EBRE MUSIC: A STUDY OF ITS PRACTICE AND FUNCTIONS WRITTEN

 ABSTRACT

 Music is the art of combining sounds in the manner that is agreeable to the ear. In Ibibio community in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, music is used in all areas of life; politically, socially, and religiously.  It educates, informs and entertains. Interview and nonparticipatory observation methods were used in the project. This study revealed that the practice and functions of ebre music in Ibibio land is completely controlled by women and rendered in Ibibio native dialect to satirizes evil and wrong doings in the society. The study concludes the genre of music adds a remarkable change and correct vices in the attitudes of individuals as well as the government for the good and well being of Ibibio society in particular and Akwa Ibom State at large.

CHAPTER ONE

 

            INTRODUCTION

 

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Every society is known for its uniqueness in traditional and cultural heritage.

Africa is one of such societies. It is a society where its indigenous people, North, South, East and West are known for musical sounds and practices. African music is all about expressing life in all aspects using the medium of sounds through songs and different instruments depending on the society’s belief,laws,customs and traditions differing in forms and content.

 

African music are categories into various types which may includes; Traditional music, Neo-traditional music, Popular music, and Art music.The traditional or folk  music which is another name for it  is a type of African music that is the concern of this research work. It is the oldest form of music that was active before the coming of the British who brought another type of music referred to as “Neo-traditional music”. This music is defined as the modern form of traditional  music which was influenced by the indigenous African and other form of popular music and dance. It permeates African life and plays significant roles in the society. It is transmitted orally from generation to generation,  despite colonial domination before independence. This genre has endured till today based on individual ethnic group’s activities ,beliefs, laws, customs, and traditions.

 

Popular music deals with familiar themes and issues of the moment and it is the music with broad, immediate, and implicitly transient appeal. It is also used for social entertainment and dance-oriented gathering that draws its core clientele from urban dwellers.

 

African traditional music exists in every country (Nigeria inclusive) that makes up the present continent of Africa, each country adopting generally acceptable practices in the continent to suit its regional characteristics. Some of these general practices include the call-and-response pattern of vocal music, the bell rhythm of the gong; predominantly use of the pentatonic scale; the speech rhythm growing out of tonal inflections of African words; musical instruments used as symbols,and the use of poly-meters and polyrythms.

Nigerian traditional music also  plays various functions in  the life of the people in various Regions. It is a part of festival and religious ceremony such as;rituals, burials, coronations, marriages, age grades ceremonies, naming ceremonies, launching and entertainments for commercial purposes among others. In Nigerian traditional music the mood of the moments dictates the type of music and its instrumentation. It is not unusual to find musicians in the villages gathering together after supper to make music in the moonlight just for the fun of it. The music at such occasions may be background for a wrestling contents, a general sing-song in which everyone present takes part, a solo song of praise or insult or an instrumental jam session.

 

Nigerian music is regional based, for example, there is Hausa music, Igbo music, Ibibio music and Yoruba music to mention but a few. Ibibio music is one of the traditional musical genre in Akwa Ibom. This people are presently grouped under the South South Geographical Zone in Nigeria and have experienced a lot of musical impact that helped immensely in shaping their traditional life in all spheres.

 

In the traditional religious aspects of life, traditional music is used to invite peace, stimulates and appeal the gods, ancestors, shrines and deities reminding them of their inevitable roles for humanity. Music designed for power exploits for warriors and wrestlers were tagged “special music”. Even in the family circle, simple music is a pointer to a prevailing situation between the husband, wife and children calling for adjustment.

Traditional music in Akwa Ibom includes “Uta, Ese, Ikon, Ekpa,” which were often performed at the funeral ceremonies of traditional rulers or very important personalities. Added to these were music that bordered on morals and pleasure including morals and justice.

 

Akwa Ibom is made up of three (3) major ethnic groups, these include; Ibibio, Anang, and Oron and these ethnic groups make up the thirty-one (31) Local Government Areas of the State. Out of the 31 Local Government Areas, Ibibio dialect is spoken in17 Local Government Areas which makes it the major ethnic group in Akwa-Ibom State. These 17 Local Government areas include; Uyo, Eket, Ikot Abasi, Mkpatenin, Etinan, Nsit Ibom, Nsit Ubium, Uruan, Itu, Ibiono, Ini, Ikono, Nsit Atai, Ibesikpo, Eastern Obolo, and Onna.  Ibibio ethnic groupcomprises these 17 Local Government areas and it is located in the coastline of Akwa Ibom State which stretches from the Akpaya River in Nigeria to the Cameron border in the east, the Andoni river in the west, Itu Mbuzo in the North and lies Southwards to Bende in Abia State. The Ibibio people are largely living in villages and integrated together by kin-ship,royalties and language.

