Ghana Project On YouTube

My new xylophones

Hello Everyone,

On Sunday afternoon, the xylophone maker-Isaac came to the university to drop off my xylophones. They are 15-keyed instruments tuned pentatonically in G - Pentatonic meaning a five-note scale...think of the black notes on a piano. The resonators are gourds with small holes covered by a thin membrane that vibrates. They have a wonderful sound. It will be great to have some instruments to use for performing and teaching.

I will ship one home and bring one back with me on the plane.

All for now,

Patrick

Good Morning

Hello Everyone,

I have been having trouble with the internet lately so this may be my last post for a while.

I have had an excellent trip with lots of music and new friends. It has been a completely worthwhile experience.

I was able to purchase 3 Kpanlogo drums, 2 Djembes, and 2 xylophones while I was here. Now as long as I can get them all back to Utah we will be able to play traditional African music on real African instruments!

Best to all,

Patrick

Some Pictures

My Master Drummer Teacher, Michael


The Music Department Compound. Tis is where they have choir rehearsals, performances, guitar classes. It is pretty much an all-purpose space. It adds to the sense of community in the department. All the faculty offices are in the buildings surrounding the compound.

An action-packed day in Accra

Greetings All,

Wow! Another incredibly full day! I had a lesson with Aaron and Michael at the university this morning early. Afterward we caught a tro-tro to Accra Centre. A tro-tro is a large van crammed with passengers. I counted 22 in ours. It is a cheap way to get to downtown from the university which is in Legon.

We stopped at the Arts and Crafts Center in Town. The merchants outnumber the customers about 100 to 1, so they are pretty aggressive. It helps to know exactly what you are looking for; otherwise it can be totally overwhelming. Aaron, Michael, and I all worked together to bargain with the vendors. It helped that we had them outnumbered!

We walked to the center of town to purchase some foam, cardboard boxes, and a plastic sack to ship the instruments back to the US. It was so crowded and so busy. I am glad Aaron knew where to go – I would have been totally lost. There was so much to see: the people, the buildings, all the street vendors. Every second was like a new page of an “I-Spy” book with hundreds of things to see.

We bought coconuts from a man on the street who chopped the top off with a machete so we could drink the water from inside.

When we got to the place that sold the boxes – used cardboard boxes – we were swarmed with four or five guys. It took about 10 minutes to find the right sizes for what we needed: three boxes large enough to fit five drums and one xylophone. Then came the bargaining…another ten minutes with the three of us and several of the vendors going back and forth about how much we were going to pay. We finally settled on 85,000 Cedis – a little over $9.00.

Then of course we had to negotiate our way through narrow streets and alleyways with three huge boxes and a huge package of foam to get to the main street for a taxi. Nothing is taken for granted here; even the most basic things take time and effort.

We caught a taxi out of Accra and drove out to the country to stop at Aaron’s house. He lives in a section that is about 30km outside Accra called Frafraha. It is a nice peaceful place – a welcome break after downtown Accra.

Tonight the German student’s studying here from Hanover invited us out to a barbecue at their house. We had a very nice time. They had barbecued kebabs for us. We had drumming and dancing and Aaron performed on the Mbira and sang. I had many discussions with several of the German student’s about American politics. I think they are anxious to know what American’s are thinking right now…Getting to know them has been a real bonus to this trip.

That is all for now,

Best,

Patrick

Fufu and fingers

Hello Everyone,

I am tired tonight! It has been a very busy week.

Michael brought my drums to the university today. I bought three beautifully carved mahogany Kpanlogo drums and 2 djembes. I have rarely seen drums of this quality in the US! My xylophones are supposed to be ready tomorrow…

There was a program today with the German music students from the University in Hanover. They have been here for two weeks studying drumming, dancing, and xylophone. They are music education students, and many are string players, so they have been playing with the university string ensemble along with the Ghanaian students. In addition to African drumming and dance, they performed a German pop song a cappella, and finished with a traditional Irish song.

The song was a setting of the Traditional Irish Blessing: “May the road rise up to meet you…and may God hold you in the palm of his hand until we meet again.” How is that for the power of music to unite cultures – a group of German students singing an Irish blessing in English in Ghana – on St. Patrick’s Day no less!

Today I tried a dish called fufu. We really have nothing like it in the US. It is made with ground cassava and plantains that are mashed together in to a large lump. It is a bit like mashed potatoes except with a much thicker consistency. It came in a big bowl with a very spicy peanut soup. They brought two small containers of water and a pitcher to the table for me to wash my hands in...I asked Aaron where the spoons were and he smiled and said…”No, no, you eat it with your hands –like this”…as he demonstrated the proper technique in the air. It was good – definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me!

My xylophone lesson today went very well. Yesterday it seemed as though my brain was not working, but today both of us enjoyed ourselves quite a lot. I have learned two songs and their variations so Aaron and I are able to play together. I am looking forward to having time to practice this instrument at home.

This afternoon after lunch Michael and worked on the master drumming part to Kpanlogo some more…My hands are sore tonight – so much drumming this week!

I will have a quiet evening tonight…I want to transcribe the video recording of my lessons before tomorrow.

Cheers,

Patrick

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am off this morning to go and practice before the music department program at 10:30. The group of german students will be drumming and dancing, and the university brass band and a few other groups will perform as well.

Last night I saw a Ghanaian political show on TV...They were discussing some of the issues here in Ghana. A major concern is poverty and especially the huge split between the rich and the poor. The figures they gave were: the top 10% of the population make 40% of the income while the bottom 40% make only 7% of the income.

