Yoruba music

Yoruba music comprises the musical traditions of the Yoruba people of West Africa, including drumming, singing, dance, and performance in religious and social life.

Dùndún: A Yoruba talking drum whose pitch bends imitate the tones and rhythms of speech. Its speech-like phrases make it a defining instrument in Yoruba musical ensembles.
Orisha: A deity or spiritual force in Yoruba religion and related traditions. Songs and drum patterns can honor particular orisha and invite their presence in ritual.
Yoruba people: An ethnic group native chiefly to southwestern Nigeria, with communities across West Africa and the diaspora. Yoruba musical traditions developed within the group's languages, social life, and religious practices.
Ewe music: The musical traditions of the Ewe people, including complex ensemble drumming and dance in Ghana and Togo. Its drum ensembles offer a nearby West African comparison without sharing Yoruba musical conventions.
Bàtá drum: A double-headed Yoruba drum used in sacred ceremonies and popular music. Its interlocking rhythms accompany worship and dance, especially in traditions honoring Ṣàngó.
Ṣàngó: An orisha associated with thunder, lightning, and royal power in Yoruba religion. Bàtá performance is especially associated with ceremonies for Ṣàngó.
Oyo Empire: A precolonial Yoruba state that became a major West African empire from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Oyo court culture and political networks helped shape regional ceremonial and praise traditions.
Akan music: The musical traditions of Akan-speaking peoples in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, including court and recreational drumming. Akan drum languages and ensemble practices provide a regional contrast to Yoruba performance.
Call and response: A musical structure in which a leader's phrase is answered by a group or another performer. Many Yoruba songs build participation and momentum through leader-and-chorus exchanges.
Egúngún: A Yoruba ancestral masquerade tradition in which masked performers embody the returning dead. Drumming and song structure the public ceremonies in which Egúngún appear.

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