This study presents a general picture of the physical, racial, social, and cultural characteristics of the Anuak tribe in an effort to provide a foundation, a matrix of culture and society. With this foundation in mind, one then can more meaningfully understand the musical expressions of the society. Writers in the field urge investigators to become knowledgeable about the culture of which the music is a part.

Tradition cannot be properly understood without a full comprehension of its social environment. The musicologist in Africa…cannot meaningfully operate without knowing the society whose music… he is studying.^[1]

Many writers stress the importance of not divorcing the music of a people from their attendant social and cultural activities. Blacking has said,

In my analysis of Venda children’s songs, I have attempted to explain their structure in the context of Venda culture, for it is in this context only that their essential meaning is to be found.^[2]

Ofei states:

It is the author’s belief that a valid discussion of the folk music of Ghana must consider not only its structure but also the cultural matrix, because function and structure are to a large extent interrelated. (The author) will give an overview of Ghanaian folk music in its cultural setting and then discuss its general and structural characteristics.^[3]

The importance of studying music within the context of the society is summarized by Merriam.

The information we have at hand suggests strongly that in terms of use, music cuts across all aspects of society; as human behavior, music is related synchronically to other behaviors, including religion, drama, dance, social organization, economics, political structure, and other aspects.

In studying music, the investigator is forced to move through the total culture in search of music relationship and in a very real sense he finds that music reflects the culture of which it is a part.^[4]

It is popular to contrast the function of the music of Africa with the function of the music of the West. Writers state that the music of the West functions aesthetically and is not necessarily utilitarian. In contrast, the music of Africa is completely utilitarian, having little or no aesthetic function to serve. While there may be germs of truth in these statements, they are not completely true. Nettl effectively clarifies the contrast.

If we scrutinize the role of music in Western civilization, we find that music is not at all solely a giver of pleasure and a device for aesthetic edification. On the contrary, it is frequently designed to accompany activities of all sorts…on the other hand, the ideal kind of music, the music generally considered as best and greatest by those most concerned with music is the music designed primarily for hearing in recital or concert. Thus, we would be right in stressing the role of music in Western civilization as being one not involving other activities but only because this is the idealized role of music, not because most music necessarily conforms to this image. The converse picture is, on the whole, found in folk and tribal cultures. It is not the case that…all folk music accompanies other activities, that it never fills a role of entertainment, and does not provide simple enjoyment. But generally speaking—and here there are great differences among the world’s cultures—the traditional music is focused toward functionality. Songs are typically referred to as “good” or “powerful” indicating that it is not the aesthetic quality of the song but the manner in which it fulfills its tasks that is essential.^[5]

One may generalize about the music of Africa. One may say that it is functional; it serves a purpose for being beyond itself. Music is basic and vital to the many rites of life that occur. It is to be used, not kept for special events. It starts the day; it is present at the end of the day; it is a means for making the day go well. Music is a teaching device and it is a punishing device. Music serves many uses and meets many needs. Nketia sates, “Traditional music in Africa is… essentially folk music organized and practiced as an integral part of every day life. One hears music everywhere.”^[6] Mbabi comments:

Music is indispensable for all man’s feelings and emotions. It expresses his happiness and jubilations at weddings and festivals, his pride and sophistication at court, his loneliness and devotion at rituals; his simplicity and humbleness at home by his fireplace and his bravery and courage at war. Music is used by verbal artists to accompany oral history, storytelling, speech making and various forms of poetic recitations. Genealogies, proverbs, legends, and mythologies are all portrayed through music. In fact, music is the most effective medium through which children are inducted into the heritage of their ancestors.^[7]

Ekwueme also agrees with this assessment of the function of music in the African’s life. He quotes Hornbostel, one of the first African music specialists.

In the life…of the African Negroes, music and dance have a quite different and incomparably greater significance than with us… they serve neither as mere pastimes nor recreations. They are not meant to edify the mind aesthetically; nor can they be regarded as brilliant decoration on festive occasions, or as a means of effectively staging ceremonies…. Music is neither reproduction (of a “piece of music” as an existing object) nor production (of a new object); it is the life of a living spirit working within those who dance and sing.^[8]

1. Uses of Music

Merriam draws a distinction between the uses and the functions of music in a society. He clarifies his distinction as follows:

In observing uses of music, the student attempts to increase his factual knowledge directly; in assessing functions he attempts to increase his factual knowledge indirectly through the deeper comprehension of the significance of the phenomenon he studies.^[9]

“Use”… refers to the situation in which music is employed in human action: “function” concerns the reasons for its employment and particularly the broader purpose which it serves.^[10]

It would be of value to make a similar distinction. From the uses the Anuak make of their music, one can derive the larger picture, the functions of music in the society. Starting with the culturally derived divisions of Anuak music, one may note the word content of the songs and the situations in which the songs are performed, and draw some conclusions about how music is used in their society.

1.1. Lullabies and Children Songs

The Anuak have a body of songs that are used to soothe the crying baby. The lullaby need not be a specific lullaby to be used as one. A love song or dancing song will serve this purpose as well. The words may not be appropriate for a lullaby; they need not tell a story. The lullaby may include nonsense words or simply name the baby over and over. The singer may identify the parents and the grandparents of the child in the song as well, effectively identifying the lineage of the child as well as indicating it by name, and in doing, praise the child and his parents.

The children, particularly the young girls, will play games with songs to accompany the play. Children’s songs and the play associated with them may be simply a play activity, or they may be an imitation of adult activities that the child will be involved with in later life. The young boy is involved in age set relations from about ages eight, nine or ten and learns much about his later life from his peers or from his father. What singing he would do would be within this group of his friends. It is likely that he would sing to accompany hoeing and rowing. The Anuak will take any song and adapt the song to the rhythm of the activity with which he is involved. There are no work songs as such, but adaptations of other songs for work purposes. It is very possible that such song would be utilized by the young boys. Therefore, music can provide a vehicle or an accompaniment for the imitating of adult activity in the play of either the boy or the girl.

1.2. Love Songs

The Anuak love song seems to be of recent development and frequently operates outside of the normal village dancing situation. It is sung in small groups, within the age set as a relatively private type of music making. The drum beat accompanying the love song is more improvised and less stylized than that for the Agwaga or Obero and usually played on something less than a proper drum. A tin can or a gourd will usually suffice. Unlike village drums, such accompaniment instruments do not require the permission of the chief for their use and they do not disturb the village. The love song is sung with a high degree of improvisation with songs frequently coupled or cut short.

The love song often describes the condition of the singer who is usually young and usually poor as the Anuak count poorness. The young man usually laments his poorness in lack of dowry, and because of this, his inability to marry. He uses the love song to express this frustration and to cry against the wrongs of losing his love to a rich man or an old man. One may consider the love song to be a form of protest song. The love songs usually do not include words of warfare and fighting, but they do include phrases of praise to each other in the age set. It may be that the young people use these songs as a way of stating a preference for their lifestyle rather than that of the adults. The old men consider them to be a symptom of the young people’s dissatisfaction with the cultural values as expressed in the Agwagas and the Oberos.

1.3. Marching Songs (Nirnam or Boasting Songs)

Marching songs have some similarity with the love songs because of their use within the age set and in the naming of members of the age set as a form of praise. The marching song records the exploits of an age set in their hunt against a certain animal and their success and bravery in the hunt. They are used to commemorate an exciting practice of a virile time of life. They are used to set an age set apart, to provide a spotlight. The abilities of the group, their skills and particularly their bravery in facing the wild beast are clearly brought to the attention of all who hear them sing. The marching song also states that they have sworn to abstain from some item of food, implying some great act of sacrifice. This also is to establish the status of a particular age set, putting it above others in the village and drawing people’s attention to it. The age set gains in self-identity, and further cements a relationship that lasts throughout life.

