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TRADITIONAL AFRICAN MUSIC IN SCHOOLS: METHODS, APPROACHES 

AND STYLES IN YORUBA APALA 

 

KEHINDE OLUWASEYI  

Department of Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts,  

University of Lagos 

ABSTRACT 

Teaching is a pedagogical activity that requires the transmission of knowledge, ideas and 

values from the teacher who possesses a mastery of the subject matter to a learner. The 

practice of African culture is one of the most considerable reasons why it is expedient to 

inculcate the knowledge of traditional customs in a socio-cultural and artistic manner. Moore 

(1982) states that teaching is intent that someone should learn something. Without intention, 

whatever the person is doing is not teaching. Moore puts it more clearly; that a teacher is one 

who intends to take pains to see that knowledge is acquired by varying his methods if 

necessary to bring about learning. A teacher assumes responsibility towards his pupils. The 

word responsibility is very significant to the success of teaching. Consequently, this study 

embarks on the methodological approach to executing the delivery of knowledge of Apala 

music to students by encapsulating the socio-cultural background of the Yoruba music and its 

aesthetic values. This is realised by outlining the stages of delivery so as to encourage the 

appropriateness of African cultural values.   

 

INTRODUCTION 

In preserving Yoruba Apala music culture, the following stipulated guidelines are adhered to 

considerably: 

Historical and Sociological Traits of Apala music 

Names and Biographies of Apala Music Practitioners. 

Characteristic Elements of Apala Music as evident in their works 

Techniques of Performing the Music 

Pre-performance / Pre-concert 

Concert 

Evaluation 

 

Historical and Sociological Traits of Apala Music 
The chronological view to the evolution of Apala music, its development among the Yoruba 

community and its socio-cultural assessment in view of oral tradition is expedient so as to 

validate the knowledge of music and preservation of culture. Authenticity of an art is 

validated by its cultural traits, therefore there is need to trace the emergence of the art and its 

practice so as to substantiate the efficacy of the music custom. In line with the above view 

Tracey (1969) said: “All African “music” like the ethnic groups themselves, share a common 

heritage but each has developed its individually in strict segregation from the race.”  

 

 The statement above expresses that various concepts in African culture bring about 

diversities in traditional music and yet the distinctive characteristics in the socio-cultural 

Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol. 9 2013 



56 

 

medium are not the only picture that evolve from the study of African music. According to 

Nketia (1966), 

The musical heritage of contemporary Africa is the music associated with traditional 

African institutions of the pre-colonial era. It is music which has survived the impact 

of the forces of Western forms of acculturation, and is, therefore, quite distinct in 

idiom and orientation from contemporary popular and art music. 

Hence, there is need for educating and emphasizing the cultural development in Apala music 

that invariably help in conserving the history of African music culture.  

 

Apala (or Akpala as pronounced) is a musical genre, originally derived from the Yoruba 

people of Nigeria. It is a percussion-based style that developed in the late 1930s, when it was 

used to wake worshippers after fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The 

rhythms of apala grew more complex over time, influenced by Cuban music and eventually 

became quite popular in Nigeria. 

 

Instruments of Apala include a gourd rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo) and a bell 

(agogô), as well as two or three talking drums. Apala, a traditional style from Ogun state, in 

Nigeria, became very popular in the 1960s, led by performers like Haruna Ishola, SefiuAyan, 

KasumuAdio, and Ayinla Omowura. Ishola, who was one of Nigeria's most consistent hit 

makers between 1955 until his death in 1983, recorded apala songs, which alternated 

between slow and emotional, and swift and energetic. His lyrics were a mixture of 

improvised praise and passages from the Quran, as well as traditional proverbs. His work 

became a formative influence on the development of Fuji style. 

 

Haruna Ishola is undoubtedly the most well-known performer of apala in Nigerian history. 

Although others may hold a contrary view that Ayinla Omowura is the most well known and 

the most successful musician of Apala. Both of them played an integral role in the 

popularization of the genre and it is distinct from, older than and much more difficult to 

master than Fuji music. Although Ayinla Omowura died in his forties in 1980, he recorded 

more than 20 LPs and remarkably, all were very successful. Although Fuji music remains the 

most important form of traditional music amongst Yorubas in Nigeria, apala is still very 

popular amongst Muslims of the Yoruba tribe. Special mention must be given to Haruna 

Ishola‟s son, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, who is often credited with revitalizing the apala genre 

and spear-heading the apala-resurgence of the 2000s. 

