre of music. Wassoulou surrounds the point where the borders of three countries meet, Mali, Côte dIvoire, and Guinea. It includes portions of southwestern Mali, northwestern Côte dIvoire, and it is bordered by the Niger River to the northwest, and by the Sankarani River to the east. The name Wassoulou is alternately spelled Wassulu, Wassalou, and Ouassalou, Wassoulou is best known internationally as the birthplace of Wassoulou music, a style which blends traditional and modern influences with strong female vocalists and a pentatonic hunters harp. Some of the most famous residents of Wassoulou include the singers Oumou Sangare, Ramata Diakite, wassoulous cultural importance is reflected in the development of internet resources, and the creation of Radio Wassoulou broadcasting from Yanfolila. Wassoulou is also a dialect of the Eastern Maninkakan language, and is related to Kankan Mandinka. Speakers of Wassoulou number some 73,500 in Guinea, with 41,200 speakers estimated in Mali, in the far northwest of Côte dIvoire there are some 21,000 Wassoulou speakers, where it is related to Wojenaka Maninka. Inhabitants are known as Wassulu, Wassulunka or Wassulunke, the Wassoulou area is a center for the mingling of several ethnic groups. There are also populations of Malinke peoples native to Wassoulou. Wassoulou is also the name of an Islamic state, the Wassoulou Empire, ruled by Samori Ture and centered on his capital, Bissandugu. In 1870, Samori overthrew an older Wassoulou state within the Kingdom of Kénédougou, whose faama was Dyanabufarina Modi, and expanded his empire from there, taking the Wassoulou name. While the history of the Mandinka Wassoulou states remain unclear, the kingdoms of Kenedugu and Wassulu existed from at least the 1650s CE, benefiting from gold mining. Wassoulou music Wassoulou Empire Sikasso Region Manding languages Mandinka people Fula people Mandinka and Bamanankan in Gordon, ethnologue, Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Échange école Joliot Curie, école Wassoulou, Février 2007, Joint French - Malian Education Project, in the villages of Guéna, Djélibany, portrait of the most famous Female Griot from Wassoulou, Oumou Sangaré, Abidjan. net. Geekcorps Mali » First digitally created broadcast from Radio Wassoulou - Yanfolila, launch of the internet connection in Yanfolila USAID,29 January 2005. Le Président de la République du Mali, Visit to Wassoulou,2006 PLAN DE SECURITE ALIMENTAIRE COMMUNE RURALE DE WASSOULOU BALLE, projet de Mobilisation des Initiatives en matière de Sécurité Alimentaire au Mali,2006. Etude diagnostique pour le Marketing Social de l’Hygiène et de l’Assainissement dans les villes de Bougouni et de Yanfolila, Helvetas Mali - ASP-EAU, December 2004
39.
Mali
–
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities
40.
Guinea
–
Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms
41.
Ivory Coast
–
Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960
42.
Morocco
–
Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
43.
Gourd
–
A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly Cucurbita and Lagenaria or the fruit of the two genera of Bignoniaceae calabash tree, Crescentia and Amphitecna. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, likely one of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, gourd is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, gourd refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita, or also to their hollow, dried-out shell, a gourd can also have a hard shell when dehydrated. There are many different gourds worldwide, the main plants referred to as gourds include several species from the Cucurbita genus, Crescentia cujete and Lagenaria siceraria. The bitter melon/balsam apple/balsam pear is also referred to as a gourd. L. siceraria was brought to Europe and the Americas very early in history, being found in Peruvian archaeological sites dating from 13,000 to 11,000 BC and Thailand sites from 11,000 to 6,000 BC. The gourds found in the Americas appear to have come from the Asian subspecies, very early in history, a new study now indicates Africa. The archaeological and DNA records show it likely that the gourd was among the first domesticated species, gourds continued to be used throughout history, in almost every culture throughout the world. European contact in North America found extensive use, including the use of bottle gourds as birdhouses to attract purple martins. Almost every culture had musical instruments made of gourds, including drums, stringed instruments common to Africa and wind instruments and these include Teasle gourd, Spine gourd, Sweet gourd, balsam apple and Momordica sahyadrica. Cultures from arid regions often associated gourds with water, and they appear in creation myths. Since the beginning of their history, they have had a multitude of uses, including food, kitchen tools, toys, musical instruments and decoration. Today, gourds are used for a wide variety of crafts, including jewelry, furniture, dishes, utensils. The Chinese developed a technique of tying a two-part mould around young gourds, or a part of them, so that the gourd grew into the mould, shaped gourds had various decorative uses, especially as boxes, bottles and other containers. The Luffa gourds, Luffa aegyptiaca and Luffa acutangula, have been used throughout recent history as scrubbing sponge and this is prepared by removing the skin and pulp from the gourd, and bleaching the fibers. A güiro is a Latin American percussion instrument made from a gourd, maracas are percussion instruments often made from gourds. A sitar is a stringed instrument, parts of which are made from gourds
44.
