Celestial church of christ,academy of music and music technology

o the exclusion of singing. Thomas day (1971) in his book "Element of Music" gives a very precise definition of Music as "Sound and Movement" which if holistically, analyzed could encompass almost all the definitions of music in all music books in existence. While many authors define Music positively, James Glennon in his books "Understanding Music says, music cannot always be defined as the combination of sounds that are pleasing to the ear. He says, music sometimes could give irritating sound that is capable of disorganizing man's nervous system. If we all agree with Glennon, we may then want to say that music is what every culture terms it to be. The tritonic scale of the Red Indians which is repeatedly chanted for more than two hours in a performance without text and harmony could be termed to be irritating in the ear of a European who operates on the diatonic scale, or an African whose principal scale is pentatonic; whereas, it is a perfect practice in the musical culture of the American Indians. Winfred Douglas (1937) still presses forward to say that "Music is a collective voice of mankind that unites men on a higher level of spiritual sensitiveness than they could otherwise attain"5. This is not too different from that "the message of music is not primarily addressed either to the intellect or to the emotion; but to the complete personalities of both composer and performer 6. In it, heart speaks directly to heart, mind to mind and life to life. He does not stop here; He goes further to say that "Music is the most human of all the Arts; be it sculptor, pottery, Drama, Painting, Architecture and others. Music can directly express personality in action or life and finally, that "Music is not merely a succession of pleasing sounds¬-patterns formed of sensuous tone; but it is essentially an utterance of the whole man". THE POWER OF MUSIC
In the various definitions of Music as sighted from the books of the authors above, we may easily point out those that have already treated this sub-topic. But, let us look at the way Andrew Wilson- Dickson (1992) explain "The Power of Music." Firstly, he coated from the Holy Bible; 1 Samuel 16: 14-23 thus "Now the spirit of the Lord had left Saul and an evil Spirit from God filled him with terror. Saul' servant said to him, look, an evil spirit of God is the cause of your terror. Let our Lord give the order, and your servant who waits on you will look for a skilled harpist; when the evil spirit of God troubles you, the harpist will play and you will recover. Saul said to his servants 'Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me'. One of the soldiers then spoke up and so, David came to Saul and entered his service. And whenever evil spirit from God troubles Saul, David took the harp and played; then Saul grew calm, and recovered, and the evil spirit left him. Similarly, David had used the power of music to appease God whenever he sinned against Him especially when the Prophet of God came to tell David that God was very much angry with him for impregnating Uriah's wife as well as killing the husband to hide his sinful act. David used the power of music to appease God; though David was punished much later, he was spared for that moment. (Let us sing Olorun mi Olorun mi, to further buttress our claim). This was the music David rendered towards God that made God to stop St. He went further to sing another wonderful song ---Praise the Lord Oh my Soul, this made God to almost quarrel with Angel Michael who vehemently warned God not to spare David's life as he could later commit a more grievous sin. David over¬heard this argument between God and Michael and to prevent God from having a re-think he sang another wonderful Music to drive home his plea ...
"Titobi Loluwa': And the Lord said "Michael, put away your sword; and do not lay your hand on David my son; and by the way, if we kill David, who will sing this beautiful Music unto me? And so he went further to proclaim David as the man after his heart. (The Power of Music: A multicultural View). Gradually, we are already doing justice to the topic, But l still want to go more in to comparative ethnomusicology discussing the music of notable traditional religions in the western part of the country as well as going through the musical culture of Islam, to further concretize the effect culture on all musical activities both sacred and secular as this will now enable us to be strictly adhere to the musical tenants of our beliefs and faith. The main Traditional religions in Nigeria are many; but l am going to discuss the Music of the ones in the Yoruba States. Sango, Ogun, Oya, Osun, Obatala, Orisa -Oko, Oro and others. These are the ones that cut across the breath and length of Yoruba land. We also have Ijo- Orunmila that has notable similarity with Ogboni Cult; which have their main musical instruments as members of Igbin family of the membranophone sub-group. Singing and drumming in the two cultures are observed very delicately, they can not afford to make any careless mistake, as this could earn them a summary dismissal or death. The rhythmic pattern is very soft and slow. The dancing step is done with care and; even the text and melody of the music suggest an utmost caution. The worshippers look very frightful as they move forward to respond to the cantor that leads the singing. Let us enjoy some Music of the Ogboni. Sango and Ogun are more established than others; they are also worshipped among the lgbos of Eastern part of the country. The ones grouped under festival are, Egungun, Agemo, Oro, Oje, Igunnuko, Etiyeri and others. Their type of Music is group under secular. Sango, the god of thunder has a very hard and fast rhythmic musical culture accompanied by Bata ensemble which also appears to be the hardest of the membranophone family. The hardness of the rhythm dictates the paste by which the worshippers respond either by singing or dancing. It is also the motion of the whole music that triggers the sprit in the worshippers that brings about thunder occasionally. Ogun, the god of iron is worshipped by almost everybody that deals with the iron; Blacksmith, Motor Drivers, Carpenters, Welders and others; but, the traditional hunters are the principal worshippers. Like Sango, Ogun also has a distinct musical style; but it shares the use of Dundun ensemble in the accompaniment, with a particular rhythmic pattern which the hunters demonstrate in the musical concert that usually follows the day Ogun is brought home from the main shrine in the bush. Here they engage in singing and dancing as they exhibit their spiritual or magical powers, by performing various degrees of magic. The Dundun ensemble that accompanies the signing in the worship of Ogun is a little bit different from the full ensemble found in the palace of the Yoruba Obas. It does not include the Sekere and Aro sub-groups; but it include Ekutu and toromogbe who are both Aerophones. They are special musical instruments of the hunters that are used separately with the Dundun ensemble. Oya is known as the principal wife of Sango and perhaps, this is why there are similarities in the musical culture of the two; singing, accompaniment and dancing are very much similar. The main accompaniments are the members of Bata ensembles as it is in the musical tradition of Sango. The rhythmic pattern is also fast and violent; it frequently reflects in the natural behavior of the worshippers. Apart from Sango, Ogun and Oya, the principal musical instrument of the others like Obatala, and Orisa-oko is igbin (Igbin is the musical instrument of the Orisas). As mentioned earlier, Agemo, Oro, Igunnuko, Etiyeri and others are grouped under festivals; and I don't feel we should engage in an intensive discussion of the group under this topic. They do not strictly fall within the scope under review. ISLAMIC MUSIC

Islamic music seems to be one of the most unique and consistent of all sacred musical cultures. This may be controversial; but, It is a true statement. Their musical practice toward worship appears to be more purposeful than assumed. The strictness, uniformity, and dedication incorporated into it, is unparalleled, the five times daily chanting is comprehensively uniform throughout the universe, without any discrimination or segregation; from Mecca through Medina and Jeddah , to Alaska in North America, South Africa, and Morocco in Africa, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and China in Asia; Great Britain and Turkey in Europe, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina in South America, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica in the West Indies and Australia and New Zealand in the great oceanic region. It is always very hard to notice the difference between the Ahmadiya, Ansarudeen, Nawarudeen, and other Islamic sub-groups. They maintain the use of the same language, tenets and most especially music all through. They so much adore rules guiding their worship that they seldom, if ever, accompany their music, with musical Instrument especially the ones performed inside the mosque. In Nigeria, there are many Islamic music especially in the north and west. Islamic culture has influenced the holistic life of most northerners; in the palace, market, farm, home and school. It has also affected their dressing and interaction with other tribes. The influence is so stronger in music that one finds it a little hard to differentiate between their sacred and secular musical tradition. All have been engulfed in Islamic cult