Music

Traversing the townships of South Africa invariably lands one into the realm of minibus taxis; both
in their splendour and irritation. A ride in a minibus taxi unravels a fascinating reality. The present paper is an
exposition to the communicative culture prevailing within the sector. It is an extract from a study conducted at two
different locations, Lenyenye and Tembisa (correct spelling and pronunciation is Thembisa), that attempts to
document communicative behavioural patterns that define the South African Black experience. Amongst other
beneficiaries, policy makers and tourists would find the study helpful in corrective planning and in navigating the
interesting landscape of Black South Africa.

This paper presents an exposition to Mmino wa Setšo (indigenous music) as practiced by the Bahananwa of Kgoši Mmalebogo. It does so by briefly describing the major concepts, compositional structure and tonal system peculiar to the music of Bahananwa. Research reveals that this music encodes an indigenous system, which, if understood, will contribute to the broader understanding of world cultures, and provide more insight into processes such as policy formulation and culturally sensitive curriculum designs, particularly in music education.

The paper presents a critical analysis of the state of folklore studies in South Afrika. Perceptions among scholars that South Afrika is lagging behind as far as growing folklore into a fully-fledged academic discipline is concerned should, according to a sampled number of articles critiquing folklore from the Afrikan perspective, be a cause for concern. Periodic and intentional debates within the Southern Afrikan Folklore Society (Safos) about the state of folklore seem to fail in unravelling this problem. I propose that folklore studies, even after domesticating it to become Afrikan Folklore Studies, is not suited for Afrikan scholarship. In this article I will advance reasons to prove this point, and further propose that Afrikan folklore should rather become an overarching philosophical underpinning for folkloric genres.

This paper probes the problems of pedagogy within the South African context. The paper is written against the backdrop of the South African educational system that is at the crossroads regarding its adoption of a participatory form of education (i.e., an educational system that is rooted on egalitarian ideals) or a system of education that is more elitist and has little, if any, to do with the uplifting of the historically marginalized. Since the paper is based on a conceptual analysis of theories of non-formal and/or adult education, the praxis of the argument is informed by philosophers who have written extensively on the subject. Solid and educational policies are also compared in order to formulate conclusions and strategies based on the analysis of educational trends that encourage democratic ideals.

The paper presents a critical analysis of the state of folklore studies in South Afrika. Perceptions among scholars that South Afrika is lagging behind as far as growing folklore into a fully-fledged academic discipline is concerned should, according to a sampled number of articles critiquing folklore from the Afrikan perspective, be a cause for concern. Periodic and intentional debates within the Southern Afrikan Folklore Society (Safos) about the state of folklore seem to fail in unravelling this problem. I propose that folklore studies, even after domesticating it to become Afrikan Folklore Studies, is not suited for Afrikan scholarship. In this article I will advance reasons to prove this point, and further propose that Afrikan folklore should rather become an overarching philosophical underpinning for folkloric genres.

African independent churches (AICs), given their political independence, are emerging as reservoirs for some of the indigenous musical practices that would have otherwise faced extinction. The ability of the AICs to fuse indigenous African culture and Christianity in a give and take fashion has been sustained over the years. During this period, African indigenous music, including acculturated hymns, informed the musical practices and traditions of the AICs. This paper critically analyses the emergent musical traditions within the AICs specifically with the view of tracing the African music connection.

The study of Africa has been a contested terrain for many years. But, in the past half century, the long-held canonical position of the white scholarsupposedly an 'expert' on Africa -(henceforth referred to as the Africanist) has been eroded by the ascension of the African American voice. This development heralded two worldviews insofar as the study of Africa(ns) is concerned. In the last thirty years or so, a third way buttressed by the emergence of the African scholar from Africa has also added to alternative opinion about Africa. For this and other reasons, the conceptions housing the study of Africa(ns) are shrouded in considerable differences of interpretations; hence the purpose of this paper, which is to examine fundamental characteristics of the 'conceptions' housing the study of Africa(ns) as they obtain in the three definitive regions, namely the United Kingdom, the United States of America and South Africa.

Mmino wa setšo has been interpreted from different angles. Most notably, these schools of thought are interpretative, but with a
considerable amount of misrepresentation. As such the efforts of bringing this and similar genres to the centre of scholarship
are undermined. Drawing from interviews, observations and discussions with practitioners of the genre, this article attempts to
proffer a descriptive analysis of mmino wa setšo. Whereas the presentation is in scholarly prose, the wish is to remain honest
to the initial intentions and ideations of the practitioners. Cognisant of the discrepancies that still need to be addressed, this
paper is an attempt at a type of African musicology, which seeks to capture the essence of the abstractions of the practitioners.

This paper is based on the study that examined peculiarities of the indigenous African music. Specifically, the study aimed to highlight the inadequacies of canonised (ethno)musicological methodologies. Participative observations, including dipoledišano (interviews), were used to gather data about indigenous African music over a period of five years. Particular attention was given to explications of the baletši (indigenous practitioners). Considering the baletši's perspective, the study found that the study of African music seems misaligned with indigenous African music practices. Consequently, attendant fabrications usually packaged as theories or philosophies about, and on the phenomenon by some scholars are self-serving, and at worst, moot. These theories seem to be scantily relevant insofar as the advancement of scholarship in African music is concerned. Furthermore, the results show the existence of African ways of conceiving, comprehending and communicating knowledge about indigenous African music. For this and other reasons, it becomes prudent to propose what could be known as Ordinary African Musicology,which would be capable of harnessing the best of both worlds; traditional scholarship and African folkloric epistemologies.

