Representation of Yoruba Tonal and Compositional Principles in the Music Composition Curricula of Southwest Nigerian Universities

This article compares the inclusion of Yoruba tonal and compositional principles in the music composition curricula of three universities in Southwest Nigeria, using a comparative document analysis approach. Selected for their differing backgrounds and emphases were three universities: Ajayi Crowther University, Obafemi Awolowo University and Olabisi Onabanjo University. The analysis of all three curricula involved categorising the titles of the individual courses into the following: Western, general African, Yoruba or Oyo-based and composition-designated. The study subsequently analyses the structural relationship between the courses that specifically reference the Yoruba tradition and the formal Composition sequence within each of the three institutions. In finding that there is minimal or zero mention of Yoruba-specific material within any of the three music composition programmes at all, the article argues, against the background of the goals of the article and within the general literature on curriculum decolonisation in Nigerian universities’ music education programmes, that the question of the study’s aims needs re-evaluation. Finally, the article offers recommendations and suggests further research areas within the course descriptions.