Mbira's Restless Dance: An Archive of Improvisation 9780226626307

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Mbira’s Restless Dance

Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology A series edited by Philip V. Bohlman, Ronald Radano, and Timothy Rommen Editorial Board Margaret J. Kartomi Bruno Nettl Anthony Seeger Kay Kaufman Shelemay Martin H. Stokes Bonnie C. Wade

Mbira’s Restless Dance An Archive of Improvisation

Paul F. Berliner and Cosmas Magaya

The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2020 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Published 2020 Printed in the United States of America 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

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ISBN-13: 978-0-226-62627-7 (set) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-67875-7 (vol. 1) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-67889-4 (vol. 2) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-62630-7 (e-book) DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226626307.001.0001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Berliner, Paul, author. | Magaya, Cosmas, author. Title: Mbira’s restless dance : an archive of improvisation / Paul F. Berliner and Cosmas Magaya. Other titles: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology. Description: Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2020. | Series: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2019018165 | ISBN 9780226626277 (set : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226678757 (volume 1 : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226678894 (volume 2 : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226626307 (ebook for vols. 1–2) Subjects: LCSH: Mbira music—Analysis, appreciation. | Mbira—Instruction and study. | Improvisation (Music) | Magaya, Cosmas. Classification: LCC ML1015.M25 B472 2019 | DDC 786.8/5—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019018165 ♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Contents Volume I

Introduction 1 Guide to Mbira Notation 18 1

Bangiza (1) 33

2

Bangiza (2) 66

3

Bangiza (3) 74

4

Bangiza (4) 100

5

Bangiza (5) 113

6

Bayawabaya 138

7

Chakwi 161

8

Chaminuka ndiMambo 177

9

Chaminuka, We 191

10

Chandasarira 197

11

Chipembere 220

12

Chipindura 242

13

Dande 262

14

Dangurangu 282

15

Gorekore 288

16

Karigamombe 293

17

Kuzanga 324

18

Mahororo 346

19

Mandarindari 385

20 Mukatiende 401

v

Volume II

21

Mutamba 1

22 Muzoriwa 9 23 Nhemamusasa 42 24 Nhemamusasa yekutanga 112

40 A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments 390 Bangiza (1) 392 Bangiza (2) 394

25 Nhemamusasa yepasi 127

Bangiza (3) 396

26 Nhimutimu (1) 144

Bangiza (4) 399

27

Bangiza (5) 400

Nhimutimu (2) 171

28 Nyamamusango 178 29 Nyamaropa 201 30 Nyamaropa Chipembere 236 31

Nyamaropa yepasi 252

Chipindura 402 Karigamombe 402 Mahororo 402 Mukatiende 403 Muzoriwa 403

32 Nyuchi 271

Nhemamusasa 403

33 Shumba 279

Nhemamusasa

34 Shumba yaNgwasha 300 35 Taireva (1) 312

yekutanga 409 Nhemamusasa yepasi 410 Nhimutimu (1) 413

36 Taireva (2) 349

Nyamaropa 413

37

Nyamaropa Chipembere 414

Taireva (3) 357

38 Taireva (4) 373 39 Tondobayana 380

Nyuchi 415 Shumba 415

Acknowledgments 451

vi

Introduction

From the perspective of music communities in which the written note is central to learning, performing, and composing, it can be something of a mystery how musicians manage comparable activities in aural improvisation-based art forms. Where, and what precisely, is “the music” they must learn in order to perform their roles? How, over a lifetime, do they keep track of it all, let alone produce expansive music programs, absent conductors and scores? Growing out of my collaborative research with Zimbabwean musicians since the early 1970s, Mbira’s Restless Dance documents one such tradition associated with a family of keyboard instruments known generally as mbira (sing. & pl.). The book features the repertory and practices of my principal mentor Cosmas Magaya and his associates who perform the version of the instrument known variously as mbira dzavadzimu (mbira of the ancestors), mbira huru (mbira with large/wide keys) or, for short, simply mbira. From the intimacy of solo performances interlaced with soulful vocals to the intensity of throbbing ensembles driven by the hosho shakers, mbira music commands a wide expressive range. (Hosho generally refers to a pair of handle gourds filled with seeds.) With roots in the country’s history, culture, and politics, it constantly adapts to new circumstances, assuming different social roles. At all-night Shona religious ceremonies, mbira ensembles inspire worshippers’ percussion, song, and dance, calling ancestral spirits to possess their mediums so they may advise the living. Implicated in the country’s 1970s nationalist movement and its chimurenga (struggle) songs, the mbira has increasingly provided frameworks for imaginative fusions with popular music in postcolonial Zimbabwe and beyond. The repertory that is this book’s subject remains the bedrock of spiritual and secular music production alike. 1

Cosmas and I hope that the book will delight musicians, mbira students, aficionados, teachers, and scholars who dig into its archive, exploring its treasure trove of mbira compositions and variations. Mbira’s Restless Dance illustrates the body of musical ideas associated with thirty-nine pieces, and for the majority, it reveals Cosmas’s construction of complete renditions from his repertory’s components. Emphasizing his perspective, the book illuminates the thought and the labor that underlies mbira players’ skills and performance strategies. It also comprises a mbira method and tool for teaching others about the music’s intricacies. From these standpoints, the book is perhaps best described as a distillation of master classes with a world-class mbira player over four and a half decades. While Mbira’s Restless Dance foregrounds Cosmas’s voice as a teacher and performer, its companion, The Art of Mbira, emphasizes my perspective on the mbira music system as an ethnomusicologist and directs readers to the wider scholarly literature about the subject. It elaborates the methods through which Cosmas and I collected the repertory and analyzes the music’s features, forms, and practices. This introduction describes our archive’s organization and gives an overview of the music’s basic principles. In any tradition in which pieces are re-created in the moment, a basic grasp of the music’s language, forms, and processes is crucial for handling the repertory, as it is for understanding pieces’ wide-ranging renditions. Although the book assumes that readers have a basic working knowledge of music (terminology, notation, and practice in one tradition or another), they can learn the fundamentals of our method as they go along. In my experience as a teacher, the mbira is an accessible instrument with the capacity to open the wider world of music to nonspecialists, including those who may never have played an instrument. Our multimedia illustrations— representing the music in text, notation, and audiovisuals— address the needs of readers with different proclivities and backgrounds. We crossreference many of our music transcriptions with sound recordings of mbira demonstrations and performances on the book’s companion website (http://www.mbira platform.org). Its video recordings illuminate Cosmas’s mbira-playing technique. In Zimbabwe, learning by watching an expert’s finger patterns is a common supplementary method. 2

Introduction

In deciding how to present our archive’s material, I have heeded the cries of those readers of my last book (Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation) who found its print size and stiff-backed binding a bit daunting and resorted to photocopying and enlarging transcriptions for use in the practice room. To enable readers to use the current book to its fullest, we present our mbira archive in a larger print size and in separate volumes with spiral bindings that sit easily on a desk or music stand. Chapters 1–39 are organized alphabetically by composition title. Multiple versions of some compositions are identified by numbers; for example, Bangiza (1), Bangiza (2), and Bangiza (3). Although numbers do not generally figure in Cosmas’s aural classificatory system or that of the larger mbira community, we found them useful for distinguishing the versions in our study. Readers can explore composition chapters in any order; each is self-contained. At the same time, Cosmas recommends a sequence for mbira students navigating the larger repertory. Chapter 40 (“A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments”) compares Cosmas’s practices to those of other mbira players with whom I studied in Zimbabwe for shorter intervals, deepening my appreciation of the larger mbira system. Interpreting his colleagues’ material in light of his own patterns and transformational procedures, he gives insight into the mbira community’s common repertory and performance conventions, as well as individuals’ personalization of them. Representing Mbira Compositions: Mbira Notation, Central Concepts, and Interpretive Models

The “Guide to Mbira Notation” that follows this introduction illustrates my tablature notation system for representing mbira music. The book’s notated patterns are abstractions intended to facilitate learning the music with any mbira huru/mbira dzavadzimu, regardless of its tuning. In brief, learning the notation involves two basic steps. First, memorizing the numbers and positions of mbira keys on the instrument’s three manuals— each assigned a different note head. Second, associating the sounds of keys with their note

heads’ vertical positions on the lines and spaces of a staff, where they acquire tablature letter names. The basic mbira dzavadzimu keyboard has three rows or manuals of keys, bottle-top buzzers affixed to a metal plate, and a finger hole on the lower-right side of the keyboard (ex. 1a). Seated on a bench or stool— or on a floor mat, legs outstretched before them— musicians hold the mbira upright on their laps like an open book, inserting the little finger through the hole from the front of the soundboard to stabilize it. The tablature system numbers each manual’s keys from the center of the soundboard out to the sides. The left thumb plays the upper- and lower-left manuals, striking the ends of the keys from above. The right thumb plays the right manual’s keys 1–3 (or 4) with the same technique as the left thumb; the right index finger plays keys 4–9 (or 10), plucking the ends of keys upward from underneath. In the chiShona language (henceforth Shona), musicians distinguish the respective manuals as pamusoro (lit.: upper or top), pasi (lit.: lower or bottom), and nhetete (lit.: little) (ex. 1b). The keys’ relative pitches are depicted by three types of note heads (representing the mbira manuals) mapped onto a staff ’s horizontal lines and spaces. In their respective vertical positions, the keys acquire tablature letter names (G through F), which, as a convenience, reference the treble staff. Each manual’s arrangement of keys forms a distinctive scalar pattern; arranged in ascending order, their notes form a grand scale spanning three octaves (exs. 1c–d). The book references the music’s pitches through their key names (manual + key number), tablature letter names, or both: for example, B1, G, or B1/G. With note sequences on the staff representing the contours of mbira patterns in relative terms, the patterns’ rhythms are represented by the spatial placement of note heads on a metric grid. Pulse columns formed by solid and dotted vertical lines varying in height and thickness intersect the staff, subdividing the rhythmic cycle (ex. 2). The standard “note and metric grid” for mbira patterns comprises sixteen beats divided into four-beat segments, with each beat divided into three pulses (henceforth “beat divisions 1, 2, and 3”). The onbeat column of beat areas corresponds to the downstroke of one of the music’s accompanying hosho patterns.1 During performances, the same beat position is

reinforced at times by the simplest hand-clapping pattern and dance movements (stepping in place, or to one side or the other, or forward and backward). The grid’s initial vertical column represents beat division 3 of the previous cycle’s final beat or the “pickup” to segment 1. Beginning the cycle in this position is a convenience accommodating Cosmas’s common starting points for patterns: either on a pickup to a segment or on its initial pulse, beat division 1. The preponderance of pieces adopts the standard sixteen-beat form; notable exceptions in this study include Kuzanga and Bayawabaya (exs. 3a–b). Economizing on space, our system consolidates right- and left-hand components of the mbira’s multilayered patterns on a single grid illustrated by Nyamaropa (ex. 4). The return arrow under the staff indicates the music’s cyclical nature. I generally use the term “part” to refer to a cyclical instantiation of a composition that Cosmas regards as whole, complete in and of itself, repeatable. I generally use the term “pattern” for a part’s right- or left-hand components. As in the case of Taireva (3) and Bangiza (5), graphic annotations accompanying transcriptions periodically convey additional details about Cosmas’s performance practices (exs. 5–6). Parentheses around a note head on the initial pulse of the metric grid, for example, indicate that the note is skipped the first time through the cycle. Each composition chapter comprises two coordinated sections: illustrative transcriptions of the piece’s components and commentaries on them. The former present a collection of components gleaned from Cosmas’s demonstrations and performances over the decades, and organized around his theoretical principles. At the outset, a compilation of parts introduces two complementary models to facilitate readers’ interpretation of the composition’s features and their transformation. The first, which reflects Cosmas’s primary conceptual framework, comprises the polyphonic instantiation of each part that he regards as basic or foundational, serving as a springboard for variations. A second model stems from a tradition of analysis by mbira music scholars who have theorized the harmonic forms of pieces from players’ aural practices (I take up the theory in The Art of Mbira).2 Although Cosmas and his associates do not describe the music’s structural features in the language of academic muIntroduction

