Over many years of studying how African music works – in terms of instruments, performers, techniques, scales, melodies, motifs, harmonies and rhythms – Tunde Jegede has gained a detailed knowledge of how to construct musical activity within an African context, relating to African musical traditions.
Similarly in Western classical music, he has studied the ways in which music is organised, constructed, rehearsed and performed.
Taking this knowledge and applying it to composition, Tunde is open to a great range of possibilities in musical creation and what performers and instruments are capable of. In turn, all these possibilities fuel his imagination to create and to fulfil his ideas in music.
But studying music isn’t just about reading books. Composing music isn’t just about sitting at a desk with a pencil or at a computer. It’s about listening and working with other musicians.
In this clip, Tunde talks about the importance of experimenting with fusion styles by playing with other musicians.
