Traditional Songs

Before technology revolutionised how we hear music—through ipods, phones and online streaming—it altered how that music was made. With the hi-technology equipment available to the music producer today, music, it can be said, is more synthesised than made. Today music instruments are superfluous, none more so than the traditional African music instruments.

Kpanlongo is the most recent of all Ga recreational musical types, an offshoot of Gome, Oge, Kolomashie, and Konkoma. Referred to as "the dance of the youth,” Kpanlongo started during the wake of Ghana’s Independence as a musical type for entertainment in Accra. Kpanlongo is presently performed at life-cycle events, festivals, and political rallies.

Pic source: Ecroaker Although a general belief is that the Gas traditional songs are mostly songs about food, well if the was a history that talked about a certain period when the gas went through a period of severe starvation and later that famine was hooted by a heavy harvest that pushed the hunger and deliver the gas from hunger, just maybe we might understand why there is a need for the celebration of food in abundance. The Homowo festival is one of such festival that the Gas respect and keep sacred, it is celebrated annually with songs of celebration, chants songs and one of most kept the "Akwele Suma".

There was a point in history when Ewes defied all odds and revolted against the rule of Torgbui (King) Agokoli in Notsie.   Torgbui Agorkoli was a ruler of Notsie, a town in southeast Togo. During his rule, the Ewes of Ghana escaped from Notsie to their present land. He ruled the Ewes with an iron fist and had any person who spoke against him put on trial and inevitably found guilty, which meant a death sentence.

The music of the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast is based on some of the oldest musical traditions of West Africa and it includes many traditional and neo-traditional styles which are especially prominent in central Ghana, where it overshadows other important genres such as Ewe Music , Ga music and Dagomba Music . Traditional Akan music is sung in the local language, either Twi or Fanti (the Akan languages). There are two types of traditional ensembles: those which play ritual music, and hence are part of a certain institution, and those which play recreational music without any affiliation. Regardless of the ensemble, the instrumentation is mainly composed of idiophones and membranophones. The main types of Akan drums are the from, the eguankoba and the atumpan. Polyrhythmic structures and call and response are also inherent to Akan traditional music. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the British population introduced popular styles such as Europe...

Wulomei is a traditional folk percussion group formed in 1973 in Accra, Ghana, almost singlehandedly spearheading the revival of Ghanaian folk music along with collaborative cultural shows. The group was formed by Nii Ashitey (ex- Tempos, Police Band, Brigade Band No. 2) and Saka Acquaye a composer and impresario, with three female singers supported by acoustic guitar. Wulomei included three male vocalists . The name "Wulomei" in Ga culture means "chief priests." In his 1971 paper titled Modern Folk Opera in Ghana, Saka Acquaye pointed to the role of the Wulomo (singular) as the chief priest who prayed on behalf of the Ga people. In addition to the role as the chief priest, the Wulomo is the reckoner of the Ga calendar and the trustee of Ga law and custom. It is no coincidence that the Wulomei performers seen here are dressed as chief priests, and the music is laced with allegories and subject matters that preserve Ga folklore and culture. Their sound i...

During the ups and downs of life, there will always be those masterpieces that fully describe what you are feeling at the present moment.