3

sic theory, they point out successive combinations of mbira keys (pitch groups) over the cycle of a piece that establish a framework for its conventional patterns. For the purposes of learning mbira music and of analysis, this book’s harmonic models offer a way of imagining the skeletons of pieces: illuminating aspects of the music’s form and logic that, absorbed aurally by players, guide their transformation of the model’s elements in the production of new variations and parts. The “standard” harmonic model for Shona mbira music that I have applied to Cosmas’s repertory describes each piece’s structure as a sequence of dyads (two-note “chords” comprising a root and fifth) represented here by checkered oval note heads (ex. 7a). A third element, which also plays a role in the music, appears as a darkened diamond note head. I use the term “dyad” flexibly to emphasize the role of dyadic pitches, while allowing for “triads” in the music’s interpretation. In the dyad sequence (ds) model, each dyad endures through a series of pulses until the appearance of the subsequent dyad (ex. 7b). My graphic annotations (numbers and arrows) interpret the form’s component three-dyad groups, which are commonly framed by segment boundaries. Dyad root successions, which are numbered in relation to the model’s initial “referent” dyad, comprise movements by thirds or fourths (and their inversions). The concept of “root” in this study suggests an emphasis among the dyad elements establishing successive harmonic areas, but does not imply that the sequence is governed by the rules of functional harmony in Euro-American music such as chord sequencing, voice leading, and the like. Correspondingly, in my representation of harmonic succession, an Arabic number 1 identifies the succession’s initial dyad and its position as a reference dyad, without implying a tonal center as such. In the literature, the theoretical standard harmonic model begins the cycle with the dyad group 1–3–5. This highlights the sequence’s internal scheme of development and principle of rotational symmetry in which successive groups substitute a dyad in a rotated position: 1–3–5, 1–3–6, 1–4–6, 2–4–6. Alternatively spelled out with dyad roots, the succession beginning with dyad C can be represented: C-E-G, C-E-A, C-F-A, D-F-A. Adjusted to reflect Cosmas’s preferred starting point in pieces’ cycles, the theoretical models in this 4

Introduction

book’s transcriptions commonly begin with the movements 1–3–6 (top staff in our example). For pieces that he begins at other points, I circle “1” in the 1–3–6 group to highlight the model’s rotated position (second staff). The mbira repertory utilizes seven transpositions of the standard sequence in which its model’s initial dyad root corresponds to a different degree of the mbira’s scale (G through F, as represented in our transcriptions). In our transcriptions’ models, a capital letter at the beginning of each sequence identifies the piece’s transposition form. The appendage “alt” appearing beside the letter indicates altered movements within the structure. At a glance, the models’ numbering schemes reveal commonalities within the larger repertory: comparable harmonic movements realized at different pitch levels. My general theoretical models infer each piece’s harmonic features from our transcribed compilation of Cosmas’s foundational or basic parts. Adopting a “standard sequence” transposition model that accounts for the majority of movements in each compilation, I approximate the rhythmic positions of successive dyads from the vertical alignment of pitches in the possible kushaura-kutsinhira combinations. I tend to privilege roots, fifths, and thirds (in order of importance) as establishing dyad boundaries, but I make calls about dyad placement intuitively in the face of parts’ discrepancies and ambiguities such as common tones and rootless or otherwise incomplete dyads. The limitations of vertical analysis of mbira music notwithstanding, it offers one way of understanding distinctive realizations of the model. Readers will note, for example, that if some part combinations conform precisely to the dyad sequence, other combinations include parts that intermittently reference dyad areas a pulse or two before their counterparts, creating brief adjacent-dyad mixtures at anticipated points of change before consensus emerges. Other parts continually weave in and out of the form with a characteristically elastic harmonic-rhythmic dance, prolonging certain dyad areas and compensating by shortening subsequent areas to maintain their progress around the cycle. Some combinations create interest at discrete points by introducing devices like drones; or, within tumbling melodies, incorporate passing tones or neighbor tones;

or alternate dyadic pitches and harmonic “additions,” creating brief suspensions— or suspension chains— in playful schemes of tension and release. Still other parts nuance the sequence through dyad substitution, deletion/elision, or insertion. As the degree of compliance to the model can differ among a piece’s parts, it can differ from one piece to another overall. Bayawabaya’s and Karigamombe’s parts conform to the structure nearly precisely; a wide range of liberties are taken by Chipindura. In some cases, I incorporate into my models harmonic alterations that figure prominently in Cosmas’s treatment of a piece, like “compound dyads” produced by combining parts with variant harmonic courses. Additionally, around a third of the compositions in his repertory contain elaborate structural alterations or idiosyncratic sequences, even if they include familiar movements. Given this diversity, pieces’ forms lend themselves to different interpretations. Mine simply sample the possibilities. Taken together, the book’s polyphonic and harmonic models offer a comparative perspective on mbira pieces and the unique qualities of the parts and variations that represent them. Repertory Categories and Common Transformational Processes

Following the chapter’s part compilation, transcription subsections organize parts and variations according to their respective musical roles. They include kushaura (sing. and pl.): first, leading, or starting part; kutsinhira (sing. and pl.): second part, following or interweaving part; and in Cosmas’s practices for some compositions: solo versions. In cases in which multiple parts appear within kushaura, kutsinhira, or solo categories, we distinguish them by numbers for the purposes of our study: kushaura (1), kushaura (2), kushaura (3), and so on. An overlapping category in his mbira system, multipurpose parts refer to the same or closely related material that play different roles or that he applies in the context of different compositions. In such cases, we note parts’ changing compositional affiliations, kushaura or kutsinhira roles, shifted positions with respect to the beat, or otherwise distinctive treatment. Chakwi kutsinhira (4), for example, reappears as Chan-

dasarira kutsinhira (1), shifted one pulse later. Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8), which includes deep bass variations, reappears as Bangiza (5) kushaura in the same beat position, but without such variations— and as Bangiza (4) kutsinhira (1) in a rotated position. (NB: I describe parts as “shifted” when the process involves a single pulse; “rotated” when the change is greater.) In the few instances in which he primarily identifies a multipurpose part with its “home” piece, I reproduce it with its original reference title rather than relabeling it. While initially questioning the need to reproduce the “same” parts in different contexts in our archive, Cosmas later endorsed the approach for documenting his distinctive practices. Moreover, it would allow learners to study multipurpose parts in different beat positions, which, in effect, reconfigures the parts’ melodic-rhythmic elements. Transcription subsections dealing with kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo versions treat basic parts as models for the variations that follow. Cosmas commonly calls the latter madunhurirwa, a Shona term most generally referring to elaboration or exaggeration in speech. Madunhurirwa include composed variations handed down to players, as well as those of their own invention. The page layout invites staff-by-staff comparisons of related materials, with graphic annotations (circles and brackets) calling attention to features in the same pulse column(s) that have changed. When examples in a given category continue over the page, annotations on the first staff highlight changes in relation to the variation given in the last staff of the previous page. Under the heading “Right-Hand Basic Line and Variations,” the basic part includes the right-hand pattern or line that Cosmas regards as fundamental in relation to the part’s constant left-hand figures. Variations of the basic line sampled in our collection potentially include “simplified lines,” “developing high lines,” and “high lines.” The initial version of the lines within each category serves as the model for further variations. His categories, like his practices, are situational, he says. That is, although there is a high degree of consistency in his method, he sometimes classifies identical or comparable lines differently in the context of one piece or another (or one part or another). Similarly, components of pieces that he primarily uses for soloing can function as kutsinhira parts in certain musical settings, Introduction

5

as can other pieces’ exceptional parts that he classifies as solo versions. Our method subsequently samples left-hand midrange and bass variations in relation to constant righthand basic lines. Labels and graphics (circles on the staff or brackets underneath the staff) draw attention to changing features. Under a given variation category, changes in the initial entry are typically annotated in relation to the basic part; subsequent changes, annotated from staff to staff. Because a part’s identity is largely tied to its characteristic left-hand figures in his system, lefthand variations are generally less elaborate than righthand options. With some exceptions, he views major left-hand changes as signifying movements to different parts. He considers variations of smaller scale as valuable nonetheless, while preserving the part’s identity. In our music, small changes can make a big difference, he would often remind me. Graphic annotation of the changes in successive transcriptions illustrates Cosmas’s command over a range of transformational techniques (ex. 8). Reviewed briefly here, one favored technique is pitch substitution, the replacement of discrete pitches by others (and, by extension, processes involving longer units such as figure, gesture, or line substitution). The opposite technique is rest substitution represented by “x”s, that is, adding gaps to the part: decreasing the part’s rhythmic density at a certain textural level. A third technique, pitch insertion, fills in gaps between tones at a certain textural level: increasing its rhythmic density. Metric and pitch/metric shifting comprise additional techniques. Short horizontal arrows illustrate the former, indicating individual pitches’ movement a pulse earlier or later than on the staff above it. Vertical arrows, or those angled to the left or right, indicate pitches shifted in space and time. At the end of some transcription subsections, we present variations that Cosmas considers especially challenging technically or advanced. Some emphasize chording, his term for playing pitches simultaneously with thumb and index finger on the nhetete manual. Requiring finesse and experience as well is accentuation. He concentrates the technique on midrange and bass keys, but applies it to the upper register at times, engaging the right hand on its own or in consort with the left. As in the last instance, Cosmas increases the conceptual and technical demands on himself by cross6

