Music of Madagascar

 

For my blog this week, I wanted to learn about the music of Madagascar. I started by looking into the popular music right now. Currently one of the more popular genres throughout Madagascar is Salegy. It is a type of electric music with a more upbeat tempo. The energizing beats of the salegy are commonly played for people on the dance floor. It has been popular among the people of Madagascar since the mid-1900s. Typically, the music is played continuously to keep the energizing vibes for the people. Although I was able to listen to the whole hour of this selection. I was initially very intrigued by the sound as soon as I turned it on.


Second I wanted to look into the more traditional styles of music in Madagascar. When searching about the traditional music, I found that Valiha is one of the main staples of traditional music. It is a chordophone with sixteen strings. The sound of it is similar to a harp. Originally, it belonged to two ethnic groups but ended up spreading to all of Madagascar. In this video, you can see the cylinder shape of the instrument and the peaceful harp-like sounds that it makes.


Finally, I wanted to look into what type of dances are likely to be performed within the traditional background. In this video I was intrigued to see the young kids performing a simple dance with the initial call and response singing. Each kid is matching in traditional costumes.




Comments

  1. Claire MormandoOctober 8, 2021 at 1:45 PM

    Salegy kind of reminds me of when you're on a beach watching people play volleyball with a beach ball and you hear music playing from someone's stereo a few yards away. And the kids dancing/singing were cool to watch. It kind of reminds me of my high school honor choir, in a way. The younger kids also seemed quite energetic!

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  2. AnonymousOctober 9, 2021 at 7:08 PM

    Salegy reminds me of music that would be played in like an old timey movie. Not quite a theme song but an intro song for a movie like Ferris Buellers day off or something of a similar plot line or feel to that movie.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 15, 2021 at 3:29 PM

    I agree with your statement “I was initially very intrigued by the sound as soon as I turned it on” about the Salegy music. I feel that entirely. Thank you so much for introducing me to this music! I want to listen to more of it :)

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