Towards a Sustainable Development of Traditional Indigenous Music: The Case of Buganda

Abstract

Traditional indigenous music in Buganda is perceived as inferior to other music genres because it is acquired through non formal, informally, orally and aurally from generation to generation. Traditional indigenous music in its uniqueness has potential for more than a heightening of the general quality of life. However, because of the impending challenges it faces, it has fallen short of this role. It takes the form of socialization and maturation of the young, as a way of inducting them into the musical heritage of their predecessors, a life-long process through which individuals acquire performance skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the musical environments (Kigozi, Music education in Uganda: An evaluation of music education in elementary schools in Buganda: A way forward. Scholars’ Press, 2014). The process is a systematic activity carried on outside the framework of the formal system. This contextual process of enculturation or socialization is difficult to replicate in other cultures, and appropriate transmission approaches for teaching learners in various cultures need to be adapted for other contexts. This chapter addresses selected challenges faced by traditional indigenous African music and proposes possible remedies.