Introduction

applying different kinds of right- and left-hand patterns, for example, uniquely combining high-line variations with midrange or bass variations. Yet another class of special variations (and parts that incorporate them), he describes as majimba— a Shona word that literally conveys the notion of ambivalence. In the context of mbira music, majimba refers to playful patterns that take unusual liberties with the music’s conventional melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic features. Following the kushaura section, transcriptions explore variation techniques in the context of kutsinhira and solo versions. The kutsinhira player is the mixer: he or she mixes kutsinhira patterns with those of the kushaura. In Cosmas’s system, kutsinhira tend to emphasize the bass more than kushaura, and to encompass a wider range of parts and variations overall. Kushaura, which he regards as establishing the identity of the piece, tend to provide solid ground for the kutsinhira’s more adventurous and varied play. Of course, soloists, freed from complementing or accommodating the ideas of other musicians, have the greatest flexibility in performance. Accordingly, solo versions commonly involve challenging patterns, including rhythmically dense textures that combine kushaura and kutsinhira features. Such parts are rich by themselves and don’t need other players. For readers scanning the layout of each transcription section, a staff-by-staff comparison of variations provides readings of musical development produced through incremental changes. Comparisons of variations separated by several staves or presented in other subsections— like comparisons of different parts— illuminate increasingly extensive transformations. After considering Cosmas’s treatment of individual parts, chapters illustrate kushaura-kutsinhira combinations formed from our collection’s parts and variations. Minimally involving two mbira players within ensembles, interlocking kushaura and kutsinhira parts represent the instrumental core of each composition. Our transcriptions present them on separate staves connected with a brace. A kushaura part or variation occupies the top staff; a complementary kutsinhira part or variation, the bottom staff. The connected staves show the parts’ vertical alignment and individual contributions to the resultant mix or composite, which appears beneath them on a smaller staff. Extending the basic combinations for some com-

positions are practices combining three to five parts. In Cosmas’s experience, this commonly requires borrowing “multipurpose” parts from different versions of a composition or different compositions with compatible forms. Typically, he views one of the kushaura parts in such expanded designs as “the lead” and the others as functioning in the role of kutsinhira. As it is called for in certain kushaura-kutsinhira combinations, we shift or rotate parts for alignment with counterparts. Cross-Referencing Multimedia Components of the Project

Our archive’s numbering scheme is the key to linking up transcriptions to their related commentaries, recordings, and video demonstrations available on the book’s companion website. Beneath transcriptions, identifiers reference individual parts, variations, and their combinations. Each identifier begins by citing the archive’s composition number (1–39) along with an abbreviation for the respective pattern’s role/category: kushaura (ks), kutsinhira (kt), or solo version (sv). If the category contains one “basic part” without variations, the entry is identified by its abbreviation alone, for example, “ks” if a kushaura part. If the category contains one “basic part” with variations, the former’s abbreviation is followed by a decimal point and by the symbol “1,” for example, “ks.1”; its variations are designated by higher numbers: “ks.2, ks.3, ks.4,” and so on. If a category contains multiple “basic parts,” a number inserted before the decimal point indicates their order of appearance. The first basic part in the kushaura category is “ks1.1”; its variations, “ks1.2, ks1.3, ks1.4.” The second “basic part” is “ks2.1”; its variations, “ks2.2, ks2.3, ks2.4.” The third basic part is “ks3.1”; its variations, “ks3.2, ks3.3, ks3.4”— and so on. Including Dangurangu’s source chapter number, transcription identifiers for the piece’s single kushaura and kutsinhira basic parts are given as “14.ks.1” and “14.kt.1.” In the case of Chandasarira, which contains multiple kutsinhira entries, the identifier “10.kt1.9” references chapter 10 as the source chapter; and “kt1.9” as the variation appearing as the ninth item in the kutsinhira (1) category. In part combinations at the end of each chapter, identification numbers distinguishing basic parts from variations are back-referenced to entries in the preceding kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Like the numbers our archive assigns to different composition versions, its numbering of each composition’s materials reflects a mixture of considerations raised by Cosmas. On the one hand, it represents his system of practice (his personal preferences, for example, the order in which he commonly plays sequences of parts), and on the other hand, his pedagogical concerns (introducing students to parts graded in increasing conceptual or technical difficulty). For many transcriptions, we provide companion sound and video recordings on the book’s website. As indicated earlier, our transcriptions comprise abstractions of the music that depict pitch in relative terms. In accord with differing tuning options, mbira makers compress or stretch certain intervals of the instrument’s seven-note scale: nuancing or varying the music’s patterns as they appear in our transcriptions. In the mbira system, tunings can tend toward an equidistant scale, or a major or minor scale, or comprise Shona modes with variations that defy simple characterizations or comparisons.3 Although local terminology does not typically describe such distinctions, an exception concerns particular tunings with “minor” qualities that appear to have grown in popularity since the early 1970s, called mavembe (lit.: discordant, Cosmas says) or gandanga (sing., lit.: wild person; pl. magandanga; also a reference to guerrillas during the independence war). The tuning potentially includes a lowered second and third, and sometimes a lowered sixth scale degree. A younger generation commonly distinguishes such tunings from “standard” or “Nyamaropa” tunings. Zimbabwean mbira players and audiences are used to interpreting pieces in diverse mbira voices pitched comparatively higher or lower overall, nuanced or altered by different tunings— and lightly dusted by, or saturated in, the sound of the mbira-and-resonator’s buzzing shells or bottle tops (exs. 9–11). The pitch of Cosmas’s mbira (made by John Kunaka) in the audiovisual examples is approximately a major sixth lower than our transcriptions’ notated patterns. A recording of his mbira’s tuning, manual by manual, is given on the website. Made at different times over the years, the recordings embody slight tuning nuances or variants in different mbira registers that he appreciates. Audiovisuals associated with parts and variations— referenced in transcription identifiers by a speaker () icon, a computer-screen ( ) icon, or both— address Introduction

7

different aspects of the mbira system, and the book’s combined concerns with documentation, pedagogy, and analysis of improvisation. One group of sound recordings comprises demonstrations of mbira vocabulary sampling each of the pieces in our study. The website provides sound files of individual kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo version parts and variations, repeated three times to a rattle click-track representing the beat at nonperformance tempos. In a complementary group of video recordings, Cosmas demonstrates individual parts and variations associated with twenty-five compositions. Encompassing a variety of tempos, nonperformance and performance alike, the demonstrations do not include rhythmic accompaniment. In each, he plays a part or variation for two to four consecutive cycles. In cases in which he initially played a part for one cycle, we repeat it three times, separated by blank spaces. Although some of the video demonstrations correspond precisely to our transcriptions, many have comparatively fluid relationships to them. Cosmas sometimes begins the parts at different points in the cycle than those represented in our examples and, now and again, pursues variations that occur to him in the moment. In the latter case, a computer-screen icon next to the identifier references our closest transcribed example, while the text’s commentary indicates the presence of variations in the recording that do not appear in the transcription. In some such cases, we have divided his demonstration into separate files for study, appending their common identifier with a letter (a, b, c). Here, our transcriptions are simply intended to give readers points of entry for following Cosmas’s demonstrations, and models for interpreting his transformation of material. A complementary group of website recordings for each piece illustrates kushaura-kutsinhira combinations composed of previously demonstrated parts and variations (in the collection above). The kushaura track appears in the left channel; the kutsinhira track appears in the right. Each combination repeats three times to a rattle click-track representing the beat at nonperformance tempos. The latter should aid listeners studying the respective positions of the interlocking parts. If learning individual parts and variations can be likened to learning the vocabulary of a verbal language, creating/performing combinations of them can be lik8

Introduction

ened to exercises in short conversational interplay, as Cosmas says. The players’ goal, of course, is to acquire the knowledge and skill to create complete renditions of compositions from their vocabulary, analogous to achieving fluidity in conversation and in the verbal arts. Toward such ends, an additional set of recordings illustrates changing kushaura-kutsinhira interplay during complete renditions of twenty-nine pieces at performance tempos. (In Zimbabwe, performance tempos commonly range from 120 to 150 beats per minute [BPM] or M.M. 120–150.) Produced for the purposes of analysis and teaching, they comprise multitrack recordings in which Cosmas spontaneously integrates his kushaura and kutsinhira parts as if engaging in a conversation with himself— overdubbing them to his prerecorded hosho “accompaniment.” For these recordings, we provide two sound files with the individual kushaura and kutsinhira tracks, and one with the kushaura-kutsinhira tracks combined. As aural texts, they facilitate the study of the musical developments within each track, as well as the ideas exchanged between them. A table at the end of commentaries in the composition chapters coordinated with our multitrack web recordings provides annotations and timings of Cosmas’s evolving kushaura and kutsinhira performances, identifying the components of his repertory that provide the basis for each. In the case of hybrid parts and variations, we reference the closest transcription containing a major component (for example, an identical or comparable right-hand pattern) and another transcription with a complementary component (for example, an identical or comparable left-hand pattern). Sometimes we identify prominent figures from multiple sources that he incorporates into one or another segment, mixing them with other elements. Table annotations sketch out the renditions’ successive developments with transcription identification numbers for parts and variations, as well as abbreviations for their distinguishing features. Such features include, for example, right-hand lines (bl, dhl, hl, sl, ch [chording]), variations of a basic part (RHvar, LHvar), common techniques (double or triple noting) or gestures (scalar descent), and so on. Studying or playing the transcribed patterns apart from the recordings should prepare listeners to recognize them in the flow of the performance.

Finally, while Mbira’s Restless Dance focuses on the instrumental components of the mbira tradition, Cosmas periodically discusses vocal styles that are integral to the music. Several are illustrated in The Art of Mbira’s transcriptions and in website recordings shared by both books. I have included Hakurotwi Mude’s video demonstrations of vocals (including mahon’era, the characteristically low, vocable, riffing style; huro, the high emotive yodeling style; and his intermittent poetic kudeketera texts) to numerous compositions recorded by Cosmas. The website also gives Cosmas’s demonstrations of mahon’era and songtexts for Bayawabaya, Chaminuka ndiMambo, and Tondobayana; and John Kunaka’s spare vocalizations on his performance of Nhimutimu. Commentaries on Transcriptions

Preceding each chapter’s transcription section is the commentary section. Contextualizing his repertory, Cosmas’s remarks (excerpted from our discussions and informal interviews) comprise a quilt of observations, analyses, performance notes, and pedagogical advice. I have taken the liberty of interpolating the names/numbers of our archive’s materials into his quotations to clarify references made during our sessions by demonstrating patterns or signaling at their appearances on recordings. Similarly, I have supplied the numbers or tablature letter names of mbira keys that he singled out by pointing. Composition by composition, he variously discusses his classification of repertory components in his personal mbira system, his theoretical view of their relationships (and rethinking of their relationships)— and his preparatory exercises for performances. He illuminates players’ musical communication on the mbira bench at religious ceremonies, and their interaction with worshippers and spirit mediums. Reflecting on his acquisition of knowledge, he pays tribute to upward of twenty teachers and associates to whom his “received” repertory is indebted (their full names appear in the acknowledgments section) and describes processes underlying his own creations and cultivation of a personal style. His reviews of his multitrack performances offer insights into his musical thinking and perceptions of kushaura-kutsinhira interplay.

