African rural traditions are less and less studied for the benefit of mixed urban musical expressions.They still exist, however, and continue to be important cultural references for globalized music. Analysis of traditional music in its cultural context is an ethnomusicological position which studies the music within its social and symbolic framework, bringing to evidence the relationship between the internal organization of music and the signification it has for those who make it. This is an important contribution to the emic-etic issue. The present article discusses anthropological and historical knowledge conveyed by formal musical elements in Central Africa (CAR, Cameroon and Gabon).