" That's the amazing thing about music: there's a song for every emotion. Can you imagine a world with no music? It would suck." Harry Styles
The traditional Gĩkũyũ life was full of music and dance. There was a song and dance for every season. There were dances for women, men, young men basically every age group. My father who is about 70 something (He is not sure although his national ID has a date) tells me that as late as 1960's they still held dances and he shows me the specific spots they were held.Due to the spread of christianity and subsuquent cultural erosion these songs and dances are extinct.
The Music and dance comprised of
- Vocal techniques
- Instruments e.g Wandindi, kiigamba, tuthanju, karing'aring'a, Gicandi, Njingiri, coro, rũhĩa,ndarama,
- Dance patterns & Costumes e.g hang'i, mũthuru, mũgathĩ, gicuthĩ, kamwengũe. e.t.c
Among the Gĩkũyũ, singing prevails over dance and instruments. The music can be classified as;
Traditional Folk: This music centres on events and matters that are of common interest and concern to the members of the Agĩkũyũ community. The music deals with· everyday life activities and all matters relating to the Agĩkũyũ cultural practices. This type of music is closely integrated with traditional institutions, ceremonies, rituals and many other community events. This Included hĩs Inclũded Kĩbaata, gĩtĩro, Mũgoĩyo, Mũthuũ, Mũthũngũcĩ, Ndumo, Ngũcũ, Kĩbũĩya, Wakarĩrũ, Mũũmbũro, Marobo, Ndũgo, Gĩcũkĩa, Kĩbũĩya.Mũcũng'wa
Neo Traditional: The music adapt, re-arrange and reinterpret old traditional songs and melodies to give them new meaning and relevance. The tunes of this type of music are in gĩkũyũ but make use of both the traditional and Western musical instruments. They also incorporate dance
styles from the Western music. These include Muthirigu, Gicamba, Kaari, and Mwomboko which evolved during the colonial period.Mwomboko was introduced around 1937 by soldiers who came from the war. They tried to incorporate dance elements of the waltz and Scottish dances.For more on Mwoboko visit http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/7484
Contemporary: This music includes various songs and dances which result from the fusion of traditional Gĩkũyũ; music and European music and dance elements. It shares many characteristics of Western popular music beginning with the advent of recording technology and the development of recording industry.
Some of this music is played in night clubs and places of entertainment, hymns drawn from Western music and then translated in the Gĩkũyũ language, Christian sacred folk music, and art music.
The following paragraph is from Ngugi wa Thiongo's The River Between, where, after several years at a Protestant institution, Waiyaki returns temporarily to Kameno apparently unbaptized and desiring to participate in the annual circumcision ritual with other boys of his age. The uninhibited behaviour of the participants in the accompanying festival scandalizes the youth. Ngugi describes their conduct graphically, particularly with regard to a nocturnal communal dance:
"Everyone went into a frenzy of excitement. Old and young, women and children, all were there losing themselves in the magic motion of the dance. Men shrieked and shouted and jumped into the air as they went round in a circle ... Women, stripped to the waist, with their thin breasts flapping on their chests, went round and round the big fire, swinging their hips and contorting their bodies in all sorts of provocative ways, but always keeping the rhythm. They were free. Age and youth had become reconciled for this one night. And you could sing about anything and talk of the hidden parts of men and women without feeling that you had violated the otherwise strong social code that governed people's relationships, especially the relationship between young and old, man and woman."From the excerpt we can see the value of song and dance in traditional Gĩkũyũ culture.
I will be posting details of who sang and when and if possible the lyrics of various gĩkũyũ songs.. Keep reading and comment!