Although his treatment of parts and variations is situational— differing from piece to piece, as from performance to performance— it reflects overarching values and strategies. It’s important for the purposes of our book to show that there’s a system that guides me as I play the parts and variations. I don’t play them haphazardly. When we’re showing readers the different things I play, we should be systematic in that as well. In our method, by keeping related things together and lining them up as we’re doing in the transcriptions, it should help people understand their relationships. This basic lineup should also help students learn how to go about it, giving them a place to start from. Taken together, our collections of parts and variations bring to light different faces of each piece, sampling its inherent possibilities for realization. To Cosmas’s perspectives, I periodically add my own experiences as his student and musical partner, and I offer interpretations of the music’s features. Preserving our individual viewpoints— sometimes congruent, sometimes overlapping, sometimes differing— we draw on the language we evolved for talking about the music over the years, including Shona descriptive and classificatory terms, those associated with popular music or academic music theory, and coined terms as well. Cosmas sometimes uses English words uniquely with respect to the music’s features or conveys different meanings with them from one context to another. “Song,” for example, can refer either to a composition or to any of its components. When his use of “song” refers specifically to a “part” or “variation,” I have taken the liberty of substituting the latter terms in his quotations. He alternatively describes “basic” parts as “main” or “regular,” and occasionally uses “phrase” as a synonym for “segment” when referring to a quarter cycle of a part or variation. With respect to a piece’s performance, “segment” (or “segmentation”) can refer to a complete cycle or to a larger section emphasizing certain parts/ variations. “Arrangements” refers to fixed or comparatively fixed practices, including, for example, his aural preferences for parts’ treatments and kushaurakutsinhira combinations. In the context of the latter, his expression “on the same level” generally refers to patterns that fall on the same pulses rather than interlocking (for example, parts’ respective upper voices or Introduction

9

lower voices), and sometimes refers simply to parts that begin the cycle on the same beat division. Commenting on the music’s religious role, Cosmas refers generally to “ceremonies” as mapira (sing. bira), and sometimes more specifically to the anniversary-ofdeath ceremony or kurova guva, after which the spirit of a person formally enters the spirit world. References to “spirits” typically implicate ancestral spirits, whether those of his family (Magaya), subclan or house (Kanengoni), or clan/dynasty (Mashayamombe). The term can also refer to the men or women who serve as spirit mediums. Family spirits (sing. midzimu, pl. vadzimu) deal with matters of misfortune affecting individuals within their lineage. Territorial spirits or royal ancestors (variously known as mhondoro [lion] or makombwe, sing. gombwe) deal with problems affecting larger communities, for example, drought or epidemics. At extremes, they deal with military threats to the nation or country, as in the case of renowned mhondoro like Kagubi, Nehanda, and Chaminuka (during the late nineteenth-century resistance to European occupation, and the twentieth-century independence war). In Cosmas’s region, mediums representing a class of makombwe known as mhepo (lit.: wind) are professional healers and diviners; some are associated with rainmaking as well. When references include both medium and spirit, I identify them with a slash, for instance, distinguishing the two spirits who possessed his father as “Joshua/mhepo” and “Joshua/Mudenda.” In the family’s account, Mudenda was long ago adopted by the Mashayamombe after Chief Kanengoni’s soldiers discovered him as an abandoned infant in the aftermath of battle. It was also said that, as a young man, Mudenda became a warrior for Kanengoni. Polyrhythmic Templates/Hand Polyrhythms and Polyphonic Design

When discussing the repertory’s textural features, we shift perspectives on the fundamental ways mbira players grasp their music: by hand and by ear. Perceived in kinesthetic and “keyboard” terms, for example, the repertory’s parts conform to one of three designs in which the right hand’s nhetete (right manual) keystroke pattern respectively combines with a left-hand pamusoro (upper-left manual) keystroke pattern, a pasi (lower-left manual) keystroke pattern, or a mixture of 10

Introduction

both (also called pasi, or pamusoro nepasi). Within each of the designs, the hands’ characteristic interplay— synchronizing attacks on keys around the cycle, or continuously alternating keys, or producing distinctive schemes of alternation and coincidence— further distinguishes parts. At another level of detail, so do the constituent components of parts’ right-hand and left-hand cyclical patterns: successive groups of keys (pairs, threes, or fives) framed by rests or suggested by recurring motional units or “keystroke figures.” Considered from Cosmas’s starting point in the cycle, some keystroke figures emphasize oscillation between lower and higher keys on a restricted portion of a manual, while others emphasize wider leaps between keys spanning the manual. Alternatively, they involve a single key’s reiteration; or key reiteration followed by a few descending steps on the manual’s slope; or leaps on a manual from the center of the instrument to its outer keys, followed by longer key-by-key descents. On the nhetete manual, distinctive keystroke figures exclusively engage the thumb’s keys, or the index finger’s; or they alternate them, or sound them simultaneously. Animating such characterizations, Cosmas describes certain figures’ motion as walking or running down a manual. He differentiates keystroke figures by the predominant direction of their leaps between left and bass manuals— up-to-down or down-to-up, for example; or by their respective slants— the comparatively steep or wide angles of the left thumb’s trajectories. Angular or irregular keyboard moves are zigzag. He playfully identifies left-hand figures with circular or triangulated keystrokes (a leap to one side or the other on the left or bass manual, followed by a leap between the manuals) as belonging to sadza-stirring parts— those recalling analogous motion stirring thick millet porridge in a large pot. Contributing analytical details of another kind at times, I theorize the “polyrhythmic templates” or “hand polyrhythms” underlying compositions’ keystroke patterns and multilayered melodies. Sampled here, the basic template components comprise pairs of contrasting right- and left-hand rhythms, two or four beats in length. From one part to another, the rhythms can be introduced in the right hand (RH) or left hand (LH), and on different beat positions, where they assume a different character. As a shorthand I use the ex-

pression “on beat division 1 (or 2 or 3)” for the pulse on which a template rhythm begins. Typically established in the initial segment of each basic part, template rhythms recur around the cycle (sometimes with slight variations). For instance, as depicted in our standard note-and-metric grid, when either hand strikes keys on alternate pulses, it produces three equidistant attacks over the span of two beats: a 3:2 polyrhythm in relation to the beat, recurring twice per segment (ex. 12a.1). In some parts, the hands reinforce the same alternate-pulse rhythm (ex. 12a.2). More commonly, the right plays the pattern in an interlocking relationship with a variety of left-hand options. In one, the left plays the 3:2 rhythm shifted a pulse earlier or later (ex. 12a.3). Alternatively, the left hand provides an onbeat keystroke pattern, represented here as 2:2 rhythmic schema (ex. 12b.1). Together, the hands express the complete 3:2 polyrhythmic keystroke template, twice per segment (ex. 12b.2). In a third design, the right hand maintains its pattern, while the left strikes keys on two adjacent pulses, followed by a single-pulse rest— characterized as an embellished 2:2 rhythmic schema above— with the rhythm repeated four times per segment (ex. 12b.3). I borrow a shorthand from jazz vocabulary, loosely calling it a shuffle pattern for its short-long characteristics. (Although in the latter context, the term refers to figures beginning on the pickup to the beat [beat division 3], I use the term more generally in this context, regardless of the pulse on which the rhythmic figures are introduced.) Another template design can be derived by beginning the arrangement above four pulses later with respect to the note-and-metric grid (ex. 12b.4). In alternative polyrhythmic templates, the right-hand 3:2 pattern interlocks with compound (2+1) or (3+1) rhythms comprising a shuffle figure or a three-pulse figure and a single rhythmic attack— repeated twice per segment (exs. 12b.5–6). Other template designs pair the right-hand pattern with a left-hand 3:4 polyrhythm, in its basic form: three keystrokes spaced evenly over four beats or one segment (ex. 12c.1). More often, parts emphasize lefthand “embellished 3:4” rhythms in which discrete groups of three keystrokes on adjacent pulses— or discrete pairs of keystrokes on adjacent pulses— are nested within a spare 3:4 framework (exs. 12c.2–3).

Separated by a single-pulse or two-pulse rest, respectively, the figures repeat three times over four beats in shifting beat positions. I refer to them as “shifting shuffle” and “shifting three-pulse” keystroke rhythms. (In the commentaries, I sometimes refer to the mbira techniques underlying such rhythmic components as double striking and triple striking; or, when applied to the same key, double noting and triple noting.) Above, “alternate-pulse rhythms” are grouped in pairs, which occur within the frameworks of the combined hands’ respective kinesthetic patterns, reinforced by the right hand’s dual attacks on individual keys in ex. 12c.2 and alternating index finger and thumb motion in ex. 12c.3. Distinctive in their own right and carrying increased technical demands are parts in which in one hand, a single keystroke links pairs of left-hand shuffle figures, producing five-pulse template rhythms (ex. 12d.1). Also challenging are designs composed of overlapping right- and left-hand shuffle rhythms or shifting three-pulse rhythms (exs. 12d.2–3). At the other end of the continuum: a spare right-hand pattern combines with the left hand’s patterns to form continuous threepulse keystroke figures or combined-hand shuffle keystroke figures (exs. 12d.4–5). Further diversifying the repertory, parts mix or vary the right- or left-hand template rhythms above over the cycle. Such descriptions, metaphors, and analyses, which get at the feeling of mbira patterns in the hands, sometimes have a direct correspondence to the repertory’s sounding features. To reference a part’s patterns with respect to the mbira’s manuals evokes its basic polyphonic design. To reference the part’s underlying template rhythms evokes its multilayered melodicrhythmic components. In the middle voice, shuffle keystroke figures produce audible successions of adjacentpulse pitch pairs; in the lower voice, “embellished 3:4” keystroke figures produce audible successions of threepitch groups in shifting beat positions, and so on. Typically, mbira parts and variations are structured such that the melodic-rhythmic figures introduced in the initial segment— shaped by the polyrhythmic template and dyad sequence— bear a variant relationship to figures in subsequent segments around the cycle. Now and again in the commentaries, I provide thumbnail descriptions of the figures’ predominant contours, distinguishing, for example, three-pitch alternate-pulse figures emphasizing pitch repetition from those with Introduction

11

repeated pitches followed by a narrow intervallic leap; those emphasizing leaps in similar or contrary motion; or those in which the leap of a fifth or an octave is followed by a scalar descent, and so on. Although in many cases, mbira parts’ kinesthetic, template, and sounding patterns reinforce one another, in other cases, they are less congruent— or divergent, implicating psychoacoustic phenomena that scholars have variously explained in terms of “inherent patterns” and “auditory streaming.”4 For instance, in relation to Chandasarira kushaura’s right-hand pattern (ex. 12b.4 above), the left thumb plays shuffle keystroke figures leaping between the pamusoro and pasi manuals. While felt as motional units of twos, the keystroke pattern produces distinctive sonic streams: four-pitch offbeat figures in the middle voice; four-pitch onbeat figures in the lower voice. In an alternative scheme in Chandasarira kutsinhira (6) (ex. 12c.2), the left thumb plays shifting three-pulse keystroke figures that leap from the pamusoro to pasi manual and back again. Felt as motional units of threes, they produce sounding alternate-pulse figures in the middle voice and spare 3:4 figures in the lower voice. From the musician’s perspective, the fluid conversations among parts’ multilayered patterns and the dynamic sensorial interplay that surrounds them increase the challenges and pleasures of performance. Mbira’s Restless Dance as an Improvisation Model and Teaching Method