1.4. Dancing Songs (Dudbul)

The Anuak have a large body of songs called Dudbul that are performed in the village dancing situations. The Dudbul serve some of the same functions as those of the love songs and Oberos in that they are used in the village dances. But they are longer than the love songs, and instead of praising the chief and the leaders of the village exclusively, the Dudbul will include praise for many people in the village, involving them in the gift-giving process. The Dudbul may include historical references to battles fought and the bravery and beauty of the people involved, but they are used mostly as a way to praise the people in the dance. The variety of songs used in the dance are categorized according to certain dance actions that occur to their accompaniment. Some are for marching in a line, others are appropriate for displaying feats of strength and grace, others provide opportunity for general dancing, and others provide opportunity for small groups to dance, all a part of the overall structure of the dance. In each case, a large amount of time is given to the praising of the people by enumerating their various animal names and thereby tracing their kin. Establishing kinship is necessary for purposes of courtship and eventual marriage.

1.5. Hymns

Hymns and religious songs do not exist outside of the Christian church in the Anuak area. As far as I can determine, no singing is done to accompany animistic ritual. The hymns that are sung are those that are associated with the gatherings of the Christian church as observed on the mission compound in Pokwo and practiced among believers in the villages.

After the initial drum beat calls the people together, foreign hymns led by a missionary provide a starting point for the service. As the hymns are sung, the Anuak members of the church assemble, joining an ever-increasing congregation. After three or four foreign hymns, the real Anuak singing begins with the use of the drum hymns.

The Anuak hymns contain several dominant themes. They speak of man’s condition on earth, the contrast of God’s greatness and goodness, the role of the devil, and various admonishments to the congregation regarding salvation and individual and group behavior. The Anuak hymns stress the difficult life on earth where man is described as an orphan, poor and blind, and his need to depend on God. The greatness of God is contrasted as one who is the chief of chiefs, the owner of all things, the one who unites people, and the one who is sympathetic to the problems of man. These concepts are considerably at variance with the traditional Anuak teachings of an antagonistic and indifferent God. The hymns, therefore, are used to impart important theological truths about the nature of God and function as a source of teaching and reminder.

1.6. Oberos

The dominant traditional forms of music are the Obero and the Agwaga.  These compositions are used in many ways within the community but are chiefly songs of praise for the chief. The chief is praised as well as others in the circle of the chief. The others are specified in order of priority and are expected to reward the singer for this honor. The singer makes his own poorness known to all who hear. The Obero is a part of the larger dancing situation and therefore provides an opportunity for recreation and celebration for the people.

Oberos are composed for a chief who is old or for one who has died. In this form, they become laments, eulogizing the greatness of the chief and his deeds of valor. Oberos may also contain portions of advice to the chief and the villagers. They may contain comments on the condition of the chief’s rule, on the shape of his village, and what he should do about the various social ills that the singer perceives to be present.

Animal names are mentioned throughout the songs. This process is a form of praise and provides a way of naming not only the individuals present but a way of remembering their ancestors. Therefore, the Obero is used basically as a song in praise or remembrance for a chief, but also serves peripheral functions as do all other songs among the Anuak.

1.7. Agwagas

The other dominant traditional form of music among the Anuak is the Agwaga, frequently a song of war.  These are robustly sung by the villagers and have several uses. The Agwaga may be a war song commemorating the fighting of sometime in the past, indicating the bravery of the fighters and including warnings to the defeated village about the strength of the victorious village. As in the Obero, the singer, in an orderly fashion dictated by hierarchy, praises the chief, the chief’s wives, the members of the Jo Burra, advisors, and other important people in the community. In this way, the song may display the relative importance of the people in the village and teach the listener about the proper respect for the chief and his behavior before him. In praising the people, the singer hopes to gain something for himself and for those who are participating in the song, the attendant dance and ceremony. So, the dual purpose of economic gain and remembrance is also a very real use of the Agwaga. The singer is always in need of dowry and reward of some kind.

As other songs, the Agwaga is not performed by itself. It is connected with an event of dancing, drinking, and feasting. The Agwaga and Obero employ more than a song. They are words that describe the accompanying dance and the drum beat as well. The entire village participates in an Agwaga, though at times, age sets of older men will get together to sing the Agwagas of old.

The Agwaga may also include warnings and instructions to the people about upcoming fighting or contain words of advice to the chief and to the leaders about the proper running of the village. The chief may be encouraged to get the age sets to work together, or be encouraged to be more generous in his giving. The Agwaga can be a vehicle for recounting various social ills, such as the presence of liars and gossipers in the community. Like the Obero, the Agwaga may be used as an advice-giving method that is accepted and sanctioned.

The Agwaga records and relates history; it is used as a means of transmitting cultural norms; it has educational value. There is enough in these songs to provide wisdom about repeating or changing a course of action. It is possible that the Agwaga and the Obero may function as a way to keep the villages as separate entities. They recount the history of only the village in which they are sung and may revive old tensions every time they are sung.

The previous paragraphs have briefly mentioned some of the uses that the Anuak make of their music. Undoubtedly, there are many others, for the musical heritage of any people is greater than one imagines at first.

Merriam states:

The importance of music, as judged by the sheer ubiquity of its presence, is enormous, and then it is considered that music is used both as a summatory mark of many activities and as an integral part of many others which could not be properly executed, or executed at all, without music, its importance is substantially magnified. There is probably no other human cultural activity which is so all pervasive and which reaches into, shapes, and often controls so much of human behavior.^[11]

2. Functions of Music

2.1. The Satisfaction of Tribal and Individual Life

African music is functional on two levels—the music itself is integrated into daily life, and it is performed and enjoyed by large numbers of people within the society.^[12]

The Anuak functions in a group capacity within his culture, operating in a community of sharing and reciprocity that is almost extreme. He shares clothing, food, experiences, and musical events. Many of the Anuak’s musical events involve not only the age set but everyone, children through adults. Virtually everyone participates. The marching songs, the love songs and dancing songs function as a means of personal and group satisfaction. And many occasions arise in the village where group activity is fulfilled by the singing of these songs within the age set or among friends. But the village dance, including the singing of Agwagas and Oberos, provides an opportunity for a social event of singing and dancing that gets the entire village together for recreation, entertainment, and the general satisfaction of tribal life.

The involvement of the entire village is common in much of Africa. Hailey states, “Singing is for the most part essentially communal; in his music the African is normally anything but an individualist.^[13] Goines comments, “Recreational music is informally open to all members of the community.”^[14] Nketia summarizes:

In traditional African societies, music making is generally organized as a social event. Public performances, therefore, take place on social occasions—that is, on occasions when members of a group or a community come together for the enjoyment of leisure, for recreational activities, or for the performance of a rite, ceremony, festival, or any kind of collective activity, such as building bridges, clearing paths, gong on a search party or putting out fires…. Those who get together in such communal activities generally belong to the same ethnic or linguistic group. The basis of association for music making, however, is usually the community, those members of the ethnic group who share a common habitat (such as a group of homesteads, a village, a town, or a section of a town) and who live some kind of corporate life based on common institutions, common local traditions, and common beliefs and values.^[15]

The music of the Anuak can be a means of personal and small group satisfaction as well. In walking down a trail, a tribe member can find satisfaction in the playing of an instrument, accompanying his journey with music, or he may wish to sing or play within the confines of his home. The mother finds satisfaction in singing softly to her baby and finds that the time passes more quickly if she sings while pounding the grain. While the overall tribal group experience dominates and is the most obvious, music does function to satisfy in the individual life of the Anuak.

Further, music functions in meeting the emotional needs of the people in times of stress and mourning. A large segment of the music of the Anuak is given to the mourning of the loss of a leader. These laments allow a chance to eulogize the memory of that person in the minds of the people for years to come.

