merriam songs of a rada community in trinidad

7/27/2019 Merriam Songs of a Rada Community in Trinidad

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Songs of a Rada Community in Trinidad

Author(s): Alan P. MerriamSource: Anthropos, Bd. 51, H. 1./2. (1956), pp. 157-174Published by: Anthropos InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40451103 .

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Songs of a Rada Communityn TrinidadBy Alan P. Merriam,with he assistance f Sara WhineryandB. G,Fred *

Contents :1. StructuralharacteristicsfRada songs2. ComparisonfRada withotherNew WorldNegro nd Africanongs3. ConclusionThe songs on whichthe following tudyis based wererecordedbyMr.Andrew Carr in Port-of-Spain,rinidad,n 1953,as partof a generalstudyof a Rada cultgroup.This particular roupwas founded y AbojeviZahwenuwhowas born n Hweda in Dahomeyabout 1800 and who came

as an immigranto Trinidadabout 1855.A fewyearsafterhis arrivalheestablisheda compound n the northeasternornerof Port-of-Spainndnamedit afterhis ownAfrican atron, he deityDangbwe.The compoundhas persistedn timeand is stilla center fDahomeanreligious elief ndpractice lthough heseconceptshave beensyncretized ithChristian elief"so that the African odshave withfewexceptions heirChristianaintlycounterpartsnd are so regardedn thisdual aspect." In the system hereis a Creator, ada Segbo, he SupremeBeing forDahomeanswho worshipthe Earth pantheonor Sakpata groupof gods, as well as a pantheonofAfrican ietiesmainlyof the Earth and Thundergroups.Manifestationfthe deitiestakesplace throughhemedium fthepossesseddancer, nd aregular alendarof ceremonialwithAfricannames is carriedout both ona seasonal and a non-seasonal asis. Religiouspracticionersncludeamongothers, hehubono,rhighpriest, hevodunsi,hewife fthegod- a dancerwho enters ntoa stateofpossession y thedeity and thehuto rfatherof thedrums.Chiefmusical nstrumentssed includethedrums,which reemployedn setsofthree ndwhich re consecratednd have sponsors ndspecialnames maracas smallround alabashesfilledwith eedsand fitted* Thetranscriptionf he hirty-oneongs,omprisingr.Carr's total ollection,was carried utbyMissWhineryandMr.Fred, under hesupervisionftheauthor.The preliminarynalysiswas also thework f the twoassistants the final nalysisand comparative ata were ssembledn thepresent orm ytheauthor fter arefulchecking f the original ranscriptionsnd analysis.


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 159A comparison f the initialand highest onesrevealssome internalupwardmelodicmovementn the songs,but this is not stronglymarked,[n eight ongsthebeginningnd highest onesare identical in twogroups3ffour ongsthe differences but two and three emitones espectively.nfive ongsthe highesttone lies four semitones bove the beginning one,and in seven songs five semitones bove. One song showsa differencefsight emitones,nother fnine emitonesthe most trikingnternal pwardmovements foundn Song17 n which hehighestone sfourteenemitonesibovethebeginningone.The initial nd lowest ones re equal in Song17,butotherwisehedifferences at least sevensemitones.n other ongs, helowest onemaybe anywhere rom even (Song1) to twenty-twoSong18)semitoneselow thebeginningone. n the argestnumber fsongs, leven,theowestone san octavebelow hebeginningone. hese nternalmovements,

centeringbout the octavedrop, re relatively uite sharp.The ending,ndhighestones reequal in Song12 in theremaininghirtyongs hehighesttonerangesfrom wo (Song 19) to fourteenSong5) semitones bove thefinal.Thus the highest one is rather haracteristicallyharply bove theending onewiththegreatest umber fsongs howing hedifferencefanoctave. Special attentionmay here be called to Song 12 in whichthebeginningone is the same as the endingtone,and both are the same asthehighestone.Thuswithin hesongall melodicmovementonsists fdropandrisebetween hebeginningnd ending. he lowest one s thesameas thefinal one n twosongs Songs5,8) but otherwiseallsfrom neto tensemi-tonesbelow t. In sevensongs t is eight emitones elow in six songs,five.Of 1,834ascendingntervals heminor hird s in greatest roportion(42.5%), followed y themajorsecond 25 %), themajorthird 12 %), theperfect ourth10.5%), the perfect ifth4.2 %) and the augmented ifth(2.5 %). The minor econd,augmented ourth,majorsixth,minor eventh,majorseventh, ctave and majorninthtogether ccountforbut 2.3 % ofthe total. In thisusage of thirteen indsof intervals scending, he Radasongs eem omewhat nusual inmost onggroups ewerypes reemployed.Ofa totalof2,126descendingntervals,heminor hird ccountsfor37 %,themajorsecond25.5 %, themajorthird nd perfect ourth ach 15.3%,theperfect ifth .6 %, theminor econd1.5 %, and the diminished ifth,majorsixthand minor eventh ombined ut 1.8 %.In the total of 3,960 ascending nd descendingntervals, he minorthird ppearsmostoften39.6%), followed ythemajor econd 25.3%), themajorthird nd perfect ourth14.3% each),theperfect ifth3.9 %), andthe augmented ifth1.5 %). The minor econd,augmented ourth,majorsixth,minor eventh,major eventh,ctave ndmajorninth ombinedccountfor nly1.1 % of thetotal.The use ofminor hirdsn theRada songsrepre-sents n unusually ighproportionfthetotal ntervals.n most onggroupsthe major secondis mostfrequentlysed indeed, n onlytwo groupsofsones the Gee cultmusicofBahia,Brazil6,and theflute ongs ftheBashi