Joel Sweeney
–
Joel Walker Sweeney, also known as Joe Sweeney, was a musician and early blackface minstrel performer. He is known for popularizing the playing of the banjo, and was the first documented white banjo player. Born to a family in the county of Appomattox, Virginia he claimed to have learned to play the banjo from local African-Americans and is the earliest documented white banjo player. In addition, he is the earliest known person to have played the banjo on stage, aside from his important role in popularizing the instrument, he has often been credited with advancing the physical development of the modern five-string banjo. Whereas the instruments resonating chamber had formerly been constructed from a gourd and he has also been credited with adding the banjos fifth string, which according to legend was for an instrument he created for his niece between 1831 and 1840. He supposedly added the fifth string because he was unhappy with the limited rhythm. In fact, there is no proof that Sweeney introduced either innovation, many people assume Sweeneys fifth string is the drone string—the chanterelle—but if Sweeney did really add a fifth string, it would have been another, lower string. That would provide more melodic and harmonic expression, as the quote suggests, the high-pitched, thumb or drone string is seen on surviving 18th-century four-string banjos, and in banjo illustrations that long pre-date Sweeneys heyday. The fifth string gives the banjo a reentrant tuning, a feature that existed in instruments of the ancient Greeks, until the 1830s, the banjo was played solely by African Americans. A few musicians performed on stage in the Louisiana Banjou style by the middle of the decade, Sweeney began performing with the banjo in the early 1830s. He first performed throughout central Virginia for county court sessions, a few years later he joined a circus and traveled throughout Virginia and North Carolina. By 1839, Sweeney was performing in various venues in New York. His earliest documented use of the banjo on stage was in April 1839 and that same month, he performed alongside James Sanford at the Broadway Circus in New York with a blackface burlesque of The Dying Moors Defence of His Flag called Novel Duetts, Songs, &c. This was accompanied by a Comic Morris Dance by the whole company, according to Billy Whitlock of the Virginia Minstrels, Sweeney gave Whitlock a few banjo lessons around this time. By 1841, Sweeney was remaking the banjo into an instrument for the middle class and his advertisements boasted that he played with scientific touches of perfection. Another raved, Only those who have heard Sweeny know what there is in a banjo. For the next few years, he was the benchmark against whom other banjo players were compared, jenny Get Your Hoe Cake Done and Knock a Nigger Down became two of Sweeneys signature tunes. Sweeney saw success, and by early 1843, he embarked on a European tour that stops in London
45.
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
–
The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of original and reconstructed 19th century buildings in Appomattox County, Virginia. The McLean House was the site of the conference. The park was established August 3,1935, the village was made a national monument in 1940 and a national historical park in 1954. It is located three miles east of Appomattox, Virginia, the location of the Appomattox Station and the new Appomattox Court House. It is in the center of the state about 25 miles east of Lynchburg, the antebellum village started out as Clover Hill named after its oldest existing structure, the Clover Hill Tavern. The village was a stop along the Richmond-Lynchburg stage road. The activity in Clover Hill centered around Clover Hill Tavern, the tavern provided lodging to travelers. Fresh horses for the line were also provided at the stop. It was also the site of meetings and so when Appomattox County was established by an Act on February 8,1845. It was parts of Buckingham, Prince Edward, Charlotte, the jurisdiction took its name from the headwaters that emanate there, the Appomattox River. Early Virginians believe the name Appomattox came from an Indian tribe called Apumetec, from about 1842, Hugh Raine basically owned most of the Clover Hill area. He obtained it from his brother John Raine who defaulted on his loans, later, he sold the property to a Colonel Samuel D. McDearmon. Since his acquisition, it became the county seat and he surveyed 30 acres of the hamlet and he designated 2 acres to be used by the new county to build a courthouse and other government buildings. The courthouse was to be built across the Stage Road from the Clover Hill Tavern, the jail was to be built behind the courthouse. McDearmon divided the land surrounding the courthouse into 1-acre lots. He felt that with Clover Hills new status as a county seat he would find professional people ready and his hopes were later dashed in 1854 as the train depot stopped three miles west in Appomattox, Virginia. The American Civil War put the nails in the coffin. The district once known as Clover Hill and later renamed to Appomattox Court House continued to decline as businesses moved to the area of the Appomattox Station, the village contained 30 acres of the original Pattesons Clover Hill Tavern property of some 200 acres
Play without (help·info) and 
-1458_lg.jpg)
-1419_lg.jpg)
"Banjo". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). 1911.
"
