Sounding the woods: the significance of gyil music in Dagara funeral ceremonies

Abstract

This article examines the musical meaning and role that the gyil (a pentatonic xylophone) plays during Dagara funeral ceremonies in north-west Ghana. It is based on several months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Nandom traditional area in Ghana’s upper western region. Whereas Dagara funerary rituals have undergone transformation over time, gyil music remains a fundamental and essential aspect of them. What then makes gyil music so indispensable in Dagara funerals? This study establishes that gyil music is essential because of its affective nature: the music moves funeral attendants in certain powerful ways – an experience that the Dagara claim cannot be found with any other music. The music propels funeral attendants to express their emotions in culturally acceptable ways, and thus bestows both cultural identity and authenticity on the funeral as a true Dagara event. In this regard, the music is crucial for asserting ‘Dagaraness’ within the current milieu of cultural heterogeneity in contemporary Ghana.