6 Ibid., pp. 146-48.


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.60 Alan P. Merriam Anthropos1. 195G theeastern elgianCongo ,areminor hirds ound ngreatest roportionso far as is knownto the present uthor.53.7% ofthetotal ntervalsredescending, hile 6.3 % areascending,in apparently airly ormaldistribution. arrow ntervals,hat s, thoseof minor hirdor less, accountfor66.1 % ofthe ascending nd descendingntervals ombined mediumntervals,hat s, themajorthird, or14.3%,md wide intervals,hose arger hana majorthird, or19.6%. This distri-Dution eemsalso to be fairlynormal.All songsuse wide as well as narrowntervals, lthough t least onesong Song8) uses theperfect ourths its widest nterval thewidest kipls fourteen emitones scendingfound n Song 24. Wide skips are morefrequentlyound n descendinghan n ascendingntervals,which eemstobe a reversal f the usual patternfound n African-derivedongs.

The repetitivemonotone four rmore onsecutiveepetitionsf thesamepitch appears nnineof he hirtynesongs itsstructuralmportanceseems o be greatestn Songs4, 20,21 and 26. Thisparticularharacteristicdoes not seem to be strongly epresentedn the Rada songsas a group.Twenty-one ifferentntervalpatterns re found n the Rada songs,ofwhichthemost mportantre patterns fthirds, ound n twenty-eightof he ongs.Ofthesepatternshemostmportantsthetriadic plitfifthf8,which ppears n fourteenongs, ollowed ypendular hirdsmfrfn thirteensongs, riadic plit fifthsmf n twelve ongs, riadic plitfifthsmr n ninesongs,pendular hirdsmrfrlso in ninesongs, nd triadic plitfifths r neightsongs. Otherpatternsof thirds ncludependularthirdsMrfr,Mfrf,linearthirds ffnd rrr, riadic plitfifthsimr and dimf,and interlockedthirds the importance f these atterpatternss minimal.Six differentatterns f fourthsre found, ppearingn ninedifferentsongs.Fourths fappearin four ongs,fourthsnterlocked in three ongs,fourths rf lso in three ongs, ourthsf n twosongs, nd fourthsrfrndlinearff n one song each.7 Alan P. Merriam,The Bashi Muliziand Its Music An End-Blown lute

-f hP R^lHm on^o. (forthcomingn the Journal fAmerican olklore).8 The various nterval atternsre indicated s follows The triadic plitfiftris a patternf hirdsn which he ntervalf fifthsbrokennto wo uccessive elodi(thirds,s for xample, hethree onesC G. In thispattern o interveningotema)be present thusC F G doesnotconstitute splitfifthattern. he splitfifthma}be dim diminished), (major), rm (minor),ndeither (falling)rr (rising). inea:thirds re thosemelodic atternsnwhich hree rmore hirds re sung uccessivelymovingn one direction. hus C GB wouldbe notedas linearthirds, rr risingrising,ising), hile G C wouldbenoted s linear hirds,fffalling,alling, alling)Interlockedhirdsmaybe illustratedythetonesC D F. In this asethedesignatioiis interlockedhirds, ,thepatternllustratedy /vx. Pendular hirdsrepattern:inwhich hirds ise nd fall uccessively ithout eingbroken yan intervening

oneThusC C is noted s pendularhirds, ,rfr,nd llustrateds :/'/. Pndulathirdsmaybe eitherM orm,frf,rrfr. onger atternsf he ame ype realsonotedandpatterns ffourthsnd fifthsretreated imilarly here resentsee Kolinskiop. cit.,pp.498-501).


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 161Patterns f fifthsre rare n the Rada group, ppearing n onlyfoursongs.Fifthsrfappear in three ongs,fifths r n one song.In three ongs 12,20, 25) noneoftheconventional atterns fthirds,fourths r fifthsppear. In Songs 12 and 25 this is reflectedn the highnumber fmajorsecondsused in comparison o thirds, ourths nd fifthsthe differentiations not so clear-cut n Song 20. Special attention houldbe called to Song 15 in whichan unusually argenumber f fourkindsoftriadic plitfifthss employed correlation iththeuse ofmajorand minorthirds s hereveryhigh.Song 21 also presents n unusual aspect in therelativelyargenumber fpatterns f fourths sed fourdifferentypes reemployednd thisparticularntervalhas considerabletructuralmportancein themelodic ine.Whilepatterns f thirdsmaybe considered haracteristicf the Rada

songs,tmust enoted hat n most asesthey renotofparamountmportancein any one song.For example,while Song 28 uses fourdifferentatternsof thirds, hesepatterns ppear only threeor fourtimes, nd such usageof thirdpatternsmay be comparedwith othermusicalgroups n whichindividualongs requentlyremadeup almost ntirelyfpatterns fthirds .Sincepatterns fthirds o appear n 90 % of thesongs,however,heymustbe consideredharacteristic.Twenty-fivef the thirty-oneongsshowa basic formal tructurefAA'A" etc.,thusemphasizing theme nd variations tructuren which hevariations o notdiffermarkedly rom he nitial heme. n almost ll cases,however, ny singleunit of this structure an be furtherubdivided ntoan A theme ungby the leaderand a B theme ungby the chorus.Thus,depending pon the unit selectedas a basis foranalysis, he songsmightbe said to have an ABA'B'A"B" etc. structure ather han theAA'A". Inthiscase,however,he eader'sphrase nd that ofthechorus re consideredas a singleunitwiththeunderstandinghatthismight e divided nd evensubdivided. tthe ametime, heRada songs how rathermore omplicatedinternaltructuren somecases thanthosewhichmight e consideredmoreusual nAfrican-derivedusicoftheNewWorld.For example,whileSong3is basically f theAA'A" varietywith achA divisiblento ab), thefollowingpattern ppearsat onepoint n thesong (ab) (a'b') (b"b) (a'b') etc. In otherwords, n extra ub-phrases added at thisonepoint, b"b). In Song6 thesubdivisionsA(aaba') ; inSong12,A(ababcb) inSong17A(abcd) inSong21A(abcdedcd) and in Song 30, A(abcbdb). Song4 is introduced y a morecomplicatedtructure, AB,which s thenrepeated hroughouttsduration.In thiscase thesubdivisionmaybe madeon thefollowingasis,theArabicnumeralsndicating he numberof measuresforeach sub-phrase A(albl)A(albl) B(c5bl).Songs 7, 11 and 22 use an AB pattern, he first wo employinghesub-patternA(ab) B(cb), thethird,A(abab) B(cb). Finally,Song14 cannotbe satisfactorilyrokendown ntosmall,repeatedunits, hephrasepattern

