The Practice

Of 1

Solfeggio
by

Gabriel NOAH

In collaboration

with

Jean Michel LEBAH

Volume 1

©Eveiledit
The Practice
Of

Solfeggio
by

Gabriel NOAH

In collaboration

with

Jean Michel LEBAH

Volume 1

©Eveiledit

2
 All rights reserved for all countries.

3
 To
my beloved

4
 Proofreading

- Dr Jean Claude Turpin ONANA NTSAMA, Professor of Computer

Science in the National School of Public Works. Music teacher and school
promoter.

- Dr Léon Chabuel OBACK, Political scientist, Economist,

Administrator of Networks and Computer Servers, Music Teacher and
Promoter of Artistic Institution in Berlin (Germany).

- Professor Max Félicien LEMANA, Inspector of philosophy at the

delegation of higher Education in the Centre Region, passionate music lover.

- Mr Théodore Edgar NOBIME, Expert in accounting and taxation.

Another passionate music lover.

5
 Prefaced
by
Mrs Justine Christine AVOUZOA,
Educational Inspector in charge of the arts
at the regional delegation for the Centre.

6
 CONTENTS

PREFACE………………………………………………………..…. 7

FOREWORD……………………………………………………….. 9

DISCLAIMER……………………………………………………...10

Lesson 1 WHAT IS MUSIC ……………………………………….12

Lesson 2 SCOPE or STAFF………………………………..............14

Lesson 3 MUSICAL NOTES ……………………………...............17

Lesson 4 NOTE FIGURES……………………….………………...21

Lesson 5 SILENCES………………….……………………………28

Lesson 6 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NOTE FIGURES AND HOLE….…32

Lesson 7 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SILENCE AND REST ……..…..35

Lesson 8 KEYS…………………………………………................ 39

Lesson 9 NOTES ON THE STAFF..……………………................ 43

Lesson 10 BARS AND MEASURES…………………………….. 47

Lesson 11 MEASUREMENT CHIFRING………………………....51

Lesson 12 ALTERATION……………………………………….....55

Lesson 13 THE LINK………………………….…………………...60

Appendix 1 READING EXERCISES………………………….…. 62

Appendix 2 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MUSIC …................76

Appendix 3 MUSIC INSTRUMENTS …………………………….86

7
 Preface
The teaching of the arts has been reinstated in the education system
through curriculum reform. Music education has a prominent place in this.
The teaching of music is therefore effective in the classrooms. Since its
reintroduction into the school curricula, music education has been
established as enrichment to knowledge related to cultural heritage. This
programme of musical arts education provides for the practice of music and
its various compartments, such as reading music, playing musical
instruments, mastering rhythmic and singing.

Two decades have passed and now a publication has come along to
boost the practice of this artistic discipline both in and out of school. It is a
collection of three manuals intended for all learners, amateurs, professionals
and students of high schools and colleges for the observation cycle, volume
1, those of the orientation cycle, volume 2, and the specialisation cycle,
volume 3. This didactic manual is intended for all as a pedagogical guide,
which helps to channel the learning of artistic and cultural disciplines.

The musical concepts presented do not only deal with music in

general. The specificity is that they are adapted to the needs of this culture in
depth. The corporation of teachers who have taken the initiative to produce a
teaching aid based on the art of music, which they adapt to the practices
experienced in the classroom situation, is to be congratulated and
encouraged. The development of this manual is a response to the lack of
pedagogical tools in Artistic and Cultural Education. It is the symbol of a
scientific contribution to the harmonisation of official programmes.

The structure of this collection allows its use at all levels of learning
of music theory and practice. It is adapted to the music curriculum in
schools, both primary and secondary, and even in higher education. The
focus is on the history of music in general, musical notes, the staff, note
figures, silent figures, clefs, notes on the staff, bars and measures, voices. In
effect, these activities introduce learners to the art of music in stages. The
content chosen is in line with the musical art module. In the same way, the
material proposed is that of an initiation to the rules of music. The learner is
then directly involved in the manipulation and mastery of musical
instruments and, in the long term, acquires the ability to produce musical
works.

Justine Christine AVOUZOA

IPR-CENTRE

8
 Foreword

The efficient learning of music implies rigorous work, a requirement

which is at the heart of the conception of this manual. The need to shift the
focus to the intelligible was indeed pressing. This overcoming of the sensory,
characterised by the only transmission on the job and in the street,
according to the Anglo-Saxon principle of "Do and learn", became an
unavoidable requirement. The resulting weakening of the structure and
impoverishment of musical technique is the result of the ignorance of
"artists" who find themselves, as if by magic, endowed with the talent of
musicians overnight, without any cause or learning, let alone prior
preparation.
This restrictive method, which has sometimes proved gratifying,
nevertheless comes up against a lack of theory that is highly detrimental to
the long-term development of art, in that it neutralises the cohesion between
technical and artistic expression and the content of the messages, exposing
young people to the excesses in force in spheres that are often
uncontrollable.
Yet there is nothing healthier than musical art, a powerful source of
concentration that stimulates the intelligence and matures the learner's
reflection. This is undoubtedly the reason why almost all the great men of
this world play at least one musical instrument, if not several.
The behavioural deviations that can be observed around these
marginal 'artists' unfortunately have an intolerable effect on the practice of
the art of music, to which a certain number of these deviations are
arbitrarily attributed, even though they can be observed in all strata of
humanity.
In publishing this first volume for beginners, the ambition is to
present them with the option that will certainly lead to their future mastery
of the musical art, because they will have acquired the basic notions while
preserving their moral values. It will therefore no longer be possible for
them to break away from it in the exercise of this discipline. The lessons are
staggered chronologically, with levels of difficulty to be overcome in
practice, which make it possible to evaluate their degree of assimilation.
Knowledge of music theory is an essential pillar, which is in no way
opposed to the practice to which most learners rush as soon as they enrol in
a music course. It is possible to observe that this eagerness is the result of
simple curiosity, which often imposes the need to surpass oneself.
It is therefore a question of bringing them music theory in the
simplest possible way, and of restoring its high qualities and, by ricochet, its
notoriety, to the art of music.

