Listening - Spot Test

Identify the music style and and justify your answer.

1. Xhosa Traditional folk music
a. Based on hexatonic scale (use of two fundamental
tones), antiphonal, use of polyrhythms.
b. Melody shifts moves between shifting tonality (from
tone to tone)
c. Bow music (Uhadi or the Umrhube bows)and overtone
singing (umngqokolo) dominant styles. Played by
mainly women.

2. Marabi
a. Includes the US jazz style: use of jazz band ensembles
(pianos, bass, guitar, drums, clarinets, banjos); use fo
jazz harmony seventh chords, improvisatory passages,
bass ostinatos.
3. Mbube
a. Accapella or choral style usually sung in closed
harmony by males. Bass voices dominant. Mbombing a
common feature – swooping harmonies. Antiphonal.
b. Isicathamiya derivative of this style. Slightly faster,
includes dance movements like the name suggest
dancing like a cat.
4. Kwela
a. Structurally – music = short harmonic style over which
a series of motifs/melodies are repeated or varied. 2
ways of doing this: repeating or alternating motifs with
improvisatory passages; or a solo improvised over an
ostinato backing riff. Also incorporates jazz style (blues
 form, use of seventh and substitution chords). Played
by small boys trying to imitate US jazz on cheap flutes.
b. 2 common chord progressions – I-I-IV-V or I-IV-V-I.
Rhythm is more swung than in Marabi and Mbaqanga
c. Employs both African and western principles of music:
cyclicity and functional harmony (chord progressions)
5. Isicathamiya
a. See Mbube. Acapella. Low key and choral harmonies
sung by males in closed harmony. Upper and Middle
parts blend with the Bass. Mbombing style,
accompanied with quick dance movements.
Antiphonal.
6. Hip Hop (Cape Town)
a. Like American Hip Hop, shared sense of suffering
b. Text important – coloured identity expressed through
this medium/idiom.
c. “Rappers mobilized and informed the oppressed” and
songs reflected socio economic challenges faced by
community. Developed as a response to social
injustices hence importance of text
7. Mbaqanga
a. Name = maize porridge, it was the subsistence for
many musicians.
b. Instrumentation included electric guitars, bass drums
and sometimes keyboard and a horn section.
c. Over a basic harmonic scaffold of 4 bars, soloist
alternated with short instrumental riffs or with a
backing chorus in an antiphonal manner.
d. Incorporated 3 part American style of harmonies with
indigenous rhythms and electric guitar. Early bands
 were mainly female. Later included also deep throaty
male groaner who exchanged call amd response lyrics.
Incorporate both African (antiphony, polyrhythms and
lyrics)and Western elements (instruments, vocal 3 part
harmony).
e. Umgqashiyo – fusion of Mbaqanga and isikhwela –
Mahotella Queens, Soul Bros used it - use a mbube
style of vocal arrangement backed by band with bass
guitar providing harmonic framework, with short solos
by guitar reminiscent of maskandi (ukupika style).
8. Maskandi
a. Use of electric guitar and band (bass guitar and drums)
based on traditional Zulu music, incorporates ukupika
guitar style, incorporates imbongi (spoken word).
b. Solo guitar plays short series of motifs or melodies.
9. Cape Malay Music
a. An interesting secular folk song type, of Dutch origin, is
termed the nederlandslied. The nederlandslied shows
the influence of the Arabesque (ornamented) style of
singing. This style is unique in South Africa, Africa and
probably in the world.
b. Incorporates Dutch songs and rudimentary notions of
European harmony – use of instruments as the flute
oboe, horn violin and cello. (“makes Western music
with an Eastern colour”).
c. Historically, the Malay arrived in the Cape as slaves and
were taught to play music for their masters, this
developed into a musical tradition, that is has now
continued and the New Years Festival and Choir
competitions is evidence.
 d. Use of voice and treatment of melody is Eastern
(Islamic) – syllables, text, notes are inserted and rely
heavily on underlying structure of original melody
Arabic maqam. Choir made up of about 80 male
voices.
e. Goema music – name derived from ghoema drum.
Moppies – genuine cape songs with comic intention
f. E.g. Minnat song (love/wedding song) sung by
precentor (Lead ) and choir with a band. Played
harmonic chord progression I –IV-V-I (western
harmony). Harmony of choir comes at the end of
phrases
10. Pick one style and name an artist that was influential in
the development of this style.

Ethno 102 Listening Spot Test

Identify the music style and justify your answer.

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10. Pick one style and name an artist that was influential in the
development of this style.