Local and indigenous music practices in Buganda

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Background

Through my active involvement in Buganda’s music education over the last 12 years, I have familiarised myself with challenges on Uganda’s music education. I have noticed traditional music losing appeal to popular taste. European and American music have been assimilated and modified to suit native appetites. In addition, I have become aware of the demands inflicted upon music educators in trying to deliver music instruction in conditions with lack of funds, shortage of resources, inadequate instruction facilities, a shortage of adequate music educators and lack of a proper music curriculum. Modernisation and urbanisation have also influenced the music scene in Uganda to the extent that what is taught in school as compared to what is consumed in the communities outside the school are two divergent forces.
Subsequently, I have decided to investigate music and musical arts education as a relevant role player in Buganda’s education. I feel that music and music education can provide a culturally relevant education for Buganda and bridge the gap between ‘pupils’ own music and prescribed school music. ‘Education in Uganda is administered by the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and all districts, schools, provinces and colleges follow the same curriculum as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Sports. However, even though I will now and then refer to the whole country and its various districts, for the purposes of this study, I will focus on music education in Buganda. 1.1.1 Historical background Buganda is the kingdom of 52 clans of the Baganda people and the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda. The British forged the present country of Uganda between 1877 and 1926. Its name ‘Uganda’ was derived from the biggest and strongest of the kingdoms at the time, the Buganda Kingdom. Three million Baganda make up the largest Ugandan ethnic group and they represent 16.7% of the population of the country. Buganda is centrally situated, more inclined to the eastern part of the country than the west, and its boundaries are marked by Lake Victoria on the south, the Victoria Nile River on the east, and Lake Kyoga on the north.
Even though English and a little Swahili are spoken in Buganda, the main language spoken by the Baganda is luganda and it is one of the two most popular second languages in Uganda, the other one being English. Buganda has rich and varied cultural traditions expressed mainly through music, dance, drama, visual arts and poetry. Buganda’s education was founded in the period between 1877 and 1925 when Buganda was controlled by the Christian missionaries (Tiberondwa 1978: iv). The Baganda came into contact with European missionaries earlier than other tribes that include the Basoga from East Uganda, the Banyankole of West Uganda, the Langi of the North, the Bakiga of the southwest and many others.
The Baganda from Buganda subsequently acquired a Western education which empowered them with the skills necessary to assist the missionaries in spreading Western education and Christianity in the country. Because Buganda is centrally located and mostly urban, Western education was easily consolidated at the expense of indigenous traditional education. The constitution of Uganda provides for freedom of religion and as such there is freedom of worship in Buganda, though Christianity is predominant. Missionary groups of several denominations are still present in Buganda and other parts of the country. They have planted new churches in both urban and rural Buganda, including the Pentecostal Church, the Episcopal Church, the Church of God, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the United Methodist Church (UMC), the Presbyterian Church and many others.

