Gahu
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Gahu is a social dance and music event from the Ewe people of Ghana. This page contains everything I can remember about Gahu from our sessions with Josh Ryan. This was a highlight of the week, and we learned enough to know that we are just scratching the surface of Gahu. If you check out the videos of me playing the individual parts, keep in mind that I am left-handed. The strong and weak sides on the videos are the mirror image of a right-handed player.

Syllables

The Ewe use syllables for rhythmic events, in much the same way that Western musicians use solfège syllables to indicate pitch relationships. The syllables I have learned are as follows:

de open tone strong hand
ge open tone weak hand
gi muted tone either hand
pa leader stick on shell / axatse (rattle) strong hand / downstroke
ti leader stick on shell / axatse weak hand / upstroke
ja leader stick on shell and drum head simultaneously strong hand on shell, weak hand on drum head
to leader stick on muted drum head strong hand plays, weak hand mutes and raises pitch

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Sequence

We learned the first three chapters of Gahu, which follow this sequence:

  • Prelude (slow tempo): Basic > Serious > Question 2 > Question 2 (fast tempo)
  • Chapter 1: Basic > Question 1 > Serious > Question 2 (repeat)
  • Chapter 2: Basic > Question 1 > Serious > Question 2 > Serious Variation 1 > Question 2 (repeat)
  • Chapter 3: Basic > Question 1 > Serious > Question 2 > Serious Variation 2 > Question 2 (repeat)

Note that each the sequence of each chapter happens two times, and that Question 2 leads the group back to Basic for the next chapter.

The prelude ends with every other person turning 180° and shaking hands with the person they are facing. This position is held until Question 2 is played at the quicker tempo of the main piece.

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Basic

Leader part: pa   pa ti pa pa   pa ti pa

Axatse part: pa   pa ti pa pa   pa ti pa

Bell part: pa   pa   pa  pa   pa   pa

High drum part: de  de ge   gi gi  de  de ge   gi gi

Low drum part: de gi gi   de gi gi

Step: two forward steps on right foot, followed by two forward steps on left foot. Shoulders and hands face opposite of step, very loose.

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Serious

All parts stay the same, except for the leader and the low drum.

Leader part: ge pa ge pa ge pa ge pa ge pa ge pa ge pa ge pa

Low drum part: de ge de ge de  gi  de ge de ge de  gi

Step: feet mark time in same pattern as Basic, bend 90° at waist. Forward grinding motion with hands, head alternates looking into and out of circle.

Serious Variation 1

The same as Serious, except that the leader plays this:

Leader part: ja ja   de ge de   ja ja   de ge de

Step: two side steps into circle, with inchworm, then turn head and look at upraised left palm, repeat to the right

Serious Variation 2

All parts are the same as Variation 1.

Step: same step as Variation 1. Every other person turns 180° at Question 2, so that sideways motion is face-to-face and opposite directions.

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Questions

Questions are musical signals from the leader that tell the musicians and dancers when to change from section to section of the song.

Question 1

Question 1 has a warning, during which the dancers raise their arms while continuing the step for Basic. It leads the group from Basic to Serious. The actual question is in parentheses below:

Leader part:

Warning: de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge de  de ge

Question: (de ge  ge  ge  ge de to to de to  ge  ge de)

Question 2

Question 2 leads from Serious to Basic, from Serious to Variation 1, From Serious to Variation 2, and from either Variation back to Basic.

Leader part: ja   ja   ja   ja ja  de  ge de

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Extra stuff

We also learned a variation to the drum parts for Basic. All drums play the following part, instead of the two different parts for Basic listed above.

Drum part: gi  gi    de ge gi  gi   de  de ge

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