"It would have been fine," he said, "if they wouldn't have chosen 'Siyahamba'!" I asked why he thought that way. He said something to the effect of it being blasphemous for an African song being played on a banjo.
Now, before I continue, I would like to tell another story. I think this will make my mind a little clearer.
A church I used to serve has a partner congregation in Tanzania where they give support in prayer, finance, and other gifts. One of those gifts is that the congregation in the US annually visits the Tanzanian churches, for there are many churches, but one congregation.
My musician friend, Kirsten, who leads the group goes nearly every year. Upon her return, I asked her about the music. "Oh, Sean, I wish you could have heard it!" she exclaimed, "It was so great!"
It turns out that they sing, without accompaniment, both songs from Tanzanian culture and more Western hymns. Apparently, they sang "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," a favorite hymn of hers. There was percussion. Do you think she turned up her nose and said, "It's blasphemous to sing that song with djembe!"? No, she talked about how fun it is and a great way to bring the old hymn some life to people in a very different environment from Joachim Neander, who wrote the hymn.
Now, I know that these are two different people about two different topics. However, why is there excited about the use of native instruments in Africa, but disdain for the use of native instruments in America? Or another way to look at it: Why is it weird to play African music on an organ, but not organ music with a drum and choir?
I think part of being engaging and "relevant" in this day and age may not be getting rid of old music, but making it new again. If your context is guitars and banjos, go ahead and play African music. Honestly, it might not sound good, but try it and see how it works. If your culture is organs, go ahead and play "Siyahamba" on the organ and see how the assembly likes it. If your culture is electric guitars, please don't throw out all the old hymns because they are old. Let's just teach the faith with new some tools.
Would you ever play a song from Africa on a banjo?
4 comments:
Very good points; it's easy to make certain kinds of music "static." The most absurd thing about that fellow's comment is that the banjo originated in Africa! It was eventually assimilated by Colonial America into present form/use in Bluegrass, etc. from when Africans brought it from their culture when they became enslaved.
Juxtaposition of musical styles is always eye opening, attention grabbing. The gift that we receive when visiting a remote rural village in Africa, hearing european hymns with simply voice and drums, is the gift of stripping the music down to its essentials of melody, rhythm, harmony. We hear the church using what it has (voices, drums) and what it has been given (missionary hymns).
Juxtaposition of musical styles or genres in the US is different -- not borne of necessity but by choice. I think that kind of juxtaposition requires care, it works sometimes but not always.
I would love to hear Siyahamba on banjo. At the same time, I've heard some old hymns that didn't seem to work in contemporary arrangements, or at least didn't seem to work in the mix of the rest of the selections for a particular worship service.
Necessity and choice seem to produce different results, in my view.
Maria, I was not aware of the path of the banjo. It is even more curious his strong reaction against it.
K. Levorson, I agree that in the US, stylistic elements are different and that one must take care. I just hope that we move beyond gut reactions to things and see that all (good) music is within the scope of our role and instrumentation should not preclude one form or another. And, yes, I've heard some awful contemporary arrangements of old hymns too, but all to often, "contemporary" musicians are too afraid to even try an olde tyme hymn.
Thank you for your insights, friends.
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