The theoretical model and schematics for improvisation represented in chapter commentaries and transcriptions can also serve aspiring musicians as a generative model, enabling them to simulate the processes by which Cosmas re-creates pieces in performance. Toward such ends, he reminds readers that our transcriptions are simply intended as aids for absorbing the music’s vocabulary, studying its features, and reviewing repertory that slips from memory. They are not intended to be read in performance like sheet music or scores. Committing the repertory’s components to memory enables players to marshal them in the moment, while focusing on expressivity and interplay with ensemble members and the audience. The written music is for uploading to the mind and storing like a computer, 12

Introduction

he says, so that later it can be downloaded into your hands when you want to play it. The ceremonial venues at which Zimbabwean artists perform and exchange ideas make reading impractical, he adds, emphasizing the primacy of aural and physical embodiment of music in the mbira tradition. At the same time, sight can be an asset, as when a musician glances at his or her keyboard or that of a playing partner to confirm the accuracy of a pattern. Cosmas was reminded of the matter when reviewing video recordings I had made that focused on his fingering techniques. Toward the end of the recording session, the sun had begun to set, leaving us with diminishing light and darker images. I asked whether we should omit the clips from our website. No, let’s keep them, he urged. They’re good for showing students what conditions are like in a bira, so they can get used to it. Sometimes to learn from others on the mbira bench, you must pick things by watching their fingers in the shadows, or in the faint light of our kerosene lanterns. Of course, depending on the situation, you may not be able to see your hands or the other person’s. Cosmas’s teaching method typically introduces students to each piece through a basic kushaura and kutsinhira, as well as suggesting others for study (see chapter headings “Learning Program” and “Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications”). Musicians in ensembles can be called to perform either role, he explains. He recommends two complementary approaches to the repertory: learning a part’s right-hand and left-hand patterns together (absorbing progressive “chunks” of the combined patterns around the cycle, say, a half-segment or segment at a time); and learning to play the part’s right-hand and left-hand patterns separately. His prescription for practicing the parts mirrors his approach when beginning an actual performance: start slowly and gradually build up speed as you play. After multiple cycles— as when ending a performance— he gradually slows and tapers off. Developing the control to repeat basic parts without error, cycle after cycle, is an essential discipline. I want to stress the importance of the basic things we worked on in our repertory study. Only after learning those things should people learn the extra things. They must first learn the foundation. He still remembers the witty advice about mbira fundamentals that he and Luken received in their youth

from virtuoso Mubayiwa Bandambira: “Young men, when you’re playing, your mbira should talk.” He meant that all the keys should be played well in the right place, hitting them perfectly from different angles. They should speak clearly. People should understand what you’re playing. Bandambira would also say, “You should play as if you’re stirring a pot of sadza. You must demolish all the lumps. That’s how your mbira should be.” He meant perfecting a song, visiting all its areas [parts and variations], making sure everything is OK in each. Musicians new to the mbira tradition may find a few exercises useful in learning the music’s vocabulary and style, which Zimbabwean players characteristically absorb from an early age. Practicing repertory with a metronome at different tempos can improve one’s sense of time and of exacting polyrhythmic performance. This is fundamental to mbira music, both for individual musicians integrating right- and left-hand patterns and for playing partners’ creating part combinations. (In Zimbabwe, players sometimes represent the beat to themselves by subtly nodding their heads.) Some students may find that abstracting the rhythms of parts’ right- and left-hand patterns and practicing them together away from the keyboard (tapping out polyrhythmic templates on a table or a drum) strengthens performance of the parts and illuminates the larger repertory’s rhythmic basis. Playing through our transcriptions’ harmonic sequence models from the beginning of the cycle can be helpful for absorbing the forms of pieces aurally and making sense of parts’ pitch configurations. One simple approach is to play the sequence on pamusoro and nhetete manuals: emphasizing dyad roots and fifths; substituting a third or an octave when roots or fifths are unavailable or awkward to play in a certain transposition form. Practicing this exercise, aspiring players will become accustomed to the underlying movements that define many pieces in the repertory based on the standard sequence model in different transposition forms. Students will also attune their ears to pieces with different characteristics that Cosmas begins at certain rotated points in relation to the standard sequence model. Take the standard sequence beginning with dyad C (referent dyad “1”) in the C transposition form discussed earlier: C-E-A, C-F-A, D-F-A, C-E-G (its root succession

represented numerically as 1–3–6, 1–4–6, 2–4–6, 1–3– 5). When Cosmas’s beginning corresponds to a dyad in the second or third position of our annotated model’s three-dyad groups, it can produce perceptual permutations embodying a different succession of three-dyad groups. A one-dyad rotation renders the permutation E-A-C, F-A-D, F-A-C, E-G-C. With dyad E serving as the new referent dyad (dyad “1”), the cycle’s root succession can be represented numerically: 1–4–6, 2–4– 7, 2–4–6, 1–3–6. A two-dyad rotation renders the permutation A-C-F, A-D-F, A-C-E, G-C-E. With dyad A serving as the new referent dyad (dyad “1”), the cycle’s root succession can be represented numerically: 1–3– 6, 1–4–6, 1–3–5, 7–3–5. In the transcriptions’ harmonic models for pieces starting at these rotated positions, our annotated threedyad groups highlighting the “original” dyad sequence tend to overlap segment boundaries substantially, while the pieces’ unannotated three-dyad groups (figured from the beginning of the staff) tend to fit neatly within the segment boundaries. This book’s emphasis on the “original” model’s numerical scheme illustrates the mbira repertory’s common basis, which the gestalts of standard sequence pieces begun at rotated positions potentially obscure. The alternative descriptions of root succession above more closely describe the harmonic and polyphonic gestalts of pieces conforming to sequence permutations, and can be useful for reinforcing students’ aural grasp of them. Cosmas suggests that once students learn an initial kushaura or kutsinhira part for a piece, they gradually expand their repertory of basic parts for different pieces. Once secure with the new parts’ performance, they can work on incorporating selections of our archive’s righthand variations into each, initially alternating cycles of basic lines and of high lines. More advanced exercises involve playing consecutive cycles of basic lines, developing high lines, and high lines before reversing course. Gradual musical development is an aesthetic principle that he and his associates favor. Other options include adding simplified lines to the right-hand scheme and, with experience, advanced chording techniques to diversify and intensify the music. Subsequently, aspiring players can practice incorporating a part’s left-hand variations— initially small-scale changes for continuity; later, large-scale changes for contrast, and working Introduction

13

up to combined-hand variations. Another exercise, keeping performances interesting, involves learning to position variations in different textural layers and in different parts of the cycle. Given the infinite possibilities for variation, our method samples them differentially from one piece to another, and from part to part. (Readers will note that the relative size of his repertorial components for each composition differs, reflecting his personal interest and the needs of the ensembles in which he has worked.) Ample right-hand high-line variations provided in one musical context can potentially be substituted in other contexts that have the same structural basis: mixing them with other high-line variations, as well as different left-hand components. Of course, the process must be done tastefully. In specific settings, he favors certain successions of figures for such qualities as flow (momentum, groove, continuity) or punch (power, vitality), while dismissing others, even if technically compatible, as awkward, forced, or weak. He cautions that variations should not be created haphazardly, jumping from thing to thing, but systematically. There is a method that guides his selection and development of ideas. Once comfortable incorporating variations into the framework of an initial kushaura and kutsinhira part, learners should work on a second pair, a third, and so on— eventually creating simple kushaura and kutsinhira successions. Within either domain, they can practice alternating individual parts: repeating one for several cycles, then another, striving to transition smoothly between them. The discipline lays the ground for constructing more elaborate chains of parts and variations. Beginning with basic-line and high-line alternations, they can subsequently incorporate additional righthand and left-hand variations from the repertory into part successions. Eventually, players gain the mastery to integrate spontaneous ideas with such designs. Zimbabwean players do not only develop their skills in the tranquility of private practice sessions, but on the job in ensembles: learning to think on their feet and maintain their concentration amid vibrant streams of interlocking parts at impressive tempos. Cosmas recommends practicing together with other musicians to prepare for such challenges, initially working on a kushaura-kutsinhira pair, cultivating the ability to interlock the parts flawlessly. Later, incorporating variations 14

Introduction

into the textural mesh. Finally, proceeding through successive kushaura-kutsinhira pairs in this manner, practicing each in turn until fully under control. (See specific recommendations under chapter headings “Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts” and “Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements.”) In the face of our expansive archive, Cosmas advises students that it is preferable to perfect a few parts representing a composition than to acquire a large number for its own sake. Accordingly, practicing one piece lightly before moving to another can defeat the purpose, as can striving to acquire new compositions before developing a solid repertory base. Without being deeply embodied, new material will be of little use under the pressures of performance, and if executed poorly, will restrain or throw off playing partners. In his experience, it is productive at times to concentrate exclusively on one or two pieces for days on end. Immersion facilitates mastery. With increased command over repertory, aspiring players can practice the basics of musical interaction: responding to changes introduced within another’s kushaura or kutsinhira part. This can involve a range of expressive liberties in mbira ensembles. In some situations, one player faithfully repeats a piece’s prominent part over the performance, while another musician performs an interlocking part (or multiple parts) with variations. Alternatively, players take turns, at different times providing the constant ground for one another’s creative explorations. In still other situations, they simultaneously interweave variations amid the flow of successive parts. While guided by their own system’s aural preferences in this regard— and those agreed upon by the ensemble— players ultimately develop the skill and confidence to respond to unpredictable turns in any member’s performance, contributing distinctive features to ensemble renditions. At such moments, mbira players’ treatment of repertory really depends on the situation. For example, while Cosmas is guided by his preferences for starting points in pieces’ cycles, he has the mastery to incorporate parts into his rendition at any point in the cycle (wherever my fingers greet the keys) when his ideas’ development or group interplay calls for it. In this light, his differing responses to my questions about pedagogy and performance in the book’s commentaries provide a window on favored practices that came to mind on dif-

ferent occasions and his changing preferences over time in different contexts. In particular, commentaries concerning his relative emphasis on parts and variations (so many cycles or so many minutes in a hypothetical performance) reflect his theoretical system. While useful for understanding his treatment of a composition’s components in comparative terms, his remarks are just intended to give an example for students. We don’t keep track like that when we play. We only limit the length of a part for recording purposes or for teaching purposes. Overall, musicians can expand or shorten a piece’s rendition in relation to their collective inspiration, sense of what is appropriate, and interaction with the audience. A commercial recording of a composition may occupy a few minutes; a performance at a ceremony, upward of half an hour. As aspiring musicians draw on their increasing knowledge of the music’s conventions, introducing new variations and parts in ensembles, they become increasingly sensitive to the effects of their choices on their playing partners’ performances. With experience, they determine the part combinations they find especially appealing and workable. In this book, I’ve given my preferences to students, Cosmas explains. Of course, they should experiment and go on to discover others on their own. Learning never ends, he adds with a smile. In the memorializing tradition of the mbira, Mbira’s Restless Dance is a project of documentation and reclamation, highlighting individual players’ singular places in the history of the music and the life of the community. It provides a window onto the foundational knowledge that Cosmas’s associates passed to him— his inheritance as an aspiring musician— and the processes by which he cultivated his own voice within the tradition. Altogether, this is his legacy to future generations. Additional Sources for Mbira Repertory and Renditions

