The performance begins with the narrator introducing the group, explaining the meaning of the name ‘Kakatsitsi’ (Spiritual Strength) and where the group are from. The children are then invited to welcome each drummer by name to their school. After the introductions, before the drums are played, a traditional Libation Ceremony is performed, a short ceremony in which the ancestors are called upon to bless the gathering, emphasising the spiritual role of traditional African culture. The narrator briefly explains the meaning and purpose of the libation and the importance of the ancestors in traditional African spirituality and how the ceremony serves to bring everyone together to express a sense of community and identity. The leader of the group then teaches the children a few responses with which they can join in the ceremony, before Kakatsitsi perform their first song – ‘Agoo’, a musical interpretation of the libation ceremony.
The narrator then explains how a Djmebe drum is made and one of the drummers shows how the different sounds can be brought from the drum using a variety of techniques. After the Djembe, the Kpanlogo drum is introduced and the children are shown how four drums, each tuned to a different note, can be played together to create a melody as well as a rhythm. The group then show how a collective rhythm is created, with each drum part fitting together with the bell, the timing instrument that keeps the team of drummers together. The narrator explains how and why it is necessary for each drummer to listen to the bell, so as to avoid loosing the rhythm and spoiling the sound.
Having listened to one drummer playing a backing rhythm in time to the bell, the children are then asked to listen to a second drummer play another part, including a number of variations he will include to give him scope for creative expression. The children are then shown how to play the timing pattern on their knees before being asked to keep the timing for the third drummer as he demonstrates the third part of the rhythm and the two styles of solo playing – first of all with the rhythm and also the ‘confusion’ style whereby the soloist will come off the rhythm. This latter style requires that the children exercise all their powers of listening and concentration if they are to avoid losing their timing.
The three parts of the rhythm will then be put together with the bell during the performance of the second song – a traditional Ga rhythm called Oge which is played at the start of any social occasions such as a wedding, a funeral or an ‘out-dooring’ – when a newly born baby is brought out to be shown to the community for the first time. Oge is introduced by a short passage of singing, which is arranged in the ‘call and response’ interplay, a structure used in both traditional and modern music throughout the world. Oge also provides an opportunity for the drummers to also demonstrate some drumming call and response interplays, whereby a solo drum calls out with a short phrase, to which another will respond with an answer. The children are encouraged to join in with the rhythm by keeping the timing, as ever listening to the bell to help them stay in time.
To conclude, Kakatsitsi perform one of Ghana’s most popular rhythms, Kpanlogo, named after the Kpanlogo drum. Kpanlogo features the Gome bass drum, which one of the drummers briefly demonstrates, showing how he uses his feet to raise and lower the pitch of the drum. the Kpanlogo rhythm is also accompanied by the Kpanlogo dance, with a number of solo moves called by the solo playing of the master drummer. The rhythm finishes with some call and response singing between the leader of the group and the children, who join in with a simple chant.
Kakatsitsi’s educational performance combines traditional Ghanaian drumming, dance and song with explanation and participation, introducing children to the instruments, rhythms and cultural traditions from which the music comes. Throughout the performance, children are encouraged not simply to watch and listen, but to keep the timing, sing in call and response, and dance with the musicians, becoming active participants in the performance.
Introduction and Libation
The performance begins with the narrator introducing Kakatsitsi, explaining the meaning of the group’s name — “Spiritual Strength” — and where the musicians come from. The children are then invited to welcome each member of the group by name to their school.
Before the drums are played, Kakatsitsi perform a short traditional libation ceremony. The narrator explains its meaning and purpose, including the importance of ancestors within traditional Ghanaian spirituality and the role of libation in bringing people together and affirming a sense of community and shared identity.
The children are taught several responses so that they can participate in the ceremony. Kakatsitsi then perform their first song, Agoo, a musical interpretation of the libation.
Introducing the Instruments
The narrator first introduces the djembe, explaining that the drum originated in West Africa, particularly in the region associated with the historic Mandé Empire, but has since spread far beyond its original cultural and geographical setting. Today, the djembe is played throughout Africa and around the world and has become one of the most widely recognised African drums.
The narrator explains how a djembe is traditionally made before one of the musicians demonstrates the different sounds that can be produced from a single drum using different playing techniques.
The Kpanlogo drums are then introduced. The children are shown how four drums, each tuned differently, can be played together to create melody as well as rhythm.
Finally, the bell is introduced and its central role in keeping the ensemble together is explained. Each drummer may be playing a different rhythmic part, but every drummer listens to the same bell pattern and ensures that their own part remains in time with it. If each musician is in time with the bell, they are, by extension, in time with one another.
The bell pattern is demonstrated and the children are invited to reproduce it by playing the same pattern with their hands on their knees, accompanying the bell and learning to maintain the timing themselves.
Building the Rhythm
Kakatsitsi then demonstrate how a collective rhythm is constructed from several different but interlocking parts, using the traditional Ga rhythm Ogé.
The first drum part is introduced alongside the bell, and the children listen to how the two different patterns fit together in time. They are then invited to continue playing the bell pattern on their knees while the drummer plays the first part of Ogé.
