₦airaland Forum

Igbos have a long history instruments that they used to work with ranging from flutes, harps, drums, zithers, lutes, horns etc, etc, however the last several decades has greatly diminished the Igbo musical sphere to the point that many believe that Igbo instruments are just limited to drums and the occasional flute.

Some Igbos are taking the time to modernise and present these instruments in a palatable way for younger audiences, but unfortunately, many don't even know that they exist.

First of all, let's talk about drums:

1) Igbo skin drums (igba, abia, etc, etc,)

They are your streotypical, 'traditional-looking- drums with skin tops. In igboland, they have differing names based on their size and perhaps purpose.

skin drums continued:

Next type of drum

2) Slit or log drums (ekwe, ikoro, etc, etc)

Nice one

3) Udu drum

One of the most unique Igbo instruments, and one of the most unique in the world. This drum is considered both an aerophone and an idiophone. This drum has gone through a lot of modernisation in the west and is now being sold as a unique percussion instrument.

Still on Udu

Xylophone

Zither

Thumb pianos

Pluriarc

harp

Lutes

Igbos have several different type of lutes, classifed according to string and size, however these seems to have gone extinct.

Musical bow

Flutes

Gongs

I've noticed that many of our stringed instruments (une, ubo akwara, zither, harp, etc, ect) have fallen out of fashion in the past several decades. I believe it's because traditional orchestras nowadays use mostly percussion and flute instruments. it'll be great if young children would be able to learn some of these instruments in school.

Like these Chinese students learning the traditional Chinese Zither.

Also, culture doesn't have to stay stagnant. Just take a look at a picture of a piano in it's early years vs a piano now.

Igbos can easily adapt their instruments to suit the modern age, much like Foreigners are doing with the udu. In time, people will be able to play rock and roll with an Igbo pluriarc or even create completely different genres of music.

There are also a multitude of other instruments as well such as rattles, shakers, bells and horns that I haven't posted yet.

Nice thread

Br

Shiver99:
Lutes

Igbos have several different type of lutes, classifed according to string and size, however these seems to have gone extinct.

nice thread

this is how it should be

no bashing of others to raise yourself up

kudos

Shiver99:
Next type of drum

2) Slit or log drums (ekwe, ikoro, etc, etc)

Fun Fact

The Ekwe was used for messaging and signalling in the past there were skilled people who knew how to play the Ekwe at a specific tune to read out a message that other trained people could understand and the noise could travel about 5km so each village had to have one in order to communicate information from one village to the next and there were instances when the Aro started their conquest where they destroyed the Ekwe in each town so they were unable to tell the villages in the area that the Aro had arrived.

Shiver99:
Thumb pianos

This is the one that really interests me I never thought i'd see a piano like instrument in an pre colonial African society but wow this is advanced do you know if they spread these instruments to other groups or if it was solely found in the Igbo area?

Abohboy:
This is the one that really interests me I never thought i'd see a piano like instrument in an pre colonial African society but wow this is advanced do you know if they spread these instruments to other groups or if it was solely found in the Igbo area?

Thumb pianos are one of Africa's oldest instruments originating from groups such as Igbos, bantus, semi-bantus....They all differ according to type, region, make.

The oldest surviving Igbo thumb piano is approx 1000 + years old.

Abohboy:
Fun Fact

The Ekwe was used for messaging and signalling in the past there were skilled people who knew how to play the Ekwe at a specific tune to read out a message that other trained people could understand and the noise could travel about 5km so each village had to have one in order to communicate information from one village to the next and there were instances when the Aro started their conquest where they destroyed the Ekwe in each town so they were unable to tell the villages in the area that the Aro had arrived.

Yep, from a modern perspective where we have loudspeakers and microphones it's hard to imagine how far and effectively these sounds could travel.

I think I attached a picture of one of those village-wide, communication ekwes. They were so large they required someone climbing to the top just to play it.

Shiver99:
Yep, from a modern perspective where we have loudspeakers and microphones it's hard to imagine how far and effectively these sounds could travel.

I think I attached a picture of one of those village-wide, communication ekwes. They were so large they required someone climbing to the top just to play it.

Yeah i think it was the last picture you posted that was the village wide one but do you see any way in which these could be revived and brought back into a modern system either for cultural or social events?