Traditional Music of Ghana
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/9/4/24941365/1312462.jpg)
Traditional music in Ghana consists mostly of percussion instruments. Usually, they use a set of barrel drums, gankogui bells and axatse gourd rattles to drum their rhythms. The history or evolution of the traditional Ghanian music style is hard to find, as it was not well documented until the early 1900s, at which point it begun evolving into a more modern style known as highlife.
Photofrom: http://www.google.com/urlsa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=0_k9nvSXL9HZM&tbnid=xRuZDbWSK7XDMM:&ved=0CAcQjB0wAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bowdoin.edu%2Focs%2Fviewsfromaway%2F20072008part3.shtml&ei=6bubUuyuJNfaoASu6oHADg&psig=AFQjCNErXKbo6zaagWrpZl6SeM6Umo2CFw&ust=1386024297642174
Photofrom: http://www.google.com/urlsa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=0_k9nvSXL9HZM&tbnid=xRuZDbWSK7XDMM:&ved=0CAcQjB0wAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bowdoin.edu%2Focs%2Fviewsfromaway%2F20072008part3.shtml&ei=6bubUuyuJNfaoASu6oHADg&psig=AFQjCNErXKbo6zaagWrpZl6SeM6Umo2CFw&ust=1386024297642174
Classroom Implementation
Ghana's traditional music requires a developed sense of rhythm. Allow students to watch the above video, and instruct them to clap along with the girls in the video. Then, play a game in which the students all stand up while the teacher claps a rhythm and the students echo back. If a student claps incorrectly, they are out, and can sit down. The teacher continues the game, increasing the difficulty of the rhythms until one student is left standing. They are the winner.