The reviewer isPatience Bambalele.
The book is about the guitar styles in South Africa.
African perspectives is a publisher.
BillyMonama’s introduction to South African guitar styles volume 1 has been missing from music schools and libraries for a long time.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in music, or if you’re curious about the history of music in SA, the book is a good place to start.
The musician from Rockville, Soweto, wanted to understand the guitar styles that shape SA music so he went around the country and interviewed music legends.
The book may not be getting enough attention. Universities in the US are buying it.
There is a lot of interesting information contained in the book.
Music styles such as maskandi, marabi, kwela, mbaqanga, Tsonga, and Afro-jazz are examined.
There are explanations and definitions of musical terms in the book.
A sheet of lyrics written in words and staff style is offered.
There is an explanation of how it came into being in each style.
The guitar is one of the most important parts of SA music, whether it is acoustic or electric.
The acoustic guitar was used during the 19th century.
The emergence of American jazz and the emergence of virtuoso bandleader and ground-breaking guitar players post-1950s influenced our local musicians.
Themba Mokoena, Baba Mokoena and Moss Mogale are some of the greats of the guitar style.
According to the book, marabi is the sound that created the local sounds.
The sound was not recorded by the 1930s.
Men who played guitar in the streets gave birth to maskandi or maskanda sound.
The abandonment of indigenous traditional instruments in the urban areas led to the development of maskanda or maskandi.
John Bhengu started recording music in the 1950s.
The book shows that the sound of kwela music came from mbaqanga.
There’s a mixture of styles such as marabi, African jazz, mbube and phatha phatha.
The guitarists of the day were Peter and Frans.
An important piece of information in the book is that the African jazz guitar style came from a sound called marabi.
Black musicians were forced to move from Doornfontein to Sophiatown during the 1940s in order to make room for whites.
The Harlem Swingers and Zakes Nkosi were African jazz pioneers.
Female composers and singers contributed to its growth.
The greatest guitar players in Tsonga music are traced byMonama.
The acoustic guitar was used by Tsonga guitarists in the 1940s and 1950s.
They explored the electric guitar, which gives the famous sound that can be heard in the type of music by people such as Thomas Chauke, Royal Chauke, and Daniel Shirinda.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to collect this book.
Bambale@lepsowetan.co.za.