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Multipart singing and harmonic concepts are basic traits of many African musical traditions and have been observed by Western travelers since the earliest periods of contact. Contrary to earlier opinions, “harmony” in African music is now seen to be not a result of acculturation but rather indigenous to many parts of the continent. Polyphonic singing styles were almost certainly used by prehistoric hunters in central and southern Africa. Among the San, the discovery of the use of the hunting bow as a musical instrument, and with it the discovery of the harmonics of a stretched string, constituted a cluster of ...(100 of 9008 words)