9Merriam,Bashi Mulizi . . op. cit.Anthropos1. 1956 ll


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162 Alan P. Merrtam Antlu'opos 51. ])f>Gorganized s: ABCDEB'CT)'B"B'C' In thiscase, it shouldalso be pointedout that the eaderand chorusnterchange hraseson occasion, structuralfactornot frequentlyound n NewWorldNegromusic ofthe eader-chorusvariety. n one song, Song 19, the normalphrasefor the leader is fourmeasures n duration however, e introduces he songwitheightbars ofmaterial, he first ourof which re laterrepeated, helast four,not.In summary,hen, tmaybe safely tatedthattheAA'A" etc.patternis most characteristicf the Rada songs,witheach phrasedivisible ntosub-phrases. hisparticular indofpatternings characteristicfmostNewWorldNegromusic.At the sametime, heinternal ub-phrseonstructionis somewhatmorecomplicated han that usuallyencountered.Characteristicrnamentationf the Rada songs ncludesportamento,which s heard in almostall the songsand which s used eitherrisingorfalling r both,therising ttack and thefalling eleasewhich lso occur nalmostall thesongs. n Songs15 and 28, a falling ttack, n unusualorna-mentaldeviceis used. The dip, or "doubleportamento",n whicha pitchis established, llowedto slide downward orvariabledistance, nd thenreturnedo its original requency,s found n fivesongs, n each ofwhichit is frequentlyepeated.Finally,the bend,a less markedversionof thedip, s used in three ongs.Boththe eaderand thechorus se thesevarioustypesof ornamentation,ll of which remorecharacteristicfAfrican ndAfrican-derivedorms han of Westernforms, he leader usingthe risingattackmore thanthe chorus.Although ot actuallyan ornamental evicein the strict ense of theword, n severalsongseitheror boththe leaderand chorus ing lmostwithout ctually stablishing series ffirm itchesitmayalmostbe said that n suchsongs continual ortamentos in effect.This device, f it may be called such,appears n otherNew WorldNegrosongs nd deserves heattention fthemusic pecialist ince tcouldpossiblyproveto be a specialtypeofsinging, eserved or pecialsongsor used toindicate pecialstatesoffeelingn connection ithceremonial. heseare,ofcourse,merely uggestions,ut sincetheeffecteemsto be usedby singersin manyNew WorldNegrogroups, nd stillto be restrictedn the sensethat t is not employedn all songsofany one group o far

as is known othe presentwriter,t would seem to be a phenomenon orfurthertudy.Twenty-twofthe thirty-oneada songsuse sometypeof thepentamode10,ive setheheptatonic,ndfourhehexatonic. f hepenta tructures,

10Determinationf modal tructures baseduponKolinski's systemfanalysis(Kolinski, op.cit.,pp.491-93). rieflyxplained,his ystem ests ponthefunctiona:relationshipfthetonesused,ratherhan olely ponthepresencefa certain umbeiof tones.Followingheanalysis f thesong n question, tonalcenters dterminebyactualduration,ndthis one,with hose therswhich ppear n thesong,s placeupontheharmoniccaleofsevenfifthsangingrom toB, andthe

modedterminebythenumber ffifthsncompassedythevarious onesof thesong. n those ongiinwhich hetones ncompassessthan evenfifthsnthecycle, hemode s transposeto C as a matter fconveniencef,and in order o standardizehenotation. husfor xample etussuppose hat he onesCD F GA (ontheharmoniccale,F CGD A)


