Title: The soul of mbira : music and traditions of the Shona people of Zimbabwe : with an appendix, Building and playing a Shona karimba /
Authors: Berliner, Paul
Publisher: University of Chicago Press,
Year: 1993
Subjects: Shona (African people) Music History and criticism.; Musical instruments Zimbabwe; Mbira music History and criticism.; Music Zimbabwe History and criticism.
Abstract: This sensitive, scholarly portrayal of Shona musicians and the African musical tradition is highly engaging and comprehensive in its range of data. Paul Berliner provides the complete cultural context for the music and an intimate, precise account of the meaning of the instrument and its music.--Publisher description.
Contents: African Mbira and the music of the Shona -- An overview of Shona Mbira -- The nature of Mbira music -- In performance: The Shona Mbira ensemble and the relationship between the Mbira player and the Mbira -- Learning the Mbira -- The poetry of the Mbira -- Music and spirit possession at a Shona Bira -- The law of Mbira: Mbira in the lives of performers and the changing status of Mbira music -- Appendix I: Kudeketera song texts -- Appendix II: Absolute tunings (c.p.s.) of five Mbira DzaVadzimu -- Appendix III: Building and playing a Shona Karimba -- Discography: Shona Mbira music.