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In Zimbabwean music
Music of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean music includes folk music and popular music styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries....
, the mbira is a musical instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
 consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze
Deze

In Zimbabwe Shona music, a deze is a halved calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to amplify its sound. It is typically round in shape and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter which vibrate with the Mbira, creating a buzzing sound....
 that functions as a resonator
Resonator

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior, that is, it naturally Oscillation at some frequency, called its Resonance frequency, with greater amplitude than at others....
. Mbira performances are usually accompanied by hosho
Hosho (instrument)

The hosho are Zimbabwean musical instruments consisting of a pair of Maranka gourds with seeds. Typically we put hota seeds inside them. The hosho are used to accompany Shona music, especially mbira music....
. Among the Shona
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 there are three that are very popular (see Shona music
Shona music

Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, Hosho and drum ....
). The Mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. It is also part of the idiophones family of musical instruments.






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In Zimbabwean music
Music of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean music includes folk music and popular music styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries....
, the mbira is a musical instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
 consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze
Deze

In Zimbabwe Shona music, a deze is a halved calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to amplify its sound. It is typically round in shape and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter which vibrate with the Mbira, creating a buzzing sound....
 that functions as a resonator
Resonator

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior, that is, it naturally Oscillation at some frequency, called its Resonance frequency, with greater amplitude than at others....
. Mbira performances are usually accompanied by hosho
Hosho (instrument)

The hosho are Zimbabwean musical instruments consisting of a pair of Maranka gourds with seeds. Typically we put hota seeds inside them. The hosho are used to accompany Shona music, especially mbira music....
. Among the Shona
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 there are three that are very popular (see Shona music
Shona music

Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, Hosho and drum ....
). The Mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. It is also part of the idiophones family of musical instruments. In some places it is also known as a sanza.

In the late 1960s to early 70s sanza was the generic term used to describe these members of the lamellophone family. Mbira has now become so well known due to the work of Dumisani Maraire
Dumisani Maraire

Abraham Dumisani Maraire , known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people ethnic group of Zimbabwe....
, Ephat Mujuru
Ephat Mujuru

Ephat Mujuru , a Zimbabwean musician, was one of the 20th century's finest players of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people ethnic group of Zimbabwe....
 and Paul Berliner
Paul Berliner

Paul Berliner is a twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvisational systems....
 that it has now replaced sanza as the generic term. Dr. Joseph H. Howard
Joseph H. Howard

Joseph H. Howard was born in Venezuela and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Howard was an oral surgeon by profession who collected drums from around the world in his spare time....
, owner of the largest collection of drums and ancillary folk instruments in the Americas, often stated it is "the instrument most typical of Africa." By this he meant that the instruments were only found in areas populated by Africans or their descendants. Babatunde Olatunji
Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist and recording artist....
 made a similar statement in his book "Musical Instruments of Africa." He states the mbira "a finger xylophone
Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family which probably originated in Slovakia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber drum stick#Malletss....
, is native to Africa and is common throughout the continent. It is known nowhere else except in parts of the Americas where it was taken by africans."

MBIRA TAXONOMY


Progenitorial 'Zezuru Meaning Deatail' (ZMD)

Why Is 'Mbira' The Instrument Called Mbira


1. Mbira: The word Mbira can be used for both Plural and Singular in grammar.

2. Mbira, zmd

3. Bantu Word Prefixes: a, ama, u, ma, mu chi, va,... are examples of chiZezuru (chiShona- Shona), isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, etc. i.e. Bantu Word Prefixes.

