Griots maintain their tradition through the custom of endogamy,
whereby skills are passed from one generation to the next via family
elders who teach their craft to the young. A griot commences to learn
their craft from childhood, often at an age of less than seven years.
A young griot may also seek lessons from an older more experienced
griot from outside the immediate family, such as an uncle, or from a
recognised ngara, or master-griot. The first instrument that an
apprentice is taught is usually a smaller version of one of the main
instruments.
At this early age, emphasis is placed on learning to master a rhythm
rather than a melody, and young griots may be instructed to play a
metal idiophone. The instrument is commonly known as a né (or négé),
and it is scraped with a metal bar which provides the basic rhythmic
backing to a song. When a level of proficiency is gained the young
apprentice graduates to a more difficult musical instrument.
Performances in public do not occur until a high standard of
musicianship is attained, and it may take upwards of ten to fifteen
years of practice to reach this level. The tradition is non-gender
based, though men play the majority of the melody instruments. In the
Casamance region of Senegal and neighbouring Guinea- Bissau, men also
tend to sing the main vocal part. The lead voice can be accompanied by
other singers, who are usually female, and it is typical for the
wife/wives of a griot to assume this role. The situation differs in
Mali, where female lead singers predominate, while in Guinea the
balance is mixed.
Praise singing and the performance of epic narratives
constitute the greater part of a griot’s repertoire, yet
their role in Mande (Mandingo) society includes many other important
functions. This has led to several terms being used by
authors to describe their function, with
“singer-historians”, a term that notes their role as the
retainers of their culture’s history, being the most common.
They are also often referred to as “bards”, or on occasion
as “casted bards”.
Other authors have described them, more eloquently perhaps,
as "ministers of the spoken word". “Praise-singers” would
arguably be the most ubiquitous term in common usage. While
griots are all these and more, it is important to recognise
that individual musicians will often specialise in a
particular field which allows their skills to become finely
honed. Particular musicians, therefore, will be sought for
their authority in matters in which they are regarded to
have a superior knowledge. Accordingly, there are various
specialist groups into which the griots can be divided.
There are those who are well-versed in the Koran, while
others are knowledgeable of the political history of their
local area. Some griots perform solely as entertainers for
the public at large, while there are also those whose role
is attached to the hunters’ societies.
A griot’s command of Mande history and society extends into
genealogy, and griots are able to recite a patron’s ancestry
for many generations. This aspect is essential to the
performance of praise songs, whereby patrons from the noble
class are entertained by the griot’s references to important
lineages and historical events pertinent to the patron’s
family. A griot’s knowledge of genealogies is perhaps their
most recognizable quality, a circumstance that is largely
due to the success of Alex Haley’s novel "Roots". Their
specialised knowledge of genealogies, however, coupled with
their mastery of the word, affords them significant powers.
This is especially true within the context of praise
singing, for if the patron is less than generous with his
reward he risks offending the griot, who has at their
disposal the intimate knowledge of the patron's genealogy.
The griots’ knowledge of family histories lends itself to
occasions associated with birth and marriage, and they are
called upon at the ceremonies which mark these events. At
naming days, for example, a griot will announce the name of
the child. Such is their crucial role in Mande daily life
that griots are found in many West African communities
around the world, where they continue to fulfil their
ceremonial and social functions.
In the pre-colonial era, griots fulfilled important roles in the
royal courts. Each state with its royal family had a griot
family attached to it. Griots acted as the voice of the
king, and delivered messages from the ruler to the public.
They also fulfilled the role of royal translator and
emissary.
A griot also acted as a
counsellor to the king: “I have instructed kings in the
history of their ancestors in order that the life of the
ancients serve as an example for them”, stated the griot
Mamadou Kouyaté (Cutter 1968:39). In particular situations a
griot will be sought as a mediator. Eyre notes that among
the Manding, the concerned parties in an important matter
rarely discuss it directly. Rather, they ensure clarity and
preserve decorum by speaking through an intermediary,
generally a griot.
Griots were also responsible for teaching the children
of the nobility, and they served as ambassadors and
diplomats. Those who attended the royal courts were at the
top of their profession, and were richly rewarded by their
patrons. Ibn Battúta described the emperor of the
Mali Empire, Mansa Suleyman, rewarding his griot after a
performance with a purse of gold, worth approximately
US$10,000 by current estimates. Royal griot
families were also provided with food and permanent housing.
Though their role in the Mande royal courts has been
much diminished in the modern era, an aspect that will be
discussed in part 3, a griot's counsel is
considered to be wise and fair. In contemporary West Africa,
where literacy rates are very low, griots carry out
important educative functions. Their insightful which lends
itself to social commentaries and they are not without
considerable political clout.
Griots
 Part
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