Agawu ch.3 review

Agawu attacks views of Africa as a whole. He points out that ethnomusicologists then (before 1950) and now have lifted up rhythm as an all-important African characteristic. The rhythmic complexity spoken of only comes from a few places that were first studied, for example, Ghana and the West African coast. There are many different types of African music, the countries are not like the states of the US, they are separate entities. Agawu also makes the argument that notation should not change to accompany these rhythms, because standard notation enables the pieces to be more widely performed. He suggests the only way to counter our invention of what African music is, is to work towards direct empowerment. This would take away the outsider perspective, hopefully, and create a truer picture of the depth and diversity of African music.