The African aesthetic in music and dance is recreated in the New World in the variety of musical expressions that are found in the United States, the Caribbean and South America. Although they have branched out along different cultural roots Blues, Spirituals, Gospel, Jazz, Salsa, Meringue, Samba, Reggae, Calypso, Bossa Nova, Ska all evolve from a similar aesthetic. Throughout the Americas different cultures have borrowed techniques of musical expression from each other to enrich their own styles. The music that results is uniquely African American in exhibiting some of the characteristics that all music throughout the African Diaspora shares in common. Likewise, one of the interesting aspects of contemporary African music is that it fuses traditional melodic structures and traditional instruments with concepts derived from Jazz, Blues, Salsa, and Rock to create distinct categories of popular music such as Soukous, Highlife, and Rumba. Write short answers, [3-5 sentences] for each of the questions below.
1. What types of musical instruments are typically used in traditional forms of African music?
2. Why is music seen as an expression of community well-being in African cultures?
3. How is dance used as a mode of social expression in African cultures?
4. What are some of the techniques that connect West African musical traditions to Afro-American musical styles? 5. Why are the origins of Afro-American music problematic for musical scholars and historians?