In primitive music… sense and value are paramount qualities. Not only is singing indispensable for special events, like weddings and childbirth, puberty rites and death and whenever luck must be forced on adverse power in hunting, harvest, and sickness. It also acts when regular work, as rowing a boat, or rocking a child, or grinding edible roots, demands and gives a rhythmical impulse. In this interweaving with motions and emotions, music is not a reflex, remote and pale, but an integral part of life.^[16]

2.2. The Socialization of the Anuak into Tribal Life and Practice

The study of functionality in music, particularly on social and cultural levels, has received only the most superficial attention; this is at least partly due to the traditional view of Western musicologists, many of whom believe that music exists for its own sake and has no meaning or purpose outside itself. The present thesis, to the contrary, is that music exists to fulfill certain important human needs, especially the promotion of social integration.^[17]

As in any culture, lullabies are important in child raising among the Anuak. Lullabies aid in calming the child, soothing the child, and serve to warm the close relationship which is so important for the first two or three years between the baby and the mother. This early socialization of the child is not to be discounted.

As the child gets older, songs accompany the enjoyment of play. They assist in introducing the child to the society by helping the child imitate adult practices in play. The child enjoys the company of his age set, the villagers, and his parents as they communally make music.

Every member of a community could be involved in one or more of the musical events that take place in community life, for music making is related to the needs of traditional institutions and the social groups that organize their lives around them. There is music for the young, for men, for women, and for craft guilds and associations. Opportunities arise for free musical activity, for creating music outside ceremonial occasions, and for making enjoyment a basis of association.^[18]

Music need not have any other function but to be enjoyable. In this, it is a means of socialization. “Music provides the basis of nearly all recreation. It is part of the education of an African boy or girl to learn to take part in community music making and dancing….”^[19] Among the young, dance situations are frequent and are one of the major methods of finding eligible members of other clans for purposes of courtship. Intervillage dances provide such opportunities and are a social means of contact between villages. A large part of the dancing song includes the naming of animal names which serves the function of discovering relationships between dance partners. Some sources state that one of the purposes of the dance is to stimulate sexual arousal which is fulfilled later in the evening. Music and dance definitely have a socializing function among the Anuak.

African music has been described as social music and as functional music, for it is music for recreation as well as for the burial, music embodying aesthetic values, but organized for performances in social situations…. It must be regarded and studied as an aspect of individual and social behavior, and as an art.^[20]

2.3. The Inculcation of Values

The song is a cultural expression which mirrors the values, thoughts, and the way of life which Africans have always cherished….^[21]

Music is a prime method by which the Anuak inculcates values that are important to the culture. This may occur as a result of the occasion, in the honorific ways in which certain individuals are treated, or the songs themselves may speak of the right and wrong of an act and to whom honor is due. There are, of course, other methods of making a person aware of the values of the culture. The age set arrangement, the upbringing of the child, preaching in the church service, sitting around the chief or an old man in the village, and listening to stories about the background of the tribe. All of these contribute to a person’s knowledge. But a major element in value teaching comes from the music itself.

First, music provides a means of inculcating values found in the religious experience. It has been stated that little ritual and very little or no singing occur in animistic worship. What values that are derived from such practices are derived in other ways than musical. However, music is tied into the Christian worship patterns of the Anuak and value teaching is found in the hymns that are sung. Louw comments on the effect of hymns in many African cultures where the missionary has not had the insight to incorporate indigenous musical expression as a part of worship.

There is no doubt that with the years many hymns have come to have real meaning to African Christians who associate them with genuine spiritual experience, but that the hymn book has retained its foreignness to the majority of the population there is no doubt at all. I am prepared to maintain this in spite of the fact that a cross examination of a representative number of church members may not reveal the truth of this statement. The hymn book with its foreignness has come to be regarded as an essential part of the Christian religion and it is considered that it must be so. The fact that it is foreign does not seem to be anything wrong. Many a hymn may carry scarcely any meaning, “But,” says a catechumen, when questioned as to the meaning of a certain hymn, “I never understood that these hymns were supposed to have any meaning.” However, many of the translations are intelligible, and it is quite true that they have been a help to most Christians.

The words then, often have real meaning to people, but the music gives everything that taste of foreignness which has come to be regarded as part of church music, and which, because it is not felt and because it distorts the meaning of the words as soon as they are sung, must form a barrier which makes Jesus to be the partly Europeanized Savior, instead of the Christ sent by God directly to the Nyanja people just as much as to any other people.^[22]

This has not been the case with the Anuak hymnody because of the use of indigenous patterns commonly associated with praise to the chief as in the Obero and Agwaga, but without warlike texts. The locally native-composed words also help the Anuak to relate to certain theological aspects of their faith. The Anuak hymn includes many references to the poorness and the poverty and weakness of the human condition.

We are poor, Jesus.

Help us, help us.

Sins make us poor.

Save us, save us.^[23]

The Anuak hymn provides a description of the nature of God versus the nature of Satan.

You are the greatest who watches us in the earth. Sometime in the future, Satan will be chased away. When our great God went, the devil, the snake came and cheated the man with his wife and they could not get anything after that.^[24]

The Anuak hymn functions as an effective way of relating spiritual truths to the culture of the Anuak. It is an effective tool for teaching because it teaches in a language that is understandable.

A snake, the animal of the forest has deceived us…. We have eaten the fruit, but still people are making beer and sinning. When the drum is beaten, we will sing to God.^[25]

Second, Anuak music contributes to the integration of society. Village pride is encouraged by the Agwaga. The Agwaga provides a medium to ridicule the village that has been defeated; it may talk about the greatness of the victorious village and the people that live in it, building village pride. After a battle has been fought, the Agwaga will include the names of those who exercised themselves valiantly in battle, providing a catalog of the brave. The singing of such a song gives status to those who earn a place in the song. In addition to the Agwaga, many other songs sung in the village praise members of the community. This is, to be sure, an economic ploy of the singer and composer, but it also places before the people of the village those who are important and somewhat revered in a society that has little in the way of recognizing status.

Other songs such as the Nirnam, or marching songs, are sung chiefly by the age sets. These serve to integrate this segment of society by providing a way of allowing it to express group pride for the accomplishment of killing an animal and taking an oath until the feat has been accomplished. This aspect of Anuak music reflects a very vital part of the culture. Music provides an honorable instrument of displaying those who should be respected, drawing attention to individuals because of feats accomplished, reminding the village of the bravery of certain individuals and encouraging the honoring of the chief through honorific comments of praise and respect.

At the root of the concept of uniting nation and musical style is the idea that a nation’s folk music must somehow reflect the inner characteristics of that nation’s culture, the essential aspects of its emotional life—its very self. There is some validity to the notion that the folk music of a nation or a tribe has a special relationship to its culture.^[26]

I agree with Nettl’s comment that, “A nation’s folk music must somehow reflect the inner characteristics of that nation’s culture, the essential aspects of its emotional life….” Perhaps the essential aspect of the Anuak emotional life is found in the great amount of time accorded to names, the proud boasts about the deeds of the age set, the frequent mention of praise, found in song after song. It seems rather strange that this type of musical expression comes from a society that is supposedly classless, where everyone has all things in common and no one is to rise above the level of anyone else upon threat of punishment. Yet it is this culture that exercises such a practice. Perhaps it is because this society has no other way to show their individuality and their personal worth that they do this. Through their songs, the Anuak’s pride in being a good person, of being kind, of being generous, of being brave…can be placed on a vocal billboard and sung for all to hear. It is difficult to think of a better way to be remembered.

Third, music enforces conformity to social norms.

They sing their politics. It is clearly one of the best means of achieving agreement and influencing public opinion to get everyone to sing voluntarily the sentiments with which they agree and which will influence the course of events.

Rooted objection to innovations, complaints about injustices, praise for the just and generous, and condemnation for the unjust and miserly…anything, in fact, in which the conduct of society is concerned will find its way into certain kinds of song. Pressure in the form of praise or derision is brought to bear upon the members of the community who do not conform, or upon chiefs, clerks or others whom they hope to influence.