The author
Gabriel NOAH

9
 Disclaimer

Solfeggio, the process of writing and reading sounds, is the basis of

serious learning in the art of music. It covers two parts:
- The theory aims to explain everything related to the elements
used in the writing and reading of sounds. It then presents their principles
and modes of use. It can only be effective in its application, i.e. in its
practice.
- Practice consists of putting into motion the notions acquired in
theory, in particular by reproducing the rhythm and notes of music through
the use of a musical instrument of any kind. It cannot therefore be
satisfactory without the indispensable theoretical knowledge, hence the
strong complementarity between the two parts.
- The Solfeggio course contains 5 sections, the first of which is the
subject of this book.
This book contains 14 lessons ending with assessments in accordance
with the Competence Based Approach module, which facilitate self-
refreshing by the learner. This process helps the learner to assimilate the
concepts through practice, while at the same time relieving him or her of the
constraint of arduous memorization instead of understanding. Learning in
this form is therefore almost grateful.
In this way, it prepares for the mastery of musical knowledge, the
subject of volumes 2 and 3. The structure of the Lessons is flexible and
conceived in a simple and fluid language level, which facilitates access to
anyone who might find interest in the art of music, as well as to those who,
already practising as musicians, would like to improve or even deepen their
knowledge in this field which is as vast as the world, to paraphrase the
famous Emmanuel Ndjockè Dibango, (Manu Dibango) of late memory, who
said that music is a world without borders.
It has proved appropriate to place in ANNEX 1, exercises that will
help the learner to consolidate his theoretical knowledge, in the section
READING EXERCISES. Then, in APPENDIX 2, under the heading:
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CAMEROON MUSIC, we trace the passage
of the icons of this art. They are favourable landmarks for the emergence of
a virtuous artistic space, because of the didactic value contained in their
creations, to which is added the relevance of their messages.
Besides, it is honest to acknowledge that we have been inspired by
the rich work previously carried out by our elders, whose prolific production
has been a powerful springboard in the establishment and rooting of music
in Africa and in the world, as well as in the creation of this work. May they
find in it our testimony of their greatness and of our gratitude.
To all those who will find the slightest interest in the use of this
manual, which is not only intended for schools and universities but also for
all amateurs and professionals of the musical arts, we wish immense
pleasure and unlimited benefit.
Their satisfaction is our reward.

The author
10
 Lesson 1 :

WHAT IS MUSIC

Expected skills :

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilise resources and master the
different contours of music.

Problem situation

Mamgnio enters into her aunt MBALLA's house and notices that everyone is
moving around humming the words of the music playing in the background.
Without asking the slightest question, she joins in this game of body
movement. To finish, her cousin makes her understand that it is the
Congolese Rhumba that they are humming while dancing. She says she
heard about but wonders how one recognises Rhumba. Because she knows
Cuban Rhumba but does not differentiate between the two types of music,
since both they make her feel happy. You are called upon to explain the
benefits of music to her.

Text: The musical art

Music is the art of sounds, according to the rules of tonality. It can be written
and read as easily as words can be read or written. In order to read music and
to understand this reading, one must know the signs by which sounds are
transcribed and read.

It is important to know from the outset that talking about music immediately
implies singing. This means that the voice is the very first musical
instrument, as everyone can sing. It is therefore only a question of learning
and knowing how to sing, since singing is a combination of the three
fundamental elements of rhythm, melody and harmony, without which we
cannot logically speak of music.

I think:

1- What is it about in the text ?

2- What is music?

3- Identify the signs that allow you to understand the reading of the music.

4- Name the first musical instrument.

5- Name the three basic elements of singing.

11
 Lesson 2 :

SCOPE or STAFF

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilise resources to give the role of
the staff in music.

Problem situation: use a piece of music written on a score (a set of several

staves) to present this problem situation.

Text: What is a staff ?

A staff is a set of five horizontal, parallel and equidistant lines, plus four
intervals called line spaces or interlines.

Thinking:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is the staff ?

3- Identify the signs that help us to understand what a staff is.

4- How do you count the lines and line spaces in the staff?

Document 1: The staff

Sample of a staff

Nb : make the diagrams on the board during the learning activities to make it
easier to handle the resources. Then carry out the learning activity with the
learners.

Document 2: The different figures

It is agreed to count the lines from the bottom to the top of the staff: the first
is therefore the bottom line, and the top line is therefore the fifth, according
to the figures below:

Fig (2) lines

Fig (3) interlines

12
- The space between the lines is called line spacing or interlines.

- Line spaces are also counted from the bottom up.

Thus, the first line spacing is between the first and second line; the second
line spacing is between the second and third line, etc. (As per figures 2 and
3 above)

- The lines and spaces carry the musical notes. It is on them that the signs
used to write the music are placed.

Additional lines above and below the staff.

- The five lines and four spaces of the staff could not support the
transcription of the five lines and four spaces of the staff cannot support the
transcription of the musical scale, the sounds becoming too high or too low,
so a certain number of short lines, called additional, auxiliary or accidental
lines, are placed below and above the five lines, and their number is
unlimited.

accidental lines above the staff

accidental lines under the staff

- The space between the lines is called line spacing.

- Line spaces are also counted from the bottom up.
Thus, the first line spacing is between the first and second line; the second
line spacing is between the second and third line, etc. (As per figures 2 and 3
above)
- The lines and spaces carry the musical notes. It is on them that the signs
used to write the music are placed on them.

- The five lines and four spaces of the staff could not support the
transcription of

The five lines and four spaces of the staff cannot support the transcription of
the musical scale, the sounds becoming too high or too low, so a certain
number of short lines, called additional, auxiliary or accidental lines, are
placed below and above the five lines, and their number is unlimited.

13
I handle :

1- What is the text about?

2- What are the essential elements of the staff?

3- Give the role of the extra lines.

I remember:

A staff is an association of five horizontal, parallel and equidistant lines.

The essential elements of a staff are: the lines, the spaces and the extra lines.

We can therefore agree that a staff is composed of five lines and four spaces.
The position of each note on this staff indicates a HEIGHT of the sound. So
the higher is the note on the staff, the higher is the pitch; the lower is the
note on the staff, the lower is the pitch.

I evaluate my skills

1- Your friend ENYEGUE doubts your ability to draw a staff. Prove him
that he is wrong.

2- Add three accidental lines above and below your staff, then indicate the
number of each line and each space as in the previous examples.
3- What other word can you use to describe an accidental line?

14
 Lesson 3 :

THE MUSICAL NOTES

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilize resources to know the
elements that represent sounds, their utility and their genesis.

Problem situation:

Enyegue has just started his music class and he already wants to sing. He
starts to sing, despite the fact that he doesn't know what he's using to sing.
He needs help. Fortunately, Leslie comes on rescue and gives him the
information he needs.

Hand out 1: What are musical notes?

A musical note is a syllabus or letter that designates sound. It is the musical

notes that produce the melody, the second most important element of a song,
after the rhythm. Musical notes are represented on the staff by signs called
note figures.

Thinking:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is a musical note?

3- What is the use of the musical note in the composition of a song?

4- What does the musical note represent on the staff?

5- What is the importance of the musical note in a song?

Document 2: Notes and the octave……..

- There are only seven note names to express all the pitches of the sound.
These names are as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

UT or C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

- These notes form a series of sounds from low to high, which is called the
ascending series.
called the ascending series.
- A second series can be added to the first, then a third, a fourth series, etc.

15
 EX: G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G

etc. (ascending series)

- By pronouncing these note names in reverse order, which means that we

start from the left to the right, we obtain series of sounds from high to low,
which are called descending series.

G A B C D E F G A B C D E F

(descending series)

- What is the octave?

An octave is the distance between two notes of the same name, belonging to
two neighbouring series.
doh
Example of ascending octaves lah te
fah soh
r ay mes
doh
lah te
fah soh
r ay mes
doh 3rd Octave
te
lah
soh
r ay mes fah
doh 2nd Octave

1st Octave

Each of these three octaves begins from the note ‘doh’.

The example above shows that the note C is located at the beginning of the
first series and at the beginning of the next series, which is close to the first
series and at the beginning of the next series, which is adjacent to the first. It
is therefore the note with the same name, which frames the space between
two neighbouring series, i.e. the first and the second.

Document 3:

The origin of musical notes

The names of the first six notes are as follows

C - D - E - F - G, A.

