CREATIVE PROCESSES IN THE FORMATION OF AKAMBA FARM WORK SONGS IN KENYA
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: This article explored the creative processes that relate to the formation of Akamba farm work songs. It was extracted exclusively from the third specific objective of the parent study on the recontextualization of Akamba farm work songs.
Statement of Problem Statement: The decline of communal farming and the reduced performance of farm work songs threaten not only the repertoire but also the compositional skills, approaches and strategies through which the songs were created and sustained. The parent study therefore documented and analyzed the creative processes embedded in the songs.
Methodology: A qualitative design using ethnographic techniques was employed in Machakos Sub County. Data were gathered through interviews, five focused group discussions, observation of 12 mock farm work performances and collection of farm work songs. Fifty nine interviewees were reached through purposive and snowball sampling. Twenty songs were collected and thirteen were selected for analysis. Content analysis, narrative analysis and a music analysis schedule were used to identify compositional and performance processes.
Results of the Study: The findings showed that the creative process was continuous and performance based. Text was manipulated through tonal inflection, extra words, clan and personal names, vocables and spontaneous spoken interjections. Melodic construction relied on call and response, conjunct motion, moderate leaps, imitation, repetition, phrase length variation, recomposition and ornamentation such as kyong’e. Rhythm functioned through recurring motifs, ostinato, tempo control and polyrhythmic interaction between voices and instruments. The lead singer, Ngũi, acted as composer, pitcher, cue giver, singer, instrumentalist and movement leader. Drums, shakers, whistles, the human mouth and farm implements contributed instrumental effects. Layered voices, overlaps, vocal interjections, ululations and instruments created texture and harmonic effects.
Conclusion and Policy Recommendation: The study concluded that Akamba farm work songs were formed through an integrated creative process in which text, melody, rhythm, leadership, instrumentation, movement, texture and harmony were continuously shaped during performance. The study supports documentation of these compositional techniques in written and digital forms so that the repertoire and the creative knowledge behind it remain available to researchers, composers and arrangers.
Keywords: Akamba farm work songs, creative process, improvisation, call and response, rhythm, composition
References
Akuno, E. A. (2000). A conceptual framework for research in music and music education within a cultural context. In International Society for Music
Education: The 18th International Seminar of the Research Commission. University of Utah.
Kisilu, D., & Tromp, L. A. (2018). Proposal and thesis writing. Paulines Publications Africa.
Lewin, K. (1958). Group decision and social change. In E. E. Maccoby, T. M. Newcomb, & E. L. Hartley (Eds.), Readings in social psychology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Mukuna, K. W. (1997). Creative practice in African music: New perspectives in the scrutiny of Africanisms in diaspora. Black Music Research Journal, 17(2), 239. https://doi.org/10.2307/779370
Musungu, G. J. (2010). Elements of cross-cultural music composition: The creation of Esidialo, a Samia marriage suite [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of South Africa.
Mwikali, K. (1990). Barking you’ll be eaten: The wisdom of Kamba literature. Nairobi.
Nketia, J. H. (1964). Traditional and contemporary idioms of African music. Journal of the International Folk Music Council, 16, 34–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/835067
Nzewi, M. (1991). Musical practice and creativity: An African traditional perspective. Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth.
Simon, A. (1986). Musical traditions, Islam and culture identity in the Sudan. In Perspectives on African music. Bayreuth University.
