Music education in Sierra Leone

18 jan 2018 - 13:39

This article presents an overview of the history and state of music education in Sierra Leone.

A teaching session at Ballanta Music Academy, Sierra Leone. Photo: BMA

History of music education in Sierra Leone

Music education in Sierra Leone predates the advent of colonisation. Some individuals were conscripted into the traditional music groups of certain secret societies. According to Marie Yabom Sesay and Santigie Brima, veterans of the Bondo and the Poro Society respectively, the tradition is for girls to be instructed in the art of singing, while boys play musical instruments at big ceremonies involving both sexes. When the female or male societies hold distinct ceremonies, each played their own musical instruments.

On occasion, both boys and girls are taken to separate sacred places in the bushes for some days. There they are taught singing and other skills. And these two popular secret societies cut across the many tribes of Sierra Leone. Their main use is to prepare boys and girls for the responsibility that comes with puberty. These were the groups that shaped the attitudes of most boys and girls in that era.

Through these groups, a systematic process through which boys and girls were taught songs and the use of traditional musical instruments was developed. These instruments included drums mainly, as well as the xylophone and the shea-bureh (an instrument made with calabash wood, beads and strings).

As with most colonised countries in Africa, the coming of the colonial officers and missionaries marked the introduction of a new system of music education in Sierra Leone. Church missionaries created choir groups, wherein the art of music and the use of musical instruments based on the church and western principle were taught.

Surviving choir groups of missionary churches such as the Methodist Church, the Anglican Church, the Pentecostal Church, New Zion Church and the Catholic Church, account for that history. Most of these denominations established schools, and their choir groups formed part of these schools.

The schools also have marching music bands that can be seen playing on the streets during thanksgiving ceremonies. As decades of pupils and church choir members have been taught how to play complex musical instruments like the trumpets, different types of drums, organs, guitars, and the keyboard along with how to read and compose musical notes, the colonial kind of music education has largely replaced the traditional music education system.

Development of music education in Sierra Leone

The development of music education in Sierra Leone has been, to a larger extent, the business of the church and private institutions. Successive governments in independent Sierra Leone have not instituted any robust measures for promoting music education in the country.

The colonial officers, through churches, set up structures within schools which emphasized the teaching of music to pupils. Music was given a special attention, paving the way for people like Nicholas J. G. Ballanta, an elite composer, music teacher and music researcher; John Akra, who composed the country's national anthem; Ebenezer Calendar, a first generation professional musician; and others to thrive in the field.

Nelson Dixon a former music teacher and a choir leader (active 1958-1990) said “There was a well-structured educational policy, which gave preference to the teaching of music. Specific periods were given for the learning of songs and to practice the use of available musical instruments. The church and schools acted as one." Many believe the establishment of schools by missionaries was to export Christianity to the natives, and music was at the heart of that effort.

All of the well-established musical bands in post-independence Sierra Leone were sponsored by private individuals. Private citizens financed the creations and training of musical bands such as Sabannoh 75, Orchestra Muyei, Super Combo and the Afro-National. The school curriculum does not feature music education explicitly.

Dixon adds: “Government-established schools were not emphasizing the teaching of music. School and church became different entities after independence. The church no longer had total control over the schools, thus separating the church choir from schools. Only those who have keen interest in music were left to join the school marching bands on their own volition: that was contrary to colonial era which made these groups part of the school system.”

The 1993 education policy instituted by the government through its curriculum did not give music the recognition it sought. In nursery school, there is no subject that fully captures music education, except for the teaching of nursery rhymes. In primary school, creative practical art was introduced and in junior secondary school level practical and performing arts were introduced. These subjects encompass drawing, writing, music, art and craft and drama. Dixon and some music teachers argue that such blending only result in the less focus on each of these significant subjects, as the school year is not enough for all of them to be fully taught.

At the senior secondary level, music education is not taught. For art students, there is no semblance of the subject of music in the entire curriculum. Only literature is taught in every school. However, government established and financed the training of a musical band in each of its law enforcement bodies: the police, the military, the prison, and the national fire forces.

Private individuals have stepped in.

In 1995, Ballanta Academy of Music, the first ever institution to teach music solely in the country, was established. It was named after J. G. Ballanta. Since then scores of students have graduated from the school and gone on to apply the knowledge they acquired in different places such as private musical bands, churches, schools marching bands and the holding of private music classes. The establishment of that institution was timely. After the war ended in 2002, the academy served as healing center for many who went there traumatised. The teaching of beats, notes and songs helped people to recreate their minds which had been affected by the war.

It was long before the establishment of other schools dedicating their service to the teaching of music. Catharina Drivdal, a Norwegian national and a former Medecins Sans Frontieres worker in Sierra Leone, formed the Kakua Music Academy in Bo. The school admits 30 students yearly and gives youths in that part of the country the opportunity to study and play music. Other music schools include the Believe Academy of Music and Art located at Regent in the rural part of Freetown. There is also the Marco Bolan School Of Music which is expected to build it structures on the northern part of Sierra Leone, Makeni Town.

The future of music education in Sierra Leone

The level of awareness and the opportunities music education have impacted the lives of many that are interested in learning the art and as well as those who are mere lovers of the art. In 2016, students from the Ballanta Academy of Music travelled to Addis Ababa Ethiopia to attend advanced music training.

The activities of musical bands are reinventing themselves in the society, and more artists are using live musical instruments a concerts. A music festival organized by Freetown Uncut recorded large attendance in March 2017. It was said that most people attended it because of the live band performance by artists.

Sierra Leone awaits the introduction of a government-instituted curriculum that will pay special attention to music education from nursery schools to tertiary institutions.

Further Readings