Through imitation, the Cameroonians assimilated the role of choir director, which is not something that existed in their precolonial musical practice. The missionaries, who had no musical training to speak of, introduced the collective singing of European hymns in the parishes they founded, an activity which the natives enthusiastically embraced. 1 The practice of singing in co-ed choirs dates as far back as the Christian mission, which became an established presence in Cameroon at the end of the nineteenth century. The contests were started by two friends, Paul Epie Mesumbe and Rey Njume Etone, both composers, who since the 1980s have created choirs in a number of parishes in the Bakossi region, all of which learn and perform a repertory entirely in the Akose language.
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For example, the former uses chironomic gestures to indicate pitch or iconic gestures to remind singers of the words of the song while keeping the rhythm. This can be explained by the difference in expectations between a choir director operating in a musical culture characterised by oral tradition and one operating in Western culture. Moreover, it becomes apparent that the missionaries introduced the role of the choir director only summarily, as Cameroonians have developed their own distinct conducting techniques and gestures.
![riva riva song dance dailymotion riva riva song dance dailymotion](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lQx4AqtF42E/mqdefault.jpg)
In analyzing different conducting techniques within a Presbyterian choir organisation in southwest Cameroon, we observe a new take on the function of the choir director, modelled after several aspects of the precolonial musical culture. This article examines how Western-style choir conducting was introduced in Cameroon by the Basel Mission.