Creative ingenuity and social obligation: Music making among women composers in Ekiti, southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Studies around women have established that they are good singers in their own respect. However, little or no studies in Nigeria have investigated the ability of women as composers. This study, informed by socio-musical studies into musical behaviour of women in Ekiti, examines the process of music making among the Ekiti women composers of the South-Western Nigeria. Analytical and participant observation methods were employed in generating the data analysed within the ethnomusicological framework. Many of their performances during the rehearsals and live performances in the last 18 months were recorded and transcribed. Analytical summaries of the two selected musical styles (Alakutu and Alamo) are presented while focusing on the creative processes of the music within the context of social obligation. In their musical roles, these women articulate the musical essence (entertainment and dance) and extra-musical essence (moral, ethical, obligatory and social-control) of music in Ekiti through compositional art. The paper concludes that women using the extemporization and improvisation techniques were found to be good composers and arrangers of Ekiti songs.