A gathering of a Svikiro or Masvikiro and guests is called maBiradzimu. Today is just commonly referred to as Bira. 'Masvikiro ano Svikirwa' (those that are emblazened with an ancestoral spirit) instigated and aided by 'Dzimbo Dzembira Dzemasvikiro' (Mbira Spiritual Music) during this gathering will become transformed into spiritual mediums for ancesteral spirits all the to 'Madzimudzangara', zmd . A Dzangaradzimu or Dzimudzangara is a spiritual being of light, plural for Dzangaradzimu is maDzimudzngara. Thus, 'Masvikiro + Bira', translates into 'Mbira', which happens to be the name of the guinea pig the animal in chiZezuru (Zezuru Language), also called chiShona. There are several maZezuru dialects within the tribe (dialects: vaManyika, maKorekore, maNdau, maKaranga). The way the mbira the instrument sounds when plucked mirror guinea pig chirps. During the transformation trance like state of the spiritual medium, comparable to the speaking in toungues in churches, the mediums will convey advice, messages and consultations and ultimately healing through herbal medicines. This dispensation is understood to emanate spiritually from GOD via vaDzimu. In the Zezuru Languange we have words that refer to the heavens, Nyadenga (GOD) and Mwari (GOD). Because of the existence of several dialects maZezuru some refer to GOD as Mwari or Nyadenga. But there is also Nyamatengatonga, The Supreme Omnipotent.

Mbira Dzemasvikiro Nedzefundiso

Mbira Dzavadzimu in Deze
In Shona music
Shona music

Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, Hosho and drum ....
, Mbira Dzemasvikiro Nedzefundiso (national instrument of Zimbabwe) is a musical instrument that has been played by the Shona people
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 for thousands of years. The mbira is frequently played at religious (or svikiro) ceremonies called mapira (sing. "bira
Bira

Bira may refer to:*Prince Bira , motor racing driver*Boura , an ancient city of Achaea, Greece*Bira, Indonesia, a village in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia...
") and social gatherings.

A typical mbira consists of between 22 and 28 keys constructed from hot- or cold-forged metal affixed to a hardwood soundboard
Sounding board

The sounding board or soundboard is the part of a string instrument that transmits the vibrations of the strings to the air, greatly increasing the loudness of sound over that of the string alone....
 (gwariva) in three different registers—two on the left, one on the right.

While playing, the little finger
Little finger

The little finger, often called the pinky in American English and pinkie in Scottish English , is the most Anatomical terms of location#Relative directions in the limbs and usually smallest finger of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger....
 of the right hand is placed through a hole in the bottom right corner of the soundboard, stabilizing the instrument and leaving thumb and index finger of the right hand open to pluck
Pizzicato

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
 keys in the right register from above and below. The left hand is cupped around the left side of the instrument, with all fingers but the thumb placed behind the instrument. Both registers on the left side of the instrument are played with the left thumb.

Bottle cap
Bottle cap

Bottle caps, or Closures, are used to seal the openings of bottles of many types. They can be small circular pieces of metal with plastic backings, and for plastic bottles a plastic cap is used instead....
s, shells or other objects ("machachara") are often affixed to the soundboard to create a buzzing sound when the instrument is played. In a traditional setting, this sound is considered extremely important, as it is believed to attract the ancestral spirits.

During a public performance, a mbira is frequently placed in a deze
Deze

In Zimbabwe Shona music, a deze is a halved calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to amplify its sound. It is typically round in shape and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter which vibrate with the Mbira, creating a buzzing sound....
 (calabash
Calabash

The calabash or Bottle gourd is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe....
 resonator) to amplify its sound.

Religious and social significance
The mbira is very significant in The Shona religion and culture, and is considered a sacred instrument by natives. It is usually played to facilitate communication with ancestral spirits.

Tuning
Tunings vary from family to family, referring to relative interval relationships and not to absolute pitches. The most common tuning is Nyamaropa, the western Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode

The Mixolydian mode is a musical mode or diatonic scale. It has the same series of Major second and Minor second as the major scale, except the fifth note is taken as the tonic or starting pitch of the scale ....
. Names may also vary between different families. For example, Garikai, whose family plays an "mbira orchestra" that has seven different tunings, each starting on a different interval of the same seven-note scale, calls his version of "Nyamaropa" the "Nhemamusasa" tuning. There are seven tunings that Garikai uses: Bangidza, Nyamaropa, Nhememusasa, Chakwi, Taireva, Mahoroho, and Mavembe (all of which are also names of traditional songs save for Mavembe).

