Mbira music
In Zimbabwean music, mbira music is music played on an mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It is a type of music in Southern Africa
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.). Mbira music can be put in and classed with African Music. The Mbira is sometimes played in the background of a Djembe drumming group for important pieces
As usual in African music, rhythm plays an important part. The rhythms are often quite intricate and to some extent dictate the form of the melody.
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, 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"). Each part is played on two different mbiras, with the kushaura often being the more simple part, and the kutsinhira more complicated.
These are a few of the traditional mbira songs popularly played and disseminated today.
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