Mbira

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Mbira Dzavadzimu in deze (top), Mbira Nyunga Nyunga (bottom), Hosho (bottom left).
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Mbira Dzavadzimu in deze (top), Mbira Nyunga Nyunga (bottom), Hosho (bottom left).

In African music, the mbira (also known as Likembe, Mbila, Thumb Piano, Mbira Huru, Mbira Njari, Mbira Nyunga Nyunga, Karimba or Kalimba) is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator. In Eastern and Southern Africa there are many kinds of mbira, usually accompanied by the hosho. Among the Shona there are three that are very popular (see Shona music). The Mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellaphone family.

Contents

[edit] Types of mbira

[edit] Mbira Dzavadzimu

Mbira dza Vadzimu
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Mbira dza Vadzimu

In Shona music, the mbira dzavadzimu (or mbira of the ancestors) is a musical instrument that has been used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years, going all the way back to one of the Mhondoro or Great Spirit Mediums, Chaminuka. It is often played at religious ceremonies and social gatherings called mapira's. The traditional mbira dzavadzimu is usually made up of 22 keys on three different registers, two on the left and one on the right.

A bass version of the mbira is called a marimbula in Cuba or marimbola in Puerto Rico. It resembles a large wooden box with keys on the front. The player usually sits on the instrument while playing.

Kalimba is the brand name of a version based on the Mbira but tuned to a western scale. In the 1920's an Englishman by the name of Hugh Tracey arrived in Africa and was fascinated with the Mbira. Kalimbas continue to be handcrafted in a family run workshop in Grahmstown, South Africa, carrying the "Hugh Tracey" brand. The instruments come in three different models, the treble (17 notes, 2 octaves), celeste (17 notes, 2 octaves) and alto (15 notes, 2 octaves).

[edit] Construction

The mbira dzavadzimu is constructed from 22 to 28 strips of cold or hot forged metal of varying lengths affixed to a hardwood gwariva or soundboard. The gwariva has a hole in the bottom right corner through which the little finger of the right hand is placed while playing to allow the right index finger to pluck the high notes from underneath the keys. There are usually several bottle caps, shells or other objects affixed to the soundboard (known as machachara[1]) which create a buzzing sound when the instrument is played. This sound is thought to attract the ancestor spirits.

The keys are arranged in three rows, two on the left and one on the right. The bottom-left row contains the bass keys, the top-left row the middle-range keys and the right row a combination of the secondary bass keys and the high keys.

[edit] Religious and social significance

The Mbira Dzavadzimu is very significant in Shona religion and culture, the national instrument of Zimbabwe, and is considered sacred. These religious ceremonies often lasted through the night and were/are called "bira" (singular) or "mapira" (plural). With an enduring history of over 1,500 years, it has been traditionally played at both religious ceremonies and social gatherings, most often when communication with the ancestor spirits is desired or when necessary within the royal Shona Courts. However, the use of Mbira has diversified in modern times. In the ancient days songs for guidance, success in the hunt or battle, or for healing, were prevalent whilst today, one can listen to "new compositions" about love or politics.

[edit] Playing

How to hold an mbira
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How to hold an mbira

There is much variation in the specifics of playing the mbira dzavadzimu, but this is the typical method:

The right little finger is placed in the hole in the bottom-right of the soundboard, the middle and ring fingers are placed behind the instrument. This leaves the right thumb and index finger free to play the keys. The left hand is cupped around the left side of the instrument, with all fingers but the thumb placed behind the instrument. Both rows on the left are played with the left thumb by drawing and pressing the thumb down the top of the key, and off the end. This causes the key to vibrate up and down. The first three keys on the right are played with the right thumb in a similar manner. The rest of the keys on the right are played with the right index finger, but unlike with the rest of the keys, the index finger is drawn up to the bottom of the key.

[edit] Sound

Mbira in a Deze.
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Mbira in a Deze.

The mbira is often placed inside a deze, a large resonator made from a calabash, to amplify its sound. The bottle caps or other objects on both the mbira and deze vibrate when the instrument is played, causing a buzzing sound.