The place of music in Buganda

Music in Buganda, as in many other societies, is linked to religion. When connecting with the spiritual, music is usually involved, and also it is very common to use music in worshipping God. African religion can be depicted as a diagram on the next page, with God, the head of all powers situated at the top. On the other two rear sides of the diagram there exist the next two powers that are very significant in the traditional set-up of Buganda. These two powers are gods and ancestors. At the base of the diagram we find the lower two powers with which magic and traditional medicines are concerned, which are also very significant in Buganda with regard to matters of health and traditional healing. ‘Man is centrally in the middle and must live with all powers that affect him in every way’ (Parrinder 1967:12). I offer the above illustration to explain the relationship of the Baganda in relation to God. The Baganda believe that life is divided into birth, infancy, puberty, adulthood, death and succession. Each of the periods forms an important landmark in a person’s life, with definite experiences in which music constitutes a central role.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• Summary
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• 1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 Background
  • 1.1.1 Historical Background
  • 1.2 The place of Music in Buganda
  • 1.3 Traditional holistic approach to education
  • 1.4 Hindrances to music education in Buganda
  • 1.5 Key concepts
  • 1.5.1 African perspective and concept of music
  • 1.5.2 Education
  • 1.5.3 Music education
  • 1.5.4 Curriculum
  • 1.5.5 MAT cells
  • 1.5.6 Integration
  • 1.5.7 Music facilities
  • 1.5.8 Resources
  • 1.5.9 Primary school
  • 1.5.10 Learners
  • 1.5.11 Environment
  • 1.5.12 Music educators
  • 1.5.13 General music practitioners
  • 1.5.14 Music education researchers
  • 1.6 Origin of the study
  • 1.7 Research problem
  • 1.8 Research question
  • 1.9 Aims of the study
  • 1.10 Research methodology
  • 1.10.1 Ethnographic research design
  • 1.10.2 Phenomenological research design
  • 1.11 Abbreviations
  • 1.12 Terminology
  • 1.13 List of interviewees
  • 1.14 Overview of study
  • 1.15 Organization of study
  • 1.16 Limitations to the study
• 2 LITERATURE REVIEW: policy and curricula
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Primary education prior
  • 2.2.1 Objectives of primary education before
  • 2.3 Government policies
  • 2.3.1 Education after
  • 2.3.2 Education Strategic Investment Program (ESIP)
  • 2.3.3 Universal Primary Education
  • 2.3.3.1 Effects of UPE
  • 2.3.3.2 General achievements of UPE
  • 2.3.3.4 Challenges of UPE
  • 2.3.4 Education policies specific to Buganda
  • 2.3.4.1. Kabaka Education Fund (KEF)
  • 2.3.5 International and national NGO’s in music education in Buganda
  • 2.4 Structure and Administration of primary education
  • 2.4.1 Education outputs and their environments
  • 2.5 Uganda Primary School Curriculum
  • 2.5.1 PAPE syllabus and the ultimate goal of understanding
  • 2.5.2 Place of the performing arts in the school curriculum
  • 2.5.3 The value of music education within the PAPE syllabus
  • 2.5.4 The multi-cultural aspect of the PAPE syllabus
  • 2.5.5 Attainment targets
  • 2.5.5.1 Lower primary
  • 2.5.5.2 Upper primary
  • 2.6 Specific objectives and content of the performing arts
  • 2.6.1 Primary one (P1)
  • 2.6.2 Primary seven (P7)
  • 2.6.3 Relevance of the prescribed music curriculum
  • 2.7 Technology and research in education
  • 2.7.1 ICT by SchoolNet Uganda
  • 2.7.1.1 Integration of technology in the curriculum
  • 2.7.1.2 Influences on the use of ICT for music education
  • 2.7.1.3 Challenges of ICT for music education
  • 2.7.2 Research
  • 2.7.3 Theory, factual elements and concepts
  • 2.8 Perspectives from other African countries
  • 2.8.1 Malawi
  • 2.8.2 Botswana
  • 2.8.3 Namibia
  • 2.8.4 Ghana
  • 2.8.5 Great Britain and Wales
  • 2.8.6 Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya
  • 2.9 African philosophy
  • 2.10 Conclusion
• 3 LITERATURE REVIEW: Indigenous and pupils’ own music
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Local and indigenous music practices in Buganda
  • 3.2.1 The Kiganda Orchestra
  • 3.2.2 Ancestral worship
  • 3.2.3 Buganda court music
  • 3.2.3.1 Amadinda and akadinda
  • 3.2.4 Choral music
  • 3.2.5 Indigenous Dramatic Societies
  • 3.2.6 Band music
  • 3.2.7 Kadongo Kamu
  • 3.2.8 The fusion
  • 3.3 Pupils’ ‘own music’
  • 3.4 Summary
• 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Design and methodology
  • 4.3 Defining the research question
  • 4.3.1 Paradigm
  • 4.3.2 Purpose
  • 4.3.3 Techniques
  • 4.3.3.1 Sampling
  • 4.3.3.2 Data collection
  • 4.3.3.3 Data analysis
  • 4.3.4 Context
  • 4.4 Fieldwork and data gathering plan
  • 4.4.1 Advantages of questionnaires in data collection
  • 4.4.2 Disadvantages of questionnaires in data collection
  • 4.4.3 Advantages of interviews in data collection
  • 4.4.4 Disadvantages of interviews in data collection
  • 4.5 Data analysis and interpretation
  • 4.5.1 Sources of error in capturing, documentation, analysis and interpretation of data
  • 4.6 Summary
• 5 PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Music teacher education
  • 5.3 Survey on teacher education
  • 5.3.1 The quality of music educators
  • 5.3.2 Inadequacy of initial training
  • 5.3.3 Teacher training models
  • 5.3.4 Relevance of training models
  • 5.3.5 Basic essentials in teacher training programs
  • 5.4 The music teacher
  • 5.4.1 Professional development
  • 5.5 Technology in music education
  • 5.6 Training of teacher trainers
  • 5.7 General and specialized music education
  • 5.8 Facilities and resources
  • 5.8.1 Basic instruments in schools
  • 5.8.2 Teaching materials and media equipment
  • 5.9 Music curriculum implementation
  • 5.10 Multiculturalism
  • 5.11 Other styles of musics in teacher training programs
  • 5.12 ‘Own’ versus school music experiences
  • 5.13 Music as a classroom subject
  • 5.14 Specialists and general classroom teachers
  • 5.15 Class sizes and teacher/pupil ratios
  • 5.16 Teaching environment
  • 5.17 Music administration
  • 5.18 Summary of results
• 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 6.1 Summary of the main points
  • 6.1.1 Procedures of the study
  • 6.2 Conclusions and recommendations
  • 6.2.1 Interpretation of results
  • 6.3 Limitations to this research
  • 6.4 Summary
  • 6.5 Recommendations
  • 6.5.1 Music teacher education
  • 6.5.2 Curriculum
  • 6.5.3 Research
  • 6.5.4 Funding and resources
  • 6.5.5 Community
  • 6.5.6 Teacher training
  • 6.5.7 Perspectives from other countries
  • 6.5.8 Sensitisation and pupils’ own music
  • 6.5.9 General recommendations
  • 6.6 Conditions of success
  • 6.6.1 Earlier initiatives
  • 6.6.2 Resources
  • 6.6.3 Leadership and commitment
  • 6.6.4 Cooperation and meaningful collaboration
  • Addenda
  • Bibliography

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