| dc.description.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. | en_US |