The challenge is to maintain their own timing without being distracted by the different rhythm being played on the drum, listening to the bell as their reference point. In doing so, the children experience directly the importance of listening and concentration in ensemble playing, as well as the principle that allows different rhythmic parts to fit together as a collective whole.
The second drum part of Ogé is then introduced and played with the bell, but without the first drum part, allowing the children to listen carefully to the new rhythm and hear how it relates to the underlying timing pattern.
The first drum part is then brought back in, so that the children can hear how the two different drum rhythms interlock with one another while both remain anchored to the bell.
This demonstrates how individual rhythmic parts, each maintaining their own relationship with the same timing pattern, can be combined to create an increasingly complex collective rhythm.
Solo Playing
Kakatsitsi then demonstrate the role of the solo drummer, who has much greater freedom to improvise than the drummers maintaining the underlying rhythmic parts. Skilled soloists will often develop and repeat short rhythmic phrases, creating their own patterns and variations over the collective rhythm.
Two approaches to solo playing are demonstrated. In the first, the soloist improvises with the timing, creating variations while remaining clearly connected to the underlying rhythm.
In the second, sometimes referred to by Kakatsitsi as “confusion” style, the soloist deliberately moves away from the timing and plays more freely before eventually returning to the underlying rhythm. This creates a particular challenge for the other musicians: they must maintain their own parts without allowing the soloist to pull them away from the timing.
The key, once again, is the bell. Rather than following the soloist, the other musicians continue listening to the bell as their common reference point. As long as each player maintains their relationship with the bell, the underlying rhythm remains intact and the soloist is free to move away from it and return.
The children are challenged to do the same, maintaining the bell pattern on their knees while the solo drummer attempts to distract them from the timing. This provides a demanding but enjoyable exercise in listening, concentration and maintaining focus in the presence of competing rhythms.
Bringing It Together: Ogé
This section of the performance concludes with Kakatsitsi performing their second piece, the traditional Ga rhythm Ogé, bringing together the different rhythmic elements the children have just explored.
The children are invited to play along, keeping the timing pattern on their knees while listening to the bell. Having first learned to maintain the basic five-beat pattern, they are also encouraged to introduce their own variations — replacing some of the beats with claps or experimenting with other ways of playing the pattern.
This gives the children an opportunity to add an element of their own creativity while maintaining their place within the collective rhythm. Whatever variation they choose to play, the essential challenge remains the same: stay in time by listening to the bell.
In this way, the children experience one of the central principles demonstrated throughout the performance — individual creativity can take place within a collective musical structure, provided everyone continues to listen to the common timing that holds the ensemble together.
Singing, Fishing Songs and the Gome
The narrator explains to the children that Kakatsitsi come from Jamestown, a historic fishing community in Accra. Jamestown is predominantly Ga, the ethnic group indigenous to Accra and the surrounding coastal area, and fishing has traditionally played an important role in the economic and cultural life of the community.
The children are told how fishermen in Jamestown sing a variety of traditional songs while they work. The narrator explains how the songs provide rhythm and energy during physically demanding work, while also helping groups of fishermen to work together as a team — demonstrating how music can have a practical as well as a cultural and social role within a community.
The children are then introduced to the gome, a traditional Ga bass box drum. One of the musicians demonstrates how the instrument is played, striking the skin with the hands while using the feet against the drumhead to alter its tension and change the pitch. The children can therefore see and hear how the drummer uses both hands and feet to produce the instrument’s distinctive bass sound.
The narrator then introduces the tradition of call-and-response singing, before Kakatsitsi’s lead singer teaches the children a simple fishing song. The singer makes the call and the children learn to respond collectively, gradually becoming confident enough to sing their part in time with the musicians.
The children then join Kakatsitsi in Sea Never Dry, the group’s collection of traditional fishing songs. The lead singer makes the calls and the children respond together while the drummers provide the rhythm.
Through participating in the songs themselves, the children experience something of their original social function: music not simply as something to be listened to or performed for an audience, but as a means of working together, communicating and reinforcing a sense of community.
Dancing Together
The final section of the performance explores the close relationship between drumming and dance in traditional Ghanaian music. The narrator explains how the solo phrases played by the master drummer communicate with the dancers, with particular drum calls guiding and signalling their movements.
Kakatsitsi then perform Kpanlogo, one of southern Ghana’s most popular social dances. The rhythm begins with the drummers before the dancers join them, demonstrating the movements of the dance and the way in which they respond to the calls of the master drummer.
The children — and their teachers — are then invited to get up and join in. Using a simple follow-the-leader approach, everyone is encouraged to copy the movements demonstrated by Kakatsitsi’s dancers while the musicians continue to play.
The educational performance ends with the whole school community participating together in a lively, celebratory dance — bringing together the rhythm, listening, movement and collective participation that have run throughout the performance.
Questions
Time permitting, Kakatsitsi then invite questions from the children, giving them an opportunity to ask about the music, instruments, dancing, Ghana or anything else they have encountered during the performance. The question-and-answer session is often a lively and enjoyable way to bring the educational element of the performance to a close.
Finally, as the children leave the hall and return to their classrooms, the musicians play a gentle rhythm to accompany them out — bringing the performance to a relaxed and musical conclusion.