[edit] Tuning

Tunings for the mbira vary from family to family. By far, the most common tuning is Nyamaropa. The tuning refers to general interval relationships of the keys, and not to specific pitches. There can be much confusion about different tunings' names, as different families may call one tuning by a different name than another family. For example, Garikai's family plays an "mbira orchestra" that has seven different tunings-each tuning starting on a different starting pitch of the same seven-note scale. Garikai calls his version of "Nyamaropa" the "Nhemamusasa" tuning. There are seven tunings that Garikai uses: Bangidza, Nyamaropa, Nhememusasa, Chakwi, Taireva, Mahoroho, and Mavembe. Other names for tunings are: Dambatsoko-Played by the Mujuru family. The name refers to their ancesteral homeland. Gandanga (also: Mavembe)- Sekuru Gora claims to have invented this tuning at a funeral ceremony. (He calls it Mavembe) He was playing at where the mourners were singing a familiar song with an unfamiliar melody. He went outside the hut and tuned his mbira to match the vocal lines. Other mbira players disagree that he invented it. Dongonda-usually a Nyamaropa tuned mbira with the right side notes the same octave as the left.

In the west, where it is common to want a non-western tuning to "fit" with a western concept, mbira builders often build mbiras that are made to match a western scale. In this case, playing a "nyamaropa" mbira from the lowest note up one octave will result in a mixolydian mode. Other common Westernizations of tunings is "dambatsoko" being a major scale from lowest note, and "gandanga/mavembe" being a phrygian mode. These should all be understood as aproximations of tunings at best.

[edit] Musicians

Some notable mbira players include:

Konono N°1, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, use a similar instrument, the likembé.

[edit] Mbira Nyunga Nyunga

The Mbira Nyunga Nyunga is similar in construction to the Mbira Dzavadzimu, but has fewer keys, in two rows, and no hole in the soundboard. Key pitch radiates out from the center, rather than left to right. It is typically played by holding both sides of the instrument in one's hands. Dumisani Maraire brought awareness of this insturment to the United States when he came to the University of Washington as a visiting artist from 1968-1972.

[edit] Mbira music

To many people Mbira music appears extremely repetitive, or cyclical. However, in most Mbira music, there are minute variations, suggestive of the minimalist movement in western music (for example Philip Glass et al).

As with all African music, rhythm plays an important part. The rhythms are often quite intricate and to some extent dictate the form of the melody.

[edit] Shona mbira music

Generally, each mbira piece can be divided into four sections of twelve pulses each, although there are songs that divide into nine or eight pulses as well. Andrew Tracey refers to each cycle as a chara[2], which translates as "version", but literally means "fingering" or "thumb".

Traditional Shona Mbira music is typically composed to two different parts, the Kushaura (meaning "to lead" or "to start") and the Kutsinhira (meaning "to follow"[3]). Each part is played on two different mbiras, with the kushaura often being the more simple part, and the kutsinhira more complicated (though this is not always the case).

[edit] Shona songs[1]