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 1G3three ongs sethepentado butwith ewer hanfive ones ctually ppearing,thusgiving structuref4 : 5 ; 1, whilefour ongsuse the normal 5:5;1)pentado. The singlepentado-laform s structured:5;l-6,thesinglepentado-mi5:5;l-3. Two songsof the penta sol typehave the structure :5;5,while threepenta sol types are normal (5:5;5). There are two penta lastructuresf fewer hanfive ones 4:5;6),and twonormalpentala (5:5;6).Two songsuse fewer hanfive ones n a pentami,4:5;3,onepentamisongis normal, :5;3,and thefinal entatonics a doublestructure,entami-sol,5:5;3-5.The singlehexa sol is 5:6;5,thehexa sol-la,a normal tructure.none songa hexa mi modeof fivetones s used (5:6;3), and in one songanormalhexa mi (6:6;3). Of thehepta types,one is hepta sol but withtheareutilizedn a song.Beforemodalityan be determined,his calemustbe transposedto the "key"ofC, thusbecoming GD AE. Thismode, ncompassingive tepsoftheharmoniccale, s accordinglyesignated penta ype.Further,et us supposesongwhichutilizes he tonesF CGBb. In order o be rid of the accidental, hismodemustfirst e transposed fifthpward, iving he tonesF C GD A. A secondtranspositions thennecessaryo movethetonesto themodebasedon the C scalethus t becomesCGD A E, thepenta ypenoted bove.Finally,et us assume songin which hetonesCGE are utilized olely. t is to be notedthat these hree onesalso lie within section ffive ones n the cycleof fifthsthusthemoderemainspenta,but of a tritype, hat s, utilizinghree ones.In analyzingmodalstructurey thismethod, heduration one, s determinedby an analysis f thenumber f appearances f each tone and its duration,s alsotakeninto consideration.hus different odesare distinguishedot onlyby theirposition n thecycleoffifths,ut also by theposition f thedurationone.For thispurpose,wemaythenhavedo,re,mi,fa,sol, a, or si as thetonalcenter. hus n thestructureD GAE, ifC is thedurationone, hemodebecomes enta o, fD, penta e,and so on. It mustbe pointed ut,however,hatthepentatoniccalemaybe builtup fromwoorthree ones, incewehave three ections ffive ones n thecycleofsevenfifthsFCGDA, CGDAE, and GD . In diagraming odalstructures,thatbasedonC for hepenta ypehas beenarbitrarilyelected s representative,husaccounting orthe transpositionsotedabove.The hexa, r six-tone,nd hepta, r seven-tonemodes re similarlyonstructed.It is to be notedthattheheptamodesare fixedunequivocallyincetheyutilize llseventones n the cycleof fifths, hile he hexamodesmaytake twopositions.nthe latter ase, themodebased on C has beentakenby Kolinski as representativeofthetype. t mayalso be pointed ut thateither fthesemodesmayalso be com-posedoffewerhansixorseven onesrespectivelyhile tillutilizing six-orseven-noteportionf hecycle ffifths.hus, or xample, hexamodemayutilize GD or a heptamodeevenas few s twotonestheoretically, and B. Thesemodesmaybe expressedn numeralsthus/returningo theoriginalxample, pentamodecon-sisting f CG, withC as thetonalcentermaybe expresseds 3:5; . The first igurerepresentshenumber f tonesutilized the secondfigure,he section f the cycleof fifthsncompassedthethird, he stressed one.Thus,as a furtherxample, hemodal structure :7; represents heptare modewhichuses but fivetonesin itsstructure.The tetratonicmode s also sometimesncounteredwhile ri- nd lower ypesare theoreticallyossible, heir ccurrences extremelyare.Doublemodal tructures ay lsobe used these akesuchformss penta osol,or hepta emi. In these nstances wotonesare ofequal importancer durationnthe melodic tructure,nd thusbothmustbe takenintoconsiderationn definingthemode.


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164 ALAN P. MeRRIAM Anthropos. 195,structure :7;5, three re normalhepta la (7:7;6),and one a normalheptami (7:7;6). In terms fthefact,then, hat over 70 % ofthesongsuse someform f the pentatonic, hisparticularmodalstructuremaybe consideredcharacteristicf theRada group.However,t shouldbe notedthatthirteenof thesongs mploymodal structuresnwhich ewerhanthenormal umberoftonesare actuallyused thismayproveto differentiateheRada songsfrom therNew WorldNegro groups nd conceivably t least, from therDahomean-derivedroups.The duration one and subjectivetonicn fall on the same pitchinnineofthesongs. n six songs,the duration onefallson the sixthdegreeof the scale based upon the subjective onic, nd in six other ongson thefifth egreeof that scale it is on the thirddegreeof the subjective onicscale nfour ongs, nd on theseconddegreen twosongs. n Song10,whichhas a doublemodal structure,he subjective oniccoincideswiththedo ofthepentado-lastructurein Song13,on do ofthepentado-mi in Song20,on sol of thehexa sol-la. n Song25,thesubjective onic,do,formshebasisfora major triad,do-mi-sol, o whichthe two duration ones contributemi-sol. herelationshipetween hedurationone ndsubjective onic, hen,is direct n themajority fsongs that s, thetwo are in a tonic, hird rfifthelationship.hetwosongs nwhich hedurationonefalls n the econddegreeof the subjective onic scale are of somewhatmorecomplex spectalthoughtmight e argued hat thisrelationshipndicates he dominant fthedominant.n thosesix songs nwhich hetwotonesare a sixthapart,somesortofmajor-minorelationshipmight e argued, ut sucha relation-ship houldbe postulatedwith aution incetheconcepts fmajor ndminorare Western nd are not verbalized s such in othermusicalsystems.Allsongs xceptnumbers 4 and 17 showwell-definedonality these xceptionsare due to thespecialvocal styleemployed y thesingers, eferredo pre-viously.Modulations,s such, onot xist, ut n seven ongs hepitch hangesfrombeginning o end. Thus in Song 17, forexample,the relativepitchrisesone semitone rom eginningo end in Song23, therise s twosemi-tones. In but one song,Song 15, the singers nd one semitone elowtheinitial"key".Harmony s not characteristicf the Rada songs,although poradicharmony ccurs nfrequentlyit cannotbe determined hether hese ap-pearances re accidental r intentional.Where poradicharmonys present,it occurs t the endsofchorusphraseswheredifferentitches re employedsimultaneouslythus in Song 16, forexample, wo notes a perfect ourthapartare employed t the end ofthechorus ine,while n Song23 a majorthird s found.All songsare of the leader-chorusype n whichthe leadersings phrase nd is answered y a phrase ungbythechorus, ndno songs

11Duration onereferso thattonewhichs mostheavilyweightedhroughoutthesong s definedy actualduration ount.The subjectiveonicdesignateshesub-jectivecriterionf a keyfeeling,r tonality, s observed y Westernmusiciansnrespect o Westernmusical raditions.