They are taken from the first syllable of the six stanzas that make up the
hymn to St. John the Baptist as it was sung, the extent of which is as follows

Hymn of Saint John the Baptist

Ut Utqueant laxis

D Resonare fibris

Mi Mira gestorum
16
F Famili tuorum

Sol Solve poluti

La Labii reatum

B Sancta Joanes

Before this creation, the notes were designated by alphabetical characters:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G,

This method was in use before the invention of the syllabic designation
devised as a mnemonic by Guido or Gui, a monk of the Abbey of Pompose.

The above alphabetical notation is still used in the notation systems of the
English and German-speaking countries, with the exception that the seventh
note, ‘te’, which is represented by the letter B in the English-speaking areas,
is represented by the letter H in the German-speaking area.

This notation has also been replaced by syllabic notation in the Portuguese-
speaking countries.

The note "doh" or ‘C’ is the result of a substitution by the Italian DONNI
who, finding the note C called ‘Ut’ dull, replaced it with the first syllable of
his name "D", which he considered more forceful.

I evaluate my skills

1- MBALLA wants to write an ascending octave from the note "E", then a
second descending octave, always starting with the note "E". Show her how
to proceed.

2- Explain to your classmate how the musical notes come about, without
a look in your book.
3- How is the note B written in Anglo-Saxon and German notation?

4- Who is the author of the name ‘doh’, which designates the note originally
called C?

5- Why did he change this name?

17
 LESSON 4 :

THE NOTE FIGURES

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilise resources and master
the different signs that indicate pitches and their durations on the staff.

Problem situation

Leslie enters the practice room and finds her classmates very busy,
concentrating on deciphering the signs on a staff. She would also like to
read. As soon as she receives her score, she realises that she doesn't know
any of the signs and that she has no knowledge of the elements used to
indicate the pitches and durations of the sounds on the staff. What will she
do?

Text: Note figures

Note figures are olive-shaped signs, most of which have a stem. They
indicate the pitches of sounds and their durations. These durations vary from
one figure to another. If a note is below the third line, the stem will be placed
to the right of the olive and point upwards. If the note is above the third line,
the stem will be placed to the left of the olive and point downwards. If the
note is on the third line, the stem can be placed in any of the two ways.

Thinking:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is a note figure?
3- What is the use of a note figure in reading music?
4- Are the durations represented by the note figures the same?

I remember

The note figures are mostly in the form of oval olives, called heads,
and a stem called a hammer.

The eight note figures therefore represent durations and sounds.

They express different pitches depending on their position on the
staff.

Document 2: The number and shape of note figures

18
 There are usually seven note shapes, because the largest, the square
note, is not commonly used. This suggests that it does not exist. But in
reality, there are eight note figures. They are as follows:

1- The square note =

2- The Hole =

3- The Minim =

4- The Crotchet =

5- The quaver =

6- The semi quaver =

7- The semi demi quaver =

8- The semi demi demi quaver

Whatever the position of the staff of the note figure, it keeps its name
and value. Thus, the minim for example, will always be worth two quarter
notes, whether its stem is turned downwards or upwards.
However, it is worth noting the similarity between each of these
figures and the one that follows or precedes it. Thus the eighth note is
nothing other than the figure of the quarter note with the addition of a
crotchet;

The quarter note or the crotchet

The eighth note or quaver
The semi quaver is nothing other than the figure of the eighth note
with two eighth notes instead of one.

The eighth note = Two semi demi quaver

In addition, each note figure is worth double the one before it. Here
are some of the most common ones

I evaluate my skills

1- What form do the note figures take?

2- What is the most commonly used note figure of greatest duration?
3- Indicate the note figure of shortest duration.
4- How many note figures are there?
Are they all commonly used?

19
 Document 3: Crossed-out notes

When several eighth notes, sixteenth notes, triple notes or quadruple

or fourteenth notes are placed next to each other, the brackets can be
replaced by bars that join these notes.
The number of bars should always be equal to the number of quavers
for each note figure.
The number of bars must always be equal to the number of brackets
they replace. Thus there is one bar for eighth notes, two for sixteenth notes,
etc.

Identical values

Example :
Two eighth notes. Three sixteenth notes.

or

Three sixteenth notes Four quadruple notes

or

Different values

One eighth note and 2 sixteenth notes;

One eighth note, one sixteenth note and 2 sixteenth notes

One sixteenth note, one eighth note and one sixteenth note

or

I manipulate :

4- What is the text in document 3 about?

5- What are the essential elements of this document?
6- Justify the number of bars per figure of crossed out notes.

I evaluate my skills
1- Give the name of each of the figures below.
2- Colette thinks that the figures below cannot be written with bars.
Mount

20
 LESSON 5

Silences

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilise resources and to know
the different signs that indicate the interruptions of sounds that occur during
the performance of a song.

Problem situation

The teacher sang the song and during the performance, after the first
two bars, a brief interruption was observed by the students, except for
MBALLA who continued to sing on her own, before starting again. What
happened? What does this interruption mean? Why does it happen?

Text: The silences

It is difficult to start a song and finish it without taking a

breath. Silences are therefore the brief interruptions that occur during the
performance of a piece of music. They are represented on the staff by signs
called silence figures and their duration varies from figure to figure.

I think about it:

1- What does the text refer to?

2- What is a silence?
3- Why do we have to interrupt the song?
4- How can we recognise an interruption in the chant?
5- Are these signs identical ?

Document 1: The number and form of the figures of silence

There are eight figures of silence. Like the note figures, there is one
that is extremely rare. This is the double rest stick, the longest in duration.
They are as follows:

The double rest stick ...............................

1- The Rest ............................................................

2- The Half Rest..................................................

3- The Sigh .........................................................

21
 4- The half sigh .................................................

5- The Quarter Sigh ...........................................

6- The Eighth Sigh .....................................

7- The sixteenth sigh .....................................

Notes:

- Like the note figures, each silence figure is worth double value the
one following it.
- The rest is always placed below the fourth line.
- The half-rest is placed above the third line.
The following is the family of the most common silent figures.

The tree of parts above indicates that all the other silent figures are
fractions of the rest, which is the most common silent figure of greater
duration.

I manipulate :

1- What is the text about?

2- What is a figure of silence?
3- What does it represent?
4- How many figures of silence are there?
5- What is the longest figure of silence?

I evaluate my skills
22
 1- Tell ENYEGUE which note figures to write under the following
figures of silence and place them on the below the following figures of
silence and place them.

Write below the following note figures the silent figures that have the
same value.

23
 LESSON 6

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOLE AND THE OTHER NOTES

Expected skills

From this lesson, the learner will master the relationship between the
round, which is the note figure of highest duration, and the other figures
which are its divisions.

Problem situation

During the performance of a piece of music, Francis encounters

different figures of varying duration in the same song. Embarrassed, he
realises that the duration of these note figures is not the same for him.

Document 2:

5- The semi breve, which represents the longest duration, is therefore

the Hole, which represents the longest duration, is therefore considered as
the unit of value and the other note figures with a lower value, are its
fractions.

