APPROACHES TO THE ADAPTATION OF SHONA NGOMA STYLES IN ZIMBABWEAN POPULAR MUSIC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v10i3.2195Keywords:
Traditional music, adaptation, Shona, ngoma rhythms, Zimbabwean popular musicAbstract
The focus of this article is on Zimbabwean popular songs that adapt traditional Shona ngoma (drum) genres. Its purpose is twofold. First, the article identifies Zimbabwean popular musicians' various approaches to the adaptation of traditional rhythmic patterns and song texts associated with certain ngoma genres. Second, it examines how these approaches influence the process of redefining the Shona musical tradition. It is argued that the traditional drumming patterns and styles incorporated within specific Shona popular songs have an important role in redefining this music culture within Zimbabwean popular music in general. A critical analysis is conducted on selected ngoma-influenced, Zimbabwean popular songs and the opinions expressed by the popular musicians who create the music. Three different approaches of adapting ngoma rhythms have been identified and are explained. These approaches are realised in the "integration” of musical and non-musical elements, "framework” as far as the imitation of structure is concerned, and "component”, as far as content is concerned.
References
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Chikowero, Mhoze. 2015. African Music, Power, and Being in Colonial Zimbabwe. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Chikowero, Mhoze. 2013 "A Historian's Take on Thomas Mapfumo and Robert Mugabe.” Available from http://www.afropop.com [Accessed on 13 September 2013].
Eyre Banning. 2015. Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and the Music That Made Zimbabwe. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Kasamba, Picky. 2009 "Picky Calls it a Day at Tuku Music after 25 Years.” http://www.newzimbabwe.com [Accessed on 10 April 2013].
Kyker, Jennifer. W. 2016. Oliver Mtukudzi: Living Tuku Music in Zimbabwe. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Kyker, Jennifer. W. 2013 "Listening in the Wilderness: The Audience Reception of Oliver Mtukudzi's Music in the Zimbabwean Diaspora”. Ethnomusicology 57(2): 261—285.
Kyker, Jennifer. W. 2011 "A Person among Others: Music, Morality and Postcolonial Politics in the Songs of Oliver Mtukudzi.” PhD Dissertation: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Lucia, Christine. 2007 "Introduction.” in Music and Identity: Transformation and Negotiation. Eric Akrofi, Maria Smit and Stig-Magnus Thorsén, eds. iii—x. Stellenbosch: SUN Press.
Mapfumo, Thomas. 1999. Interview by Faust, Edmonton Folk Music Festival. http://www. moregoatthangoose.com [Accessed on 9 April 2013].
Mapfumo, Thomas. 2013. Interview by Lance Guma. http://www.nehandaradio.com [Accessed on 9 April 2013].
Muller, Carol. 2004. South African Music: A Century of Traditions in Transformation. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Musiyiwa, Mickias. 2013 "Hit songs and the dynamics of postcolonial Zimbabwe: a study in popular music trends, 1980—2009”. African Music 9(3): 59—91. Available: https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v9i3.1911.
Musiyiwa, Mickias. 2004 "The Dialectical Relationship between Children and the Storyteller in Ngano Aesthetics in Zimbabwe.” Journal of African Children's and Youth Literature.
Owomoyela, Oyekan. 2002. Culture and Customs of Zimbabwe. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Pongweni, Aleck. 1982. Songs that Won the Liberation War. Harare: College Press.
Preston, Thomas M. 2007 "Spiritual Continuity amongst Musical Change.” in Zimbabwean Mbira Music on International Stage: Chartwell Dutiro's Life in Music. C. Dutiro and K. Howard, eds. 17—26. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Rutsate, Jerry. 2007 "Performance of Mhande Song-Dance: A Contextualized and Comparative Analysis.” MA Thesis: Rhodes University, South Africa. Available: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002321.
Sanders, Julie. 2016. Adaptation and Appropriation. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Thram, Diane. 1999 "Performance as Ritual, Performance as Art: Therapeutic Efficacy of Dandanda Song and Dance in Zimbabwe.” PhD Dissertation: Indiana University, Indiana.
Thram, Diane. 2002 "Therapeutic Efficacy of Music-making: Neglected Aspect of Human Experience Integral to Performance Process.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 34: 129—138.
Turino, Thomas. 1997 "Music of Sub-Saharan Africa.” in Excursions in World Music. B. Nettl et al, eds. 171—199. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Turino, Thomas. 2000. Nationalists, Cosmopolitans and Popular Music in Zimbabwe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Turino, Thomas. 2008. Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Vambe, Maurice. T. 2004 "Versions and Subversions: Trends in Chimurenga Musical Discourses of Post-Independence Zimbabwe.” African Study Monographs 25(4), 167—93.
Welsh-Asante, Kariamu. 1985 "Jerusarema Dance of Zimbabwe.” Journal of Black Studies 15(4), 381—403.
Welsh-Asante, Kariamu. 2000. Zimbabwean Dance, Rhythmic Forces, Ancestral Forces — An Analysis. Trenton: African World Press.
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Published
2017-11-01
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How to Cite
“APPROACHES TO THE ADAPTATION OF SHONA NGOMA STYLES IN ZIMBABWEAN POPULAR MUSIC”. 2017. African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music 10 (3): 45-61. https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v10i3.2195.
