Mbira Entwined In – Between Culture And Commerce

Mbira Entwined  In – Between Culture And Commerce 

Written by Fred Farai Nyakudanga 

ResearchGate

As the sun set, cattle found their way back into their pen at the Mutekwas homestead,  the cowboys felt happy because  even the notorious Manjuma had remembered to heard back home with the rest of the flock. They did not have to go field by field looking for Manjuma as they always do. Tafadzwa one of the boys said “it might be the ancestors behind this”. They all laughed showing happiness that they were not going to miss any of the traditional rituals of the slated Bira on that night. The whole family was gathered to solve suspected spiritual problems bedevilling. Everything concerning the Bira was ready. The old ladies had brewed traditional beer, and most importantly the mbira players had arrived. The Mutekwas had no mbira players from their clan so they hired a Popular group in their area Nhare Pasichigare.

Nhare Pasichigare 

The bira in shona tradition is an inclusive family communication effort to their ancestors so that they know their shortfall or deviation from their will, so that a solution can be settled. There has been a spate of bad lucky among the Mutekwas. Mr Mutekwa's eldest son is facing criminal charges arising from false allegations and Mr Mutekwa's young brother had a daughter who was robbed at her house in South Africa losing some of her household possessions and her recently bought car. The recent attempted suicide from Rita his youngest teenage daughter over a love triangle alerted the family there were problems within. Surely the ancestors are not happy and this can't be established by their plain minds. It is our shona culture or practice to consult the spirits for guidance.

I asked Kurauone Maponga one of the Mbira players of the bira from Nhare Pasichigare, why it has only to be the mbira instrument that has to be used at Biras. I suggested, why not use guitars or pianos to provide music at these Bira's. He went on to say his father told him that mbira was the second instrument  made by our ancestors from the drum (ngoma).

 

“It was invented as a medium to put living beings into another spiritual realm”. 

Kurauone continued to say mbira enhances communication between one's soul and God.

Red Cafe

On the other side of it I pictured Zimtotems playing at Red Cafe, they were a mbira band that I used to hire when I was the entertainment manager of the luxurious joint. In 2018. They played mbira to entertain patrons. Most of the crowd was their loyal fans who are strong believers of ATR (African Traditional Religion). They would religiously attend the sessions every Sunday and you would predict who would be present. Other patrons would walk in to check what sort of entertainment mbira brought. At first I thought mbira would not fill up my venue because I had a perception that only those with ATR beliefs would. I also underestimated the numbers considering many people have turned to Christianity. 

Our sales boosted considering it was a Sunday that we used to cash very poorly. Even after I left, Sundays have been reserved for mbira and Vee Mhofu and Dzivarembira play there. I joined Solomon's Lifestyle Cafe and introduced Mbira Sundays again. It is obvious we will have meaningful sales, the mbira players have to be good also. At Solomons I first engaged Duramanzwi a Mbare based outfit that has very good dance routines. Later on I contracted Nhare Pasichigare.

Manjenjenje used to frequent these shows that I ended up befriending her. She told me that she took the mbira shows seriously as she could connect with her ancestors. Every Sunday she drops her offering in a wooden plate in form of money. The understanding of the offerings is that it's an appeasement to ancestors for continued protection in the endeavours of patrons. Many people moved from their rural areas to come and work in cities so they consider themselves away from their location of total protection.

In my quest to understand more the tradition of mbira music I then developed a hypothesis that, since the era of our ancestors mbira had always been a scarce and traded skill used in traditional rituals and rites. It was not a common skill as ngoma playing was. There were families that were known to possess mbira playing skills and these families secured top statuses within their societies. My cousin Tichawana Maguma who is now in Australia pursuing other skills related to me how his Grandfather used to be hired from village to village delivering the art. He said his grandfather had mastered the skill from someone along the family tree. So before he died he left his mbira hanging in his hut with the expectation that one day his successor will come and take it.

                           MbiraVolution 

Due to the modern belief to Christianity my cousins scared away from the mbira. But Today without even taking down the mbira physically, my two cousins can play the mbira and many other instruments. They played marimba at primary school and they are involved a lot with choral music at church. Their children can play also. So mbira playing skills were rare, and back then that it was family imparted. 

My other observation on mbira culture is that, there has been trade going among the shona people themselves because of the paucity of mbira playing skill. The inexplicable quality of mbira tune to connect a person to their inner being or soul is so amazing. While you are connected to your inner person it becomes easy to communicate with your ancestors and God depending with your beliefs. This has led to the demand of mbira beyond the Zimbabwean borders.

    Michael Sengwe Kamunda aka General and   Pamuzinda Uhuru Tribe

Michael Sengwe Kamunda aka General confirmed the demand of mbira and other traditional music from Zimbabwe and rest of Africa. In his own words he said.

“Mbira music touches European people's hearts”. 

According to Sunil K. Pandya’s article Understanding the Brain, Mind and Soul.

 

“The soul or atman, credited with the ability to enliven the body, was located by ancient anatomists and philosophers in the lungs or heart”.

So if the soul of man is found in his heart, while mbira music moves it, then the soul is aroused bringing consciousness. Usually  uncertainty grips human life and it takes away happiness or control of self.

The General described further that it goes more to spirituality as most of the European fans say mbira music helps them when meditating. Some he says they testify; it brings them closer with their inner soul, it makes them feel relieved and relaxed, while another section says it heals them in different ways.

The conservatives would prefer Mbira Music to remain a cultural instrument used at biras and at Madzimbahwe. Is mbira music not a utile resource that should be part of global products. After all mbira has become a big business in Japan, USA and Germany despite us the custodians sticking to our tradition and not recognising that it had elements of trade.

Those families that did no have Mbira playing skills hired the few families that could play. Payments varied from Chickens, goats and even cattle depending from family to family. This proved some economic practice that we should modernise accordingly. While also we put business principles to mbira music we also should not forget to maintain our customs and culture. There should be a difference between mbira for commerce and mbira for our biras, and many of our African rituals.

Hector Rufaro Mugani had this to say about commerce. “The same mbira bands that play mbira music for a living are the same mbira players hired at Biras”. I asked him if there were any particular requirements for the Bira, mbira players that barred traditional mbira players from playing anywhere besides at these rituals? Hector stressed some restrictions that maybe required from ritual to ritual, that of refraining mbira players  from sexual activities varying  from 14 - 3 days before the rituals. There is really nothing that stops a mbira player who plays commercially to play at rituals. Also the type of mbira played is of concern.

With all the technology and knowledge let us promote our music. Our culture is not a restriction at all.

 

Silas Carter Muchemwa & Gracious 

The writter Fred Farai Nyakudanga aka FFF is an entertainment consultant who runs Finto Marketing a music entertainment consultancy. He worked as an entertainment manager for various and popular joints in Harare. Fred is a qualified Public Relations, and Marketing  Practitioner. 

fredfarai@gmail.com 

Fred Farai Nyakudanga Facebook 

This journal was written with an imaginative narration of the Mutekwa family.