Therefore :

The half note or minim is equivalent to a half Hole

Quarter note or crotchet is equivalent to a quarter Hole
The eighth note or quaver is equivalent to an eighth of a hole

The sixteenth note or semi quaver is equivalent to one sixteenth of a

whole note
The triple eighth note or semi demi quaver is equivalent to a thirty-
second note
The quadruple eighth note or semi demi demi quaver is equivalent to
one sixty-fourth of a Hole.

I evaluate my skills

Tell Francis the value of each of the following note figures in relation
to the other note figures.

Minim - Eighth note - Sixteenth note

24
 LESSON 7

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE REST AND THE OTHER SILENCES

Expected skills

From this lesson, the learner will master the relationship between the rest,
which is the figure of silence of greater duration, with the other figures
which are its divisions.

Problem situation

During the performance of a piece of music, Francis encounters different

figures of silence of varying lengths for the same song. He is embarrassed to
realise that the duration of these figures of silence escapes him because he is
unable to establish the relationship between them and the rest. Explain this
relationship to him.

Text: The relationship between the figures of silence and the Rest

We studied that the usual figure of silence with the longest duration is the
rest or rest. Moreover, each figure of silence is worth twice as much as the
one before it. This means that the next figure of silence is the result of
dividing the previous one by two. Therefore, the half-rest is the result of
dividing it by 2, the quarter or crotchet, the same result by 4, the half-
crotchet, the same result by 8, etc. These note figures are therefore the
divisions or fractions of the Rest.

I think about it:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is the value of the figure of silence in relation to the one that
precedes it?
preceding it?
3- How many half-rests are there in the division of the rest by two?
4- From which division of the rest does the sigh result?
5- What is the figure of silence with the shortest duration?

Document 1:

- The figures of silence are arranged in the order indicated, the rest
represents the longest duration and each of the other figures is worth half of
the one that precedes it, and therefore double the one that follows it.

25
Thus, the half-rest is nothing more than the division of the rest by two, just
as :
The sigh results from dividing the rest by four.

The rest is worth: 2 half rests

The half-rest is worth: 2 sighs

The sigh is worth: 2 half-sighs

The half sigh is worth: 2 quarter sighs

A quarter sigh is worth: 2 eighths of a sigh

The eighth sigh is worth: 2 sixteenths of a sigh

- The rest, which represents the longest duration, is therefore considered

As the unit of value and the other figures of silence with a lower value are its
fractions.
Therefore ;
The half-rest is equivalent to a rest divided by 2= ⅟2
The sigh is equivalent to a rest divided by 4 = ¼
The half sigh is equivalent to a rest divided by 8 = ⅛
The quarter sigh equals one rest divided by 16 = ⅟16
The eighth sigh is equivalent to a rest divided by 32 = ⅟32

The sixteenth sigh is equivalent to a rest divided by 64 = ⅟64

I evaluate my skills

1- Tell Colette the number of :

sigh in a half-rest _____________________________

half sigh in a rest _________________________________
half-rests in a rest ________________________________
quarter notes in a rest ______________________________
eighth notes in a half-rest____________________________
half notes in a hole ________________________________
quarter notes in a hole _____________________________
sixteenth notes in a half note__________________________
quarter notes in a half break __________________________
eighth notes in a quarter note _________________________
quarter notes in a quarter note ________________________
half notes in a quarter note ___________________________

2- Complete the examples with a single silent figure:

26
a)- =___________ c) - =____________

b)- = ___________ d) =____________

e)f)

3- Indicate by two figures of silence the equivalent of each figure of silence

silence :

a) - c)-

b) - e) -
4- Write the figure that completes the following sentences.
1) There are _____ sighs in a rest.
2) There are _____ half rests in a rest.
3) There are _____ quarter sighs in a sigh.
4) There are _____ half sighs in a sigh.
5) There are _____ sighs in a half-rest.
6) There are _____ quarter-sighs in a half-rest.
7) There are _____ half sighs in a half-rest.
8) There are _____ quarter sighs in a rest.
9) There are _____ quarter-sighs in a half-sigh.

27
 LESSON 8

KEYS

Expected skills

From this lesson, the learner will master the elements that
allow fixing the notes on the staff, as well as understood the
importance of the musical scale and the relationship between these
elements and the voices.

Problem situation:

Leslie has received the score of a piece of music. With her

knowledge, she thinks she can read it. But she runs into the difficulty
of locating the notes on their pitches and then realises that her
reading is wrong, that she has not taken the key into account. What is
the necessity of the clef in this reading? Why can't Leslie read her
piece of music without knowing the meaning of the clef, she
wonders.

Text: What is the key?

1- A clef is a sign placed at the beginning of the staff, which

determines the pitch of the note.
The clef gives its name to the note placed on the same line.
Thus, we can name all the notes located higher or lower. So it is the
clef that sets the notes on the staff.

2- The treble clef wraps around the second line which

becomes the note G.

Example :
(Fig 1)
a
3- Similarly, the F clef is followed by two dots that are placed
on either side of the fourth line, making it the note F.

Example :
(Fig 2)
b
Using these two reference points, we can find the other notes
that are located on each line and in each line space of both staves.
Below you can see all the notes on the lines and in the spaces.

28
 - Here is a tip to easily learn the notes on the lines and the
lines of both the F and G clefs.

- On the lines of the treble clef : (E-G-B-R-F)

Every Good Boy Refuses Favour

- Between the lines of the treble clef: (F-A-C-E)

Here you have the word FACE

- On the lines of the key of F: (G-B-D-F-A)

Good Boy Deserve Favour Always

- Between the lines of the F key: (A-C-E-G)

All Cows Eat Gras

Thinking:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is the key?
3- What is used to fix the notes on the staff?
4- How many clefs are there?

I remember

- The C or C clef is placed on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th line

of the staff.

Ut3 Ut4
Ut1 Ut2

Fig (1)

The treble clef is always placed on the 2nd line

Clé de Sol sur la 2ème ligne

Fig (2)

Fig (3) Fa 3ème ligne Fa 4ème

ligne

There are three clef figures:

29
 - The F clef is placed either on the 3rd or 4th line.
- In the musical scale, the C clef is used for all sounds.
In the third row, it can be placed between the two keys of G
and F as follows;
The key of G corresponds to the mid and high register.
The F key corresponds to the low register.
Each key gives its name to the note placed on the line it
occupies.

Once the name of a note is known, it is easy to find the name

of the other notes
The name of a note is known, so it is easy to find the names of
the other notes, because they always follow each other in
chronological order, both in descending and ascending order.
Thus, if the note in the fourth line is a D, the note in the first
line is a
The note in the first line below this D is a C and the one
above it is an E.

rd
“C” on the 3 line

The note in the first line, i.e. immediately above this D, is an

E. This position of the notes is derived from the position of the treble
clef on the staff.
The second line with the note G in the name of the clef,
because the clef is placed on it, becomes the reference point for
reading the other notes.

i mi
.
i i
Ré do
Exemple.
a
Fig (4)
By proceeding in the same way, we find the name of each of
the other notes.
It should be remembered that once the series of seven note
names has been exhausted, a second series identical to the first is
started, then a third, etc.

I am evaluating my skills

Draw the clefs G and F on the 4th line, then indicate the note
'A' on each of them.
note 'A' on each, so that TEN can better understand.
30
 I name the following notes in the treble and bass clef.

j j j j j
aj j j j j

31
 LESSON 9

NOTES ON THE SCOPE

Expected skills

At the end of this lesson, the learner will have mobilised the
resources and will be able to orally state the musical notes written on
a staff. This will sanction the beginning of reading music theory.