The government anthropologist in Tanganyika once remarked that the first two things an anthropologist should study on getting to a new district were the songs and after them the medicines of the local people.^[27]

One of the most interesting methods that the culture has to inculcate values is in the musical function of enforcing conformity and behavior change through music. The Agwaga and Oberos particularly, include comments by the composer that place him in an advisory and sometimes an adversary capacity. The singer may suggest to the chief that he could improve in his running of the village, that he work to get control of certain factions. He may suggest that there are problems in the village, that there are certain ones who are causing difficulty and should be dealt with.  Not only does the singer strive to keep the chief in line and the leaders of the village in order, he also will make comments in his songs about the behavior and characteristics of the villagers. At times, the singer’s comments may cause hardships for him as villagers will tend to avoid the singer because they fear what he is going to say about them. However, the singer has a socially accepted way to give advice to chiefs and others, and to alert the people to certain social ills in the society.  For example, the singer may say:

What has the son of Akway done? During his absence, the people used to insult him, but when he is present the bad insults will be changed to good talk among the people. Saying, let’s keep our chief in a good condition because his leadership seems very nice to all people because he unites Anuak and Ojung tribes at the same time.^[28]

There are some people who are after beer and other people who are after food only. Those who pay beer for their marriage, they are destroying their names in Gok village.^[29]

The singer, therefore, acts as a critic and advisor from the inside and yet with a voice that is heard loud and clear. What he says is accepted because it is sung. This is in keeping with traditional patterns found elsewhere in Africa.

African music lays particular stress on vocal music; for the song can be used for a dual purpose. In addition to what it communicates as music, it can provide a source of pleasure in the verbal references it makes. Accordingly, in Africa, songs are used as a medium for recording oral traditions or events of historical importance, and as an avenue of creative expression, special commentary, and criticism. Topical songs or songs of allusion, songs of insult, and proverbial songs form part of the repertoire of many African societies.^[30]

Though the Anuak do not have specific songs for criticism and morality teaching (outside of hymns), these elements may be found in many types of their songs. Constructive criticism pops up everywhere. Hugh Tracey gives the broad perspective of this type of music practice.

Individuals are reprimanded publicly or lampooned in order to get them to change their ways… public sanctions. It is tribal education at work using the salutary fear of public opinion. The proper use of fear is undoubtedly one of the most constructive forces in African society today. It is the primary social sanction, and can be best exercised internally by the community itself. You can say publicly in songs what you cannot say privately to a man’s face, and so this is one of the ways African society takes to maintain a spiritually healthy community. Anything they are worried about will be found in their songs.^[31]

2.4. The Deposit of History

Of course, they have the old, old stories of their ancestors having come from an area in the south. This has been handed on. A man named Gilo who was supposed to have been the first Anuak… and this has been handed on. Not with a great deal of clarity I think; so, they do have things that do go back farther. I’m not sure how much of this has been handed on through songs, but I guess that it has been through the songs that it has been handed on primarily.^[32]

Anuak music functions as the deposit of history. The Anuak tribe, though it has been made aware of writing skills and of print, still is largely illiterate and, because of Amhara dominance, will probably remain so at least as far as their own language is concerned. Like all societies who are orally oriented, the Anuak have developed the skills of memory to a high degree, but without some means of remembrance, much of what is important in the past would nevertheless be forgotten. The mode of remembrance, the deposit of history, is found in their songs, and to a degree in the folk tales of the people. Goines states:

Oral tradition is very important in Africa, as many tribes have no written language. As a result, traditional Africans learn much about their approach to life through music. Music functions as an historical device as a means through which current events are recounted, and as an educational vehicle. A child learns much of the history and moral code of his people through songs sung to him by his mother. Songs acquainted him with the great people, places, and events of his tribe in particular and his nation in general. He learns about his family and clan members and about the ways of life that they have determined to be right and wrong.^[33]

The Agwaga, the Obero and the Marching songs in particular provide the vehicles for the remembrance of the past. Names of important people and their lineage will be traced backwards. The Agwaga commemorates the fighting of the village and its success in the past. Oberos recount the history of the chiefs, their great deeds and attributes. Such references can set the memories of the people in motion and cause them to recall the rule of these who ruled in the past.

Oberos mostly can be used for dancing and for when the chief dies, they will sing it. When Obero is sung, maybe the leader is dead, and the people will recall whether the leadership of the man was good or not. Not only the leader, the best friend in the village will also be praised in the song like that as well. Praising the best work he has done in the village.^[34]

An Agwaga relates:

This autumn we are going to fight the black Arabs. We are going to fight against black Arabs. There will be no village in their area. We will burn down their villages. The war was not against you and us, but it was against us and Arabs. If we defeat the Arabs, the benefit we will gain is for all of us. But if you try to support Arabs, you will get the consequences.^[35]

One suspects that through extensive recording in the villages in the Anuak area, and through careful cross referencing, one could reconstruct the history of the Anuak tribe at least as far as fighting between villages and other tribes is concerned. The history of the tribe does not extend back much further than the memory of the oldest singers and so one cannot go back much before the Italian occupation. Nevertheless, the Agwagas do contain the history of the tribe in a vital and still living way. Mbabi states, “African verbal artists have for centuries treasured historical events in poems and song. Consequently, the value of music in the reconstruction of African history is being acknowledged.”^[36] Herskovits says:

Songs were and are the prime carriers of history among this nonliterate folk. In recounting the ritual associated with the giving of offerings to the souls of those who were transported into slavery, this function of song came out with great clarity…The role of the singer as the “keeper of records” has been remarked by those who visited the kingdom (of Dahomey) in the days of its autonomy.^[37]

In the act of recording the events of the people in their songs, the Anuak automatically record new events and culturally changing forces as they are taken note of. The songs of the age sets, naming themselves as the “people of the pencil” or the “people of the airplane” effectively set in time the founding of those age sets. The songs may recount the presence of the cinema or display an acculturative influence. The nature of the music itself may show change as foreign words are included or melody is adapted to an Arabic influence. The music of the Anuak is by no means a static thing. It continues to grow and record the life of the Anuak as it exists and as it existed.

African music is “controlled” music in the sense that there are norms of selection, structuring, and use which persist. Yet it is flexible in that it permits creating and recreation, borrowing and adaptation. It encourages tradition and innovation. It is dynamic and adaptable to change.^[38]

African music is not a museum piece, out of date and out of fashion. There is no out of date music whatsoever in the genuine African repertoire because the moment a piece of music or song becomes ineffective, or fails to achieve its purpose, it is discarded and forgotten. Oral music evolves, all the time, it can never be static.^[39]

2.5. A Provider of Economic Gain for the Singer and Participants

A substantial portion of many songs in the Anuak area abound with references of praise to various individuals in the village and with obvious and quite direct references to the needs of the singer. The song sung may function chiefly in a specific way such as in praise to the chief, or as a war song, or a love song, or dancing song; but within each type, one finds the references of the singer to his own poorness and the need for economic return. This is fully in line with Anuak values. One receives something for what one gives, be it an immediate reward or a delayed reward. Those who are sung to or about are expected to reciprocate. This practice is also in line with other parts of Africa.  Smith talks about Hausa solo praise singing.

Normally he (the singer) is a rover, arriving unexpectedly in rural areas and augmenting his knowledge of the important individuals he intends to address by information obtained from local Maroka. He begins by calling the name of the person he intends to praise several times, working into a rhythm and thence into the individual’s praise song. This continues for some time with increasingly frequent and direct demands for gifts. Normally the person addressed, if already out of sight, continues to remain so as long as possible and sends out his gift by a boy. The Baroki now chants his thanks, then announces the amount of the gift. If it is clearly adequate by community standards, he concludes his address to the first individual with a brief repetition of his praise song and recommendation of the donor to Allah, and turns his attention to a second individual nearby.^[40]

This is a normal and expected function of the singer in much of Africa. He will expect something for his work. Many of the musicians encountered among the Anuak were fine performers, with strong clear voices, able to lead the village with a robust sound and with rhythmic, energetic dancing and singing. They perform a vital function in the area as composers and as singers and leaders. They are sought out for dances and lead in every village musical gathering. They are rewarded in the form of animals or bride wealth or money. The Anuak society accepts this form of request.

