For this example, I decided to use the song “Uhuru Kewli Ni Kujtegemea” by David Nzomo that I found off of the Smithsonian Global Sounds Website.
The Contour was very bumpy, with hills going up every third or fourth beat. Although there was alot of movement, there was never a spike or a drop in melodic tune. The character of the song was mostly conjunct with the exception of these two phrases; wa-si and lee-lee. This vocal part had a disjunct sound as it jumped from one note to the next. The guitar mimicked the phrasing of the vocals, so at the same musical ‘time’ the guitar would also make a disjunct sound where wa-si and lee-lee would be. The range was medium throughout this tune, because the length from the highest to lowest note was not very big. The phrasing was spread very repetitive in Nzomo’s song. The lead guitar would follow exactly what the vocals began to do around :26, repeating two identical phrases, then two that differed a tiny bit from the above, and then the first two phrases would begin. The percussion and rhythm guitars phrases were the same two repeated over and over again, creating a steady beat for the performers.
There were three layers in this song: 2 vocals (aerophones), 2 guitars (chordophones)-one rhythm with chords and the other basically lead, and a type of drums (membraphones). The function of the vocals were to convey a message to the audience and to bring wonderful harmony and social connections in the song. The function of the lead guitar was to echo the vocals and provide a contrast to them. On the other hand, the rhythm guitar provided the song with rhythm and a steady beat that was also provided by the drum instrument. The vocals came in around :26 and left again around 1:30 until 2:16. This break offered other musicians (and perhaps the artist himself) to show talents with their instruments.
The meter of this song was a basic duple meter. The rhythm of each timbre was a little different than the rest. The rhythm guitar played the same rhythm throughout the whole piece; one-two and three-one and. While the lead guitar would switch from one and two and three TO one two and three and. The vocals followed the same rhythmic pattern as the lead guitar and would repeat the phrases similarly also. The percussion would hit a steady one and two three and, repetitively. There was syncopation between the lead guitar and the drums. The lead guitar would hint ONE two and Three and, while the drums would play one TWO THREE and. The tempo was medium fast of all of the rhythmic patterns and all were repeated as such.
In regards to harmonic character, this song displayed traits of being a constant chordal polyphony. I describe it as a chordal polyphony because of the joined movement between the two vocals. The only instrument that sort of played with dynamics was the lead guitar that became much louder after 1:30, after 2:17, the lead guitar quieted down. Articulation was very clear and easy to understand.
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