Problem situation

MBALLA has received from her friend an extract of a song

written on a staff which she does not understand. Knowing that she is
learning music theory in her school, this friend has asked her to help
her read these notes, whose harmonious succession produces a
pleasant melody. How will MBALLA proceed to help her friend?

Text: Reading the musical notes on the staff

We have just learned that it is the clef that fixes the notes on
the staff. The clef usually used to read the notes with the voice is the
G clef, which is always placed on the second line. We say the notes
by performing two types of series, one of which is ascending and can
be followed by several others, while the other is descending and can
also be followed by several others in the same direction.
From the note G on the second line, we can read
The other notes can be read as shown in the staves below,
which illustrate this reading process.

I think about it:

1- What is the text about?

2- What fixes the notes on the staff?
3- How can we identify the notes from this sign?
4- What other elements are needed to read the notes on the
staff?
5- Name three of these elements on a list that must include the
largest and smallest of these signs.
6- What is their common name?

- I remember

32
 -The notes, whatever their figures, are placed on the staff in
the following way:
On the lines

In the spaces between the lines

A note is also placed above the fifth line and one

below the first line.

Above the 5th line

Below the 1st line

You can also write other notes, either below the range or
above it, using the extra lines. The notes are placed on these lines and
in the spaces they form.
By writing the notes on the staff, filling in each line and space
and
each line spacing and using the note below the first line, the
note above the fifth line, and the notes written with extra lines, we
obtain the following series:

Remembering that it is the clefs that fix the names of the

notes on the staff, it is easy to read any melody, provided that you
simply apply the notions learned in the previous lessons.

I evaluate my skills

1- Name the following notes in treble and bass clef.

2- Draw a staff in treble clef and write the following notes

on it.
33
 1) E on a line 6) G in a line space
2) A on a line 7) D on a line space
3) C on one line 8) F on one line
4) B on a line 9) E on a line
5) D on a line 10) G on a line

3- Draw a staff in F clef and write the following notes on it

1) F on a line 6) A on a line space

2) B on one line 7) C on one line
3) D on one line 8) E on one line
4) G on a line 9) G on a line space
5) E on one line 10) C on one line

A- Bars

Expected skills

This lesson will allow the learner to mobilize the resources to master
the tools for
dividing a song into different sections, which constitute the technical
structure or the skeleton of the song and therefore of the musical art.

Problem situation:

So far, ENYEGUE has learned to read the notes aligned on the staff,
in two kinds of series, the first note of each of which, repeated in the upper
or lower series, forms the ascending or descending octave. He lacks,
however, the orderly distribution of this reading, so that he can have cues or
segments, which are essential steps to a harmonious and rhythmic
understanding of the song he is performing. Leslie advises him to divide his
song into parts of equal length in order to master it and sing better.

Text 1: The Bars

Bars are short vertical lines that divide the staff into several
parts as shown in the figure below.

34
 I remember

- A double bar preceded by a colon means that the previously

performed a piece of music previously performed. It is still called a
bar.

Lesson 11

35
 MEASUREMENT ENCRYPTION

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilise resources to

master rhythm, the fundamental object of a song, of which it is the
first element, ranked well before melody and harmony.

Problem situation:

Francis has been invited to a party in a suburb of the city.

When he arrives, the festivities are in full swing, but contrary to what
he expected, the orchestra leading the party has no piano, guitar or
any other instrument than the Djembè and the tam-tam. Yet the
rhythm is very steady, the beats are synchronised and the dancers'
steps follow at such a pace that he quickly forgets the other
instruments. It was then that he remembered the numbers placed next
to the clef on each staff at the beginning of a song, without fully
understanding the relationship between these numbers and the
rhythm of these instruments. MBALLA will explain it to him.

Text: The rhythm

The rhythm is guided by the bar cipher, the fraction

placed next to the clef at the beginning of the staff. It is not necessary
to reproduce it on every staff of a song. This fraction guides the
cadence. It is by this fraction that the number and quality of the note
figures contained in each bar are read. It is the most important
element in reading music theory and varies according to musical
genres and styles. The bar cipher usually guides the percussion
instruments that give rhythm to the song.

I think about it

1- What is the text about?

2- What is meter reading?
3- What guides the rhythm and cadence of a song?
4- Where does the bar code fit in the classification of the
essential elements of a song?
essential elements of a song?
5- Is it possible to produce a song only with percussion
instruments?
5- Is it possible to produce a song only with percussion
instruments?

36
 Fig (1)
I remember

- The reference note figure is the round. We have seen above,

that all the other note figures are fractions of these and fractions of
the rest for the silence figures. It is important to remember this in
order to better understand the principle of bar ciphering. They are
presented as follows:

The half note

The quarter note

The eighth note

The sixteenth note

The triple eighth note

The
quadruple eighth note

- Dividing the round note by 2 gives the quarter note

- Dividing the round by 4, you get the quarter note
- Dividing the round by 8 gives the eighth note
- Dividing the round by 16, we get the sixteenth note.

- From the above, we can obtain the following measure

numbers from the above:

Division of the round by 2 = or ₡

Division of the round by 4 = or C

¾: this means that out of four quarter notes obtained from the
division of the round, the total value of 3 quarter notes is used in each
measure.

¾=3x
37
 More can also be used, for example, which means that

This simply means that 9 quarter notes are used per bar.

___
=

If you use 12 eighth notes per bar, you get the numbering

If you use 6 eighth notes per bar, you get the numbering

The numerator of the fraction therefore indicates the number

of figures used per bar, while the denominator indicates the number
of fractions in the round.

- The letter C indicates the cipher; 4 quarter notes per bar.

- The symbol ₡ indicates the cipher; 2 blanks per bar

I evaluate my skills

Explain to MBALLA the composition of the measures expressed by

the following fractions:

Lesson 12

ALTERATION

Expected skills

This lesson will enable the learner to mobilize resources and

master the different lowering and raising of notes. They will also
master the initial distances between them once they are reduced to
38
 degrees and then how many degrees the most common scale, the
diatonic scale or major scale, contains.

Problem situation:

While reading a piece of music, Francis comes across a new

sign. When he approaches his friend Karelle to find out what it is, she
tells him it's the accidental. But until then, Francis remains pensive.
He doesn't know what the word means. Then the teacher intervenes
to explain to him what an accidental means and what role it plays in
music reading.

Text 1: What you need to know before studying alteration.

To alter is to modify, to change the structure of something by

giving it a different form from the initial one.

- It is important to remember, before starting this Lesson, that

each musical note is called a degree in the scale, which is a
succession of joined notes.

- The unit of measurement for the distance between musical

notes in the diatonic scale, also called the major scale, is called the
tone, which is divided into two semitones: the chromatic semitone
and the diatonic semitone.

- The diatonic semitone is located between two notes with

different names, one of which is the
The diatonic semitone is located between two notes with
different names, one of which is lowered by a flat, in the case of the
second, or raised by a sharp #, in the case of the first.

Example:

- The chromatic semitone is located between two notes of the

same name, one of which is the same name, one of which is raised by
a sharp #.

