SHONA of Zimbabwe

• A Bantu-speaking people who live in present-day Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia)
• A decentralized, agricultural society
• Mbira , a plucked idiophone with up to 52 keys with buzzers (shells or bottlecaps) on a soundboard with a gourd resonator
• Mbira dza vadzimu is an important symbol of cultural identity in the Shona musical tradition
• Mbira music connects the Shona with their ancestral spirits.
• Shona Bira all-night ceremony provides example of the way music can act as a bridge between the natural and supernatural worlds. Misfortune may be caused by offending the ancestors. Spirit mediums needed to receive advice.
• Shona poetry is sung along with responders in vocables
• Mbira players are specialists: 2 hands interlock to create melody, with small variations-- two parts are kushaura (“to lead”) and kutsinhira (“to follow”). Each song has basic phrases. With variations. Polyphony. Cyclical.

Chimurenga – During Zimbabwe’s independence struggle, spirit mediums took on political importance as indigenous sources of authority. Generated interest in Shona ethnicity and music.

New Revolutionary songs (chimurenga) were created in guerrilla camps

--sung by urban popular musicians (Thomas Mapfumo, etc.)

--mbira ostinato patterns are split between electric guitar and bass

--keyboard player recently adds second accompanying mbira part

--hosho (rattle) sound played on on high-hat cymbals.

Artists: Thomas Mapfumo (chimurenga), Stella Chiwese (mbira), etc.

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Study Guide Exam 1

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