Resource 6: Musical pipes

Background information / subject knowledge for teacher

The atenteben is a bamboo flute from Ghana. It is played vertically, like the recorder, and can be played diatonically as well as chromatically. Although originally used as a traditional instrument (most often in funeral processions), since the 20th century it has also been used in contemporary and classical music. Several players have attained high levels of virtuosity and are able to play Western as well as African music on the instrument.

The instrument originated with the Akan ethnic group of south-central Ghana, particularly in the region of the Kwahu Plateau. It was first popularised throughout the nation by the Ghanaian musicologist Dr Ephraim Amu (1899–1995). It was also featured in the Pan African Orchestra, led by Nana Danso Abiam, and Dela Botri, a former member of the orchestra, is among Ghana's foremost exponents of the instrument. Since 2004, Botri has combined the atenteben with hiplife music on his recordings.

The instrument is used in many schools and universities across Ghana, both as a solo and ensemble instrument. An instruction manual for the atenteben has been written by Dr Kwasi Aduonum, a Ghanaian educator, scholar, and composer from the Kwahu Plateau region.

The Nigerian composer Akin Euba featured a children's atenteben ensemble in his opera Chaka: An Opera in Two Chants.

Adapted from: Wikipedia, Website http://en.wikipedia.org [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Accessed 2008)

Making and playing your own pipes

Pipe ensembles are special music groups because each person plays only one note. However, put together, often in very complicated ways, this creates wonderful music. Every person is contributing a sound to a complex whole – it’s like democracy in music!

Pipes can be made from reeds (in rural areas) or metal (in urban areas). Pipes can vary in size from 20 cm to over a metre in length, producing a range of high and low notes.

You can make your own pipes by using plastic piping such as electrical conduit, cutting plastic fax-paper pipes, or irrigation piping (12–15 mm diameter). Make pipes of different lengths so that you have different notes.

To play the pipes:

  1. Place the open side of the instrument level, against the lower lip.
  2. Hold the pipe between your fingers, the index and thumb.
  3. Relax your other fingers around the middle of the instrument.
  4. Begin to blow softly across the hole until a note is produced.

Resource 5: Pupil praise songs

Section 5: The art of storytelling