ANDREW TRACEY’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFRICAN MUSIC PEDAGOGY (1959-2024): A TRIBUTE

Abstract

This article offers a tribute to Andrew Tracey‟s contributions to African music pedagogy, examining how his scholarship and teaching reshaped the understanding and transmission of African musical knowledge. Drawing on Tracey‟s work with mbira and other African musical traditions, the article situates his contributions within African musical epistemologies that privilege embodiment, participation, and relational aesthetics. It highlights his emphasis on learning through observation, performance, mentorship, and apprenticeship, as well as the International Library of African Music (ILAM) 's role in sustaining these pedagogical approaches. The article further considers Tracey‟s analytical writings on African harmonic and rhythmic systems, arguing that they offer valuable resources for music theory education and challenge the marginalisation of African music within formal curricula. Positioned within applied ethnomusicology, this tribute affirms Tracey‟s enduring legacy in advancing culturally grounded, pedagogically viable, and intellectually rigorous approaches to African music education.