Example:

Each note takes, according to its place in the enumeration, the

name of degree as mentioned above.
- The tones are therefore between :
39
 The 1st and 2nd degree
The 2nd and 3rd degree
The 4th and 5th degree
The 5th and 6th degree
The 6th and 7th degrees

- The semitones are found between :

The 3rd and 4th degrees

The 7th and 8th degrees (the octave),

- This makes a total of :

5 tones
And
2 semitones
That's another 12 semitones

I think about it:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is alteration?
3- Identify the signs that indicate a change in the note.
4- How many signs of alteration are there?
5- What is the distance between two musical notes called?

Text 2: The accidental

- The accidental is the sign used to modify the note to which it

is applied, by raising it by a semitone or lowering it by a semitone.

To remember

- There are three accidentals:

- The sharp #, which raises the note by a semitone.
- The flat , which lowers the note by a semitone.
The flat, which cancels the effect of the sharp and the flat.
Thus, it lowers a note raised by the sharp and raises a note lowered by the
flat.

40
 - The accidental is placed on the staff in the following positions:

1- In front of the note it modifies and on the same line or in the

same
1- In front of the note it modifies and on the same line or in the
same space as it. Its effect continues on all notes of the same name in the
same bar.

- It is then called an accidental alteration or Accidental.

2- At the beginning of the staff, just after the clef, always
on the same line or in the same line spacing as the note it modifies.
- As long as this accidental alteration remains in the clef,
its effect extends to all notes of the same name, regardless of the notes of the
same name, regardless of the octave in which they are placed.

- It is then called a constitutive alteration.

3- There are also:
1-) The double sharp :#: or X, which raises the note
twice as much as the single sharp.
2-) The double flat, which lowers the note twice as much
as the single flat.

Assessing my skills
Help Leslie draw a staff and place the accidentals below, following
the example in figure 4.

- Flat - Double sharp - Becarres - Double flat - Sharp.

LESSON 13

THE LINKS

Expected skills

From this lesson, the learner will master the principle of the
extension of sounds through the sign called link which connects the sounds.

Problem situation:

41
 Francis wants to extend the duration of the note by linking two
neighbouring note figures that express the same sound neighbouring note
figures that express the same pitch. But he is having difficulty in doing this.
What would you advise him to do?

Text: The link

- The slur is a sign that joins two notes of the same

sound and almost always of the same name, whatever the
of the same name, regardless of their duration.

I'm thinking:

1- What is the text about?

2- What is the liaison?
3- How is it established?
4- Between which types of note figures is it possible?
5- Can it be made between note figures of different values?

- The slur indicates the addition of the value of the second

note to the value of the first. The notes are then said to be tied.

E.g.: The first example expresses a duration equal to one

round and one note.

- The first example expresses a duration equal to one round

and one
quarter note. The second example expresses a duration equal
to two rounds.
- More than two consecutive notes can also be linked
together.

- The linking is essential to obtain durations that could not be

written with the
with the conventional signs.

Assessing my skills

- Using the tied notes, write values equal to :

42
 - five eighth notes ;

- two rounds and three eighth notes;

- three rounds and a quarter note;

- one quarter note, one eighth note and one sixteenth note.

43
 Appendix 1

READING EXERCISES

PATRIOTIC SONG SUNG IN EWONDO

Hymne National de la République du Cameroun en langue Ewondo

ff 2 o G ss J k k
=104
z k k z k kz k k k kz k
a 4 k kz k D
A ka me run o ne nnam be mva mba Te be gee o- su

f z k kz k kz
f
a k k ek z k j ks p ks k z k
o ka maan fe ai fi -- li dzo e A - ne n- 44

f f k kz k k kz k j k kz k kz k kz k kz k kz k
a
 i o ug na a ər n

45
 ( Hymne national du Cameroun en langue Ewondo)

amər n o nə n m bə v mb
Təbəgəə s m n fə ai fil dzoe
Anə l dz b, ets g dz e y yean bɔ
Ndəm ed ai nyi ny z bɔn b e
Ky bɔn bəsə y s amər n
t d gi b g s d , a ələg w fas evɔg
Bɔ n bəsə bə f l n nəm bɔg
b l y n bə və kɔɔ mam məsə

Məsu

(refrain)

Mbəmbə nam w n
Mbəmbə nam d
nə f d d n ai mvɔm dz n
Mbəmbə nam w n
Mbəmbə nam d
Ed ai w ai l g sə

NATIONAL ANTHEM IN BASSA LANGUAGE

Hymne National de la République du Cameroun en langue Ewondo

ff 2 o G ss J k k z
=104
k k z k kz k k k kz k
a 4 k kz k D
o ne nnam be mva mba Te be gee o- su

f z k kz k kz
f
a k k e kz k j ks p ks k z k
o ka maan fe ai fi -- li dzo e A - ne n-

f f k kz k k kz k j k kz k kz k kz k kz k kz k
a 46

lo dzob e tsi - ga dzo e yâ - ye an bo ndem e dinga i e nyin

f 3 3
 Ngéda Knan u bé kédé
Jiibe li ndim
Ndi hanano mapubi mambéyé
Bés
Ndek ni ndek di ga nyodi jiibe il
ndim
Bon bon ba pes likôl to kéndi

47
 mbog
Mabet, makundi homa nyensô
Ba ngwélél, mbégés nigwéhs
We
Ba nkum sôn i wél inyu jôl jôn

LINEBENE (refrain)
Tigil lôn yés, lôn di mbégés
U yé masé ni masoda més,
Di ngwélél we ni nem wonsô
Ni ti nin yés le u témb kunde

MABEN MA YÔNÔS I MA
(deuxième couplet)
U yé son i het basôgôl bés ba
Nôyôl
Wom (u) yé le ba bôg bisu ba bi
Mal sal
Di sal ni ngui le u témb mapubi
Lon Afrik i nlama témb kunde a bon
Ni I ke bisu hikii kel ni nsan
Ni mahonol le ngwélés yon i bon
Ba ga gwés we letee mba ni mba

READING EXERCISE ON THE SCOPE

48
 EASY READING EXERCISE FOR BEGINNERS
Exercice de lecture facile pour débutants
Leon Chabuel OBACK transcription de Gabriel N.

49
a 22 k k k k k k k k k k
EASY READING EXERCISE FOR BEGINNERS

50
 IN THE MOONLIGHT

Au clair de la lune
51
G =100 Anony m e transcrit par Gabriel NOAH

4
EASY READING EXERCISE FOR BEGINNERS

52
 AH WILL I TELL YOU MOTHER

53
A vous dirais-je maman
G Treanscrit par Gabriel NOAH

4
=100
 <Nam e>

a 44 k k k k j J
(2)

k k k k j
J
3 (2)

kkkkkkkk
3
a k k k kkkj
54
55
56
57
 Appendix 2

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MUSIC

The history of music could fill volumes of encyclopaedias if we put

our minds to it. Cameroon's music would produce more, as the country's
legendary cultural diversity is far from being an illusion. With around 250
ethnic groups, Cameroon alone encompasses the entire musical history of
Central Africa and more than half of that of the African continent. And it is
in this context that the country is described as Africa in miniature.
Music as a vehicle of historical knowledge and the art of beauty, a source of
enjoyment, is also considered a carrier of messages and therefore a powerful
tool of communication. In Cameroon, music can be divided into three
periods. These are the ancestral, i.e. pre-colonial, post-colonial and
contemporary eras. These periods each correspond to a particular cultural
context, marked by different events.
58
 The genesis of the national anthem

Let us begin with the fascinating history of the national anthem of

Cameroon. This patriotic song was composed between 1928 and 1929 by the
pupils of the Foulassi teacher training school, which had been set up in 1926
by a pastor. This was the colonial era. A year before the end of their training,
the future laureates composed a rallying song by which they would
recognise themselves and which commemorated their time at the school. The
work was immediately divided into two groups, the first of which, led by
Samuel Minkio Bamba, was responsible for creating the melody, while the
second, led by René JAM Afane, produced the text.

