Have you heard…
about Sungura, Dendera, Jiti and Mhande guitar styles?
or Ngondo, Danhi, Dandanda, Chidzimba, Mapfuwe, Jiti and Ngoma Dzemapfeni drum rhythms?
If you are not familiar with them but you would like to know a bit more about it, we’ve got you covered!
A documentation team of six, travelled to Chiweshe, Mutare and Chitungwiza to capture drum and guitar rhythms. They have created a series of videos of the different rhythms and songs as well as video interviews with the musicians.
This research also covered younger guitarists, who have learnt the styles from older musicians that have passed on their knowledge to them. The young musicians were also featured in the video interviews in which they explain how they’ve learnt to innovate while honouring their roots and culture. High profile musicians such as Mono Mukundu, Nicholas “Senior Lecturer” Zachariah, Suluman Chimbetu, Donald Gogo, Learnmore Mujintu, Moses Moola and Knowledge Nkhoma, to name just a few, took part in the guitar documentation process.
Here is the video :
Nhare DzeChiweshe dance troupe, Mhindu Dzepasi traditional group and Chiumbe dance ensemble contributed with a vast knowledge of drum styles in the area.
The findings of this documentation project will be presented in May 2018 at the East African Performing Arts Market with a special conference session from Zimbabwe’s team.
The selected materials will also be available for their use by the students in the new curriculum for the school in Zimbabwe. In addition, this selection will be also available on www.musicinafrica.net on the music education portal developed by the Goethe-Institut and the Siemens Foundation.
The video produced by Music Crossroad Academy Zimbabwe, Global Music Academy and German Federal Foreign Office.
