Meet Abena Serwaa Korankye; The young seperewa instrumentalist
When 16-year-old Abena Serwaa Osei Korankye started to play the seperewa, a traditional musical instrument, one thing was certain - to hold on to the legacy of her father, whose mastery of the instrument had seen him perform in various local and international fora.
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Serwaa's father, Mr Kwame Osei Korankye, a seperewa instructor at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon, plays the seperewa with veteran musician, Agya Koo Nimo's band.
"I did not want a situation where other people my father trained could play the instrument when in his own home none of his children could do same," disclosed Serwaa when she explained why she learnt to play the seperewa during an interview with the Junior Graphic.
With so much determination, Serwaa was able to live through the pain associated with learning now to play the seperewa, as well as taunts from friends who described her as old fashioned for playing a traditional instrument which usually accompanied traditional music.
True to her wish, today, Serwaa is the only child of the five children her parents are blessed with to perfectly play the seperewa.
Seperewa belongs to a class of harp-lute chordophones typical in West Africa. Modern seperewa typically have between 10 and 14 strings, set onto a standing bridge, and are connected to the neck of the instrument by winding them around it directly. They are recognisable by their square wooden box resonator. They are either played with the thumbs, or rarely with the forefingers. The sound is produced on them by setting the strings into vibration. Seperewa is used to entertain chiefs and also at funerals.
Performances
Serwaa has performed with the seprewa at various functions including:
• The funeral service of late President John Evans Atta Mills.
• The durbar to climax the 2016 Akwasidae of the chiefs and people of the Asante Kingdom.
• Several performances at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra.
Serwaa also plays the prempensua (thumb piano), atenteben (flute) and traditional drums though not as excellently as does the seperewa. She also composes her own vocals to sing along when playing the seperewa.
Throwing more light on her talent at the Prof. J H Kwabena Nketiah Archives at the School of Performing Arts, Legon, Serwaa, who is a JHS graduate of the Shine Educational Centre, Abokobi Boi, said she started learning how to play the instrument when she was three years old.
"It was the only traditional instrument I loved to play at the time because it had always been at our home. I saw my father play it all through my childhood and that inspired me to learn to play it too," she said.
Learning to play seperewa
Serwaa said it was not easy for her when she started learning how to play the seperewa, explaining that on many occasions, her thumb got swollen, a challenge which made it very difficult for her to play. "But the pain did not discourage me because I knew I could make it."
Another hurdle she had to grapple with was the confusing nature of the arrangement of the strings.
Serwaa says she currently plays the eight string seperewa while her father plays the 16 strings. The eight strings seperewa, she explains, has four strings on the left and four on the right. “One has to be alert when playing,” she said, “as many wrongly think the notes 'do-ra-mi-fa-so' are on the left while the rest of the other musical notes are on the right, but that is not the case. They are arranged left, right, left, right, in that order, which makes it difficult in the beginning."
School and playing seprewa
Serwaa, who was also a member of the Junior Graphic Fan Club in her former school, said at eight years she had become perfect in playing the seperewa and, therefore, performed at various functions.
This, however, affected her attendance in school because she sometimes had to skip school in order to perform at various functions.
Fortunately, she said this did not affect her academically because, according to her, she was able to catch up with the rest of the class on her return as she had put in a lot of effort to achieve that.
Exposure to personalities
Serwaa said playing the instrument has helped her to meet several personalities such as:
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• Otumfuo Osei Tutu, the King of the Asante Kingdom, who also shook hands with her.
• Agya Koo Nimo.
• Prof. Kwabena Nketiah, the veteran musicologist.
• Kojo Antwi and other high profile musicians.
Future career
She is determined to become a journalist and further her talent in music. She says she takes inspiration from the late Komla Dumor (her role model) and pointed out that his work as an astute broadcaster continues to inspire her.
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Schools attended
• PRESEC Staff Primary School, Legon
• Shine Education Centre. She is grateful to the director of the school for the scholarship awarded to her.
• Intends to pursue General Arts at the senior high school.
How the Junior Graphic newspaper helped her
• Solving Mathematics questions in the paper helped me in the BECE
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• It enhanced my reading habit
• Looking at the pictures published and solving the puzzles was fun for her.