Deploying Cotemporary Nigerian Saxophone Techniques in Selected Popular Songs

Abstract

Western musical instruments, like others from non-western cultures, are made with different materials (wood, metal, brass, etc.). They are played using particular techniques and serve varied purposes in diverse musical cultures and situations. One of such instruments is the saxophone, a woodwind instrument of European origin whose role and place in the western orchestra has been a subject of scholarly discourse for decades. However, during the twentieth century, with the inception of popular genres performed in instrumental jazz form, the saxophone began to enjoy elaborate and prominent roles in popular music bands, thereby expanding its repertory, techniques and popularity/acceptance. Additionally, the instrument adopted some befitting techniques that enables it to effectively speak the musical language of the once strange musical environment of Africa generally and Nigeria in particular. This work examines the techniques deployed to achieve the musical idioms peculiar to the ensemble of current performance, theoretically, diffusing the innovation. Data for this study were quazi-randomly sampled and collected via interviews, live and studio recordings and participant observation. The data were analyzed employing the descriptive method. The research overtly demonstrated the different periods and roles, functions and techniques in Nigerian saxophone performance across various contemporary music ensembles. The resulting thesis will thus facilitate a systematic Exhibition/documentation of Nigerian contemporary Saxophone performance making it relevant for Educational and informative purposes.