Documentation by Notation and analysis of select folk songs of the Kokori-Inland, Urhobo

Abstract

Folk music has been the backbone upon which the various musical practices of modern-day Africa have taken its roots. These folk songs have overtime been passed down from one generation to another, using the oral tradition. Evidently, this ancient practice (oral tradition) which has served numerous generations before us is going into extinction and is taking with it some folk songs. The relevance of this research work is therefore drawn from the need to save folk songs from extinction. Using Library sources, oral interview and participant observation for data collection, as well as the Sibelius notation software for transcription of the collected folk songs, this work therefore focused on the notation and textual analysis of selected folk songs as it relates to the people of Kokori-Inland town of Delta State. From the analysis of collected data, it was observed that due to lack of proper practice, indulgence, and preference for borrowed cultures among other things, a great number of children, teenagers and adults, possess shallow knowledge of the folk songs. It is therefore recommended that more research be done into the folk songs of Kokori-Inland town, to bring to the knowledge of the general public the wealth of folk songs in Kokori-Inland town, Delta state.