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 165use real polyphony.Overlapping etweenthe leader and chorusoccurs ntwenty-iveofthe songs in twoothers, nisonsinging etween eader andchorus s employed.In all but three ongsa male leader s employed in almost ll songsa mixedchorus s present, lthough purelymale chorus s also used -whena female eadersings, he chorus s male.All songsuse leader,chorusand gong as faras can be determined,wo differentongsare used indi-vidually n thesongs, newith a highpitchedmetallic one,the otherwitha low, flat sound.The drums,normally sed in Rada singing, re absentwhile t is at least conceivable hat theabsence ofdrumsmight hange uchsongelementss tempo, bsolutepitch, nd other xternal haracteristics,tis doubtful hat the song structurewould be changedto any significantextentby the omission.

In melodicmeter, hirteenongsuse 4/4time,nine use 6/4, evenuse3/4 nd oneeach are n 6/8 nd 12/8 ime.Anapproximatevensplitbetweenthe use ofduple and triplemeters s thusevidenced.Melodic empi,basedonthequarter ote, ange rom 4-160beatsperminute, othoftheextremesoccurringn 6/4time.Even if the extremes re ignored, he range s from96-153beatsperminute, widerange. levenofthethirty-oneongs ncreasein tempothroughoutheirownduration the largest ncrease s 22 beats,the smallest, our.Characteristicf thesongs s the use ofsyncopationnditsextension,ff-beathrasingn which hemelodic ccentsfallconsistentlybetween henormal ccentedbeats.This particular ypeof melodic hythmis highly haracteristicfbothAfricannd African-derivedusic, nd neednot be furtheriscussedhere 2.A seriesof difficultroblems s raised by the relationship etweenmelodic nd percussionmeter nd templ.As has beenpreviously oted, hedrumswhichnormallyccompanyhesongs renotpresentn therecordingsunder nalysis, ndthis n itselfwould eemtomakeanalysis fgongpatternssomewhat uspect.Added to thisfactis what seemsto be an unsurenesson thepartof thegongplayersn therecordingsthepatternsrefrequentlynot repeated n consistentmanner, re brokenoff t odd intervals, r arechangedfrom nemeter o anothern the courseof the song. t shouldatleast be noted,however, hat in no fewer han eightsongs,the meter swell as the tempoof the gongdiffersrom he melodicmeter nd tempo.Therewouldseemto be twopossibleexplanations or hisphenomenon.tmay, n the first lace,be ascribed o a faultygongplayeror to confusionon his partin viewof the absenceofdrums,whichmightwelloccursincethepercussionectionnNewWorldNegromusic s a closelyntegratednit.On the otherhand,the gongplayingmay representtandardusagewhichsoundssomewhatpeculiarwithout he restof the percussionnstruments.In any case, in view of the factthat the drums re lacking nd that thegongplaying ppearsto be aberrant,t seemsadvisableto makeno specificstatementsn regard o thisaspectof the Rada songs.

12Waterman, op. cit., pp. 97 ff. Merriam, Songs of..., op. cit., pp. 85-90.


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166 Alan P. Merriam Apropos 1. 950Someof thesame difficultiesccurwhentherelationshipetween ongandmelodic itch re investigated. gain, heserelationships aybe brieflypresentedherebut with the stipulation hat theycannotbe regarded sconclusive. hreeof thethirteenongs nwhich herespective itches ouldbe isolated howed hegongpitch ndthatof hedurationone obe identical.In one songthe samepitchoccurred etween hegong nd subjective onic.In fivesongs, he gong pitchrestedon a note of the scale whichdid notcoincidewitha major structural itch in three ongsthe gongpitchwasoutside hemelodic cale,and in onesong t coincidedwith heending one.It mustbe repeated hat thematerial erepresentednrespect o percussionrhythms,empiand pitchcannotbe taken as conclusiven view of theabsenceof drumswhichordinarilyunctions a part of the Rada music.Theanalysis ftheRada songs,nsummary,hows hefollowingeneral

characteristics.onal range s consistently ide melodicdirections con-sistentlyownward, ith omefairlymarkednternal ownwardmovements.Theminorhirds used most ftenntotal scendingnddescendingntervals,a strikingharacteristicf he ongs distributionf heuseofnarrow,mediumandwide ntervalseemsto be fairly ormal.Wideintervalsrefoundmorefrequentlyn descending han in ascendingntervals, somewhat nusualcharacteristic.he most mportantmelodicpatterns re patterns fthirds,followed y a fairlywide usage ofpatterns f fourths. t the same time,patterns f thirds re not ofhighstructuralmportancen any one song.The phrasepattern,AA'A" etc. whichemphasizes theme nd variationsstructure,s used in most of the songs,and the internal, ub-phrase on-structions somewhatmore complicated han that usuallyfound n NewWorldNegrosongs.Characteristicrnamentationncludesportamento,herisingattack and fallingrelease,dip and bend. The pentatonic, sed inapproximately0 % of thesongs, s themostcharacteristic odalstructurehowever, n thirteen ongs fewer han the normalnumberof tones areactuallyused. A fairlydirectrelationships foundbetween he subjectivetonicand duration ones no harmony r polyphonys used. The leader-chorus atterns found n all songs an approximatequal division etweenduple and triplemelodicmeters s employed.Melodictempiare varied;littlecan be determinedn the basis of the presentrecordingss to thecharacter fpercussion hythm,empoor pitch.

