Lesson Planning
Investigate the music of the time and understand the importance of music in the Benin culture. Learn that they did not have a written language and children did not go to school, but instead, in the evening, the people in each village would collect around the village square or family hearth and tell stories. Make a Benin asologun (stringed instrument) and/or egion (musical bow), and take part in a recital.
Teaching Outcomes:
- To find out about everyday musical instruments played in the Kingdom of Benin.
- To make replica musical instruments.
- To play replica musical instruments in an improvised recital.
Children will:
- Be able to explain what musical instruments were used in the Benin kingdom and why.
- Make replica musical instruments that produce a sound.
- Play handmade musical instruments in an improvised recital.