Gyile
The gyile is a type of West African xylophone, with seventeen keys constructed over gourds. It holds a place in the musical traditions of the Dagara and Birifor people of northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso.
Bernard Woma (d. 2018) was a well-known gyile player from Upper West Ghana who spent many years teaching the instrument and introducing it to audiences around the world.
01Playing Style
The gyile is played by striking the keys with a wooden mallet with rubber heads and is generally played by men but there are no restrictions on gender. The instrument is usually played in pairs and accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called kuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Gyile”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Gyil.JPG by Dr clave, CC BY-SA 3.0
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