2. Comparison of Rada with other new world negro andAfrican songs. Ofspecial nterest or hefieldofNewWorldNegromusicis thecomparisonfvariousgroups fmusic suchcomparisons hereunder-takenwiththeaimofdiscoveringelationshipsmongmusicalgroupswhichareknown ohave beenderivedfrom hesame general ource n Africa.Ofequal importance,owever,s thetestingfthemethod f nalysistselfSinceveryfewsuch comparisons ave been undertaken,t is as yet difficultoknowwhether ifferencesr similarities etweentwo groupsof musicareaccidental r whetherhey ctually eflecttructuralmusicaldifferencesndsimilarities.n thefollowingomparisons, hich remadewithbothgeneral


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Songsofa Rada Communityn Trinidad 167purposes nmind,hemusic fDahomeysused s somethingf "baseline"forcomparisonwith heRada group fTrinidad ndtheGgecultgroupofBahia, Brazil, oth fwhichrederived rom ahomey3. fthemethodis reliable,and if indeed,musical tructureothretainsts basic charac-teristicsn a new ituationnddiffersrom fricanultureoAfricanulturein some respectst least andbothpostulateseem learlyo be validthen the musicofRada andGge hould how onsiderableimilaritiesoeach other ndtoDahomey.n ordero provide closer heck nmethod,two control roups avebeenusedwhereverossiblencomparisonith heDahomean and Dahomean-derivedusic.The firsts themusicof theCheyenne ndiansofMontanandWyomingn the United tates.To theear, themusic fthisgroups strikinglyifferentrom fricannd African-derivedmusic, ndthesedifferenceshould e clearly eflectedn analysis.The secondcontrolroup, etu, notherahian ult sAfrican-derived,utin this case fromheYoruba eople f outh-westernigeria.n hypothesiswe should expectthefollowingoints o emerge rom hecomparisons1) Cheyennemusic hould iffer arkedlyromll other roupsnvolved2) Gge andRada should efairlyimilarnstructure,ndboth hould lsobe similar o themusic fDahomey3) Ketumusichould ifferoth romthe DahomeangroupincludingheGge ndRada),andfromheCheyennegroup however,tshouldhow loserffinitieso theDahomean rouphanit does to theCheyenne14.In Fig.1 the distributionf tonalranges f thevariousgroupssconsidered. n thisaspect, heCheyenneongs howa distinctlyeavierdistributionn thewideranges hando anyof theother roups. lthoughsome of theDahomean ndRada ranges re larger han nyused n theCheyennegroup,more han70% of thesongs fthe atter how rangeof seventeenormore emitones.he Cheyenneongs rethusmarked ffrather harply romheAfricanndAfrican-derivedroups.heKetudistri-bution centersround peakoftwelveemitones,lopingffndistributionon eithersideofthispeak n approximatelyqualcurves its totaldistri-bution is from ineto seventeenemitones.n theDahomean ongs hepeak of distributionies at twelve emitones ith hemajorityfrangesfrom welve onineteenemitones.heGge onal ange enterst approxi-

13Carr, op. cit. Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits, The Negroes iBrazil, Yale Review,32 (Winter, 943),pp.263-79.14The characteristicsfthemusicof Dahomeyare taueniromm. iyui^ivi,Die Musik Westafrikas,Unpub.MS, Northwesternniversity)forGge and Ketufrom Merriam, Songsof .., op.cit. forCheyenne romAlan P. Merriam,Noteson Cheyenne Songs,Journal f the AmericanMusicologicalociety,3 (Fall, 1950),289-90, and Alan P. Merriam,A Transcriptionnd Analysis f CheyennendianMusic '(UnpublishedMS). Further omparisonsmaybe madewithBushNegromusicin Kolinski, SurinameMusic,op. cit. withotherBrazilian ultmusic n MelvilleJ Herskovits and Richard A. Waterman,Msicade Culto Afrobahiana, evistade Estdios Musicales,1 (Dec, 1949), 65-127 withHaitian music n Waterman,African Patterns ..., op. cit.,pp.153-59 withBashi flute ongsof easternCongoin Merriam, The Bashi Mulizi .., op. cit.


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68 Alan P. Merriam Authropos1. u5g

Fig.115Tonal Range3Dahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Range insemitones5 2 . 46 37 4 48 2 39 4 20 6 1410 4 1011 2 6 412 23 20 16 21 913 .5 314 8 10 16 7 1815 13 20 6 1016 6 3 717 15 20 26 13 2718 .5 919 10 10 6 7 2720 2 321 .522 1.5 3 923 .524 .525 .5

mately 4-15 emitoneswith hedistributionhadingn either irectionvera rangeofnineto nineteen emitones. he Rada group enters t seventeensemitones ith heheaviestdistributionrom welve o seventeenemitones.Thus, xcludingheCheyenneongswhich reclearlyetapart, heDahomeanand Ketu songshave the same center fdistributionut theKetu is moreheavilydistributedn the owerranges.The Rada centers at seventeen utits distributions in a largerrangethan the Ketu, is about the same asDahomey, nd somewhat imilar o Gge. n summary, etu and Ggeseemfairly losehere,Rada and Dahomeyalso fairly lose,and Rada and Ggeless closely imilar. .In Fig.2 variouselements fmelodicdirection re compared.Againthemostsharplydifferentiatedroup s the Cheyennewhich, n the basisofmelodic irection,ouldapparentlylmostneverbe Confused ithAfricanorAfrican-derivedusic.The Ketu group s also fairly learly istinguished,falling ither bove or belowthe rangeof the Dahomean and Dahomean-

15Numbers n Figs. 1-3 and 6-7 refer o percentages f songsusingthe particularcharacteristic ited. In Figs. 4-5 percentagesof intervals in the total song group areexpressed.