Having studied this book’s archive, readers will recognize comparable mbira parts and variations in other pieces featured on the Nonesuch CDs on which Cosmas performed, The Soul of Mbira and Shona Mbira Music, and on the increasing body of commercial mbira recordings, instructional materials, websites and films devoted to mbira music, YouTube performances, and

“live” workshops and mbira concerts. The Art of Mbira provides narrative descriptions and transcriptions of complete recorded Nhemamusasa and Nhimutimu renditions by the Magaya brothers and by John Kunaka (Maridzambira), respectively. Additionally, German scholars Klaus-Peter Brenner and Gerd Grupe have published comprehensive studies of the mbira repertory, richly illustrated with transcriptions (in Brenner’s case, CDs as well), including different versions of pieces in our study and additional compositions.5 Cosmas and I hope that our close study of his and his associates’ practices will prepare readers to draw increased value from the wide-ranging sources above. Purchasing or Building a Mbira

Sources for purchasing mbira locally and abroad are available on the Internet. For readers with the inclination, one article provides detailed plans for Kunaka’s method of mbira construction.6 With enduring admiration for instruments that the master built for us in 1971, Cosmas still praises their exceptional sound quality and durability. To this day, we play them. To this day, they hold their tuning. Suggested Order for Learning the Mbira Repertory

Cosmas suggests the following order for learning the compositions that appear in these volumes. Representing one of many possible paths through the archive, his recommended succession emphasizes pieces that are popular at ceremonies, while, from piece to piece, exposing students to increasing levels of technical difficulty and to contrasting musical features that diversify music programs. 1. Karigamombe 2. Mukatiende 3. Nhemamusasa 4. Kuzanga 5. Nyamaropa 6. Mahororo 7. Bayawabaya 8. Taireva (1) 9. Nhimutimu (1) 10. Chipindura Introduction

15

11. Shumba 12. Nyamamusango 13. Bangiza (2) 14. Dande 15. Chakwi 16. Chandasarira 17. Taireva (2) 18. Bangiza (5) 19. Muzoriwa 20. Chaminuka ndiMambo 21. Taireva (4) 22. Mandarindari 23. Nhemamusasa yekutanga 24. Shumba yaNgwasha 25. Tondobayana 26. Chipembere 27. Mutamba 28. Bangiza (1) 29. Nhemamusasa yepasi 30. Bangiza (4) 31. Bangiza (3) 32. Nhimutimu (2) 33. Nyamaropa yepasi 34. Gorekore 35. Taireva (3) 36. Nyamaropa Chipembere 37. Nyuchi 38. Chaminuka, We 39. Dangurangu Notes 1. As performed in the Magayas’ circles in Mondoro, the hosho technique involves playing a pair of handle gourds with right- and left-hand scissor motions, slapping the seeds inside against the inner walls. The basic accompaniment involves a three-pulse pattern, in which the right-hand downstroke (beat division 1) delineates the beat (cha. .cha. .cha. .cha), followed by rapid left-hand and right-hand upstrokes filling in beat divisions 2 and 3: cha-ka-cha cha-ka-cha cha-kacha, and so on. In Euro-American notation, the most basic figure can be approximated as an eighth-note triplet or as a dotted eighth-note triplet. In practice, players with different styles subject the accompaniment to subtle rhythmic and timbral variations, involving different right- and left-hand techniques, accentuation on different beat divisions, and rhythmic reapportioning of “triplet” elements. Other

16

Introduction

distinctions include nuanced manipulation of the mass of seeds and their percussive and timbral qualities: changing the relative hardness or softness of attacks, slapping seeds en masse against the gourd wall or to varying degrees “slurring” their grainy sounds (eliding adjacent beat divisions 2–3, for example), and so on. Regional styles of accompaniment also vary. 2. Paul F. Berliner, The Art of Mbira (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020). The research of several scholars has assisted me in interpreting the harmonic features of Cosmas’s larger repertory and in revising my earlier analyses in The Soul of Mbira: Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1978] 1993), including Andrew Tracey’s pioneering work on the “standard Shona mbira music sequence” and its perceptual permutations discussed later in the introduction. See “The Matepe Mbira Music of Rhodesia,” African Music 4, no. 4 (1970): 37–61; and “The System of the Mbira,” in Papers Presented at the Seventh Symposium on Ethnomusicology, Dept. of Anthropology and Ethnomusicology, University of Venda, South Africa, 3rd–5th September 1988 (1989), 43–55. Invaluable as well have been two monumental studies extending Tracey’s work. Klaus-Peter Brenner elaborates the mathematical properties of mbira music and the standard sequence’s “principles of rotational symmetry” in Chipendani und Mbira. Musikinstrumente, nicht-begriffliche Mathematik und die Evolution der harmonischen Progressionen in der Musik der Shona in Zimbabwe [Chipendani and Mbira. Musical Instruments, Implicit Mathematics and the Evolution of Harmonic Progressions in the Music of the Shona of Zimbabwe], Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, 3rd ser., vol. 221 (Göttingen: Verlagsbuchhandlung Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997). Gerd Grupe’s complementary work on mbira harmony and other features of the music includes alternative analyses of mbira pieces in Die Kunst des mbiraSpiels [The Art of Mbira Playing]: Harmonische Struktur und Patternbildung in der Lamellophonmusik der Shona in Zimbabwe, Musikethnologische Sammelbände 19, ed. Wolfgang Suppen (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2004). 3. See Berliner, The Soul of Mbira, [1978] 1993, 59–72; Brenner, Chipendani und Mbira, 371–73; and Claire Jones, “Shona Mbira Tunings and the Production of New Sounds: Modal Tunings and the Emergence of the Mbira Orchestras,” in Brenner, ed., Proceedings of the “Symposium III.4: Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes” of the 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung, Göttingen, September 4–8, 2012 (Hildesheim: Olms, 2019). 4. Gerhard Kubik coined the term “inherent rhythms” for “rhythmic patterns which automatically emerge from the

total musical complex, delighting the ears of both listeners and players, but which are not played as such.” See “The Phenomenon of Inherent Rhythms in East and Central African Instrumental Music,” African Music 3, no. 1 (1962): 33–42. He subsequently discusses the phenomenon more generally in terms of “inherent patterns,” for example, in Theory of African Music, vol. 1, ed. Max Peter Baumann, Intercultural Music Studies, with CD (Wilhelmshaven: Florian Noetzel Verlag, 1994). See also Albert S. Bregman’s “Auditory Streaming: Competition among Alternative Organizations,” Perception and Psychophysics 23, no. 5 (1978): 391–98. 5. Brenner, Chipendani und Mbira; Grupe, Die Kunst des mbira-Spiels. See also Brenner’s transcription and analysis of a virtuosic mbira solo performance, “A Cognitive Fireworks of Model-Bound Two-Handed Improvisation: Mbira dzaVadzimu Master Ephat Mujuru’s ‘Deep’ Kutsinhira Rendition of Bukatiende Diki,” in Brenner, Proceedings (2019).

For the first Zimbabwean mbira method, see Andrew Tracey, How to Play the Mbira (Dza Vadzimu) (Roodeport, South Africa: International Library of African Music, 1970). Early websites in the States were established by the organizations Dandemutande, Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center, and Mbira. A more recent site is Stefan Franke’s Sympathetic Resonances (https://sympathetic-resonances.org/, accessed October 1, 2018), an interactive internet platform for repertories of different types of mbira that explores interlocking part combinations in different tunings. See also Jennifer Kyker’s tribute to Sekuru Tute Chigamba, “Sekuru’s Stories” (https://kyker.digitalscholar.rochester.edu), accessed July 26, 2019. 6. Berliner, “John Kunaka, Mbira Maker,” African Arts 14, no. 1 (1980): 61–88.

Introduction

17

18

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 1a

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 1b

19

Example 1c Manuals’ distinctive scalar patterns melodic turn [L7] L6 [

L5

L4

L3

L2

leap R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

R7

R8

R9 [R10] [ ]

L1

]

B7

B6

B5

B4

B3

B2

B1

leap

leap

Example 1d Grand scale in ascending pitch order pitches on manuals overlap

leap

unison pitches

[ ]

[ ]

a. B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 L1 B7 R1 L3 L2 L4 L5 L6 R2 [L7] R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 [R10] b. G B C D E F G A B C D E F G G A A B C D E F G A a. mbira key names b. tablature letter names (referencing treble staff)

Note and Metric Grids for Mbira Music Tablature Example 2 Grid for standard sixteen-beat cycle (4-4-3: 4 segments per cycle; 4 beats per segment; 3 pulses per beat)

cycle return arrow

Cycle segmentation 1

20

Guide to Mbira Notation

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 2 (continues)

2

3

4

Example 2 continues

Beat areas 1

2

3

4

etc.

Triple-pulse beat division 1 2 3 etc.

Onbeat and offbeat positions offbeat

↑ ↑ onbeat

↑

etc.

↑

Note and metric grids for non-standard cycles

Example 3a

Grid for Kuzanga (4-3-3) offbeat

↑

↑

etc.

↑

onbeat

Example 3b

Grid for Bayawabaya (4-4-2) offbeat

↑

↑

↑

↑

etc.

onbeat

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 3b Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 3b

21

Consolidating a Part’s Patterns on the Standard Grid Example 4

Nyamaropa kushaura (1)

right-hand pattern comprising upper voice

left-hand pattern comprising middle and lower voices

combined patterns

Graphic Annotations and Altered Note Heads Representing Performance Practices and Harmonic Forms Practices concerning specific parts’ starting points

Example 5

Taireva (3) kushaura (1) note skipped on initial cycle

Example 6 Bangiza (5) kushaura

Guide to Mbira Notation 22

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 6

optional starting point

Example 6

Harmonic concepts and form

Example 7a

Dyad notation and structure dyad class (built on dyad root) fifth third root

F

Dyad class

Mbira key/note content root fifth third

Dyad class

C

G

D

A

E

B

Mbira key/note content root fifth third

F

Example 7b Standard dyad sequence (ds) model C

ds 1

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

3

5

1

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

3

5

1

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

C

ds 1

C alt

ds 2

C = dyad sequence class (transposition form) 1-3-6, etc. = dyad root succession 1 = highlighted sequence model starting point C alt = altered dyad sequence class

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 7b Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 7b

23

Melodic-rhythmic transformation

Example 8

Model pitches and figures

Annotated transformations

pitch substitution

figure rest substitution substitution

ghost note

pitch insertion

metric shifting

pitch/metric accentuation shifting

Mbira Tunings and Voice Example 9

Piano grand staff and common range of different mbira tablature B1/G tunings (A4=440 hertz using equal-tempered tuning) C5

C6

C4 (middle C)

C3 C2 (second C on piano keyboard)

