By Laudia Sawer
Nuaso (E/R), March 25, GNA – Ghanaian traditional instruments are an essential part of the country’s rich cultural heritage, playing a vital role in communication, storytelling, ceremonies, and entertainment.
These instruments, crafted from natural materials like wood, gourds, animal skins, and metal, are deeply connected to the traditions, beliefs, and social life of various ethnic groups.
Music and rhythms from traditional instruments serve multiple purposes, including marking significant life events such as births, puberty rites, weddings, and funerals.
The Dipo Tɔ (Dipo guard) is one such instruments, playing a vital role in the traditions of the Krobo people in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The percussion instrument, which can be played alone or combined with the gong-gong is an integral instrument during the dipo puberty rites, an initiation ceremony for young Krobo girls transitioning into womanhood, playing a crucial role in the cultural and spiritual aspects of the ceremony.
The rattle Dipo Tɔ, with its unique sounds, is only reserved for merry-making occasions such as the dipo, marriage, naming ceremonies and festivals.
It is not played at funerals; thus, it is an instrument of joy. Wherever it goes, merrymaking and happiness are bound to be there.
Madam Mercy Mateko Tetteh, the Yomuͻ (old lady) of Sawer-Wayo Wem, Manya-Kpongunor, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the dipo tͻ is an original instrument from Kroboland, made from a rope in the forest.
Madam Tetteh said the fresh gourd is brought home and rounded to dry and then moulded to form its round nature, adding that its other components included beads, glass bottle covers, and old currency coins.
Holes are created in the components and attached to a rope and woven around the gourd, adding that the old coins with the perforated holes could also be bought from the market.
She said the dipo tɔ does not need any special care to preserve it, adding, however, that if it falls down hard, it could break.
Demonstrating how it is played, she placed it on her lap and skilfully hit her palms one after the other on the metal strings around the gourd to produce the loud rhythms.
According to the Yomuͻ, playing of the instrument, which can be done by any woman with the skills, goes with the singing of the traditional Klama song, which is
raised by a leader and responded to by others, and is predominantly performed by women.
The words of the Klama song, she noted, depend on the occasion, saying, “The same Klama song can be sung during marriage ceremonies and during dipo rites.
“There is no difference in the Klama songs sung during marriage and dipo, but it can be generated by anybody during any of the ceremonies.”
Madam Tetteh added that the Klama songs were figurative and contained a lot of messages and advice, stating, for instance, that one of the songs says, “Grandma’s beads should be worn; when they get missing, nobody would be held accountable for them,” meaning make use of things that belong to you instead of coveting things that belong to others, which could get you into trouble.
As the playing of the Dipo Tɔ instrument is being done and the singing of the folklore, the women perform the indigenous Klama dance, which involves the graceful movement of the left arm above the waist and writhing of the wrist while slightly moving the right hand along and slowly dragging along the feet either forward, backward, or sideways.
She lamented that modernity was affecting some of the instruments, songs, and traditions and therefore called for such traditions to be passed on to the next generation through puberty rites and other means.
She said the instruments were needed not only to maintain and celebrate Ghana’s cultural identity but also to educate younger generations on their heritage as they foster unity, provide a medium for artistic expression, and continue to inspire contemporary Ghanaian music.
In a rapidly modernising world, preserving and promoting traditional instruments and folklore such as that of the Krobos ensures that Ghana’s rich musical legacy thrives for future generations.
GNA
LS/GRB