  • Kariga Mombe
    • means "taking the bull by the horns," or "undefeatable" and is a good first piece to learn because of its relative simplicity.
    • with its simultaneous plucking of both the upper and middle registers in a steady beat, it becomes easy to play, but challenging to properly count: it gives the feel of a two pulse (six counts of two pulses), but is traditionally played as three (four counts of three pulses) causing the beat to fall in between the notes every other time.
    • a derivative of the older song nyamaropa.
    • For North American students of the mbira, this song is often widely considered to be the first song taught to beginners
  • Mahororo
    • named after a small river in Zimbabwe, used to welcome hunters home after long hunts (according to Stella Chiweshe).
    • word means "Baboons' voices," or "Freedom following victorious struggle" (according to Forward Kwenda).
    • also a derivative of the older song nyamaropa.
  • Nyamaropa
    • literally means "meat and blood."
    • it is considered among the oldest of mbira music. According to Berliner it was the first piece composed for the instrument.
    • although it may have originally been a song to prepare for battle, it is now considered a hunting song.
  • Nhemamusasa
    • translates as "temporary shelter." A musasa is a shelter hunters would build while away from their homes.[3]
    • like nyamaropa this song was also once associated with war, but is now used as a hunting song.
    • the tonal center of this song is a fourth above the lowest note on the mbira.
  • Kuzanga
    • according to B. Michael Williams[1], a Shona man named Chartwell Dutiro explains that the title means "to thread beads," and states it is a "song about an old woman who stays in the forest alone, making beads for her ancestors. For the old woman, making beads for the ancestors is living happily and free from fear."
    • although the tonal center and harmonic structure are similar to dande, kuzanga only has nine pulses per section, instead of the twelve.
  • Taireva
    • the title of this song can be translated a number of ways: "we used to tell you," "we shall speak out," "I have said it," "we were talking," "I once said it," and "don't say I didn't warn you."
    • it is reported to express the importance of what is on your mind, and listening to your elders.
    • also a derivation of nyamaropa
    • The harmonic progression of this song, shifted to a minor key, provides the basis for the Chimurenga song Nyoka Musango by Thomas Mapfumo.
  • Vadzimu
    • This is a version of nyamaropa (whose name means "spirits") played by the contemporary Shona musician Fabio Chivhanda. Also known more generically as "Nyamaropa yaChivhanda" which literally means "Chivhanda's Nyamaropa."
  • Bangidza or Bangiza
    • the title can be taken to mean "show," or "spiritual vibes," and is understood to be a very ancient spiritual song.
    • Erica Azim reports this song as dating back to the 14th-16th century, during the time of Mwena Mutapa (or Great Zimbabwe).
  • Marenje
    • a song typically played on the gandanga (mavembe) tuning of the mbira (as is Ngozi ye Muroora).

[edit] Gallery

[edit] 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
  • Konono N°1 Congotronics (2004). See also the corresponding Amazon listing. 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 press in 2005.
  • Musical instruments 2: (LP) Reeds (Mbira). (1972) The Music of Africa series. 1 LP disc. 33⅓ rpm. mono. 12 in. Recorded by Hugh Tracey. Kaleidophone, KMA 2.
  • Mbira Music of Rhodesia, Performed by Abram Dumisani Maraire. (1972). Seattle: University of Washington Press, Ethnic Music Series. Garfias, R. (Ed.). 1 LP disc. 33⅓ 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 in the introduction of King Crimson's Larks's Tongues in Aspic Pt. I.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Williams, B. Michael. (2001) Learning Mbira: A Beginning. Everett, PA: HoneyRock. ISBN 0-9634060-4-3
  2. ^ Tracey, Andrew. (1970). How to play the mbira (dza vadzimu). Roodepoort, Transvaal, South Africa: International Library of African Music.
  3. ^ a b Berliner, Paul. (1978). The Soul of Mbira: music and traditions of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Berkeley : University of California Press.
  • Howard, Joseph H. (1967). Drums in the Americas. New York: Oak Publications.
  • Mutwa, Credo Vusa'mazulu. (1969). My people : the incredible writings of Credo Vusa'mazulu Mutwa. Johannesburg : Blue Crane Books, 1969.
  • Tracey, Andrew. (1970). The Matepe Mbira Music of Rhodesia. Journal of the African Music Society, IV: 4, 37-61. (Note: this article is the original source of the Matepe song Siti, as played by Zimbabwean Marimba band Musango.)
  • Tracey, Hugh. (1961). The evolution of African music and its function in the present day. Johannesburg: Institute for the Study of Man in Africa.
  • Tracey, Hugh. (1969). The Mbira class of African Instruments in Rhodesia (1932). African Music Society Journal, 4:3, 78-95.

[edit] External links

[edit] General

[edit] Organizations

  • Dandemutande, non-profit organization devoted to Shona music
  • MBIRA, non-profit organization devoted to Shona mbira music directed by Erica Azim and based in Berkeley, California
  • Serevende, Zimbabwean mbira centre in Sleidinge, Belgium
  • Mhumhi Records, non-profit record company devoted to Shona music

[edit] Festivals

[edit] Articles

[edit] Soloists and ensembles

  • Yeshe, German-born Australian mbira player
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