Music education in Chad

Self-training and Choirs

Great names of Chadian music such as Chari jazz, Africa Mélodie, Tibesti, Inch'Allah, Soubyanna Music, H'Sao, Leul bo, Otentic, Matania, Padjiraï, Clément Masdongar, Diego, Célestin Mawndoé, Sultan, Moussa Chauffeur, Achille Baldal, Dounia Danpeur and Mounira Mitchala never attended a music school.

Choirs have become the music schools in Chad, where artists learn singing techniques and other useful skills to develop their musical career. With no formal musical training, artists are often introduced to music through a religious choir.

To become a musician in Chad despite the absence of training schools, passion and thirst for knowledge are essential. And those who have the financial means are often trained in Europe or elsewhere on the continent.

Private initiatives

The French Institute of Chad, a major player in the country’s cultural industry, understands the need for music training and offers guitar and drum lessons as well as song writing to young artists.

Some musicians also invest in music education. Abdoulaye Nderguet, author-composer, supported and accompanied by the music school Réougoss, offers singing, musical compositions, drums, saxophone, guitar and piano lessons to young people aged between 12 to 20 years in the premises of the Maison de la culture Baba Moustapha. The objective is to encourage musical creation, mixing Chadian rhythms to genres.

Some bands from N'Djamena (the Chadian capital) put their premises and instruments at the disposal of those who want to learn music or perfect a skill. It is also a way to find and showcase new talents for orchestras.

Réougoss, which means ‘way of discovering art’ in Ngambaye (one of the local languages), is an initiative of the Réseau Culturel et Artistique pour la Formation et la Francophonie (Récaf) and of the House of Culture Baba Moustapha. The school aims at providing a learning framework for artists to enrich their musical knowledge.

Réougoss calls on African music professionals for singing lessons. These experts respond favourably and share their experiences with Chadian artists. The Gabonese singer Annie-Flore Batchiellilys led a training session in 2015.

These initiatives helped young musicians to become professional artists while showing them how to be competitive in the demanding market.

Local authorities

In April 2014, the government, through its Minister of Culture, Abdoulaye Ngardiguina, laid the foundation stone for the construction of the first music school in Chad. This project was proposed by a group of professional dancers and musicians.

Several countries of the sub-region already have their own music schools namely the Institut National des Arts (INA) in DRC, the Institut des Arts de Bamako in Mali, the School of Fine Arts in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and the African Music Institute in Libreville (Gabon).

The national cultural policy framework document attaches great importance to promoting culture. The Chadian government must, for this purpose, develop initiatives to revitalize the music sector, including the establishment of structures and integration of music courses in the national education programs.

Sources:

Tchadinfos : www.tchadinfos.com
Institut Français du Tchad : www.institut-francais-tchad.org
École de musique Réougoss : https://www.facebook.com/ecolereougosstchad/
Wikipedia : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchad
Schoolius: http://www.schoolius.com/school/485761444915396/ECOLE%20REOU%20GOSS%20TCHAD

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