Konpa and Klass
When thinking about music, often times we think of other things that accompany it, such as singing, dancing, relaxing, or even studying. Konpa music, since the mid 1990s, was and is still known for being the popular dance music found in Haiti. This can be found due to the musicality of this specific genre that attracted such attention to it. With the use of the musical traits of duple meters with slight use of a syncopated rhythm and a slightly fast tempo, the functionality of the music is able to support dancing. According to Elizabeth McAlister (2012 p.40), “ the cultural associations and physical sensations [Konpa music] might convey relate to the pleasure of balles and the secular sphere of close romantic dancing.”
One way that we can see and hear that connects the music with the functionality of it, is through the use of the meter. Most of this type of music is written to support dancing. With this being the case, the music needs to be written in a meter that is able to dance to. Commonly found, in this case the piece can be heard to have been written in a form of a duple meter. Wilcken and Averill wrote about the fact that in most songs, “when we get to the dance section, often times the harmonic progressions settle down to a two-chord pattern, often the V-I.”(p. 893 [print 913]). This lets the dancers to better understand the music that was being played so that they could enjoy it to its fullest and move along. A reason that the music’s harmonic progression settles down, is for the support factor, not to over-complicate the music taking the focus away from the dancing that is going on.
A second connection that can be drawn is the use of a slightly fast, and march-like tempo. This is important for the type of dancing that is accompanying the music. Typically what kind of dancing that is seen is for couples to closely move with one another, or for solo dancing with a lot of hip moving. With the moderate pace that this music is written in, one can see that there is a lot of couples and single individuals dancing along to the music. Tempo sets the overall pace through the music and the movement of the dance. It is an important role that defines the whole piece in both fields of art. The tempo is important to understand throughout the whole piece of music in order for the band and the dancers to know where in the music they are.
Lastly, another connection is the use of rhythms. In the song M’ap Marye by the group Klass, we hear the use of syncopated rhythms. Even though this particular song has a more moderate tempo, the use of syncopation in the percussion gives a slightly faster line to help the dancers move more. In Haiti, dance is known to play a large role in their culture. Having the songs support the movement is therefore just as important. Since there is ample amounts of syncopation throughout the song M’ap Marye, the opportunity of dancing along increases. It gives both the music and the movement more texture and freedom to incorporate more character into the piece. With the multiple layers of rhythms found in the different timbres sounding, the more options are given to the dancers to use as a guide for their movements.
Konpa music plays such a big role in the culture of Haiti, that it is seen to be found in a large range of places throughout the country. One may here it anywhere from being played in religious settings, with it’s new mix of “konpa Jezu” (lit., Jesus konpa), to being performed on top of floats in the Carnival celebration. One find that wilcken and Averill wrote about was, Konpa music became such a popular style of music to dance to that there was even a new style of dancing that emerged from it called kadans ranpa (P. 892 [print 912]). Overall, the music seemingly fulfill its purpose in not only accompanying dancing, but also spreading joy throughout the country and even in countries overseas.
References:
McAlister, Elizabeth. “Listening for Geographies: Music as Sonic Compass Pointing Toward African and Christian Diasporic Horizons in the Caribbean.” JSTOR, 2012, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/blacmusiresej.32.2.0025.
Wilcken, Lois, and Gage Averill. “Haiti.” Edited by Dale Olsen and Daniel Sheehy, Login Welcome, search-alexanderstreet-com.hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Creference_article%7C1000223831#page/909/mode/1/chapter/bibliographic_entity%7Creference_article%7C1000223831.