Common names for tunings are:
  • Dambatsoko (Ionian mode
    Ionian mode

    The Ionian mode is a musical mode of diatonic scale. It was part of the music theory of ancient Greece, and was based around the relative natural scale in C ....
    ) - Played by the Mujuru family. The name refers to their ancestral burial grounds.
  • Dongonda - usually a Nyamaropa tuned mbira with the right side notes the same octave as the left (an octave lower than usual).
  • Katsanzaira (Dorian mode
    Dorian mode

    Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales....
    ) - The highest pitch of the traditional mbira tunings. The name means "the gentle rain before the storm hits".
  • Mavembe (also: Gandanga) (Phrygian mode
    Phrygian mode

    Modes are early forms of scales used in music. The Phrygian mode can refer to two different musical modes or diatonic scales: the ancient Greek Phrygian mode and the Medieval Phrygian mode....
    ) - Sekuru Gora claims to have invented this tuning at a funeral ceremony. The mourners were singing a familiar song with an unfamiliar melody and he went outside the hut and tuned his mbira to match the vocal lines. Other mbira players dispute that he invented it.
  • Nemakonde (Phrygian mode) - Same musical relationship as the mavembe, but the nemakonde tuning is a very low pitched version.
  • Saungweme (Whole tone
    Whole tone scale

    In music, a whole tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbours by the interval of a whole step. There are only two whole tone scales, both six-note or Hexatonic scale scales:...
    )


Mbira Nyunga Nyunga


Jeke (Jack) Tapera introduced the Mbira Nyunga Nyunga in the 1960s from Tete province of Mozambique to Kwanongoma College of African music (now United College of Music) in Bulawayo. Two keys were then added to make fifteen (Chirimumimba, 2007), in two rows. The mbira nyunga nyunga is similar in construction to the Mbira Dzavadzimu, but has no hole in the soundboard. Key pitch radiates out from the center, rather than from left to right.

Zimbabwe's Dumisani Maraire
Dumisani Maraire

Abraham Dumisani Maraire , known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people ethnic group of Zimbabwe....
 originated mbira nyunga nyunga number notation. The upper row keys (from left) are keys 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 while the bottom row keys are notated as 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. Maraire brought awareness of this instrument to the United States when he came to the University of Washington as a visiting artist from 1968-1972.

Recently a Midlands State University
Midlands State University

Midlands State University is a University in Zimbabwe offering different courses mainly in the commercial and arts sector. The University was previously called Gweru Teachers' College, which was primarily a teacher training college under the University of Zimbabwe....
 (Gweru
Gweru

Gweru is a city near the centre of Zimbabwe at . It has a population of about 137,000 , making it the third largest city in the nation. Gweru is the capital of Midlands province....
, Zimbabwe) lecturer in the department of music and musicology, P. Matiure, has suggested a letter notation; the upper keys as (from first left upper key) E, D, C, F, C, D, and E and the lower or bottom keys as (from the first lower key) A, G, F, A, F, C, D, and E. But the Maraire number notation has remained the internationally accepted system (Chirimumimba, 2007).

Mark Holdaway of Kalimba Magic has introduced a graphic form of tablature for the karimba, and traditional karimba tunes as well as modern songs and new compositions and exercises are available in this tablature.

Mbira music


Gallery


Recordings

  • Nonesuch Explorer Series 79703-2, Zimbabwe: The African Mbira: Music of the Shona People (2002). Liner notes by Robert Garfias (1971).
  • Nonesuch Explorer Series 79704 Zimbabwe: The Soul of Mbira: Traditions of the Shona People (1973). Produced by Paul Berliner
    Paul Berliner

    Paul Berliner is a twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvisational systems....
  • Konono N°1
    Konono N°1

    Konono N?1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likemb? with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard....
         Congotronics (2004). See also the corresponding . Contemporary recording of traditional Congolese sanza mbira (i.e. likembe) from Kinshasa, played with [diy] amplification, and gained the attention of the western world music
    World music

    The term world music includes Traditional music of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians or that are "closely informed or guided by indigenous music of the regions of their origin," including Western World music ....
     press in 2005.
  • Musical instruments 2: (LP) Reeds (Mbira). (1972) The Music of Africa series. 1 LP disc. 33? rpm. mono. 12 in. Recorded by Hugh Tracey
    Hugh Tracey

    Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa....
    . Kaleidophone, KMA 2.
  • Mbira Music of Rhodesia, Performed by Abram Dumisani Maraire
    Dumisani Maraire

    Abraham Dumisani Maraire , known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people ethnic group of Zimbabwe....
    . (1972). Seattle: University of Washington Press, Ethnic Music Series. Garfias, R. (Ed.). 1 LP disc. 33? rpm. mono. 12 in. UWP-1001. This disc features Maraire exclusively on Nyunga Nyunga mbira. A 12-page booklet by Maraire is included, describing the background, composition, and performance of nyunga-nyunga mbira music.
  • A mbira was played by Jamie Muir
    Jamie Muir

    Jamie Muir was a UK percussionist best known for his work in King Crimson. He is now a Painting....
     in the introduction of King Crimson
    King Crimson

    King Crimson are an English progressive rock band founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969.They have typically been categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, although they incorporate diverse influences ranging from jazz, European classical music and experimental music to psychedelic music, New Wave mu...
    's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic
    Larks' Tongues in Aspic

    Larks' Tongues in Aspic is a 1973 album by the British progressive rock group King Crimson. This album is the debut of King Crimson's third incarnation, and features original member and guitarist Robert Fripp and new members John Wetton , David Cross , Jamie Muir , and Bill Bruford , as well as lyricist Richard Palmer-James....
     Part One"
  • Penguin Cafe Orchestra
    Penguin Cafe Orchestra

    The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was a loose assembly of musicians headed by classically-trained guitarist, composer and arranger Simon Jeffes . Only Jeffes and cellist co-founder Helen Liebmann were core members; other musicians were drafted for the requirements of particular pieces or performances....
     used an mbira in a cover of the traditional "Nhemamusasa" titled as "Cutting Branches For a Temporary Shelter" which the English translation.


See also

  • Array mbira
    Array mbira

    The array mbira is a meticulously hand crafted modern musical instrument, made in the USA by its inventor Bill Wesley and Patrick Hadley. It's directly related to the African mbira thumb piano which is native to Zimbabwe and is part of the lamellaphone family....
  • Chimurenga
    Chimurenga music

    Chimurenga music is a Zimbabwean popular music genre coined by and popularised by Thomas Mapfumo. Chimurenga is a Shona language word for struggle....
  • Hosho
    Hosho

    Hosho can refer to several things:*Japanese aircraft carrier Hosho, launched in 1921*Hosho , school of Noh theatre*Hosho , a Zimbabwean musical instrument...
  • Kalimba
    Kalimba

    The kalimba is an musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a modernized version of the African mbira. It is a sound box with metal keys attached to the top to give the different notes....
  • Lamellophone
  • Agidigbo
    Agidigbo

    The agidigbo is a large traditional plucked lamellophone used by the Yoruba people people of Nigeria. Its appearance is piano-like; a rope is worn round the neck of the player who then supports or braces the instrument, whose body is a rectangular wooden box, by his chest or thoracic region....
  • Tom (instrument)
    Tom (instrument)

    The tom is a plucked lamellophone used in the traditional music of the Nuer and Anuak ethnic groups of western Ethiopia.The instrument was also used in some pieces performed by Orchestra Ethiopia in the 1960s....
  • Sansa
  • Zanza
  • Ikembe
    Ikembe

    Ikembe, Chisanji, Kisanji and Eleke all refer to a type of lamellaphone common amongst the Bahutu of Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo. Eddie Osborne in his article , based on my knowledge of the Kiswahili language and folklore associated with the mbira family of instruments is correct in examining the linguistic similarities amongst the variety...
  • Malimbe
    Malimbe

    The malimbe is a type of xylophone from the Congo which is described as having both male and female counterparts; the former has 15 wooden bars, the latter has nine....
  • Matepe
    Matepe

    The matepe is a type of lamellophone played in North-Eastern Zimbabwe. It is primarily played by the Kore-Kore people which is a subgroup of the Shona people....
  • Eleke
  • Kisanji
    Kisanji

