The history of music in Ghana like any other country
started way back in the early ages. Cavemen used drums to communicate with each
other and were later used to in entertainment.
Ghana has a diversity of music ranging from
traditional to this modern era due to its vibrant ethnic groups. There are
about 60 ethnic groups in Ghana including the Fantis, Ashantis, Dagombas, Ewes,
Gas, Nzemas etc. All these groups have their own type music which differs from
each other, bare in mind that the genre music are different but they all have
some common elements or instruments which are being played in almost all songs.
Here, our main focus is on these musical instruments,
their names (i.e. their local names) and importance.
Let’s kick start with a popular instrument known
across all the ethnic groups. GANKOGUI, an Ewe musical instrument but being
played by almost all the ethnic groups in Ghana. It’s a double bell played with
a wooden stick. It is made out forged iron and comprises of a low-pitched bell
and a high-pitched bell. The low-pitched bell is often called the ‘parent bell’
and the high-pitched ‘child bell’. The ‘child bell’ is always permanently bound
together with the ‘parent bell’ with the low-pitched bell below and the
high-pitched placed on top.
The GANKOGUI is the foundation of all Ewe traditional
music. The player must play steadily without error through the whole piece.
Click PLAY to have an audio feel of the GANKOGUI.