A dancing song states, “When shall I really get rich?” Asking the king, “You talk with your wives and when I come you will have completed your talks.” (Try to negotiate on what price you can give me with your wives.) Now praise about two or three people, saying, “What has been said by the liar before, I have never touched with my tongue.” Praising another person, “I didn’t ask for poverty. It is God’s will that gave me this poverty.” ^[41]

Nketia comments on the musician’s community role and status.

Traditional musicians have continued to play a very important role in community life and to receive the recognition due to them as specialists. They are often rewarded for their services in the form of gifts or fees, and privileges may also be accorded them by members of their performing groups, or in some cases by the society as a whole. Attitudes to musicians, however, tend to be ambivalent when their social behavior is also taken into account.^[42]

Nketia’s description of the African musician quite accurately characterizes the Anuak song leader. Little privilege is accorded the Anuak song leader by Anuak society except the privilege to lead. Though popular in the singing circumstance, they may attract the ire of the young men in the village because of their ability to attract the attention of the girls in the village. Because of their popularity with the girls, they are the objects of jealousy from the eligible men in the village. A song relates:

Mentions something about himself in the village. He didn’t trust his age group boys that they would give him something, only the old men. In Gilo area, if the singer is very young, many girls will love him. For this reason, all the young men will be against him. When I was called to drink beer with the group of young fellows, I saw many young fellows looking at me seriously in the corner of the house. Praising his friend, perhaps this friend was angry with him because of dispute over the girls in the village. He said, “I’m asking you, what have I done in the village? This may be my bad luck.  When I first came into the village, people accepted me very happily. As long as I stay in the village, they will start hitting me and desiring that I be away from the village.”^[43]

He comments further:

There are skilled musicians who make music their profession. The professional musician receives gifts and payments in return for his services, and his role is to provide the required musical leadership. But the success of an occasion is judged by the display of techniques and knowledge and by the extent of group participation and general enjoyment.^[44]

There is no doubt that the skill in leadership of a good Anuak song leader contributes greatly to the success of the performance situation. He is virtually indispensable.

2.6. The Major Traditional Educational Tool

The songs of the Anuak inculcate tribal history, myth, values, attitudes, beliefs, and practice. In considering the functions of music already discussed, one finds that all that has been mentioned, with the possible exception of pure entertainment, has to do in essence with an educative experience for the participants.

I’m sure people learn respect for the chief through the Agwagas. And people learn hatred for the other age group through the songs that are written. Think of education as learning. The songs play a very important part in the process (the songs are full of references to the local towns that have been fought, the men who have been brave, those that they have defeated). So, if you think of education as learning, the songs are very important part of the education process.^[45]

The Anuak hymn teaches the Anuak how to act towards others, how to respond to God, and provides knowledge of biblical precepts. Anuak songs describe nature as they understand it and in general, interpret life in a meaningful way for them. Children’s songs help the child inculcate patterns of adult behavior at a level that the child can grasp through play. The Agwaga and the Obero provide an effective teaching tool for the singer through which he may give advice to the villagers and the chief. Anuak values are sung about in the love songs and the dancing songs; warnings are given; people are held up to respect and others to ridicule. In all, teaching is taking place. The function of music as an educational tool compares with much of Africa. Ofei comments:

Informal and traditional forms of education that existed in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, before the advent into the country of European traders and missionaries emphasized the needs of the society and how children could grow and identify themselves with the culture, problems, and values of their tribes. The music of the people played a vital role in this type of education and was an important means of acculturation. There was a meaningful correlation of music with the art and crafts, the oral traditions, the history, and the various aspects of the traditions of the society.^[46]

In spite of the influence of the formal school, music remains as a major traditional educative tool among the Anuak and among much of the peoples of Africa.

The themes of songs tend to center around events and matters of common interest and concern to the members of a community or the social groups within it. They may deal with everyday life or with the traditions, beliefs, and customs of the society. This is true not only of serious songs of the court and songs associated with ceremonies and rites, but even of simple tunes, like cradle songs sung to children who may not have mastered their mother tongue enough to appreciate the meaning of the texts.^[47]

3. Transmission of the Musical Heritage

The Anuak culture transmits its musical heritage much the same way as it transmits the traditional skills that are expected of the young and that are needful to the culture. There is little that is complex about their methods of teaching. One can classify the Anuak’s major teaching methods as being imitation and repetition.

3.1. Methods of Teaching

When you were learning songs for the first time, when you were very small, how did you learn?

By listening to people who were singing. Watching the people and listening carefully. When there was a song in the village, I could go and hear the singing. When there were not songs in the village, my older brother, the group that was living with me can teach me. Usually, my group was very intelligent to know the song easily. By hearing it, I can know the song.^[48]

The child in the Anuak community is brought up in a total culture situation. They are welcome or tolerated at virtually all village functions unless it is too late at night for them to be present. They are integrated into the culture. “It is interesting to note that children from very young to teens are welcome in the dances and the singing and are seemingly excluded from nothing.”^[49] Even if the child is too young to attend the song teaching sessions, he is able to learn the songs nevertheless. The process functions thusly:

A very little child is taught by his mother or older brother. The Anuak will sing a new song at night when everyone is not busy. By that time the children would not be allowed to go there because it is too late and they would be sleeping. So, when the mother and older brothers and sisters learn the song, they will come and teach the child. When they come back from singing, they will practice at home. When they work or are walking around, they will be singing. So, children will simply imitate the parents.^[50]

Therefore, even in song learning, it is frequently the mother who teaches the child. As far as dancing is concerned, field notes record an observation of a very small child in the group, watching his peers and jumping and mimicking the activity of the older children: “Dancing is rhythmic down to the very small children who were observed imitating the rhythmic body and hand movements of the older children. Perhaps the words and music are learned in the same way.”^[51] The children watch and imitate freely.

Wachsmann speaks of the child assimilating the culture in tribes where the mother and child are as inseparably bound as they are among the Anuak. This mother and child relationship could very well affect the early musical learning of the child. “For instance, when the child begins to toddle, in many places, bells are tied around his ankles. I imagine the child hardly knows what it does: does it walk, or does it ring the bells?”^[52] Even before the child is able to participate in the culture to the extent already mentioned, it is possible that they are influenced by initial learning experiences on the back of the mother. Wachsmann describes.

How is an infant in Africa introduced into his society? He starts off on his mother’s back and for a long time he hardly ever leaves it. He is in close touch with her skin, her backbone is hollow, concave, so he can snuggle in very nicely, his cheek rests on her back. When she speaks, he must feel the vibrations of her body; when she pounds a mortar, he must be aware of the muscular effort of lifting the pestle; he probably is aware of the muscular effort even more strongly than he is aware of the actual thud of the pestle reaching the bottom of the mortar. Here, an experience of rhythm is introduced that we in the West do not have. With us, learning music centers on the moment that we hear.

Mothers do not feel that the baby on their back impedes their dancing. In fact, anyone who has knowledge of life in Africa knows that mothers with babies on their backs join in the crowd like everyone else. What mother does with her feet cannot escape the perception of the baby even though he may be at a stage when music does not penetrate his mind. One thing he does, however, learning during this stage, being exposed continuously to his mother’s activities, his ability to compensate for her movements will of necessity be developed. While on the one hand this may teach him to surrender passively to another person’s mode of moving about, he will on the other hand acquire early control of certain muscles during the continuing process of adapting himself to new and ever-changing positions. Either experience may well determine specific abilities for him as a dancer and a musician. This goes on for about two years.^[53]

How much of Wachsmann’ s comments are germane to the Anuak mother’s role in the typical dance may be questioned. But his comments about a close physical contact during work and all other activities of daily life are accurate. How much of one’s culture is assimilated by physical contact may be argued, but many of the child’s earliest sensations probably are a result of such contact.

The field notes yield an interesting picture of the Anuak’s approach to the training of the child in the musical ways of the tribe. There seems to be no restriction on the age of the participants and both boys and girls are actively involved in the roles assigned to them. The child is allowed to be present at virtually every occasion when music and dancing occurs, he is allowed uninhibited exercise in what he is able to do, he can freely and openly imitate the adults, and he is involved meaningfully in the occasion.

