The Arts · Grade 9 · Musical Structures and Soundscapes · Term 2

Global Musical Traditions: Africa and the Americas

Investigating how geography and history shape the instruments and scales used in music from African and American cultures.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• MU:Cn11.1.HSII
• MU:Re7.2.HSII

About This Topic

Global Musical Traditions: Africa and the Americas guides Grade 9 students to examine how geography and history shape instruments and scales across these regions. African traditions feature instruments like the djembe drum, crafted from wood and goat skin abundant in savannas, and the mbira, with metal tines from traded materials. In the Americas, bamboo flutes from Indigenous groups and steel-string guitars from colonial exchanges produce distinctive scales in music like samba or Andean panpipes. Students connect these elements to local environments and cultural narratives.

This topic supports Ontario's Grade 9 Arts curriculum through standards like MU:Cn11.1.HSII on cultural connections and MU:Re7.2.HSII on responsive analysis. It prompts exploration of key questions: natural materials' role in sounds, music's preservation of community history, and globalization's redefinition of traditions, such as Afrobeat fusions or Latin jazz.

Active learning benefits this topic greatly because students build simple instruments from recyclables, perform rhythms collaboratively, and analyze soundscapes. These experiences make abstract cultural influences concrete, build listening skills through peer feedback, and spark discussions on globalization that deepen empathy and critical analysis.

Key Questions

1. How does the available natural material in a region influence its musical sounds?
2. In what ways does music preserve the history of a community?
3. Analyze how globalization has changed the way we define traditional music in these regions.

Learning Objectives

• Compare the instrumentation and common scales used in traditional African and Indigenous American music with those found in European-influenced American music.
• Analyze how geographical features and historical events, such as trade routes and colonization, influenced the development of specific musical instruments and scales in Africa and the Americas.
• Explain how specific musical pieces from African and American traditions function as oral histories or cultural narratives.
• Evaluate the impact of globalization on the definition and practice of traditional music in selected African and American communities.

Before You Start

Introduction to Musical Elements

Why: Students need a foundational understanding of basic musical concepts like rhythm, melody, and instrumentation to analyze global traditions.

Elements of Music: Timbre and Texture

Why: Understanding timbre (sound color) and texture (how melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined) is essential for analyzing the unique sounds of different musical cultures.

Key Vocabulary

Idiophone	A musical instrument that produces sound by vibrating itself, without the use of strings or membranes. Examples include xylophones and mbiras.
Chordophone	A musical instrument that produces sound from a vibrating string stretched between two points. Guitars and harps are examples.
Aerophone	A musical instrument that produces sound by causing a body of air to vibrate, typically by blowing into it. Flutes and trumpets are aerophones.
Pentatonic Scale	A musical scale with five notes per octave. Many traditional folk music styles from Africa and the Americas utilize pentatonic scales.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

African music relies only on drums and percussion.

What to Teach Instead

African traditions include diverse string, wind, and voice-based instruments like the kora harp. Hands-on station rotations expose students to this variety, while peer performances help them hear and correct oversimplified views through direct comparison.

Common Misconception

Traditional music in these regions has stayed unchanged over time.

What to Teach Instead

Globalization creates hybrids like reggaeton or Afro-Cuban jazz. Remix activities let students blend elements actively, revealing evolution and challenging static ideas through creative experimentation and group reflection.

Common Misconception

Instruments develop solely from available materials, ignoring cultural choices.

What to Teach Instead

Cultures select and adapt materials symbolically, as in mbira tines tuned to spiritual scales. Building instruments in pairs highlights intentional design, fostering discussions that connect geography to deeper historical meanings.

Active Learning Ideas

Stations Rotation: Instrument Materials Stations

Prepare four stations with videos and samples of African drums, mbiras, American flutes, and guitars. Groups rotate every 10 minutes to observe materials, play recordings, and note how geography influences construction and sound. Students sketch findings and discuss cultural ties.

45 min·Small Groups

Pairs: Scale Listening Comparison

Provide audio clips of pentatonic scales from African griot music and American folk traditions alongside Western major scales. Pairs chart differences in intervals, link to regional histories, and improvise short melodies. Share one insight per pair with the class.

30 min·Pairs

Small Groups: History Song Analysis

Assign songs like West African griot epics or Indigenous American storytelling chants. Groups research lyrics' historical context, map preservation elements, and perform excerpts. Conclude with a class timeline of musical histories.

40 min·Small Groups

Whole Class: Globalization Remix Challenge

Play fusion tracks like Fela Kuti's Afrobeat or Buena Vista Social Club. Students brainstorm modern influences, then create and record a short group remix using classroom percussion and apps. Present and vote on most innovative blends.

50 min·Small Groups

Real-World Connections

• Musicologists specializing in ethnomusicology research the origins and evolution of musical traditions in regions like West Africa or the Andes, often traveling to document performances and interview musicians.
• Instrument makers in North America might study historical designs of Indigenous flutes or African percussion to recreate authentic sounds for film scores or contemporary ensembles.
• Cultural heritage organizations work to preserve and promote traditional music and dance forms from communities in Brazil or Nigeria, organizing festivals and educational programs.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with images of two instruments, one from Africa and one from the Americas (e.g., a kora and a charango). Ask them to identify one material used to construct each instrument and hypothesize how the region's geography might have influenced its availability.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'How might a song passed down orally through generations in a community serve as a form of historical record?' Facilitate a brief class discussion, encouraging students to connect musical elements to storytelling and memory.

Quick Check

Display a short audio clip of a modern fusion genre (e.g., Afro-Cuban jazz). Ask students to write down one traditional element they hear and one element that suggests globalization or external influence.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does geography shape musical instruments in Africa and the Americas?

Geography provides key materials: African savannas yield wood and skins for djembes, while Amazon bamboo forms flutes. Trade routes brought metals for mbiras and strings for guitars. Students map these links to see how environments dictate timbre and scales, building geographic literacy alongside musical analysis.

How can active learning help students grasp global musical traditions?

Active approaches like constructing instruments from recyclables and performing cultural rhythms engage multiple senses, making geography-history connections memorable. Collaborative remixes of traditional scales with modern beats reveal globalization dynamically. Peer feedback during stations refines listening skills, while these methods boost retention and cultural empathy over passive lectures.

In what ways does music preserve community history in these regions?

Griot traditions in Africa orally transmit epics via kora songs, while Andean sikuri ensembles recount Inca resistance. In the Americas, blues evolved from enslaved narratives. Analysis activities with lyrics and performances help students identify these threads, connecting music to identity and prompting reflective journals on preservation.

How has globalization redefined traditional music from Africa and the Americas?

Fusion genres like Afrobeat mix highlife with jazz, and salsa blends Cuban son with New York mambo. Digital sharing accelerates changes. Remix projects let students explore these shifts hands-on, debating authenticity versus innovation, which aligns with curriculum standards on cultural evolution.