That would seem to make sense from my observations. There are some very big homes close to where I am staying, and I have seen a lot of very nice cars driving around and parked in the hotel parking lot - and yet there are many people here that do not have much at all...

I must confess I had many ideas about what Arica would be like; now that I am here I realize many of our conceptions of Africa are wrong...or at least a little off base.

That is all for now.

Cheers,

Patrick

SSSSSSSSS!!!!

Greetings!

SSSSSSSSS!!!! - this is how you get someones attention here in Ghana. You make a hissing sound. When I fist heard it I thought “wow that is rude,” but everyone does it and it really is not rude at all…just something that you do.

This morning I came to the university and did some research at the reference library here at the music department – also known as the International Center for African Music and Dance. They have a small reference library with many excellent resources on African music including many dissertation and thesis. The library is very small- maybe 20 feet by 30 feet - with a desk for the reference librarian and a large desk for students to study and do research.

Afterwards I visited with some of the German students who are here from Hanover. They are music education majors who have been here for two weeks. They are giving a performance of African dance and drumming tomorrow morning that I am going to attend. Earlier in the week I observed their drumming class, and I have gotten to know a few of them fairly well. They have invited me to a barbecue on Saturday.

Aaron and I had lunch today at the market. I dod not feel too adventuresome so I had my favorite – Wyke – pronounced Why Chi. It is a dish with beans and rice and shredded cassava with noodles and tomato sauce and hot pepper sauce – spicy but very good!

I had a lesson with Aaron this afternoon and later a two-hour lesson with Michael on Kpanlogo. I am starting to fell more comfortable with the master drum parts and am getting the right sounds on the drums. When I leave I hope to have the entire Kpanlogo learned. Aaron and I are working on two tunes and the many variations that go along with those tunes.

There are women and girls who sell small plastic bags of water around campus and on the street. They carry a big aluminum bowl on their heads with the bags of water. It is not expensive – about 2 or 3 cents per bag. It is so hot here that you need to drink water all day long. To open the bag you have to bite off the corner with your teeth. I am still not very good at that part of it, and seem to always squirt water all over the place.

I am meeting many students and faculty here. They have all been very welcoming and gracious hosts to me – especially Aaron and Michael. They have taken good care of me and in the evening they negotiate my taxi fare. Tonight Aaron got the fare down from 15,000 cedis to 10,000 ($1.60 to $1.10).

That is all for now. I am going to study my video recordings of my lessons today to prepare for tomorrow.

Best to all,
Patrick

Highlife

Hello Everyone,

Last night as I was typing the period for "that's all for now" the computer did something funny and logged me off...at that point I gave up and called it a night.

Last night I went and saw a Highlife band perform at a place called the Alliance Francaise with my instructors, Aaron and Michael. They began by playing an African version of the 1960's hit "House of the Rising Sun" and I thought "Oh no this is going to be a long night." But soon after they started playing some more standard Highlife songs. The music was a real blend of pop music, reggae, calypso...really hard to pin it down. It was definitely music for dancing. People were dancing all night long. They also included Paul Simon's "Call me Al" The German students at the show recognized it right away and started dancing like crazy to it! What a small world...

The band played continuously for two hours straight - no breaks. When one song ended the next one began.

My lecture yesterday on Jazz Genesis and Evolution went very well. there were many, many students and faculty there. They seemed very interested and asked quite a few very good questions including: What is Jazz? A very difficult question to answer - I think that will be the topic of my next lecture!

I had lessons on both the Kpanlogo drum and xylophone today. The drumming is coming easier than the xylophone playing. Since my time here is so short I am trying to accomplish as much as I can with my lessons and practicing.

All is well here.

Best

Patrick

Fish Heads, Beans, Yams, Pineapples

Greetings everyone,

I am starting to try some of the local cuisine. Aaron took me to a place to get Yams and beans this afternoon. I opted not to have a fish head with mine, but Aaron did get one with his meal. I had more than I could finish for about 30 cents! The food is really good, but you just have to ignore the fact that it is not like the US in terms of cleanliness.

I practiced xylophone early this morning...It is getting easier each day. Later, my master-drummer instructor Michael invited me to come and observe a class of German college students who are here from Hanover studying African drumming and dance. Afterwards I had a lesson with Aaron on xylophone. I am starting to get the feel for the layout of the keyboard.

We worked on several tunes today. The first was a tune called Zorwatuorime (Zo Wa Toury Meh) music for a dance by girls and boys. It means ...loosely "run, come to meet me". We also worked on a tune I recognized from a CD of Ghanaian xylophone music that I bought a few months ago. It is called Gandayina.

The music for the xylophone is a bit like jazz in that there are certain elements of the music that provide a framework for improvisation. There is no one correct way to play the music. There can be many different variations.

After lunch I had a two-hour lesson with Michael. We worked on the master drum parts to Kpanlogo. The most difficylt thing for me is the transitions from one pattern to the next. In Kpanlogo you have a regular bell pattern(like a cowbell), a rattle, and then 2 different supporting drum patterns and the master drum part. The supporting rhythms do not change, but the master drum part does change.

I tried one of their oranges today. They scrape away most of the peel and then slice the top off . You basically just squeeze the orange and suck out the juice. It was pretty good. I also had pineapple again. I only gagged once...In time I may start to like it; we'll see.

All is fine here. Tonight I am going to work on my lecture for tomorrow and try to obsorb some of the information that I learned today.

Best wishes to all,

Patrick