 

With his 2004 album (entitled Soyoyo), Musiliu has succeeded in bringing apala music to a 

wider, younger audience, thus breathing new life to the genre and keeping the tradition (and 

his father's legacy) alive. He is credited with re-popularizing a genre that was fast becoming 

the preserve of older Yoruba Muslims. The success of his Soyoyo album meant that a 

younger (even Christian or Animist) generation of Yorubas have now demonstrated a 

renewed interest in apala music. His songs can often be heard on popular radio stations 

across Yoruba land. 

 

Apala is a style of vocal and percussive Muslim Yoruba music that emerged in the late 

1930s. Under the influence of popular Afro-Cuban percussion, apala developed into a more 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_genre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percussion_instrument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Cuba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agidigbo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_(instrument)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agog%C3%B4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruna_Ishola
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ayinla_Omowura&action=edit&redlink=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Cuba


57 

 

polished style and attracted a large audience. The music required two or three talking drums 

(omele), a rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo) and a metal gong (agogo). Haruna Ishola 

was the most famous apala performer, and he later played an integral role in bringing apala to 

the larger audiences as part of Fuji music. 

Names and Biography of Apala Practitioners 

A music instructor is expected to list the names of all the artistes or practitioners of the 

traditional music type and clearly discuss their birth, social status, religion, educational 

background, economic status, families, general up bringing, livelihood and list of their 

works. This reveals how their personalities have impacted their concepts and further 

reiterates the socio-cultural influence on the development of traditional music in Africa. An 

example of a renowned practitioner is Haruna Ishola who was born 1919 in Ijebu-Igbo in 

Ogun state, Nigeria. He was dark in complexion, had a tooth gap and was of an average 

height. His parents were Prince Adeleye Bello Awoyelu and Rebecca Obifowoke Bello. His 

father was a traditional healer and his mother, a petty trader. 

 

Haruna Ishola did not receive any formal training in music but learned buy imitating his 

predecessors. The initiative to form a group developed when he was still working as an 

apprentice under his cousin. Ishola started his Apala group in 1947 with a five man band that 

later increased to ten. In 1948, he waxed his first record in honour of Orimolusi Adeboye – 

the late Oba of Ijebu-Igbo. Ishola waxed a total of about three hundred records, some of 

which include; „Oro Ejire‟, „Ina ran‟, „Apala disco‟. In recognition of his role as a worthy 

ambassador of Apala music, and recognition of his contributions to music in Nigeria, he was 

awarded a national honour of “member of the order of Niger” (MON) by the then President 

Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1981. He died on the 9
th

 of November 1983 at the age of 64 years.  

 

Characteristic Elements of Apala Music  

The musical contents of Apala should be expressed and analysed on the basis of its aesthetic 

distinctions with reference to socio-cultural values. However, it must be x-rayed through the 

universal criteria that are tools for analysing the contents in compositions such as forms, 

instrumentation, melody, rhythm, texture, and harmony as the basic elements.    

An example is the Haruna Ishola‟s ‘Ina-ran’; 

 

Melody:  This is made up of succession of notes with varying intervals, which are segmented 

into phrases. The melody is sung in Yoruba language, which therefore validates its 

sociological and evolutionary traits. 

 

Lyrics 

Ina ran kawoomotiojiowoboeru (2ce) 

Esodi nu ke, e fi owokansi be be re idi 

Olomi da kun da kun be bi sun mo mi  

Da kun da kanbebi mi. 

 

The lyrics are poetic and philosophical and so they cannot be interpreted directly but can be 

given denotative meanings that express the appropriateness of personal or human existence.  

The metaphoric content of the lyrics is based on description of romantic gesture on a dance 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruna_Ishola


58 

 

floor, as viewed by the composer or vocalist. The intervallic relationships in the successive 

notes are in conjunct movement that is partly mellismatic when rendering the melody. The 

melody has close affinity with that of the Islamic motives in rendition that is partly modal.  

 

Forms: The structural content of Apala is well enunciated by considering its phrases and 

sections or various parts. As mostly observed in other African music genres, „Call and 

Response‟ is mainly employed in Haruna Ishola‟s Ina Ran. Ishola sings the call while the 

back-up singers sing the response. Occasionally, he joins the back-up singers to sing as a 

form of embellishment. At a particular section of the song Haruna sings narratively, giving a 

story (partly recitative) of an occurrence in a philosophical manner and then ends the story 

with call and response. 

 

Harmony and Texture: The song, although characterized by falsettos, is made up of male-

voice texture that is rich in lower register, which somehow reflects the religious ethics as 

regards gender segregation in the mosque and evidence of patriarchal system in African 

society. It is mainly homophonic. The back-up singers sing in unison with an intermittent 

response to the call from Haruna Ishola. 