Opportunity for imitation was present on these occasions:

Dancing is rhythmic down to the very small children who were observed imitating the rhythmic body and hand movements of the older children. Perhaps the words and music are learned in the same way.^[54]

The little children watch people dancing… small boys watching… younger watching. Children may learn when they go out with the cows and the goats… they practice and learn by night. Play in Agwaga… will try to act as good singers, will try again in the general dancing.^[55]

The children play in a very uninhibited manner described by these observations:

Children involved in dancing and singing in Pokwomo. They sing freely and dance in a tight position around the tape recorder. Movement of the feet is limited to shuffling. Arm movements are free. Singing is loud, uninhibited. The singing could not be classified as accurate.^[56]

Ebago. The children who had been listening to the discussion now become a most enthusiastic and well-singing chorus with a very strong and quite excellent leader.^[57]

The integrated acceptance of children of all ages is apparent in these observations:

Ebago. We arrive at Ebago and are met by the children who have heard the boat. We walk through the mud to the drum house where we find a warm fire, men sitting around and the children allowed to come in under the shelter. It doesn’t look too hopeful for much today unless the rain lets up. We sit for quite a while until the children are told to dress and get ready. The sky lightens, the rain stops and by 11:40 the drums are taken out to the dance area. The dance area is spacious, covered with cut grass laid flat to soak up moisture and provide a soft dance floor. Two smaller drums are placed here and the beating of the drums begins… but by the younger boys at first.

Several girls plus a couple of the women begin the singing with the rhythmic moving back and forth of the bodies….

The younger boys then come running and circling the girls and the drums which is a prelude of the older men to do the same.^[58]

Ebago. It is interesting to note that children from very young to teens are welcome in the dances and the singing, seemingly excluded from none. There are at least four strong leaders of the song. Two most respected older men…In addition, a very young boy, seemingly an apprentice, sings (about 12) and the group follow his leading, through mostly the children follow him strongly.^[59]

Illea. Action begins with the women and children sitting to our left, the soloist in the center in front of the drums….^[60]

In the drum demonstration, the participants were: Ojwato Gari, about 50; Ngwangi, about 40; Gwak Ojulo, about 35; Ogel Ongom, about 45; and Angil Ocalla from Pingmow who is about 10 years old and plays the small drums. Age is not a factor in allowing a person to play the more difficult drum. Talent seems to be the criterion. Three of them, the first two and the boy, regularly perform for the Sunday morning drum service in Pokwo… they also perform for the village dances.^[61]

This process of imitation, uninhibited play, and integrated acceptance allows the child to grow up in the social setting and allows the adults to reward the successful with opportunities to perform. Upon observing the involvement of the children in the dance at Ebago, I wrote, “An extraordinary performance for many reasons. The inclusion of all ages is most interesting. All ages and both sexes are accepted as an integral part of the show.”^[62] Nketia describes typical African practice as follows:

By the time a child reaches adolescence, he may have learned to play toy instruments by imitation, or to play minor instruments in adult ensembles. One sometimes comes across seven-year-old boys playing in drum ensembles or playing rattles for a flute player singing in a chorus or taking quite a prominent part in a public dance. Individual instruction at this stage is unsystematic and largely unorganized. The young have to rely largely on their imitative ability, and on correction by others when this is volunteered. They must rely on their own eyes, ears, and memory, and acquire their own technique of learning.^[63]

Therefore, the song teaching and learning process among the Anuak is largely that of imitation. The culture allows for that imitation by accepting the child into its celebrations, fully integrating him into the activities of village life.

The traditional African system of education, apart from preserving and transmitting African cultural mores and ethics, equipped youngsters with tools to become effective and functioning members of the society. In terms of music, the traditional methods of formal and informal education guaranteed total introduction and complete absorption of children in the music practices of their culture. Through demonstration and imitation from early childhood to adulthood, children develop the skills and cognition of the essentials of their culture.^[64]

Imitation is also the dominant teaching-learning method when it comes to the study of instruments.

The drummers have said, they have copied someone who has known how to play. Is that the normal way of learning for the Anuak?

When the Anuaks are very small, they usually have small gourds they make like the drums. Then they will be playing outside the village where they have their gourds with them and their cows. Then they will play Agwagas and any type of things. They don’t have special teachers, except when you are interested in doing it, you will just learn it. You will be watching that man and then later on you will try until you get it by yourself.^[65]

On dancing occasions, during rest times, the children will group around the drums and practice without criticism or complaint from the adults. They will imitate some of the patterns they have heard during the dance. While the dance continues, some will take turns on the small drum until another comes up and takes his place (hardly missing a beat).

How do these boys and men learn how to play the drums so well?

During the dancing they can practice. Even now, I do. Anybody can do that. You are free to practice yourself. During the dancing I learned how to practice myself. Some of those who know before, they taught me. I watched them. They didn’t have to tell me (how to hold the stick). I just watched how they were beating the drum. And then I did it like they did.

Do you have some ideas of your own that you put into your drumming?

The same idea. I don’t have any different ideas. I follow their ideas.^[66]

Two other drummers related much the same information about the importance of imitation:

Ojwato Gari is about 50 years old and learned to drum as a young boy of about ten or twelve. He was taught by Ala Ajoui and some of the older drummers. At first, he began with the small drums for a while and drummed along with Dwala who beat the larger drum. He watched Dwala until he learned. He drums with real finesse though not as flashy as others. Ngwangi is from Gok and learned as an older person by watching those who know how.^[67]

Those that play the string instruments, the mbira (thom), and the flute also learn through imitation. “I think that the fellow who knows how to play the thom can tell you which finger is going to be beaten first so he can show you, beat this one and beat this… by showing it. And watching it also.”^[68]

McGinty notes the importance of imitation in other portions of the continent.

Performance on instruments is not the result of organized training generally, but comes about as the result of a natural urge to imitate the activities of the older members of society. Boys learn to drum on bottle drums and acorn drums; and although there are no schools, the better performers are encouraged to continue. Despite the general lack of training as such, the professional musician emerges and is in demand.^[69]

If imitation is the basic method of learning, then repetition solidified that learning. The child will repeat over and over the skill he is attempting to learn.

Kids repeat phrases that are taught. They have no idea what it means. Simply repeat. Not much is done in the way of deduction. This is the way culture is passed on in a traditional culture.^[70]

Informant Alemo describes this song learning pattern.

The leader will sometimes repeat the first line so the people get it and sing it clearly. He can repeat any line he wants to…. He won’t jump back and forth but will repeat the line he is on or else will go back to the beginning.^[71]

This method seems very successful. The length of time needed for a village or group of villagers to learn a song varies, but it is usually between three and six days. For the very complex songs, the time may be longer. Yet, the process seems quite rapid.

Does it take very long for them to learn a song?

A man with his friends will only take two or three days. And they will come back with the people and sing it for a week to practice. They can sing it every night about two hours.

How do you remember these songs?

I need to practice for four days or five days. After five or six days, I can remember it. I can remember it easily. I will never forget it. And I don’t have it written down, I can remember it.^[72]

If a mistake occurs in the repetition of a song, what then? Is the child corrected? Do they recognize mistakes as such or not?

Oh, I don’t know that it’s all that exact. I suppose if the person who is teaching the song consistently heard they were saying the wrong word in certain places or something, he would draw their attention to it. Mostly I think they keep on going over and over and over a song… almost until it seems like people know it. The don’t particularly fuss at individual mistakes. Either they have learned it or they haven’t learned it yet. If they don’t know it yet they need more practice.^[73]

Several other teaching devices play a role in the informal educative process of the Anuak. Apel describes cultures with an oral tradition using mnemonic aids in a rote learning situation. He states, “training, which may be long and involved, is generally informal and based on rote learning, often with such mnemonic aids as the singing of nonsense or stylized syllables” (especially for drum patterns).^[74] I did not have the opportunity to observe the informal teaching of youth on the drums outside of the dance situation. However, there is evidence that the drummers use such mnemonic aids to learn their complex patterns. Informant Alemo says, “(the drummers) will make the sounds of the drums with their mouths as well.”^[75] Informant Nyinyoni relates:

Children copy drumming. Observe very little children running while playing; running in rhythm and making the audible sound of dance: Dnah, dnah, dnah….^[76]

It could very well be that mnemonic devices aid in the learning of various rhythmic patterns in ways similar to reported practices in other parts of Africa.

