Music & Dance

Music & Dance in Ghana: 10 Powerful Traditions That Bring Culture to Life

Ghana’s music and dance are vital expressions of its ethnic and regional diversity. From ancestral drumming ensembles to modern pop hits, traditional Ghanaian music and dance permeate daily life and festivals. International tourists and Ghanaians in the diaspora can explore this rich heritage through everything from highlife and hiplife tunes to Ga Kpanlogo and Ewe Agbadza dances.

These art forms not only entertain but also convey history, religious beliefs and social values. (See also our pages on [Festivals & Ceremonies], [Ghanaian Cuisine], and [Kente Cloth] for more context.)

Contemporary Music Genres: Highlife, Hiplife, Afrobeat & Gospel

Ghana is famous for highlife, a genre blending African rhythms with Western instruments. Highlife was long the nation’s signature sound and in July 2024 was formally recognized by UNESCO as an original Ghanaian cultural heritage

From the 1990s onward, new styles emerged – notably hiplife (a fusion of highlife with hip-hop, often rapping in Twi or other local language and Afrobeat (which mixes Ghanaian highlife with funk and jazz influences

Each genre retains roots in local languages and stories even as it incorporates global trends. Gospel music is also hugely popular in Ghana; one study noted gospel accounted for about 75% of local recording output by the 1990s reflecting its role in church and social life.

• Highlife: Ghana’s best-known modern music, characterized by jazzy horns and guitar on syncopated African rhythms (Recent UNESCO moves confirm highlife’s national importance)
• Hiplife: Originating in the 1990s, hiplife fuses highlife and hip-hop, with artists like Reggie Rockstone rapping in Ghanaian languages
• Afrobeat/Afrobeats: Influenced by Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, Ghanaian versions often combine highlife grooves with funk, jazz and dancehall elements (As Wikipedia notes, Afrobeat “fuses…Ghanaian music (such as highlife) with American funk, jazz, and soul”
• Gospel: A major contemporary genre; by 2001 it was estimated that up to 90% of Ghanaian musicians were singing in churches or producing Christian music Ghanaian gospel often adapts local rhythms (for example, gospel highlife, and styles like Adzewa and Agbadza) to religious lyrics

Regional Dance Traditions and Styles

Music and dance in Ghana are closely tied to ethnic identity. Key dance styles include:

• Ga (Accra) – Kpanlogo and Kolomashie. Kpanlogo is an urban Ga youth dance from the 1960s, performed with bent knees and playful hip and shoulder movements (Kolomashie is another energetic Ga dance with imitative African-American influences.) Both are danced to rhythmic drumming (often at the Accra beaches and festivals).
• Ewe (Volta Region) – Agbadza. A high-energy circle dance by the Anlo-Ewe people, Agbadza features complex drum rhythms and call-and-response singing. It originated as a war dance but is now performed at funerals and Hogbetsotso festivals to celebrate cultural pride.
• Akan (Ashanti/Fante) – Adowa and Kete. Adowa is a graceful Akan court and funeral dance, named after the antelope. Dancers use fluid arm and foot gestures to express joy or sorrow, often accompanied by the atumpan (talking) drums.The Kete dance is an Ashanti royal court dance performed for chiefs in palanquins
• Dagomba (Northern) – Bamaya/Damba dances. The Dagbamba people perform the Bamaya or “rain dance” in times of drought, invoking spirits with vigorous drumming and stilted footwork This dance (pictured below) highlights northern Ghana’s drum-centric heritage. The annual Damba festival of Tamale also features processions and traditional Dagomba drumming (e.g. Yila and Bèli drum ensembles).

Many other dances exist across Ghana’s regions – for example, the Nzema Kundum harvest dance in the West and the Volta Region’s Borborbor. These dances are “cultural dance in Ghana” celebrated at festivals and family events, each with distinctive costumes and music.

Cultural Roles of Music and Dance

Music and dance in Ghana serve ceremonial, spiritual and social functions. Drumming ensembles are often called “the voice of the community” in Ghanaian culture For example, the talking drum (known locally as atumpan) can mimic speech tones and was used to send messages between villages Royal events and funerals commonly feature specific dances: Akan chiefs observe Adowa in mourning, and Ga nobles host Kple performances at the Homowo (Hungry) festival in Accra

Harvest and cleansing ceremonies – such as the Nzema Kundum (to thank the gods) and Ewe Hogbetsotso (to remember exodus from Notsie) – all incorporate music and dance. Gospel and praise music likewise provide spiritual expression in churches nationwide. In each case, lyrics often draw on folklore and proverbs, so that music becomes a vehicle for storytelling and moral values.

Ghanaian Musical Instruments and Dance Attire

Traditional instruments reflect Ghana’s regional diversity. In the north, ensembles use stringed lutes (kologo), gonje fiddles and wind flutes, combined with talking drums, gourd drums and bass brekete drums For instance, the gyil (xylophone) is a signature instrument of northern Ghana’s Dagara and Birifor people The atenteben bamboo flute (developed by composer Ephraim Amu) became a modern Akan instrument for ceremonies and education In Akan and Ga music, double-headed drums like the fontomfrom (of Ashanti) or gome (of Ewe/Ga) provide polyrhythmic bass lines. Many ensembles also use rattles, bells and horns.

Dancers’ attire is equally symbolic. Costumes often feature kente cloth (bright handwoven silk and cotton) especially in Akan and Ga dances, along with cowrie-shell collars, beadwork and horsehair regalia. The colors and patterns of kente can denote social status or the occasion. (For more on kente symbolism in dance costumes, see our [Kente Cloth] page.)

Live Music and Dance Experiences in Ghana

Visitors can experience Ghanaian music and dance at cultural centers, clubs and festivals. In Accra, the Centre for National Culture (Arts Centre) regularly hosts performances showcasing music and dance from various ethnic groups

The Alliance Française d’Accra and Goethe-Institut also hold live music nights, often featuring Ghanaian jazz, highlife and Afro-fusion artists For a lively local scene, the beachside Labadi Beach resort hosts weekly reggae and band nights that draw crowds dancing into the night(Until recently, the famous +233 Jazz Bar was known as “the best place in Accra to see live music,” with bands covering highlife, blues and jazz

Ghana’s festival calendar is another great way to see music and dance. For example, Accra’s Homowo (Ga harvest) and the Volta Region’s Hogbetsotso are filled with parades of drummers and dancers. In northern Ghana, the Damba festival in Tamale (Ghana’s largest festivalfeatures royal drumming and dancing in colorful regalia. Each fall, communities across Ghana celebrate cloth-tying (Adae), harvest (Odwira, Kundum) and cultural arts (Chale Wote in Accra, Cape Coast’s Panafest) with open-air performances.