Thereafter, it became a popular song that was hummed all over Cameroon,
so much so that politicians, in this case the Prime Minister André Marie
Mbida, submitted it to the parliamentarians of the time to make it the
national anthem of Cameroon under French colonial administration, through
a bill adopted by the legislative assembly in 1957.

Cameroonian music: An ancestral artistic talent

It should also be noted that Cameroonian artistic talent has been expressed
since ancient times by our ancestors. The repertoire is traditional, with
instruments adapted to this era, where music, as usual, gives rhythm to all
celebrations in various cadences. If elsewhere it announces and sometimes
celebrates war victories, the peaceful Cameroonian people use it to celebrate
both happy and sad events. It is therefore, strictly speaking, a powerful
vehicle for culture as well as for emotional feelings appropriate to the
circumstances it is experiencing.

Interference from colonisation and the blossoming of the culture

It was during the 1950s that it emerged from the shadows to be heard beyond
the national borders. Cameroonian music then began to make a serious
impression in the aftermath of independence, through its main trends:
Esséwè, Ekang, Bikutsi, Tchamassi, Assiko, etc. Although invaded by Afro-
Cuban, West Indian and Nigerian music, these rhythms do not envy other
sounds, notably Congolese, Kenyan and Ivorian, which are making their way
to popularity. The period from the 1960s to the 1980s, i.e. two decades, was
a decisive stage in this trajectory.

Most of the songs mark the country's transition from colonisation to

independence and expose the general disarray of the people in the face of the
horrors of this colonisation. Jubilation and recriminations reflect the return

59
to the freedom snatched from the French colonists for some, while others
feel that it was offered by the master.
It was during this period that titles such as Liberté by Anne Marie NDJIE
and Peuples Africains by TCHANA Pierre were produced in Cameroon. In
Congo Kinshasa, Joseph KABASSELE produced Indépendance Tchatcha,
AYE Africa, Table Ronde, Pierre Claver AKENDENGUE in Gabon
produced Africa non stop, Nkéré and so on, while Myriam MAKEBA waged
a merciless war against the South African apartheid regime and the list is far
from exhaustive.

The simultaneous action of Black African literature

To put this period in context, it is worth mentioning the literary side, which
was punctuated by a strong denunciation of the failings of colonialism.
Young intellectuals grouped together under the current of negro-African
literature took up the fight against colonisation and succeeded in rallying
many supporters to their cause, among them West Indians such as Frantz
Fanon, Lillian Kestelo, Aimé Césaire, who was the deputy mayor of
Martinique, and even Americans such as Langston Huge, Richard Wright
and so on, all of whom had in common the fact that they belonged to the
same root as Africa, whose culture they shared with the locals.

Between emerging diaspora and local artists

The struggle that musical sounds carry is also spread in literature through
school textbooks. In Cameroon, although the dream is not to see Paris or die,
while artists such as Emmanuel NELLE EYOUM and the NEGRO STYL
Orchestra, TALA André Marie, Anne Marie NZIE, MAMA OWANDJA,
MESSI Martin, ELANGA Maurice, Jean BIKOKO Aladin, Elvis
KEMAYO, MONAZANG, Archangelo de MONEKO etc. While some of
them settle down, preferring to animate the local space, many others take off
to conquer other skies provided with logistic means more favourable to
musical production. This is the place to mention the existence of the only
hand-cranked gramophones that could be used in this era for sound
production. This is how the turntables that preserved music were played.
These artists who continue their higher studies in foreign universities, the
cases of Manu DIBANGO, Francis BEBEY, Mike KOUNOU, Pierre
MUKOKO and many others, give proof of the intelligible character of the
musical art which, far from being the activity of school rejects, requires on
the contrary a lot of intelligence.

The immensity of Cameroonian musical wealth

These poets, committed to the conquest of freedom for their people, set the
pace for independence, expressing hope after the widespread frustration of
60
the dominated peoples. Their stance proves that music exercised from an
intellectual point of view is a source of immense wealth. From this aspect, it
can be said that Cameroonian music contributed considerably in this period
to the perpetuation of ancestral cultural values, constantly doomed to
disappear by the colonists, who wanted to assimilate the peoples by
replacing traditional and ancestral cultures with their own. The music thus
expressed political commitment and accompanied the people in their
liberation movement.

Unlike many other countries, Cameroon has an immense wealth of musical

rhythms. Each of its 250 ethnic groups has contributed its own richness to
modern music. In fact, the abundant and varied rhythms transmit their
ancestral heritage over the generations, perpetuating it. The main rhythms
found in Cameroon are as follows

- In the South: Bol, Otoulbaka, Olantsa'a, Enyengue bulu, Ebolo

Adja, Ekamba, etc.

- In the Centre: Ekan, Essani, Ozila, Bikutsi, Assiko, Makounè

Makounè, Ekamba, Koué, Mbala, etc.

- In the East there are also rhythms such as Kombok,

Adouyayé, Lokbalé, etc.

- In the West, there is the Nkpak, ancestor of the Ben-skin popularised by

André Marie Tala, In the West, there is the Nkpak, ancestor of the Ben-skin
popularised by André Marie TALA, the Mangambeu pioneered by Pierre
Didy TCHAKOUNTE and to which the same characteristics as the Nkpak
are attributed, the Tchamassi produced by André Marie TALA and the
Makassi by Sam Fantomas, the Njang, etc.

- In the North and South-West, the Malé, the Ambassy bé, the Njang.

- In the Far North: Gourna, Moujoumri (Moundang), Tchawal

Tchawal, Badack Ngui Tsitsi, Hourlegong (Guiziga).

- In the North: the Ségaïda, the Gouna...

- In the Littoral, contrary to popular belief that

In the Littoral, contrary to popular belief that Makossa is the traditional
Douala dance, it is rather the older Esséwè and Ngosso rhythms that hold
this attribute, in addition to the Ambassy bé, Makossa being only the
modernised version.

- In Adamaoua : The Njang, the Mbala.