Another teaching device which is exercised is that of reinforcement. I observed negative reinforcement applied through the laughter of the fellows sitting in the circle to a continued mistake and the comment in insulting terms by the singer to a missed pattern. Positive reinforcement occurs when a youth is given a position of playing or singing if he displays the talent to do so. Talent is recognized and rewarded. If one is not doing well, he is quietly replaced by another who comes and takes his place.

[The children] practice and learn by night. When they play in Agwaga, they will try to act as good singers and will try again in the general dancing. When the old people observe that the boy is better [he is allowed] to lead people in singing. He [the speaker] was about 12 when he was recognized as a good singer.^[77]

A clear description of the learning process among the Anuak is found in this discussion with Agwa Alemo.

By watching the older children, the younger learn how to play. Drumming: the first time, will play on a tin or piece of tree. Then go beat a small drum with one stick, when there is dancing. He will watch and when the people go for resting, he will go and beat when there is no dancing but when they are resting. People will let him do that. He can practice when the drums are out. When there is a dance, on that day, before the people come, they are allowed to beat the drums just for practice. They make the sounds of the drums with their mouths as well.

If during the dancing if he doesn’t do well, he will be changed with one who knows. Practice with one stick and shortly thereafter, he will practice with two sticks. There are three ways to beat the big drum and it is difficult to learn it. Needs someone who watches very carefully to hear the notes. He watches a good drummer and assimilates the sounds.^[78]

3.2. Teachers of Music

Reports are replete with references to the fact that learning how to play an instrument or to lead a group in song is not something that is specifically taught but learned through careful observation and practice. Nyinyoni states, “children copy drumming; everyone learns by imitation; no teachers.”^[79] Drummers and thom players have said that they have copied someone who has known how to play. “I think some of them learn from motions. They don’t have special teachers. When you are interested in doing it you will just learn it.”^[80] McGinty states, “although there are no schools, the better performers are encouraged to continue.”^[81] Nketia clarifies this mode of instruction in which learning seems to result apart from any kind of systematic and formal study.

Since musical specialists are required for group leadership and for performance in different contexts, some kind of institutional arrangement that enables musicians to acquire their technical training or that provide them with the sources of the artistic experience would seem to be of paramount importance.

The evidence available so far shows that this problem is not approached in a formal systematic manner. Traditional instruction is not generally organized on a formal institutional basis, for it is believed that natural endowment and a persons’ ability to develop on his own are essentially what is needed. This endowment could include innate knowledge, for according to the Akan, “One does not teach the blacksmith’s son his father’s trade. If he knows it, then it is God who taught him.” The principle everywhere else seems to be that of learning through social experience. Exposure to musical situations and participation are emphasized more than formal teaching. The organization of traditional music in social life enables the individual to acquire his musical knowledge in slow stages and to widen his experience of the music of his culture through the social groups into which he is gradually absorbed and through the activities in which he takes part.^[82]

Thus, most will say that they learned from no special teacher. It has been mentioned that the parents of the child provide a good degree of teaching. Through assimilation at least in a sensory way, of the culture on the mother’s back, to the mother singing the songs learned in the burra to the child in the home, the mother is instrumental in teaching the child some aspects of musical learning. It is said that the old songs are taught by the grandparents,

Old songs are told by grandparents, also the life of the old people. When the older generation realizes that you’re old enough to understand something, then they will teach you (about nine or ten). The children will come to where the old men stay in groups of two or three. The old man will tell a story which is very interesting and the children will come every day to have the story repeated. He will tell them history and also the songs.^[83]

The skills of the player on the string instruments, the mbira (thom), the flute, or the drum are developed largely by imitation. But a young player will informally work with a master who will show various techniques. “…the fellow who knows how to play the thom can tell you which finger is going to be beaten first and he can show you, beat this one and beat this one… by showing it.”^[84] Drummers do the same: “Ojwato Gari… was taught by Ala Ajoai and some of the older drummers. He at first began with the small drums for a while and drummed along with Dwala who beat the larger drum….”^[85] Opiti Cham said, “His father played with the Anuak thom when he was small so he learned from him. He would play by himself. Opiti learned by watching and listening only. His father said that when he was very small, he would pick up Opiti when he was crying and put him on his knee and then play for him and he would stop crying and go to sleep.”^[86]

The teachers of music, therefore, are a very informal assembly of artists who display by example the skills that others aspire to. Some are named, are known for their abilities throughout the area, and are imitated by those who desire to develop their own skills.

3.3. Composers

The music culture is kept alive and growing through a continual flow of new music composed for the events of the village. The composers are known, more or less respected and recognized as musicians, and are in demand. Some composers make songs and lead the singing for several of the villages in the area. Others will prepare songs and lead for one village only. Not all composers are singers. If a composer doesn’t sing adequately, he will teach his songs to a song leader who will lead the village for him.

The composers use a variety of methods in preparing their songs. Onyoyo Okae states that, “He dreams first and is shown the beginning which he completes afterwards. Only two or three names are found in his dream. To that he adds the names of more men. He practices by himself first and then goes to people and begins teaching them until they know it all.”^[87] Ojongo Omot from Okuna composes by, “making the songs secretly without telling anybody. When he gets the song formed, he goes to a lonely place to practice. There he may make changes. When thoroughly learned, he would report to the chief. Then the chief informs the whole village of the song to be practiced.”^[88] Joan Yilek describes Mary Akela’s modern touch approach: “She will often sing a song to herself and come to herself and say, ‘Oh, that is a new song.’ She uses a tape recorder in the middle of the night, refines the song and teaches it to the girls. They sing it over and over. They learn it and then teach it to the rest of the church.” Yilek continues, “They learn much more quickly. Their ears are attuned and remember much better than we. They know they can’t look back and so develop great skill in remembering.”^[89]

Good composers will make their living composing and singing. The frequent allusions to the poorness of the singer in every type of song, attest to the fact that the composer expects to be compensated for his efforts. Being one who may travel extensively and operate somewhat outside the usual structure of society, a composer-singer will find it quite difficult to accumulate bride wealth. The frequent references to these needs are probably true. He is indeed poor in bride wealth even though he may have enough to eat. The composer doesn’t receive any more honor than anyone else, but he is not looked down upon either. He is an indispensable member of the Anuak society and the key to the success of their celebrations.

An important social event for the Anuak is the occasion when they gather for the learning of a new song. These sessions are usually held in the evening when the work is done and may go on for several days until the song is learned. The whole process of composing and teaching has been refined through practice. One must start with a good song.

In the Anuak area, if the new song is sung, it will be studied by many people word by word. If it is very interesting, people will be happy to sing it. If not, they will ignore it. People will study the song for a week or two. The singer will gather them together in a burra or another area. He will sing it first by himself for three days. After three days people who are very intelligent to catch the words will sing it.^[90]

The entire process of composition and teaching is described by Agwa Alemo.

When he (the composer) makes a song, it takes him a long time to correct it in his mind, (several months or a year). He will correct it by and for himself. When he has it clear, he will be teaching it to his best friend. When his friend knows it, they will go into the village asking the people, “Are you named by this animal only, or is there another one you would rather be named after?” They will correct and think it over, what form can we put in this person with his animal. When they sing it correctly, then they will make it public and then teach it to the people. If the song is short, it will take two to four days and if it is long, perhaps a week and a half for them to learn. After people have learned it, they will call for the big dancing to try it to see if it fits in the dancing and with the drum. If not, they will correct with the drumming. They will fix the part with the people together if the words do not fit. If your name is named in the song, it is up to you to give the singer something.^[91]

Alemo continues: Everybody in the village comes to learn the songs except the old ladies and the old men. They say, “We are old. This is for the younger generation. We can learn it from you later on.” After the supper, 8:30-9:00, they would gather in the burra, beat a drum to call the people. They will come to learn the new song. Everyone is expected to be there. Those that are still busy will not go but will remain. Everyone wants to go. If the song fits the drum, they will sing the song during the dancing time.^[92]

I felt it would be of value to see the entire teaching process in action, and to have an opportunity to observe at first hand what occurs on those occasions when a song is taught in a village. Therefore, this was arranged and over a period of three evenings, I observed a new song being taught to a group of villagers in the burra of the village of Tierlul. This account puts into perspective the various teaching methods that are used and gives an impression of the occasion.

