Ethnomusicology Training - Book Review

1. The Soul of Mbira
MUSIC AND TRADITIONS OF THE SHONA PEOPLE OF
ZIMBABWE
Paul F. Berliner
A Review

2. Shona in Zimbabwe
4 Million People, between
Zambezi and Limpopo
Rivers

3. Mbira Instrument

4. Background
• Published in 1978 Seven years of
research, details structure, the history and
role of Mbira in Shona culture
• Played the Mbira himself- insider
information

5. Ethnomusicological Contribution
• Detail of complicated African melodies
through persistence
• Anthropology of Shona values and
customs
• Historical account on the Mbira instrument
• Role of musician
• Archaeology

6. Content
• 1)Description of Instrument, it’s use,
origins and roles in music world
• 2)Variations of Mbira, where it can be
found, from sacred traditional to nightclubs
Stories and myths about Mbira
(p51)
Effects of Urbanization and Mass
Communication

7. • 3) Overview of Shona Mbira, stories and
relation of the music and world of Shona
• 5)Performance of the instrument, singers
and accompaniment. Also spiritual aspect
of performing the Mbira

8. Issue that I found interesting/important to my own
research
• Importance of poetry in Mbira music
• Berliner had made several attempts to lay
down the classification of the instrument
keys
• Persistence in research
• Emic approach

9. Mubayiwa Bandambira (The Grand Old Man)
Playing a piece called “Dangurangu”

10. • "The book is a model of
ethnomusicological thinking and
investigation and it suggests a specific
way of approaching a complex socio-musical
system."—John Baily, Popular
Music