Baganda music is a type of music created by the people of Uganda. It has unique characteristics that set African music apart from music in other parts of the world. Some aspects of this tradition have been studied in detail and recorded in books. Because of this, the culture serves as a good example of typical African music.

Musical instruments

In addition to voice, many musical instruments are used, such as the Amadinda and Akadinda xylophones, the Ennanga harp, the Etongoli lyre, drums, and the Kadongo (plural "budongo") lamellophone.

Amadinda, Akadinda, Ennanga, Etongoli, and several types of drums are used in the royal court music of the Kabaka, the king of Buganda. The Kadongo, however, was introduced to Baganda music more recently, in the early 20th century. Because of this, music played on the budongo is not part of the traditional royal court music.

Musical scale

Baganda music uses a scale with five notes that are spaced evenly apart. This scale divides the octave (called "mwànjo" in the Baganda language) into five parts, each about 240 cents (or 2.4 semitones) wide. The exact size of these intervals can differ slightly between different instruments, and even on a single instrument that can be adjusted, the intervals might change during a performance. From the perspective of the people who create the music, this scale is considered evenly spaced. However, from the perspective of outside researchers, there may be different ways to describe how this scale is used.

Baganda music does not rely on harmony, so chords are not used. Only the notes that are an octave apart sound pleasing together.

In Baganda culture, as in many African cultures, the musical scale is not seen as moving from "low" to "high" tones. Instead, it is described as moving from "small" to "large" or "big" tones. However, the notation system created by European researchers to write down this music uses numbers, with the lowest note labeled as "1" and the highest note labeled as "5."

Timbre

In Baganda music, there is a preference for sounds that are loud and full. In the Kadongo lamellophone, metal rings are placed around the lamellas to produce a buzzing noise. In the ennanga harp, scales from a type of goana are attached to the instrument so that the vibrating strings touch them, creating a crackling sound. When tuning instruments like xylophones, the octave is not always tuned perfectly, which creates a special sound effect called an acoustic beat. In singing, voices with rough or uneven tones are often used.

Form numbers

The music often repeats patterns. The basic beats in the music are played quickly. Baganda music uses different numbers of beats in each cycle, called form numbers. Common form numbers include 24, 36, and 48, which are multiples of 12 and found in many African musical traditions. Some pieces use less common form numbers, such as 50 in the amadinda piece "Bakebezi bali e Kitende," 54 in the pieces "Ab'e Bukerere balaagira emwanyi" and "Akawologoma," and 70 in the piece "Agenda n'omulungi azaawa."

Inherent patterns

Much of the music uses a technique called parallel octaves. For example, on the amadinda, two musicians play parallel octaves in an overlapping way. This means the notes played by one musician fall exactly between the notes played by the other musician. Both musicians move their right and left hands in parallel, staying within a range of five xylophone bars. When listening, the individual patterns played by each musician are not clearly heard. Although the parallel octaves can be heard, they are not easily noticed. Instead, the music seems to have two to three different pitch levels. Irregular melodic and rhythmic patterns can be heard within these levels. The patterns in the middle pitch level are created by combining low notes from the higher octave and high notes from the lower octave. Usually, the patterns that are heard are not played directly by either musician but result from how both musicians play together. Sometimes, different ways of hearing the patterns exist, and listeners may switch between them. Musicians can affect this by emphasizing certain notes.

Relationship between the instruments

The music of the ennanga, entongoli, and amadinda share similarities. Music written for string instruments can be played on the xylophone. The part played by the right hand is performed by one musician, and the part played by the left hand is performed by another musician. The ennanga has eight strings, which limits the range of parallel octaves that can be played. However, the basic rules for creating music on the xylophone are the same as those used for the string instruments.

Music and language

Luganda is a tonal language, meaning it uses different tones or pitches to change the meaning of words. Like many African musical traditions, the language has a strong influence on the music. Composers often begin by writing the lyrics. The way the tones change in the lyrics helps decide what kind of melody can be used. Then, the composer creates a tune that matches the melody pattern. When the music is played, natural patterns may appear that remind native speakers of other words or phrases. These words might relate to completely different topics, creating a poetic feeling. Sometimes, these suggested words are added to the lyrics. However, even if they are not written, native speakers may still notice them, adding a special beauty to the music that only people who know the language can understand.

The names of songs often relate to the words connected to the music. Also, memory aids are often used to help remember long and complex note sequences when playing the xylophone.

