combination of the hands and feet. Music is an
integral part of every aspect of life among African
people. Africans employ music in their everyday
lives whether at work, play, or worship. In most
instances where one finds African music, the drum
is present. The role of the drum is evident because
it is played at various spiritual ceremonies such
as baby naming ceremonies, rites of passage, wed-
dings, enstoolments, and funerals. Furthermore,
the drum is prevalent in spiritual ceremonies that
are designed to invoke the spirit of the ancestors,
appease or appeal to the divinities, or worship god.
The combination of drumming, singing, and
dancing is the major means by which many
African cultures worship or interact with the divine.
These practices are prevalent throughout African
culture. The Yoruba of Nigeria and the Akan of
Ghana, West Africa, provide two such examples. In
the Yoruba Bembe and Akan Akom (spiritual cere-
monies), drummers’, singers’, and dancers’ collec-
tive invoke the spirit of the ancestors, various
deities, or the creator through music, song, and
dance. The use of the drum is also found in African
religious ceremonies, which have persisted in the
African Diaspora. The preceding includes the Rada
and Petro drums, which are essential to the Vodu
(Fon) spiritual system found in Haiti, the Santeria
(Yoruba) and Palo (Congolese) spiritual systems222 Drum, The
Court drummers of the Timi of Ede. By varying the tension of the drum head, the drummers can alter the pitch of the beats to
reproduce the tonal structure of spoken Yoruba in praises for the ruler or his guests.Yoruba. Ede, Southwestern Nigeria.
Source: Werner Forman/Art Resource, New York.