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 169

Fig.2Melodic directionDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Range of a fourth r lessbetweenbeginning nd 30 % 10 % 3 % 37 % 0 %lowest tonesRange of at least an oc-tave betweenbeginning 33% 30% 58% 24% yi %and lowest tonesBeginning tone equal to ^ y 2 ^ 5 ^highesttoneEndingtoneequal to low- ^ 24 %est toneEnding tone is below in- Ug g4 66 10()itial toneEnding tone is above in- 0, 0, _0, U 0/. . , , U /O / ' -0 U ,0itial. , tone

derivedroups,utstill ifferinglearlyndconsistentlyromheCheyennesongs. orthe hree emainingroupshedifferencesrenot harply arked.In some haracteristicsheRada andDahomean roupseem ogotogether(for xample, equalsH) 16 s opposed oGge in othersranges etween andL), theRada songs reseparatedromothGge ndDahomey. ntheotherhand,Rada and Ggeare closetogethern twocharacteristics

Fig.3Patterns of intervalsDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Half tones not used 84 % 80 % 64.% ? 54.5 %Fourths rf 52% 0% 6% 20% 36%Fourths fr 45 % 20 % 13 % 27 % 9 %Pendular fourths 29 % 0 % 3 % 3 % 9 %Linear fourths 12 % 0 % 3 % 3 % 0 %Interlockedfourths 4 % 20 % 10 % 20 % 0 %Three or more pendular ^ 2Q% 55 % %% () %thirdsSplit major triad 40 % 70 % 55 % 45 % 27 %Split minor triad 33 % 50 % 48 % 31 % 18 %Linear thirds 16 % 10 % 13 % 0 % 0 %Interlockedthirds 0 % 0 % 3 % 0 % 0 %Repetitive monotone 71 % 70 % 30 % 45 % 91 %16Abbreviations used : - beginning tone - ending tone - highesttone L - lowest tone.


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170 Alan P. Merriam Authropos1.1956( equals L, E is aboveL). ThuswhiletheCheyennend Ketu standaparthere,bothfrom ach other nd from he threeremaining roups,no cleardistinctionsan be drawnamongthe Dahomean,Gge and Rada groupsat the sametimeneitherrethese hree attergroupsmarkedly omogeneousamongthemselves.In comparisonsf theusageofspecificnterval atterns,heCheyennegroup s again clearlydifferentiatedrom heothergroups n mostcharac-teristics.n thiscase,theDahomeangroup lso seemsclearly o standapart,lying lmost lwaysat one end or the other fthescale, although eparatefromCheyenne.Thus the threeNew WorldNegrogroupstend to clingrelativelylosely ogetherncomparisono eitherheAfricanrtheAmericanIndian. Among hesethreeNew Worldgroups,Ketu standsat one end oranotherof the comparative cale in approximately alf the characteristicslisted in theotherhalf t lies at about themiddleofthescale.Withsomeexceptions, he Gge and Rada groupsseem to be closesttogether ere.

Fig.4Interval usageDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

AscendingMinor secondMajor second 34.2 % 25 % 39 % 26 %Minor third 35.7 % 42.5 % 21 % 22 %Major third 11.9 % 13 % 12 % 5 %Perfectfourth 11 % 10.5 % 21 % 21 %Perfectfifth 4.2 % 10 %Octave ? %Descending JfMinor second ^ 1.5% 6%Major second $ 29.2 % 25.5 % 39 % 36 %Minor third 0 35.4 % 37 % 22 % 30 %

Major third $ 13.8 % 15.3 % 14.5 % 12 %Perfectfourth | 15.6 % 15.3 % 20 % 13 %Perfectfifth o . 3.6 %Octave Total .Minor second 1-3%Major second 31.5 % 25.3 % 39 % 33 %Minor third 35.5 % 39.6 % 22 % 28 %Major third 12.3 % 14.3 % 13.5 % 10 %Perfectfourth 13.5 % 14.3 % 21 % 15 %Perfectfifth 4.4 % 3.9 % 2.3 % 5 %Octave

A recent tudy n whichstatisticalmethodswereappliedto intervalusage nKetuandRada songshas shown learlyhat hisparticulartructural


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Songsof a Rada Communityn Trinidad 171characteristics of consi ble importancen differentiatingonggroups 7.It was found haton th asis of intervalusage alone the Ketu and Radasongs n a randomunknown amplecould be distinguishedn 91 cases outof 100, a reasonably igh degreeof differentiationthusin thisparticularcharacteristic,t least,it is knownthat a differentiatingactor s present.In thepresent omparisonheCheyenneongsare againfairlyharplydifferentiatedromll othersnvolved. n thiscase,so also is Ketu,especiallyin thepredominantse ofmajor secondsas themostfrequentlymployedinterval Ketu here greeswithCheyenne, ut thetwo are clearly ifferent.In theuse of theminor hird s thepredominantnterval,Ggeand Radaagree, nd in therelativemportance f the various ntervals sed they rein almo.st xact agreement. he Rada songs,however, xaggerate he useoftheminor hird nd deemphasize heuse of themajorsecondmore hanthe Gge. However,Gge and Rada stand closelyrelatedhere.

Fig.5Other interval usageDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Narrow intervals s 67.2 % 66.1 % 62.3 % 65 %Medium intervals $ g> 12.3 % 14.3 % 13.5 % 10 %Wide intervals g | 20.5 % 19.6 % 24.2 % 25 %Total descendingntervals | j 55 % 53.7 % 58.5 % 66 %Total ascending ntervals 45 % 46.3 % 41.5 % 34 %In comparison f other ntervalusage, Cheyennemusicstandsfairlyclearly t one or theother nd of thecomparative cale in four fthefivecharacteristicsisted.The Ketu sampleshowsthesamedistribution,ut canstillbe differentiatedrom he Cheyenne.Here again, Gge and Rada areclose togethernd showa distinct elationship.

