Carnegie Hall

Aim: How do you build a ChiVanhu song using layers?
Summary: Students will learn the song “Hurombo Gara Wega” and the accompanying rhythmic and melodic layers, and explore the form of the song.
Materials: Musical Explorers digital resources, Musical Explorers Student Guide, barred instruments
Standards: National 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11
Vocabulary: ancestor, ChiVanhu, hosho, kushaura, kuombera, kutsinhira, layer, mbira, mutupo, totem

“Hurombo Gara Wega” is part of a genre of spiritual songs in the ChiVanhu tradition, which honor and create a spiritual connection to ancestors. These songs are generally played at ceremonies and rituals called mapira on a special kind of mbira called Mbira dzaVadzimu. The music is built in layers, interweaving the contrapuntal lines played on the mbira with the vocal melody and percussive rhythms played with hosho (shakers), danced with magabvu (leg shakers) and kuombera (clapping). Every aspect of the music talks to each other.

• The mbira is made of strips of metal mounted on a gwariva (a wooden board) and set over a deze (a hollow box or resonator). It is played with the thumb and fingers. There are many kinds of mbiras in Zimbabwe. Tanyaradzwa will introduce two of them: the Mbira dzaVadzimu, which is used in sacred and ritual settings; and the Nyunga Nyunga, which is used in more social and recreational settings. Someone who plays the mbira is called a gwenyambira.
• Using Explore the Mbira (PDF), your students will learn about the mbira.

• Each family in Zimbabwe has a totem—an animal that represents the family throughout the generations. The animal is chosen for its special qualities and is very important to the family. It actually becomes part of the family’s name. Tanyaradzwa’s family totem is the elephant, her family name is Nzou Matemai, and her name is Nzou Mambano. Nzou means elephant.
  • Why do you think Tanyaradzwa’s ancestors chose the elephant to represent their family? What qualities do you think an elephant has?
  • Brainstorm other animals and the qualities that make them special.
  • What animal would you choose to represent your family and why?
• Using Your Own Mutupo (PDF), have your students choose their mutupo, draw a picture of their family and their totem animal, and describe why they chose this animal to represent their family.