 

Instrumentation 

Here, the theory of organology and the art of combining musical instruments as observed in 

Ishola‟s Ina Ran is introduced to the student. This is achieved by: 

Identification of the musical instrument as observed in Haruna Ishola‟s music is expedient. 

This also includes the nomenclature of the instruments and the parts that make up each of 

them. It is observed that he uses the same set of musical instruments each time he performs 

with his group or band. 

 

Students must be enlightened about the instruments that make up his ensemble as thus: 

There are four kinds of drums and they vary in sizes. The biggest of the drums is called iya-

ilu, followed by the Omele-ako, Omele-abo, and the Gbedu itself. The teacher should make 

sure that the students see these drums and they know them in terms of their differences in 

sizes. Other instruments that may be included in the ensemble include the “Sekere” and the 

“Agogo”. The teacher should instruct the students on the classification of each instrument in 

the ensemble in accordance with the four basic classifications of traditional musical 

instruments: idiophone, membranophone, chordophone and aerophone. Idiopones are 

Sekere, Agogo and Agidigbo. 

 

Membranophones are Omele-ako, Iya-ilu, Omele-abo and Gbedu. 

The justification for the classification of each instrument must be emphasized as it is based 

on the playing technique and medium of transmission. Each instrument must be discussed 

under its respective category for clarity sake with accentuation on the membranophone 

instruments that form the nucleus of the ensemble. In this regard, aerophone and 

chordophone will not be mentioned, as there are no instruments in the ensemble that can be 

categorized as such.  

 

Playing Techniques of Haruna’s Apala Instrumental Ensemble. 



59 

 

Playing the instruments in Haruna‟s ensemble requires a gradual approach to training student 

on how to play by taking a close look at: 

1. Different Pitches Produced by the Instruments.  

2. Different Positions of the Player/Instrumentalist 

3. Holding of Sticks 

4. Right-hand and Left-hand Techniques 

5. Sight-Reading. 

6. Varying Rhythmic Patterns at Different Tempo and Time Signatures 

7. Embellishments 

 

The above techniques can be realized by taking into consideration the following progressive 

steps during practical rehearsals: 

* Get the class to clap and master the rhythmic patterns. 

* Divide the class into five groups and assign a pattern to each group. Let them clap and 

memorize the rhythm. 

* Bring them together and let them clap together harmoniously. 

* Ensure that they keep to steady beat or metronome. 

* Repetition of the pattern several times until they master the rhythm and keep to the beat. 

* Get them to select appropriate instruments that can play their parts. Let them perform it and 

rehearse for about five minutes.  

* Let them take turns to conduct the ensemble. 

* Record the music into a tape for the class library. 

 

Pre-Performance / Pre-Concert 
Putting all the procedure into consideration, the teacher will be ready to engage the students 

in the reality of performance which ultimately prepares them for future - main performance / 

concert. This is done in a way whereby the students are put under intense condition of real 

performance or concert by preparing and perfecting all the pieces for the main concert. 

 

Concert / Performance 
The instructor must organize musical concert which must be staged periodically. Thereafter, 

the students put into practice what they have been taught and have mastered in the presence 

of the audience. This performance may however be for school activities (within or outside) 

like the end of school year party, excision time, presentation and a lot more.   

 

The guideline given will not only overcome the problem of irregularity in our school 

curriculum and inadequacy in our approach to teaching African instrumental ensemble but 

will help in preserving and sustaining African culture. Furthermore, the organizational skill 

adopted in structuring this procedure directly or indirectly helps in disseminating the 

concepts in African music culture without ambiguity. This manual will also serve as lesson 

plan for schools.      

 

Evaluation and Conclusion 

Teachers should avoid randomness but embrace systematised approach in their manner of 

evaluation that is, students‟ assessment should be based on the level of what have been taught 



60 

 

and not at random. The evaluation should be on each student and the instrument he or she has 

been trained with. However he or she must be assessed based on his or her group blending, 

overall musicianship and sense  of embellishments. This can be achieved by giving the 

students assignments regularly. 

 

Conclusion 

Education should be seen as a vehicle or tool to disseminate our enriched culture and so the 

apparently stated guidelines or scheme will serve as effortless steps in delivering or 

imparting traditional African music. Consequently, it will gradually show case African 

cultural, philosophical and aesthetic values. Moreover, the encouragement to aspiring for the 

knowledge of African traditions is somehow facilitated worldwide through the orderly 

presentation of the scheme provided for Apala music. 

 

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