Guide to Mbira Notation 24

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 9

B1/G approximate range

Example 9

Example 10 Nyamaropa kushaura (1) as transcribed in tablature notation and as sounded on Kunaka mbira (approximately major sixth lower) 29.ks1.3

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 10 Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 10

25

Example 11 Grand scale tablature compared to actual tunings of several mbira

[ ]

[ ]

R1 L3 L2 L4 L5 L6 R2 [L7] R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 [R10] B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 L1 B7 B C D E F G G A A B C D E F G A G B C D E F G A

A4=440 hertz using equal-tempered tuning +/- cents deviation Bandambira

-3 +1 +1 +1 -1 +5 +4 -6 -1 -1 +2 +0 -7 -10 -6 A#2 C 3 D#3 E3 F 3 G3 A3 C4 C 4 D 4 E4 F 4 G 4 A 4 A 4

-11 -11 -11 +14 -4 +13 -12 C5 D5 E5 F5 G5 G 5 B5

Mujuru

+2 +4 -1 +3 +4 -5 +2 -4 +1 -3 +7 -1 -2 -10 +10 G#2 A2 B2 C3 D 3 F3 G3 A3 A 3 B3 C 4 D 4 E4 G4 F 4

+9 -2 +10 -15 +2 +13 -12 G 4 A 4 B4 D5 D 5 E5 G5

Gondo

-1 +0 -4 +2 +1 -5 -6 +1 -1 -5 -7 +1 -8 +14 -9 B2 D3 E3 F3 G3 A3 B3 C4 D4 E4 F 4 G4 A4 A 4 B4

+15 -6 +1 -7 -16 -2 -7 C5 D 5 E5 F 5 G5 A5 B5

Kunaka

+3 +8 +10 +11 +9 +5 +1 +7 -3 +2 +4 +0 -9 +7 +3 A2 C 3 D3 E3 F 3 G 3 A 3 C4 D4 D 4 F4 G4 A4 A 4 A 4

+2 -4 +6 -4 -6 -20 -22 C5 D5 D 5 F5 G5 A5 A 5

Mude

+1 -1 +0 -1 +3 -2 -1 -6 +7 -3 -1 -8 -1 +8 +8 C3 D3 D 3 F 3 F 3 G 3 A 3 C4 C 4 D 4 F 4 G4 G 4 A4 A4

Guide to Mbira Notation 26

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 11

-11 +14 -14 -10 +20 +9 -12 C5 C 5 D 5 F5 F 5 G 5 B5

Example 11

Polyrhythmic Templates/Hand Polyrhythms Templates with 3:2 polyrhythmic components

Example 12a.1 3:2 polyrhythmic schema

Embellished schema fragments

etc. ↑ ↑ ↑ (beat position)

↑

↑

↑

↑

↑

Example 12a.2 RH: 3:2 on beat division 3 LH: 3:2 on beat division 3, and rest variations 28.ks3.1 Nyamamusango kushaura (3) RH rhythm LH rhythm etc.

RH rhythm LH rhythm etc.

Example 12a.3 RH: 3:2 on beat division 1 LH: 3:2 on beat division 3 18.ks1.1 Mahororo kushaura (1) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 12a.3 Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12a.3

27

Templates with 2:2 rhythmic components

Example 12b.1 2:2 rhythmic schema

↑ ↑ ↑ (beat position)

↑

etc.

Embellished 2:2 rhythmic schema

compound (2+1) rhythms

shuffle rhythms

↑

↑

↑

↑

etc.

↑

↑

↑

↑

compound (3+1) rhythms

etc.

↑

↑

↑

↑

etc.

Example 12b.2 RH: 3:2 on beat division 1 LH: 2:2 on beat division 1 28.kt5.1 Nyamamusango kutsinhira (5) etc.

Example 12b.3 RH: 3:2 on beat division 3 LH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 3 29.ks1.1 Nyamaropa kushaura (1) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation 28

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12b.3

Example 12b.3

Example 12b.4 RH: 3:2 on beat division 1 LH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 3 10.ks.1 Chandasarira kushaura etc.

Example 12b.5 RH: 3:2 on beat division 1 LH: compound (2+1) rhythms on beat division 3 3.ks1.1 Bangiza (3) kushaura (1) etc.

Example 12b.6 RH: 3:2 on beat division 1 LH: compound (3+1) rhythms on beat division 3 11.ks1.1 Chipembere kushaura (1) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 12b.6 Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12b.6

29

Templates with 3:4 polyrhythmic components

Example 12c.1 3:4 polyrhythmic schema ↑ ↑ ↑ (beat position)

↑

etc.

Embellished 3:4 polyrhythmic schema shifting three-pulse rhythms

↑

↑

↑

↑

shifting shuffle rhythms

etc.

↑

↑

↑

↑

alternate-pulse rhythms etc.

↑

↑

↑

↑

etc.

Example 12c.2 RH: alternate-pulse rhythms on beat division 2 LH: shifting three-pulse rhythms on beat division 1 10.kt6.1 Chandasarira kutsinhira (6) etc.

Example 12c.3 RH: alternate-pulse rhythms on beat division 2 LH: shifting shuffle rhythms on beat division 2 10.kt3.1 Chandasarira kutsinhira (3) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation 30

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12c.3

Example 12c.3

Technically demanding polyrhythmic templates and those with additional right-hand patterns

Example 12d.1 RH: 3:2 on beat division 3 LH: five-pulse rhythms on beat division 3 3.kt1.1 Bangiza (3) kutsinhira (1) etc. linked shuffle rhythms

Example 12d.2 RH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 3 LH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 1 7.ks1.1 Chakwi kushaura (1) etc.

Example 12d.3 RH: shifting three-pulse rhythms on beat division 2 LH: shifting three-pulse rhythms on beat division 3 25.sv1.1 Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version (1) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation

Example 12d.3 Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12d.3

31

Example 12d.4 RH: 2:2 on beat division 2 LH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 3 8.kt2.1 Chaminuka ndiMambo kutsinhira (2) etc.

Example 12d.5 RH: 2:2 on beat division 3 LH: shuffle rhythms on beat division 3 26.ks1.1 Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (1) etc.

Guide to Mbira Notation 32

Guide to Mbira Notation : Example 12d.5

Example 12d.5

1 Bangiza (1)

“Bangiza” is one of the big songs for the mbira. When I was learning different “Bangizas” [Bangiza versions (1)–(5)], my teachers would say, “I’m going to teach you ‘Bangiza.’” That’s all; just the same as saying, “I’m going to teach you ‘Nyamaropa’ [It was just a name].” No one ever explained the meaning of the name of this song to me specifically. Literally, “bangiza” means “to show,” but it goes further to suggest leading by example. For instance, as the village head, I must show good things by example. The title of the song also refers to “Bangiza raMutota,” the ritual hut of Mutota, one of the great Shona chiefs. The hut is where they keep the ritual things of a big spirit medium connected with rainmaking ceremonies. In Shona culture, chiefs lead the ceremony as the custodians of tradition. If there is a drought, they tell the village heads to arrange a rainmaking ceremony. My younger brother, Leonard, taught me both the kushaura and the kutsinhira for this “Bangiza” [kushaura (1) and (2), kutsinhira (1)]. That goes a long way back if I’m not mistaken, in the sixties. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) and (2), later working on kushaura (2) and (8); finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are suggested at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

33

Kushaura Bangiza (1): Kushaura (1) (1.ks1.1  )

Kushaura (1) emphasizes left-hand midrange shuffle keystroke figures with alternating upward and downward leaps. Cosmas considers the basic part, with its spare right-hand pattern, to be the backbone of the part. Although primarily a pamusoro part, it includes emphatic bass Bs in segments 2 and 3. The latter reference dyad B in the harmonic sequence a beat earlier than the other parts, which tend to minimize the dyad’s presence. 1.ks1.2 fills out the initial right-hand figures through pitch insertion, creating an alternate-pulse pattern comprising two 3:2 figures per segment. He typically performs the variation as a transition or a starter for one cycle or so, then goes on to high-line patterns such as 1.ks1.8. When you fill the first one in with the other right-hand notes, it becomes the secondary one. It’s more for development. When you move from the basic to the developmental one, it feels like switching into another gear. It feels the same when you move to the high lines with the rhythm filled in. 1.ks1.4–6 create interest through the placement of right-hand rest substitutions. He can substitute a rest in the same temporal position in each segment to produce a uniform variation, or change the positions of rest substitutions over the cycle. 1.ks1.7 illustrates a right-hand simplified line, which he can vary further with a touch of chording, playing octave Bs (R1 and R4) in segments 2 and 3, second beats. 1.ks1.8: The basic part’s high lines are his own inventions. As in this variation, Cosmas can answer scalar descents by quoting short melodic figures from variation 1.ks1.2 (segment 2, for instance) or vary the latter further (second half of segment 4).When I called attention to his variant in segment 4 (the A-for-C substitution, the third-beat area), he explained that the pitches A and C were like twins, of equal value. Sometimes in segment 4, he preferred to answer the preceding figure C-C-A by incorporating the higher voice in his response (C-C-G), sometimes the lower voice (C-A-G). Both fit the underlying harmony. 1.ks1.9 varies right-hand figures through pitch insertion and metric shifting in segments 2 and 4, reinforcing the left-hand shuffle figures in octaves. Still 34

Chapter 1

other options employ rest substitution and segment substitution to create hybrid patterns combining basicline and high-line components. For example, he enjoys leading segments 1–2 of 1.ks1.6 into segments 3–4 of 1.ks1.10  . 1.ks1.11 transforms the high line through pitch insertion, increasing segments’ rhythmic density and producing wide intervallic leaps and triple-striking figures, some with embedded double noting. 1.ks1.12: Cosmas also holds right-hand patterns constant, while introducing left-hand pitch substitutions. In 1994, I played this variation for him, which I had transcribed from an early 1970s recording. In the dyad F areas of the part’s sequence (segments 1, 2, and 4), he substitutes bass F for midrange C, altering the midrange pattern and developing a spare bass line. Oh, yes. I had completely forgotten that I used to do that, but it’s another nice substitute. I’d really like to do that bass again. It’s just amazing, it shows one can’t have access to everything all the time. Perhaps the more you play, the more things come back to you from the past. That kushaura is completely different from what others play. 1.ks1.13–16: He varies the basic part through lefthand pitch substitution and rest substitution. 1.ks1.17–18 illustrate his chording of the entire basic line. 1.ks1.19: Cosmas mixes chording with rest substitution (jumping or skipping pitches) on third beats (beat division 2) in segments 1, 2, and 4. I bring the chording in when I feel I’ve given enough time to the high lines. By replacing them with chording, I want to inject more life into my playing. 1.ks1.20 retains chording in the first half of each segment, but removes it in the second half altogether. 1.ks1.21: Here, he extends his use of chording to the upper half of the manual for high lines. He exploits the latter less often, only once in a while, he says, to break up the constancy of his chording of basic lines and developing high lines. Sometimes I think of my playing [the contours of its lines] like on a graph. Sometimes I want to keep it level, sometimes I want it to go down. It has to fluctuate. I’m looking for fluctuation. So, sometimes, instead of chording— you know, like playing R1 and R4 together [octave B]— I’ll separate them when I come to that part of the cycle and play them individually, one or the other. Also, the high-line double noting with chording, that’s very

difficult to do technically, very demanding. It can tire my hands so I don’t do it that often. 1.ks1.22: Adding heavy left-hand accents to the last note of every segment is an approach he can also combine with the “developmental” basic line (1.ks1.2) and with chording. Other possibilities unfold before him as well, like mixing high lines in the right hand with accents in the left hand, or adding rests, or substitutes. All these kinds of things can be mixed in different ways. Bangiza (1): Kushaura (2) (1.ks2.1  )

