The Church Music, Transition and Reforms in the Ghanaian Christian Church

Abstract

Purpose: The discourse examines the origin of Church music, its transition and reforms in the Christian church in Ghana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The paper explores the seeming connection and embodiment of elements of Judaism as well as features characterized by the early Patriarchal Church Music policy. It also seeks to unravel the forgotten process that unpins the transition characterized by these musical reforms in the church in Ghana.
 Methodology: To do this, the paper engaged in a desk study review of the existing empirical literature on the origin of church music and specifically, the various transitional periods between the late 19th and early 21st Centuries.
 Findings: It became evident from the study that the church in Ghana, just like in many other African nations broke the imposing dictatorship of Patriarchal Church Music policy giving birth to new movements in church music reforms. This major breakthrough was achieved through the indigenization activities such as the integration of traditional features and acceptance of secular music into the church by the locally formed independent churches.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The discourse, therefore, concludes that the church in Ghana made considerable strive with heavy transformation in gaining musical autonomy despite the intensity of resistance. However, ironically the Ghanaian church music scene remains the embodiment of converging cultures; partly Western, partly Ghanaian. This must be a major concern for further study.