The archive currently contains more than 100 authentic transcriptions of well known traditional Kora songs. Some of them are played everywhere in the whole Manding culture in more or
less varying versions. Others belong to a certain region or "school" and are therefore typical for that
style.
The sources for the transcriptions are either field recordings made by myself during
several travels in West Africa with local musicians or commercial
recordings published on LPs and CDs listed in the
discography.
All pieces were transcribed and edited by me in the style I have heard and learned
them myself. Usually this is the standard version like it is played by
most musicians. Since there is no or at least no publicly accessible
notation material available (except in this project), the notations are
influenced by personal interpretations of more than 30 musicians, among
them the internationally best known Kora musicians like Jali Nyama Suso,
Alhaji Bai Konte, Dembo Konte, Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, Foday Musa Suso,
Sidike Diabate - to mention just a few. I have learned the songs
from their style and have developed my own version based on them - like
every Kora player does.
Thus the mentioned interprets represent a regional style (the "school") where
the pieces are played this way. No interpretation of a Kora piece is equal
another, even if the same Jali plays it, because it's considered a good
performance if the Kumbengo (ostinato groove) is constantly varied in a
subtle way and is solistically enriched with Birimintingo (improvisations,
ornaments, embellishments).
Therefore the notations are not exact transcriptions of a
certain performance. They are rather editions and medleys of
characteristic, specially typical, "groovy" parts of a piece that
sometimes originate from different musicians, included myself.
Below you see a notation example from the
archive
- ALLAH L'A KE, a song
very well known everywhere in the Mande culture area:
the color coding shows which string is plucked with which finger:
| left forefinger: light red |
right forefinger: light blue |
| left thumb: dark red |
right thumb: dark blue |
"dotted" notes have to be dampened immediately after plucking (
Detero)
uppercase notes to be played with thumb
lowercase notes to be played with forefinger
the notation contains 7 bars (numbered at the
lower border) with 8 beats each (upper border) with 4 pulses (ticks,
eights) each, 2 bars in each picture
they may be played / repeated / varied in arbitrary order
the 4th picture shows the assignment of the notes in the notation to the strings on the Kora bridge at bar 7, beat 1, pulse 1
see also:
Notation System
bars 1 and 2
bars 3 and 4
bars 5 and 6
assignment notation to strings at bar 7, beat 1, pulse 1
