Description on Chopi Timblia Music, Shona Mbira Music and the Venda National Dance: Tshikhona

What is ethnomusicology? It comes from the word, Ў§ethnographicЎЁ, which is the study of music within its social content and it is an account based on research. It documents traditional music and focuses on what the meaning of music is. Ў§ethnomusicological research also involves history, and for many studies history is the focus. Often ethnomusicologists study cultures other than their own, a situation that distinguishes this field from most historical musicologyЎЁ (Meyers, 1992: 3). In this essay one will discuss and give a description of the most important musical, social and historical features of the following music styles in Southern Africa: Chopi Timiblia Music, Shona Mbira Music and the Venda National Dance: Tshikona.

The Timbila xylophone is the primary musical instrument of the elaborately choreographed and musically accompanied Migodo (sing. Ngodo) dance dramas of the Chopi people of Southern Mozambique (Tracey, 1970: 1). This tradition unlike most others studied in Africa to this date, consists of large orchestras of xylophones that perform extended pieces divided into programmatic movements. These movements consist of dance, music, and sung texts carefully woven together into a performance genre taken by many scholars as evidence of the influence of Indonesian practices on the continent. The practices require a lot of people i.e. it becomes a community event. The musical traditions of the Chopi are distinctly African, containing numerous musical and textual elements that reflect African social relations, musical aesthetics, and daily realities. Their orchestras consist of five to thirty wooden xylophones (Timbila) of varying sizes and ranges of pitch. The Timbila are finely manufactured and tuned wooden instruments, which are made from the highly resonant wood called the sneezewood. Under each wooden slat, a resonant is fastened, tightly sealed with bees wax and tempered with oil from a fruit, giving the Timbila their rich nasalizing sound and typical vibrations (Sadie, 2001: 256). The music can be complicated and dense, often featuring rhythms of three against four and a high level of syncopation (Sadie, 2001: 256, 258). The music played by the Timbila orchestras known is composed by various Timbila masters and transmitted by practice to the next generation of musicians. Each year, several new pieces are composed and performed at social festivities, such as weddings and community events. The Timbila is performed by all age groups, a performance will last up to about 45 minutes to an hour, and it gets divided into solo and orchestra themes (Tracey, 1970: 2).

If there is a musical instrument that could represent the country of Zimbabwe, it would be the Mbira. Since traditional culture is highly regarded by the Shona, the significance of the Mbira musical heritage is recognised by many Zimbabweans. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including Mbira, singing, hosho and drumming (Berliner, 1975: 132, 133). Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience. In Shona music, there is little distinction between the performer and the audience, both are often actively involved in the music-making, and it plays a prominent role in many types of ceremonies including traditional rituals for communicating with ancestral spirits. As it is significant in Shona religion and culture, it is considered a scared instrument. Ў§Traditionally, the bira has been regarded as a sacred instrument by the Shona. Ў§The mbira is not just an instrument to us. It is like a BibleЎKIt is the way in which we pray to GodЎЁЎЁ (Berliner, 1975: 132). The Mbira is an idiophone with metal reeds attached to a wooden board which are plucked when played - often referred to as a thumb piano. There are several bottle caps attached to the soundboard 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 (Lecture notes). Generally the music heard at the bira is provided by the Mbira compositions, each Mbira piece has four sections of twelve pulses each. Traditional Shona Mbira music is typically composed into two different parts, the Kushaura (to lead) and Kutsinhira (to follow) (Berliner, 1975: 132). It maintains a constant forward rhythm throughout each song and is extremely repetitive.

The Tshikona is a royal dance,