Wolof music

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A group of musicians at the village of Mbour, playing a kora, a gongoba drum and a guitar.
A group of musicians at the village of Mbour, playing a kora, a gongoba drum and a guitar.

The Wolof are the largest ethnic group in today's Senegal, and have developed a distinctive musical tradition. Wolof music, with the influnce of neighboring Fulani, Tukulor, Serer, Jola, and Malinke cultures, has contributed greatly to popular Senegalese music, and to African music in general.

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[edit] Griot Tradition

Wolof musicians were traditionally drawn from the griots (géwél), or of the blacksmith caste (tëgg), who were masters of drumming. Griots taught history, ethics and religion using their songs and recitations, and were employed by powerful members of the community as praise-singers and historians. Today many modern Wolof musicians still come from Griot families.

After the 19th century conversion of major Wolof kingdoms to Islam, the tagg, or ode song in Wolof, was reused in an Islamic Nasheed tradition—an important integration of pre-Islamic style into the new Muslim paradigm.[1]

Two Sabar drums from Senegal. On the left a Mbung Mbung Tungoné and on the right a Mbung Mbung Bal.
Two Sabar drums from Senegal. On the left a Mbung Mbung Tungoné and on the right a Mbung Mbung Bal.

[edit] Instruments

Wolof folk instruments include the sabar drums, tama and xalam.

The xalam is a very important instrument in Wolof folk music. It is a five-stringed lute. Another important instrument is the sabar, an ensemble of seven different drums, each differently tuned. Other kinds of drums include the Qadiriyyah (a Sufi brotherhood) tabla drums, and the hourglass talking drum called a tama. These drums are the most important part of Senegalese music, because rhythm is the central to the Wolof compositions.

Modern Wolof musicians have incorporated instruments usually associated with the neighboring Fula and Mandinke peoples, including the Fula flute, the balafon, the Maures tabla drums, the kora (a West African harp) and the riiti (a Fulani single-stringed bowed instrument).

[edit] Dance Rhythms

As drumming is central to the most traditional of Wolof music, there have evolved unique dance rhythms. Farwoudiar is a women's dance with a distinct tama accompaniment, in which women celebrate their prospective husbands.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] Famed Wolof Musicians


[edit] References

  1. ^ World Music Central: International Dance Glossary & Dance Forms.