Amadinda music

The amadinda is a type of xylophone called a log xylophone. It has 12 wooden bars placed on two fresh banana stems. Sticks are inserted into the stems to separate the bars. The bars are usually made from the wood of the Lusamba tree (Markhamia plarycalyx).

The amadinda (or madinda) is played by three musicians named omunazi, omwawuzi, and omukoonezi. One musician sits on one side of the xylophone, and the other two sit on the opposite side. The musicians can sit in different arrangements.

The music always begins with the omunazi. The omwawuzi then plays notes that are exactly between the notes played by the omunazi. The part played by the omunazi is called okunaga, and the part played by the omwawuzi is called okwawula.

An example is the piece "Olutalo olw'e Nsinsi" (The battle of Nsinsi), which has a form number of 24. This means one cycle has a total length of two times 12. Both musicians play parallel octaves on the first ten bars of the amadinda. In this notation, "1" means hitting the first (deepest) bar and the sixth bar together, and so on.

The symbol "^" shows where the okwawula part starts. This starting point may vary in other compositions. The resulting sequence is 413542313532413542412522. This sequence is repeated, possibly many times.

The third musician, omukoonezi, repeats the pattern played on the lowest two bars (the amatengezzi) two octaves higher on the highest two bars (the amakoonezi). The omukoonezi starts on the "2" of the okwawula. In this case, the pattern, called okukoonera, would sound like the notes played on these two bars if the amadinda had additional octaves played by another pair of musicians. When listening to the music, the okukoonera can be heard as a separate pattern or combined with notes from other bars.

The amadinda, like other xylophones from southern Uganda, is played by hitting the bars at the end with a stick. The tip of the bar is struck with the middle of the stick at a 45-degree angle. The hands move in parallel, and the movement should come from the wrist, with the arms moving as little as possible. The correct way to play is called Okusengejja, which means "to strain, to filter, to clarify, to sort things out." Special techniques are used only by master players.

• Okudaliza is a way of playing where certain tones are strongly emphasized. This is usually done to make the music reach a high point just before the piece ends.
• Okusita ebiyondo oba ebisenge is an advanced technique where certain notes are skipped, creating a sudden change in the music.

Some ways of playing the amadinda are considered mistakes:
– In Okubwatula, the bars are hit on the top with the tips of the sticks. This is a common mistake for beginners. The word means "strong pain," especially in the bones.
– Okugugumula is another mistake where the hands are held stiffly and clumsily. The word means "to cause panic" or "to rouse a flock of birds."
– Okuyiwa is a mistake where the bars are not hit at the right time. The word means "to put down" or "to disappoint."
– Okwokya is a mistake where the bars are hit too quickly. The word means "to burn" or "to roast."

Miko (singular Muko) are versions of a piece where the entire melody is shifted up or down by one step of the scale. The whole melody moves up or down one bar: 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3, and so on. Although the structure of the piece remains the same, the movement patterns of the musicians change, and the okukoonera part may become completely different. From each of the 50 different compositions in the amadinda repertoire, 4 more pieces can be created through Miko, resulting in a total of 250 pieces.

There are 50 different amadinda pieces, not counting the Miko transpositions. Their names are:

Form number 24 (2 x 12):
Form number 36 (2 x 18):
Form number 48 (2 x 24):
Other form numbers (these are unusual in African music):

Numerical scores of all these compositions have been published by Gerhard Kubik (see References).

Comparison with other music cultures

The Embaire is a type of xylophone played in the Busoga sub-region of Uganda. Mark Stone, a teacher at Oakland University and a former scholar at Makerere University, described the Embaire in 1996–1997 as the most shared and powerful xylophone tradition he has studied. He often teaches this tradition to his students at Oakland University.

The Embaire’s keys are made from ensambiya wood (Bignoniaceae: Markhamia platycalyx). Players strike the ends of the keys with sticks made from enzo wood (Rutaceae: Teclea nobilis). The keys are placed on cut banana stems, forming an instrument that is about 2.5 meters long. The bass keys are large and wide but not very thick. Before playing, a hole about 2 meters long and 0.5 meters deep is dug in the ground where the bass keys will rest. This hole helps the instrument produce louder sounds. The hole is covered at the bottom with the base of a banana leaf and soil from the excavation. In the Iganga district of Busoga, many groups that play the Embaire can be found easily.

Like the Amadinda music, the Timbrh (timbili) lamellophone music of the Vute people in central Cameroon uses parallel octaves. This pattern suggests that the musical traditions of both regions may have shared origins from ancient times.