Field notes from January 11, 1973:

Leave for Tierlul at about 8:00 p. m. and walk through the dark village, seeing groups of people sitting around in circles by glowing embers or seeing them within their huts. They ask us, “Why do you foreigners come to Tierlul at night?” They, of course, know us, but wonder what we are up to this time. We wend our way through the village to the burra where there are about thirteen men sitting, anticipating our arrival. The have mats ready for us and invite us to sit down. I ask permission to take pictures mentioning that a flash will result. They say it is all right. After setting up my equipment, the song leader stands and begins to sing. He sings with very little delay or stop. As he continues to sing, others start to join him little by little. The process is slow and long and the singing at first is tentative but increases in authority as the evening wears on. Soon children and young men assemble. None sit where the Jo Burra are sitting, but rather behind the singer or to his side, facing the Jo Burra. More and more join. As the children come, we notice that they come out the strongest and quickest. After singing for a period of time, perhaps ten to fifteen minutes, he rests, smokes and relaxes, and then resumes.

During the evening, from about 8:15 until 9:30, the singer takes about three breaks but otherwise sings continuously. As the children enter in, they improve in their singing. Some of the boys soon lose interest and talk and misbehave among themselves. Some of the men in the burra ask them to behave and probably some would be beaten if we had not been there. Discipline seems very lax. The women seem to exercise little control at all. No effort appears to be made to make the kids pay attention except the encouragement of the men to do so. The children, being very uninhibited, laugh freely when mistakes among the children are made. The men singing low and softly would probably not be heard by the others when they made mistakes and certainly not be laughed at. The men in the burra retain a noble independence. They join in if they wish, or talk among themselves if they feel like it. They are continuously smoking their water pipes, passing them around. And so, from this first experience (Paul assures me that this is very typical), the learning of a song (this one is quite short and easy), is done through repetition and imitation. Repetition of small parts, over and over and then during a two to five-night sequence. The singer is intent on his own work and ignores the bad behavior of some around him, simply singing over and over. We leave the burra by 9:30 and when we leave, the others leave also. A worthwhile session.^[93]

Field notes from January 14, 1973:

Evening at 8:30, we walk to Tierlul. The glare of flames is close as the nearby fields are being burned. We walk through the village and are welcomed by children, and progress to our normal place in the burra. We wait briefly while we get ready and as people assemble. The singer again stands and leads. He begins and repeats each of the eight phrases of his song. After about 30 minutes of fairly good singing, definitely better than last time, he encourages (insults?) the singers. He especially encourages the children to try harder. They do, and sing very well. The group in the burra are the men who belong there. Young boys are on one side and the girls on the other, separated so that the children will behave themselves. This works quite well, though there is still misbehavior and the children do not show proper respect and fail to sing well. A group of students, older boys in late teens or early twenties. walk by in a line and watch from a distance. They don’t approach. I thought it was because of their education that they felt superior to the situation. Paul said, ‘No, not so.’ They were afraid to approach the burra being wrongly dressed (Western style clothes with shirts and long pants and shoes). They would have to remove these and approach on their knees on danger of being beaten if they did not observe the rules of the burra.  And so, they watch from a distance and did not enter in.

After an extended conversation about having the drums ready for the next performance, we took our leave of the burra and walked back, arriving at home by 10:15. This sort of activity I could never had recorded or gotten on film without the preparation help and supreme influence of Paul Nyinyoni.  No college boy or missionary could ever have accomplished as much. They would not have shown the respect to our requests nor proposed such activities as we have been privileged to witness. This was a highly profitable session.^[94]

Field notes from January 15, 1973 at 8:00 p.m.:

Walk to Tierlul and wait in burra. We wait for about 15 minutes as people assemble. The man in charge of the village then begins to beat the drum and the people come more quickly. The crowd swells as the evening wears on from the six or so men originally there to the two hundred or so eventually there. The singer eventually comes, having finished his meal. Being unmarried, it is very difficult for him. He must live on the kindness of others for meals. This is true of all unmarried, though perhaps harder for him as the people somewhat fear a songwriter as he may include their names in a song in a way that is not complimentary. So, some keep from him (even those in his own age group who in this case are members of the Jo Burra).

Having had too much to drink, he is active, making gestures as he sings and encouraging the singers very strongly. As the drum beat is added, the singing gains great animation, and the singing is much improved with the addition of the drums. Two drums are being used. (Three are normally used but being very heavy and having to be transported from Pokwo, the largest drum was not brought.) The singing is strong and quite sure, with the greatest strength coming from the children. Even during the strongest singing, however, the boys act up and do not pay attention in spite of threats on the part of the men. It seems that the age set below the Jo Burra was not present. There seemed to be a large break between ages of participants and those of the Jo Burra. Because of drink, the song leader’s performance is a long way from seriousness or high quality. But the final performances are greatly improved from the first singing of the song. I believe that the tapes will show a very interesting development from start to finish. We agree to a fee of fifteen dollars because the chief did not pay him any more than that for the song. He argues that because it is a good song and because I am rich, he should get more but the matter is closed. I give the money to Paul who gives it to the man in charge. It will be up to the singer to distribute the money as he pleases. We leave at about 10:00 p.m. and return home by 10:10 p.m. after a very full day.^[95]

4. Summary

This portion of the study has described the uses and functions of Anuak music. The culturally-derived divisions of Anuak music were described and their uses discussed. Lullabies and children’s songs are associated with soothing a baby and play activities. Children’s songs may provide a vehicle or an accompaniment for the imitating of adult activity in the play of either the boy or girl. Love songs are a relatively private type of music making and often describe the frustration of being young and poor without sufficient dowry to marry. Marching songs celebrate the virility of the age group in killing some wild beast. Dancing songs take many forms and are used in the dancing situation. Much of their texts are given over to the praising of the people involved. Hymns are primarily a part of Christian worship but are composed in the indigenous patterns of the Agwaga and Obero forms. Oberos are used to praise a chief or as a lament for the dead. The Agwagas are typically war songs and celebrate the bravery of men in battle.

Several functions of these dominant Anuak musical forms were derived. Music functions as the satisfaction of tribal and individual if, involving the entire village, the age set, or for personal and small group satisfaction. Music functions in the socialization of the Anuak into tribal life and practice: lullabies, play songs, love songs, all have socializing influences. Music functions in the inculcation of values: hymns have teaching value, village pride and age set pride are outgrowths of the Agwaga and the marching song in their references to names and opportunities for boasting. Many of the songs contain elements of encouraging conformity to social norms as the singer makes suggestions about the running of the village and the correction of wrongs. Music functions as the deposit of history, being the most influential and most effective way of remembering the past and those associated with it. Songs function in an economic way for the performers, as each song, no matter the genre, contains references to the needs of the singers and are sung with the expectation of some return. Music functions as the traditional educational tool. This function incorporates the previous ones as Anuak music educates the young in tribal history, myth, values, attitudes, beliefs, and practice.

Music is transmitted in Anuak society in simple but effective ways. The child is free to assimilate the culture by being present on musical occasions, by freely practicing and imitating, and by being given simple roles to play. Imitation and practice go hand in hand in learning of vocal and instrumental skills. Parents, elders, and various experts act informally in assisting to pass on the musical skills. Composers and singers maintain a live and growing body of music as they prepare and perform music for the various celebrative events of the Anuak’s existence.