What is the mbira called in Zimbabwe?
mbira dzavadzimu
In Shona music, the mbira dzavadzimu (“voice of the ancestors”, or “mbira of the ancestral spirits”, national instrument of Zimbabwe) is a musical instrument that has been played by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years.
What is Shona mbira?
The mbira is a traditional instrument of the Shona People often used in religious ceremonies. There are several different varieties of mbira including the Mbira Dzavadzimu and Mbira Nyunga Nyunga. Shona music is well known as representative of mbira (“thumb piano”) music.
Where is mbira music from?
Zimbabwe
Mbira (pronounced “mmm-BEErah”) music is likely very new to you. The MBIRA is a lamellophone or “thumb piano” developed by the Shona people who live in modern day Zimbabwe in southeast Africa)….WHERE TO HEAR MBIRA IN THE USA.
| 1 | Toputika Neshungu Mbira DzeNharira | 8:03 |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | Mutambazve Stella Chiweshe | 4:53 |
What is the traditional music of Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans looking to gain independence from Rhodesia.
How does mbira produce sound?
The mbira is held in both hands, with the thumbs creating the music by striking the tines. The action looks a lot like the hands-and-thumbs motion of texting on a cell phone. The mbira’s unique tone is described as inharmonic—a dissonance that occurs when the motion of one tine creates a vibration in an adjacent tine.
What was the function of mbira music?
Mbira was used in ceremonial functions such as weddings, funerals, and in honour of significant people, as well as for religious purposes, to call on spirits and seek their advice.
What is the purpose of the mbira music?
At the kurova guva ceremony, approximately one year after a person’s physical death, mbira is used to welcome that individual’s spirit back to the community. In previous centuries, court musicians played mbira for Shona kings and their diviners.
What sound does a mbira make?
How did Kanindo music come to Zimbabwe?
Kanindo originated from Tanzania or Kenya in the 60s or earlier. Rumba and Zimbabwean music were influenced by Kanindo.
What is mbira used for?
Use of a mbira to detect toxic substances and counterfeit medications. The mbira is one of several idiophones that are plucked rather than vibrated by percussion, shaken, or scraped. In performance, the player holds the instrument in his hands and plucks the tongues with his thumbs and forefingers.
What type of instrument is a mbira?
mbira, also called mbila sansa, kilembe, likembe, timbrh, or thumb piano, plucked idiophone (instrument whose sounding parts are resonant solids belonging to the body of the instrument itself)—or more specifically, a lamellaphone—that is unique to Africa and widely distributed throughout the continent.