An introductory study of music among the Kera
Characteristics of Kera music
As yet I have not been able to find out who are considered to be the musicians among the Kera. All instruments can be played by men. However, there seems to be some restriction on who can play the titir drum and, except for one occasion, I have only seen women play the dayga. There is some concept of "good" and "bad" players, but I do not know if there are recognized musicians. Singing is practiced equally by everybody, but a good singer will be loud and nasalized. Certain men are often the soloists in church, but this choice may be made because of their position in the church rather than their ability to sing. Soloists are usually men, but some women will lead.
The range of instruments and songs is usually in the region of an octave or less. Melodies often contain the same note repeated several times in succession and also the interval of the fourth. When a song contains several verses, the tune tends to change slightly throughout the song and the soloist can add embellishments. The starting note of a song does not seem to be fixed, but the song will often end on the note that has been the tonal center for the song. In several church melodies there appear to be two notes that are more frequent and dominant than the others. These notes are usually a fourth apart from each other. The Kera do not often change key, but sometimes the "chorus" has a different system from the "verse." Usually five-tone and six-tone systems are used, but seven and eight tones are sometimes heard in church and some of the village songs are restricted to three or four tones. The harmony of the fourth is very popular in church songs, but I have not yet observed many harmonies in songs outside the church. Most of the phrases within Kera songs lower in pitch towards the end. If there is a solo and chorus section with different melodies, then the chorus section is often pitched higher. This practice is partly due to the harmonies which add a fourth above the main melody.
Certain observations can be made from the examples in the appendix. The basic systems tend to be five tone, but a sixth, seventh, or eighth tone can be added. There is usually one tonal center that is the note which the song ends on, but there is often another dominant note a fourth up or down from the tonal center. The starting note varies. The tonal center is not always the same note within the pentatonic scale. The harmonies use fourths a great deal. Thirds only tend to appear when the fourth above the melody is not in the scales, and they are often used like passing notes. Fifths, sixths, and seconds occur occasionally. The same kind of system tends to be found in non-African songs which have been translated into Kera. Notes that do not fit are altered and the rhythm becomes more regular, with a great use of crotchets. It is not yet clear why the rhythm changes in this way, as the examples in the appendix show that the Kera are used to singing complex rhythms.