61
In any case, the constancy that stems from Cameroonian artistic expression
remains that the history of the country's music has been strongly marked by
the stigma of colonisation and independence, from which it struggles to
distance itself, to express love or anything else. Thus, the lyrical tone is
variously expressed, love on the one hand, pathos on the other. In this
respect, it remains, as well as literature in this period, an expression

The time of glory

It was also the time when Cameroonian artists such as TCHANA Pierre,
Anne Marie NZIE, André Marie TALA, the talented Francis Bebey, the
famous Emmanuel NDJOCKE DIBANGO, EKAMBI Brillant, Charles
LEMBE, Ange EBOGO Emérent, Jean DIKOTO MANDENGUE, the Black
Styles with TOTO Guillaume, Emile KANGUE, NKOTTI François, Axel
Muna the father of Juventus, François Misse Ngoh, Joe Mboule, Penda
Ndalé, Ben Decca, Eko Roosevelt, Mike Kounou, Esso Essomba, Nkodo Si
Tony, Mbarga Soukous, Mekongo Président, etc. All these icons whose
trajectory the youth of Cameroon should follow and to whom they owe
gratitude and well-deserved tributes, in that they constitute their source of
inspiration for the efficient perpetuation of Cameroon's cultural diversity.

In addition, there were Marthe ZAMBO, Sissi Dipoko, before the Zangalewa
with ZE BELLA, the Têtes Brûlées with the percussive bikutsist soloist
Zanzibar, whose real name is EPEME Théodore, closely followed by
Govinal NDJINGA ESSOMBA, K-Tino, Claude NDAM, Henri Dikongue,
Donny Elwood, Charlotte Dipanda, Sali Nyolo, the list is not exhaustive...

It is in music that Cameroon's cultural diversity is most abundantly

expressed, with each ethnic group giving its own rhythm, and each artist
exercising his or her talent to contribute to the radiance, but to rise above the
pyramid, a determination that has been visibly abandoned nowadays.
On the other hand, music remains the cradle of national integration to this
day. Already during its pivotal period, it was the focal point for the
unification of tribes. As such, Cameroonian musicians sang in all languages.
TCHANA Pierre produced songs in Ewondo, while Marthe Zambo, who is
of Bulu origin, sang in Douala.

In the end, it would be risky to attribute an identity or even a specific face to

Cameroonian music, just as it is difficult to retrace its entire history in a
single click, as it contains so many interweavings resulting from the cultural
specificity of each tribe.

However, the linguistic similarities that exist between the ethnic groups
create a cultural rapprochement that is conducive to cohabitation, so that all
Cameroonians recognise themselves in the various rhythms played by all the
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artists, making music, like sport, one of the main cradles of national
integration in Cameroon.

Abandonment to the adventurers

Makossa and Tchamassi, which had taken centre stage in the 1970s and
1980s everywhere, especially in West Africa with EKAMBI Brillant, André
Marie TALA, Sam Fantomas and Manu DIBANGO, had to give way to
other local rhythms and migrate to East Africa, where it overtook the
Kenyan rhythm, The Soukous machine in force at the time and was wrested
from the preponderance on its own soil by Congolese sounds since the end
of the 1980s, when it came back in force with TOTO Guillaume and his
national Makossa team of which he was the indefatigable captain.
Unfortunately, this rhythm was to be eclipsed once again only a decade later
by the Congolese rhythms known as Kwassa Kwassa and Ndombolo,
incarnated by Pépé Kalé and his compatriots. After this other setback, it was
the turn of Bikutsi to take over, unfortunately also abused by another type of
intruder of the musical universe who could only tarnish its scope by their
carelessness punctuated by approximate knowledge, until the beginning of
the 2010 decade. Thus, when asked about Cameroonian music, the famous
guitarist of the West Indian group Kassav replied with these words:
"Cameroonian musicians must become themselves again.

The loss of speed

Cameroonian music has thus surfed on the wave of sporadic successes and
successive ballotages, until today when it has fallen victim to the frivolity of
its artists, themselves victims of their ignorance of the basic notions
favourable to the valorisation and perpetuation of their gifts and natural
heritage. Moreover, more attached to the effects of technology and
computers than to the fundamental work that inspired the icons mentioned
above, they are definitely sinking the rhythms and subsequently
Cameroonian music into the depths of decrepitude. This is the reason for the
struggle led by the production of this manual, which aims to help them
acquire the basic notions required for serious and lasting musical production.

The indifference of the media

It must be acknowledged that the indifference of the Cameroonian media to

culture, and particularly to music, is too busy with political affairs and will
largely contribute to its descent into hell. Indeed, during this long and
interminable period of procrastination, one will search in vain for the
slightest newspaper that highlights the talents of musicians. Those that do
venture out are only superficial and self-serving. Thus, the promotion of

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culture took a blow that was difficult to overcome at that time and has hardly
recovered to the present day.
However, elsewhere there were already magazines intended solely for the
promotion of musical artists which, disregarding financial interests,
emphasised the quality of the artistic productions they disseminated, with the
sole aim of promoting excellence. One example is the magazine called THE
BEST, a London publication that carried the best of everything, regardless of
affiliation. And when some newspapers did it, it was always for a per diem
which is often only available to mediocre people who are generally very
good at getting through the sieves. As a result, Cameroonian music has been
riddled with adventurers who have to plunge it into the current impasse. It is
therefore necessary to recognise that we are at a crossroads and that it is
absolutely essential to rise up if we wish to emerge from this abyss, a task
that does not only challenge musical artists, but above all all the social
components that intervene in the chain of production and distribution of
musical works.

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 Appendix 3

MUSIC INSTRUMENTS

INSTRUMENTS A PERCUSION

65
Le Tam-tam
La cymbale Ancien Tam-tam Baoulé
en Côte D’Ivoire

66

La batterie
 INSTRUMENTS A VENT

L’accord on
La flûte à bec La clarinette
67
 Flute de pan
Cor d’harmonie Basson

La gimbarde
L’harmonica

INSTRUMENTS A CORDES FRAPPEES

La cithare
68
 La contrebasse

INSTRUMENTS A CORDES FROTTEES

La guitare classique
69classique

Le Banjo
 Le Luth

La mandoline

70
Editorialiste et r dacteur en chef de l’Hebdomadaire ‘’Libération P us’’, Gabriel
NOAH : est en même temps le fondateur de l’ ssociation culturelle connue sous le
nom de ‘’ Pépinière des Talents ‘’

71
 Cet artiste pluridimensionnel cumule avec la profession d’enseignant qu’il
exerce depuis la décennie 90 comme professeur des langues française, anglaise et
allemande, celle d’enseignant de l’art musical à laquelle il s’est totalement consacr
depuis le début des années 2000, dans les genres classique et traditionnels africains.
Ses connaissances étendues du solfège et de la guitare classique font de lui
l’un des pionniers contemporains de l’art musical, qu’il transmet avec beaucoup de
succès, autant dans les établissements du Primaire, du Secondaire que du Supérieur,
et enfin dans sa formation, ‘’La Pépinière des Ta ents’’.
C’est donc sans surprise, qu’il met g n reusement le pr sent ouvrage à la
disposition aussi bien des mélomanes, que de ceux qui souhaitent apprendre l’art
musical dans toute l’ tendue de sa profondeur, en sus des établissements scolaires
qui pourront l’utiliser comme support didactique.
La pratique du Solfège ouvre la voie à une large connaissance de l’art
musical, depuis ses plus petits rudiments à ses plus hautes sphères. Or, le vide que
cause la carence d’ouvrages didactiques dans ce domaine paralyse les ambitieux,
ceux les plus nombreux, qui souhaitent acquérir une formation efficiente. ‘’La
Pratique du So fège’’ est donc la réponse à cette préoccupation.

Prix : 3 000 francs cfa

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