An introductory study of music among the Kera
Instruments
Church instruments
In order to call people to church among the Kera, someone will strike a piece of metal which hangs from a rope near the church. This is also played to warn people if a churchgoer has died. Inside the church, women normally sit on the right and men on the left, facing the front. An average service includes about five or six songs, most of which will have some accompaniment.
The main instrument used in the Kera churches is the dayga, played in choirs with other percussion instruments. The dayga is a jug with two holes, one at the top and one at the side, which is played by hitting the jug over the two holes. One hand is used for each hole and the hands alternate. In church I have only seen this instrument played by women. However, after one service I saw one young man pick up a dayga to accompany the youth singing, so it seems that men are allowed to play it.
The gurgum is a gourd covered with beads. It has two kinds of beads: the atoara are colored beads and the matna are white. The beads are hung on threads fixed at the top and bottom. (The matna have a distinctive shape and are also used among the Kera for games of chance based on how they land when thrown in the air.) The gurgum isplayed by the same women who play the dayga and they take turns playing it during the service.
The women take their task very seriously. In any one service, there will be perhaps four women playing the dayga, one playing a gurgum, and one woman conducting. The rhythm on the dayga and the gurgum varies throughout the song, but the basic rhythm throughout Kera music seems to be:
This rhythm is altered at times to:
The first rhythm is more common than the second, but I could not find any pattern in the choice of one rhythm over the other. It seems as though the person playing the gurgum takes the lead as to which rhythm is used. The conductor does not change her movements to indicate this choice.
The Mofu people in northern Cameroon also have this instrument, but for them the rhythm changes from church to church. This does not seem to be the case for the Kera. It is quite common among the Kera for a soloist to start with singing or humming, then for the congregation to join in, followed by the dayga after a few bars. However, for some songs, the dayga begins. In this case, there is a fixed rhythm phrase. There is a similar phrase for the end of the song.
The beginning phrase:
The ending phrase:
When the dayga is played, there is normally a conductor. In the Koupor church which I have observed most, she is a woman dressed in a blue uniform. The conductor has various movements to indicate different rhythms. Men also conduct the singing at times. Usually this is done by the soloist. His movements are simpler--indicating the beat of the music. The main beat is indicated by an upward movement and the offbeat by a downward movement.
The conducting motions are as follows. The introduction in time with the crotchets:
For the main song:
For the end:
The d«mal drum is also used in church, but there seems to be some resistance to it. The young people play it on occasion, but usually after the service. I am told that nonchurchgoers might be upset to hear the church use instruments that previously have only been used for festivals and for calling on spirits, and so forth. In spite of this view, the use of the drum is increasing in the church service. It is sometimes played at the same time as the dayga and the gurgum.
I have also seen shakers, called akockoco, used on occasion. These are made of wood, gourd, or tin with grains inside. The rhythm of the shakers can be as follows:
At the end of some songs the player gives the shaker a long shake.