This paper is an attempt to define African musicology as a standalone discipline. The study of indigenous African music is, in the main, assumed to be the competency of ethnomusicology. That ethnomusicologists
are musical anthropologists suggests that they, like anthropologists, labour at presenting the image of the African
to the European as well as the American institutions for a plethora of reasons and purposes. This explains a sense
of reluctance when coming to addressing the need to fashion an alternative discipline designed, to unravel the
intricacies of indigenous African music for the benefit of the African processes of knowledge making. Since the efforts of one Kwabena Nketia fifty years or so ago, African musicology has not succeeded in entrenching itself. By asserting itself, African musicology could stand to benefit the study of African music, let alone its own disciplinary
development into the 21st century.

A disjuncture in the description of persists between practitioners of the genre, deemed custodians of Northern Sotho culture, and some scholars. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and consultation of literature from established scholars, this article presents a descriptive analysis of the dinaka/kiba song-dance performative compound. It does so by looking into the constituent elements of the genre, particularly its attendant nomenclature, instrument playing techniques and the technology used in instrument making. It was found that by investing in unravelling the deep lying philosophical underpinnings, as well as gaining insight into the functions of genre, chiefly embedded within the attendant indigenous languages systems, a contextually sound and accurate description of the genre is possible. This article, therefore, apart from challenging a few misrepresentations surrounding scholarly definitions, seeks to provide a practitioner-informed, analytical and comprehensive definition of dinaka/kiba as a song-dance performative compound.
Keywords: Indigenous

In a typical African village musical genres abound; there is music for healing purposes, music for the church, music for rites of passage, music for entertainment, and so forth. Notwithstanding subtleties only discernible from within, villagers involve themselves in overlapping music-making contexts and experiences. It is common to find an individual subscribing to more than one musical tradition with ease. The fluidity that enables African villagers to move across musical genres suggests a presence of a musico-psycho-motive―perhaps a musical genome awoken by common socialisation processes―thread running across the genres. Observing African responsive behaviour towards rhythm, or even soliciting philosophical vocalisation illuminates this thread. Delving deeper along this line of enquiry, one begins to unravel the incentive(s) that seems to compel the body, and indeed sends the soul into one obit; and back. This paper discusses preliminary findings about this phenomenon, taking into account the philosophical explanations of music participants. Perhaps by following this line of inquiry one will come closer to some understanding, as to why African music has affected, and continues to affect humanity the way it does.

This chapter puts forward an account of the dynamics around the livelihood of individual practitioners: It deals with socio–economic issues, with strategies for the general promotion of a music genre. It investigates issues of identity and other matters pertinent to the study of the genre and its practitioners. The study takes all these issues under the organising argument that once a dipela musical genre is established, then there will be a clear platform where debates on issues pertaining to survival can be launched. In other words, the dipela music genre offers a possible opportunity for transition from pedestrian to professional musicianship, and this is our hypothesis.

Music pedagogy places a premium on written notation, sometimes to the detriment of orality. This, in the main, explains the disjuncture between South African university-based music education and music praxis obtaining within black communities. It is for this reason that most African students coming from an oral tradition background struggle to adjust quickly enough to make a success of their university study periods. Those who eventually succeed often are " over-educated, " thus ending up estranged from their musical communities; or " mis-or over-educated " for most of the local music industry career requirements. This paper aims to appraise the pros and cons of university-based music training in relation to South African musical praxis. It does so through engaging various contemporary qualitative research methodologies largely predicated on the grounded theory framework. Data was collected through interviews with individual black African musicians. The sampling procedure was purposive in that it sought to capture abstractions and explications from predetermined sets of musicians; university-educated on the one hand, and the " self-taughts " on the other. After inductive analysis of data, the study clarifies what seems to shape music skill acquisition in South Africa; scant regard for local music industries and community settings; and the impact of the sudden availability of a multiplicity of alternative sources information and avenues to acquire music knowledge and skills.

In the so-called African millennium, it is perhaps excusable
to pretend that African scholarship has come
of age. Almost 20 years after the seminal article by
Professor Thandika Mkandawire, which proffered a
generational profile of the African scholar, it is perhaps
opportune now to revisit the subject. Following on this
historical masterpiece, the present article seeks to
present a critique of what has become the hallmark of
African scholarship albeit from a narrow South African
perspective. It does so by taking into account some
of the factors (good or bad) responsible for the status
quo. A random sample of academic articles, including
interviews with a number of African scholars, was used
to formulate the argument in this article. A critique of
the human capital in selected South African universities
was also essential in completing a picture of academic
progress or lack thereof. While not undermining the
milestones reached, a kind of introspective reflection
on the state of African scholarship can only aid the
advancement of African knowledge enterprise; hence
this instalment.