An analysis of musical and socio-cultural Aspects of Luo story-songs of Kenya: The case of Siaya and Kisumu east districts

Abstract

Songs in the past were performed during storytelling sessions and cultural events among the Luo of Kenya. Mainly elderly women who had reached menopause (Pim) told these stories and story-songs. The story-songs were narrated and sang by the children in the evenings in the siwindhe (the grandmother's hut). Storytelling sessions also took place in the duol where young men were told stories by Jodongo-elderly wise men in the community. The traditional setting of storytelling is now almost extinct and the storysongs have now been moderated to their contemporary forms. In as much as these changes have taken place, analytical studies on Luo story-songs have not been given prominence. The purpose of this study was therefore to analyze Luo story-songs with regard to the musical attributes and socio-cultural aspects in their indigenous and contemporary settings. The population of the study included elderly people (those over 60 years of age) middle-aged people and children (under 18 years of age) who are involved in storytelling and the performance of the story-songs in their contemporary contexts totaling to 166 people. The total number of story-songs was 110. Descriptive and survey research designs were employed with data collection being done through interview schedule, questionnaire and participatory and non-participatory observation. The ethno-historical model by Merriam was used in data collection. The data collected was recorded in tapes, videos and notebooks. The recorded story-songs were translated from Luo to English language using literal and free translation methods, transcribed (for text and music) and analyzed for their socio-cultural meaning, musical characteristics and attributes. The theory of 'Musical change and continuity' by Nzewi was employed in order to provide a framework for the analysis of the Luo story-songs from traditional to contemporary. The data collected from the story-songs were analyzed for their tonal materials, rhythmic patterns, structures, voice production, texts, developmental stages and accompaniments. Apart from validating from a musical point of view the existence of Luo story-songs, the study was intended to be a relevant teaching resource for music teachers especially at primary school level of learning and a source of information for· researchers in socio-cultural studies. It was also intended to educate our youth to know about the components of their culture of stories and story-songs for the sake of continuity and at the same time give insights on the Luo community and their cultures. The publication would also be useful to the Ministry of Culture and Social Services as a source of reference. It was revealed that Luo story-songs have distinct structures of a beginning, middle and end while their melodies have short phrases that are repeated at intervals during storytelling. Musical instruments do not accompany the story-songs and their movement is in stepwise motion with a few intervals of seconds, thirds and occasional leaps. Many of the Luo story-songs make use of pentatonic and hexatonic scales with varied melodic ranges. It was a taboo to tell stories during the day, as this was believed to prevent children from further growth. The study recommends for further analytical research on story-songs from other communities in Kenya. It also recommends for a comparative analysis of Luo story-songs with story-songs from other communities in Kenya or outside Kenya.