Fig.6Modal usageDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Penta 42 % 100 % 71 % 68 % 45 %Hexa 33% 13% 25% 18%Hepta 20% 16% 36%Tri & Tetra 5 % 7 %17LiNTONC. Freeman and Alan F. Merriam, btatisticaluiassincationmAninro-pology An Application o Ethnomusicology,ForthcomingnAmericanAnthropologist)


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172 ALAN P. MeRRIAM Anthropos1.1956In modalusage, nothing efinitemerges rom hecomparison sharpdistinctionsre not evident.Rada and Ketu are probably losesttogetherin thisparticular haracteristic,ut even heretherelationships not close.

Fig. 7Other characteristicsDahomey Gge Rada Ketu Cheyenne

Uses Leader-Chorus ? 100% 100% 100% 0 %Tonal range 80% wide 80% wide 84% wide 65% wide 100%wideMeter 4/4 3% 4/450% 4/4 2% 6/4 0% VariableOverlapping Present Present Present Present AbsentST equals DT ? 70% 30% 62% ?. Increase n tempo ? 80% 35% . 59% 0%Formal tructure ? 70% 81% 45% VariableAA'A" etc.

In Fig.7,variousodd characteristicsre compared in thosecharacter-isticsforwhich nformations available the Cheyenne ongs again standclearly partfrom heothers.ClosecorrelationsmongDahomey,GgeandRada arefoundn tonalrange,meter, verlappingthischaracteristicharedwithKetu), and in formal tructure.n tempo, nd therelationshipfthesubjective onicand duration onesthere s no basic correlation.Wherecorrelationoesexist, hen,t samong heAfricanndAfrican-derivedroups.3. Conclusion. In referenceo thehypothesesdvancedearlier,t isfirstf llclear hattheCheyenneongs tanddistinctlypartfromheAfricanandAfrican-derivedroups; hisdifferentiationsdistinctnnearly ll charac-teristics.n a lessclearlymarkedway, heremainingypothesesrealsoborneout.The Ketu songs eemto stand omewhat partfrom heDahomeanandDahomean-derivedongs,but showcloseraffiliation iththeAfrican han

withtheAmericanndian groups.Gge and Rada songsare quite similarto eachother, lthough imilaritieso Dahomeydo notseemto be as clearlymarked s might ossibly e expected.Although here re exceptionsn allcases,then, hestructuralnalysis mployed ere erves, irst,o distinguishclearlyand sharplybetweenmajormusicalgroupings,nd second,to dis-tinguishess clearlybut recognizably etweenrelatedvarieties f a singlemajormusical tock. n thepresentomparison,owever,omemajorproblemsand variables emain nsettled.Whileanalysis fthemusicofDahomeyhasbeen carried ut,no analagousworkhas been done in connection ith themusicof the Yoruba fromwhichthe Ketu songsare derived thus thereis a question, t least,as to whether etu should iffermarkedly romGgeorRada, since t isnotat present nown hroughnalysiswhether ahomeanand Yorubamusic re divergentn structure. nalysis onceivably,t least,could be misleadingn viewofthe differencesn the size ofthe samplings.


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Songs of a Rada Community n Trinidad 173It is possiblethatvariationwithin he music of various areas ofDahomeymight ffectheDahomean-derivedroups thusGgesongsmight epresentmusicsung by persons rom ne area,whileRada represents ongs ungbypersonsfrom nother rea of Dahomey.What this serves to emphasize sthe ack ofanalyticalmaterial othofNew WorldNegromusic nd perhapsespecially f thatof theGuinea CoastofAfrica romwhence he New Worldmaterial s, in mostpart,derived.Veryfewreal analytical tudies xistforeither rea, and before hebasic problems fderivationnd relationship,swell as thoseofmethod, an be attacked, considerable umber ffurtherstudiesmust be made. In this respect, he analysisby similar tructuralmethod fa singleotherbodyofNew WorldorAfricanNegromusiccouldconceivably,t least,change heresults eachedhere thusthepresenttudyis intended o serveonlyas a beginning ointfromwhichfurthernalysisand comparisonmay be made.Note on the transcriptions :Each song is headed with pertinent nformationn abbreviated form.Thus thelegendforthe first ong,"Song 1 : Elegba 20d:120", ndicatesthat the song s number1of the collection, hat it is sungforthe god Elegba, that the originalpitchwas 20 semi-tones lower (20u would indicate the originalpitchto be 20 semitoneshigher), nd thatthe tempo is 120 beats per minute.The basis forthe tempo figure s the quarternote ;the songs are notated in that key in which the majorityof notes fallswithinthe limitsof the regular staff ines. The zigzag line in Song 13 indicates that a portionof thesong has here been omittedbecause of considerations f space.

Songl: Elegba: 20d: 120

^: iliiri -"- 1- - f--i 'll- -'i i"-Hu -=3=


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174 ALAN P. MeRRIAM Airfhropos1. 105G

Song 10: Bo Zuon Sagbata: 2d: 132-144

f* Leader ^^

^ e.tc.I ifJir.^.H^,!, 'L|, " , '. Iirj Juif irj U-n': i^pi'ju^rV l^^ - j -Chorus epeatsame heme ith ariation

Song13: AHthe aints: d: 144 +if" ,,,,, ., , | niMM '=^ Leader **mj. Chorus ,

'"W

uz Ml =_ '" ___ - : ** uz w t? zzzzi

1 ^v*j'v "" .U - w

merriam songs of a rada community in trinidad

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