LAGOS -The Chief Executive Officer OF Gongbeat, a dance company, Isioma Williams, said on Monday that Nigerian music needed originality and local percussion instruments to make an impact worldwide.
“It is very vital for musicians and traditional dancers to sustain originality in their acts by using local drumming to beef up their music which will differentiate them,’’ he said.
Williams made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on the sidelines of a clinic he organised to teach musicians and traditional dancers how to beat various drums.
NAN reports that the clinic with the theme “My Music Notes” began on July 21 and will end on July 28 at the Artistes Village at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos.
“It is fashioned to teach both professional and amateur traditional drummers and musicians the basic musical notations.
“It is for musicians and traditional dancers to learn the act of Nigerian drumming so as to differentiate themselves with their works anywhere they go to perform.
“It is about how they can apply our traditional percussion instruments and mix it with their band when playing music.[eap_ad_2]
“This will enable them to read musical notes and write their own music.
“It will further encourage the habit of documentation in the industry so that our creative works are preserved and not lost,” he said.
Williams noted that it was also an avenue for musicians to use percussion in their music to differentiate Nigerian and African rhythms from those of the rest of the world.
“The project is aimed at strengthening and sustaining originality and quality of drumming so that we cannot lose it and also make us distinguish ourselves with our own national culture.
Williams, a former Chairman, Guild of Nigerian Dance (GOND), Lagos Chapter, added that it was disheartening that traditional drummers were being relegated to the background.
“It is why I have made it an annual humanitarian project which experts in the field of traditional drumming are invited to give both theory and practical lectures to both amateur and professional drummers.
He noted that he was inspired by Park Cheun-ji, the Music Director at the National Theatre of South Korea whom, he said, had a strong influence on him during a visit.
This would be the second edition of the traditional clinic after its inception in 2013. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]