 

This ethnic group is endowed with numerous cultural practices and traditions most of which have been abolished because of civilization and its urban influences that have affected cultural practices positively and negatively. A typical example is the abolition of female circumcision. This practice was carried out on the maidens after their compulsory one month traditional fattening room process which is called (nkugho), where they were put in seclusion, fed with all kinds of food to make them fat, massaged their bodies with assorted oils for beauty and taught morals in preparation for marriage. Because of the health hazard and death rate this particular cultural practice caused young Ibibio girls, it was abolished on the advent of education and civilization.

 

Nevertheless, other cultural and traditional practices like “Ekpo Nyoho, Akata, Obon,

Ekpe” societies are still in vogue in some Ibibio villages, they have their festivals ones in a year and non-members and women are not allowed to see or come near. It is only for men who registered as members. They are regarded as secret societies; members in these societies are to protect the secrecy surrounding their rituals and secret rites that are believed to increase the supernatural powers of the members. Although these societies are seen as secret, a closer examination, however, shown that they have economic, social and political functions similar to any other traditional or cultural association in Ibibio land.Another cultural group that is still in existence and still in practice is “Ebre, a typical Ibibio cultural musical and dance group which is controlled by women and as a matter of fact, is the topic of this research work. This ethno-musicological research study will bring to focus a brief history of Ibibio ethnic group, the origin of “Ebre” music, its practice and functions in the society.

 

1.2  THE PROBLEM OF THE STUDY

 

Sam Akpabot and Joshua Uzogwe have written extensively on Ibibio music but the focus of this research is lacking in-dept literature. Researchers have over the years neglected this genre because of the purportedly minor roles it plays in the worship of a subordinate  god  in the Ibibio society. The group was formerly comprised of uneducated and unemployed women who come together in an informal manner to perform at compound events of a very small scale. This genre members hope that educated and gainfully employed women will join the group to advance its importance. The highest patronage for now comes from the palace, being a royalty music typology where culture is still held in high esteem. Membership of the group is now drawn-out for young women from the ages of 15- 50 to preserve this heritage. Invitation is extended to this young women who still think that the genre performance is strictly devoted to the worship of the gods. They also perform at the coronation of a new king. They are also sometimes invited to other social events of great importance.

The researcher on the course of his research work was confronted with problems of data collections since there are no documents for the study. More so,these musical group holds no festivals seems there is no fix period for it celebrations except they are hired and paid heavily to perform because the club is now commercialized. Also, the negative attitudes of  members in granting the researcher a medium for oral  interview on these subject matter was another constraint,most especially because of his male gender. Thus, the researcher had to pass through the leader, who is the head of the Ebre group, registered with the Council of Arts and Culture in Akwa Ibom State, to hire the group with a huge some of money before the performance could be carried out on the 8^th of September 2021.

1.3   THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to investigate the practice and function of Ebre genre in Ibibio land.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The specific objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To study Ebre music by tracing its root and ensemble organization; ii. collect ebre songs from the women ensemble and translates the songs from Ibibio to English language:

iii. notate the music using the MUSESCORE; iv. analyse the musical components of the genre;

1. Identify the practice and functions of the songs in the life’s of the people in Ibibio community.

1.4  REASEARCH QUESTION

The following research questions guided the researcher on the field:

1. What is Ebre genre and where can it be found?

• Where can Ebre songs be collected and how best can it be translated into English? iii. Why is the notation of Ebre genre necessary? iv. How should the musical components of the genre be analyzed ?

1. How can the genre practice be investigated and the functions ascertain?

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work will focus on the Ebre genre. It will pay specific attention to the music, dance, instrumentation, genre practice and functions.

1.6  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that the video/audio clips of Ebre music/dance performance presented by the researcher will serve as a reference material to other researchers on the subject matter. It will also function as an ethnology-musicological collection of the genre for television and social media broadcast. Njoku, ( 1998:15) states that culture is defined as a  complex whole of man’s acquisitions of knowledge, morals, beliefs, arts, costumes, technology, values which are transmitted from generation to generation.

EBRE MUSIC: A STUDY OF ITS PRACTICE AND FUNCTIONS WRITTEN

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