Traditional practices and techniques of the àgídìgbo: (re)examining the Yoruba ‘box piano’ through African pianism theory

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Traditional instruments in Nigeria, as well as other West African regions, play a crucial role in ref lecting a society’s rich cultural identities and artistic experiences. One of these traditional instruments is the àgídìgbo, a Yoruba ‘box piano’ similar to the thumb pianos found in the lamellaphone family such as the mbira, ikembe and kalimba. The àgídìgbo is essentially a percussive instrument that requires and exemplif ies an indigenous performance practice and technique, along with extra-musical functionalities. While scholars have written about this Yoruba instrument, studies on its practice and techniques from the perspectives of linguistic tonality and music theory are insuff icient. Since Yoruba music is inf luenced by the tonal inf lections of the Yoruba language, the àgídìgbo, with its speech surrogate functions, creatively engages with Yoruba speech rhythms and melodies to achieve melo-rhythmic accompaniments and word intelligibility. This research embraces the theory of African pianism as postulated by Akin Euba (1970) to reexamine and analyse the traditional methods and techniques used in playing the àgídìgbo, while recognising that the instrument should not be equated with the piano. The data analysed were primarily gathered through observation and oral interviews, revealing signif icant insights into the instrument’s specialised traditional practices of tonal communication, melo-rhythmic patterns and the socio-cultural functions of àgídìgbo music. This inquiry recommends further research on and documentation of the practices and techniques related to indigenous instruments such as the àgídìgbo, with the aim of archiving and promoting African arts and cultural heritage on a global scale.