An appraisal of three select composers/arrangers of Ibibio vocal music

Abstract

Tonal languages are common in Africa; the Ibibio language is no exception. Over the years, non-native speakers of the Ibibio language have shown interest in composing vocal music (solo songs and chorales) in the Ibibio language but fail to appreciate the lingual tone used in the language partly due to non-natural vocal configuration. This study seeks to appraise the extent of faulty linguistics structure by performers and composers of Ibibio songs that are not Ibibio, proffer basic guides on how to utilized tonal inflection of Ibibio culture for musical performance by non-native speakers. To achieve this, qualitative research method through nonparticipant observation was used in collecting data for the study. Results shows that Ibibio vocal music performance is characterized by extremely poor and faulty linguistic pronunciation, and this is as a result of lack of commitments to learning the Ibibio language. The paper, suggests that guides that will aid effective usage of Ibibio language for songs or other vocal performances and compositions should be provided and studied before any Ibibio vocal performance is embarked on.