    In the Democratic Republic of the Congo among the Ngala the lamellaphone is known by the name Kisanji or sanza and is played by holding the instrument in both hands and plucking the keys with the thumbs....
  • Oopoochawa
    Oopoochawa

    Oopoochawa or Opochawa, also known as quisanche is a type of mbira or lamellaphone from South America.See Mbira ...
  • Kaffir piano
    Kaffir piano

    This is another name for a type of Mbira from South Africa. It is identified with the indigenous people there who were derisively known as Kaffirs, therefore this name has fallen into disuse amongst ethnomusicologists....
  • Kasayi
  • Lukembe
  • Kalimbe
  • Chisanza
  • Mal Webb
    Mal Webb

    Mal Webb is a multi-instrumentalist who is currently a prominent figure in the Australian music scene. Webb is known for an eclectic range of musical styles and techniques, his vocal talents, which include yodeling, a variety of Overtone singing styles, extensive use of Falsetto and Beatboxing....
  • Marímbula
    Marímbula

    A mar?mbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The mar?mbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments....
     - Caribbean thumb piano
  • Music of Africa
    Music of Africa

    The music of Africa is as vast and varied as the continent's many Regions of Africa, List of African countries and ethnic groups. Although there is no distinctly pan-African music, there are common forms of musical expression, especially within Regions of Africa....
  • Music of Zambia
    Music of Zambia

    Zambia has a rich heritage of music which falls roughly into three categories: traditional, popular and Christian....
  • Music of Zimbabwe
    Music of Zimbabwe

    Zimbabwean music includes folk music and popular music styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries....
  • Mbira music
    Mbira music

    In Music of Zimbabwe, mbira music is music played on an mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe.To many people Mbira music appears extremely repetitive, or cyclical....
  • List of notable mbira musicians
  • Shona music
    Shona music

    Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, Hosho and drum ....
  • Zimbabwe
    Zimbabwe

    Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
  • Zimbabwean Marimba
    Marimba

    The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family. Keys or bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically....
  • Gandanga
    Gandanga

    Gandanga is a Zimbabwean word from the Shona language spoken by the Zezuru people.The word "Gandanga" is a popular term referring to the Guerrilla soldiers who fought during the Zimbabwean liberation struggle against Rhodesia....


External links


General

  • , Solomon Murungu's Shona music site
  • , from N. Scott Robinson site
  • The Mbira Oracle Instructional web channel posting videos for Mbira dzaVadzimu.


Organizations

  • , non-profit organization devoted to Shona music
  • , non-profit organization devoted to Shona mbira music directed by Erica Azim
    Erica Azim

    Erica Azim is one of the leading western authorities on and practitioners of Music of Zimbabwe mbira music. She is currently based in Berkeley, California, California, and makes frequent trips to Zimbabwe to record music, as well as visits around the US to teach mbira, particularly to areas in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado, where there a...
     and based in Berkeley
    Berkeley, California

    Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland, California and Emeryville, California....
    , California
  • , Zimbabwean mbira centre in Belgium
  • , non-profit record company devoted to Shona music


Festivals

  • , annual Zimbabwean music festival in North America


Articles

  • by N. Scott Robinson
  • , by N. Scott Robinson
  • from the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
    Acoustical Society of America

    The Acoustical Society of America is an international scientific society dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications....


Soloists and ensembles

  • , German-born Australian mbira players
  • Adamaduma, an Afro-Yemen-Canaanite Fusion Ensemble, With mbira as a main melodic instrument
  • Imogen Heap
    Imogen Heap

    Imogen Heap is a Grammy nominated English people singer-songwriter from Romford, London, most famous for her work as part of Frou Frou and for her 2005 solo record Speak for Yourself, which she wrote, produced and mixed herself....
    , a London singer-songwriter pop star, with an array mbira
    Array mbira

    The array mbira is a meticulously hand crafted modern musical instrument, made in the USA by its inventor Bill Wesley and Patrick Hadley. It's directly related to the African mbira thumb piano which is native to Zimbabwe and is part of the lamellaphone family....
     commonly accompanying a piano.