Author Question: CD 1:13, Nag Biegu (Ferocious Wild Bull) praises a king of Dagbon in the late 1800s (Naa Abdulai). ... (Read 87 times)

james9437 · **on:** Jul 25, 2018

CD 1:13, Nag Biegu (Ferocious Wild Bull) praises a king of Dagbon in the late 1800s (Naa Abdulai). As they dance to the drumming, people recall the bravery of the king. The piece is in a verse-chorus form (verse = A, chorus = B). In the verse, the vocalist and leading luna drummers praise Naa Abdulai . . .answered and punctuated by booming, single stokes. The drummed chorus phrase is easily heard and identified as a rhythmically structured pattern which keeps returning after the vocalized verses. (See close listening, WOM, p. 88.)
Listen to the recording, refer to the accompanying Close Listening chart, and identify what you hear in the drums at the beginning of the selection and, in elapsed time (minutes: seconds), where the sung verses (A) and choruses (B) occur.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Name and briefly describe the two kinds of drums being played in Nag Biegu CD 1:13.
(See also Figure 3-3, WOM, p. 87).

What will be an ideal response?

juiceman1987 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 25, 2018

Answer to Question 1

(0:00-0:07) the pitches and tones of the drums change
(0:080:20) B drummed chorus
(0:210:57) A sung verse
(0:591:08) B drummed chorus
(1:091:44) A sung verse
(1:451:54) B drummed chorus
(1:552:08) A sung verse to fade

Answer to Question 2

the gungon, a cylindrical drum with a snare (drum skin) on each end
the luna, an hourglass-shaped drum (also with snares on both ends), which the drummer can alter in pitch by squeezing the leather cords strung between its two drum heads.
a shoulder strap holds each kind of drum in position to receive strokes from a curved wooden stick.