This part emphasizes left-hand midrange shuffle keystroke figures with upward leaps, and a right-hand alternate-pulse (3:2) pattern. 1.ks2.2–3: Pitch substitution in segment 3 embellishes the basic line with tremolo G. 1.ks2.4, 1.ks2.5  , and 1.ks2.6 introduce highline variations that, in the first example, comprise a high peak and scalar descent, followed by two lower peaks and scalar descents. In the subsequent examples, segment substitution creates a variation with two cascading gestures; figure substitution introduces an additional leap to a high peak. 1.ks2.7: The source of this left-hand variation is a part that Mondreck taught me (chap. 40, 40.1.ks2. Muc). When I subsequently played it for Cosmas, he picked it up instantly and began varying it. Shifting pitches temporally in segment 4, he created two passing figures with a compound (1+3) keystroke rhythm that wrap around the cycle. It was an inversion of the compound (3+1) keystroke figures characteristic of another piece: That “Chipembere” phrasing is an example of my improvisations, he said. 1.ks2.8–13 demonstrate textural variations in which he breaks up his chording by bringing in different single notes at different times, and employs chording substitutions to diversify his patterns, variously mixing simultaneities of fourths with thirds and, occasionally, seconds. The latter, though less usual, is a good one too. In 1.ks2.12–13 (pickup to second segment), he returns to the initial high peak. At times, I want this mixture of this one [R8/F] and that one [R5/C]. That’s what I’ll be looking for. Then I just move my fingers down the keys, leaving a space of two keys in between the ones I’m playing. Other times, I’ll be looking for different sounds. Is that when you repeat R5 with your thumb, while

playing down the keys R8, R7, R6 with your index finger (1.ks2.13)? Exactly. With the kushaura part, he tends to restrict his range when chording: Usually, the highest I go is to key R8 [F]— that’s the top— rather than the very top one. [Cosmas demonstrates a variation starting on the farright key.] You can see from my keys, I don’t do these two [plays key R9/G and R6/D together] usually. I just keep on this [R8/F and R5/C]. This [F] is the best high note for the part when I want to use it. Sometimes when chording, he differentially emphasizes one pitch or another, changing the balance of the elements in the pitch and timbral mix. 1.ks2.14–16: Cosmas also uses techniques like accentuation with kushaura (2), he adds, but refrains from double noting. Accents are there to add some spice to my music. They make your music outstanding. Particularly when you’re playing by yourself, you’ll be doing a lot of different things at the same time, using a lot of different techniques. A case in point is pitch insertion: You’re enriching your music. You’re filling in any gaps that would be filled by other players if you were more than one person. Bangiza (1): Kushaura (3) (1.ks3.1 )

Kushaura (3) emphasizes left-hand midrange shuffle keystroke figures comprising, in each segment, an upward leap followed by three downward leaps. In 2004, when I demonstrated one of William Rusere’s versions of Bangiza (chap. 40, 40.2.ks.Ru.4), which I had learned from him ten years earlier, Cosmas responded with surprise. It reminded him of a related kushaura (3) part that he had himself composed in the 1970s. I used to play that but don’t play it often anymore. Calling up the part from memory, he initially struggled with its keystroke pattern, in which left-hand B7 (midrange A) served as a springboard to other keys on the pickup to each segment. Shaking his head at the awkwardness of such moves, he remarked that they represented an unusual angle. I’ll need to practice this one. When I played this part for him several years later, he initially heard B7/A on the pickup to segment 3 (an A-for-G substitution, prolonging dyad D) as a mistake. As it turned out, his attention had momentarily flagged and he had thought I was playing kushaura (1). Bangiza (1)

35

He clarified that the substitution was inappropriate for the latter, but fine for kushaura (3), which developed A through repetition. He reminded me that B7 was the key that the renowned player Mubayiwa Bandambira had called duri/mortar. The image had stayed with Cosmas. He, too, liked to place hard accents on B7 at times, his thumb striking the key with the action of a pestle. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kushaura (1) and (2). You can give the first one [kushaura (1)] about 75 percent of the playing time, the other about 25 percent. Within the 100 percent, I’ll switch back and forth emphasizing the first. I start my performance at a reasonable speed, then build it up as time goes on. Over his career, Cosmas’s approach to the parts changed as he acquired greater experience, especially with respect to high lines: The way kushaura (1) [1.ks1.1] is structured, it’s complete on its own. When I first learned it, it didn’t have high lines. That’s why, in the beginning, if I wanted to play them, I had to switch to the other song, kushaura (2), which had high lines. Typically, I’d start by playing kushaura (1), then move to the second one. The high lines I now play with kushaura (1) [1.ks1.8–11] were things I worked out myself. I had an interest in hearing something more happening on the right hand for the first kushaura, instead of having to switch to the second one— it was a test case. You can get bored by continually doing the same things. Still, I feel it’s important to maintain the originality of kushaura (1) [the way he first learned it]. What I usually do is start with the basic part without high lines, then move to kushaura (2), adding its high lines. After that, I come back to kushaura (1) and add a little of my own high lines. Then I switch back to the basic part again, giving more play to my old system. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (1) (1.kt1.1 

)

Kutsinhira (1) emphasizes left-hand shuffle keystroke figures with downward octave leaps. 36

Chapter 1

Initially, Cosmas taught me this part beginning from segment 3 in the current transcription, but years later he taught me to start with segment 1. Although the latter remained his theoretical preference, he would periodically revert to his former practice. 1.kt1.3–4, 1.kt1.5 : I like to switch these high-line variations, going from one to another after a few cycles to give a difference and add to my music’s appeal. 1.kt1.7 is a combined left- and right-hand variation that alters the basic part through rest substitution and metric shifting. 1.kt1.8–9 illustrate variations combining chording with single-pitch sequences. Sometimes I mix these. For a change, I alternate playing with the chording and without the chording. 1.kt1.10–12 nuance the basic part with various accentuation schemes. Cosmas also applies transformational techniques simultaneously, for example, adding chording to variation 1.kt1.7 above. Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (2) (1.kt2.1 

)

This part emphasizes left-hand shuffle keystroke figures alternating downward octave leaps and leaps from midrange A. I did this my own way after hearing others play something like it. I added some of my keys to make the part fit with my way of playing. This multilayered pattern came to him in a performance that I recorded. When we added it to our evolving collection of variations, he initially described it as just substitutes based on the main kutsinhira, but he later decided it was different enough to be considered an independent kutsinhira part. It’s a separate one: a bit similar to the first, but it has its own distinction. When the note A comes around, it gives a little curve. [He draws a straight line in the air with a detour.] Some of the roads curve sharply, but they come back around and continue on. The distinctive feel of the left-thumb leaps to the far end of the bass manual (B7/A key) on beats 2 and 4, combined with the rhythmic pull of the shuffle figures’ offbeat basses (beat division 2), can make the part a challenge to maintain steadily. In my experience, a common problem is slipping a pulse behind, which shifts bass pitches onto the beat. Kutsinhira (2)’s left-hand pattern can accommo-

date all of kutsinhira (1)’s right-hand lines, including chording and the part’s accentuation variations. 1.kt2.2  illustrates a high line with two high peaks and scalar descents. Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (3) (1.kt3.1 )

Kutsinhira (3) emphasizes left-hand shuffle keystroke figures alternating upward octave leaps and downward leaps from midrange A. In relation to kutsinhira (2), the part illustrates the technique of “pitch pair” reversal, in this instance, reversing the order of figures’ pitches on first and third beats. Cosmas points out that kutsinhira (2) and (3) share an A substitution (segment 3, second beat). The pitch, which comprises a harmonic addition in relation to dyad G, does not appear in kutsinhira (1) or another kutsinhira for this piece. In December 2003, Cosmas pulled kutsinhira (3) from memory. This is my own invention from the past. Years later, he thought that his brother Justin may have taught him the part. I’d play this one for four or five cycles. I like to introduce different keys to hear different voices [like this part’s voice]— not going over the same thing all the time. I need to introduce different voices to beautify my music. It’s like in a family, everyone speaks with their own voice. Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (4) (1.kt4.1 )

Kutsinhira (4) comprises left-hand shuffle keystroke figures with upward octave leaps. It’s from kutsinhira (1), but completely upside down! As with kutsinhira (3), Cosmas ascribes this part either to his own invention or to Justin in the 1970s. I’d play this one for three or four cycles.

This one is from Leonard between 1972 and 1974. I’d give this one more time of play: eight to ten cycles. 1.kt5.1, 1.kt5.2 , 1.kt5.3–4: Cosmas tends to focus on basic-line variations with this part. Instead of putting in high lines over that pamusoro pattern [midrange pattern], I sometimes like to stay with basic right-hand notes. But I switch them around, alternating the notes— sometimes substitute the B for the A, sometimes more Cs, sometimes more Gs— the kinds of changes we’re indicating. Because, otherwise, if I start including more of the “highest” high lines, they’ll disturb or take away from the arrangement. I won’t have given enough chance to the “middle” high lines. I’d like to stay there for some time. I might move on to the high lines later. 1.kt5.6: Breaking up left-hand figures with rest substitutions lightens the demands of the basic part’s constant right- and left-hand key alternation, producing a simplified kutsinhira variation. Dropping things from your playing always creates difference.

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (6) (1.kt6.1 ) (same as Bangiza [5] kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse later)

This part emphasizes bass shuffle figures including double noting that wind their way from midrange G to bass G and back again. When I played this part for Cosmas, transcribed from 1970s recordings, he replied: This shows me that I’ve been carrying the things that I still play from long ago. He remembers it as a part that he invented or that he learned from Leonard. Reviewing the right-hand pattern, he added that he could play segment 4’s last figures as A-A-G or, with a pitch substitution, as A-G-G. I’d just switch from one to another different times. I play it to give a different flavor. Both are good.

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (5) (1.kt5.1) (same as Bangiza [2] kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse earlier)

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (7) (1.kt7.1) (same as Bangiza [5] kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse later)

This midrange part emphasizes left-hand alternatepulse figures with narrow leaps from C or D to higher pitches.

Kutsinhira (7) emphasizes left-hand shuffle keystroke figures with downward leaps and a midrange A drone. Bangiza (1)

37

Responding to my re-creation of the part from a 1970s transcription, Cosmas says: This part I learned from Mondreck when we were playing with Mhuri yekwaRwizi, but I added my own substitutes and gaps [rests] to the music. I used to play that way, but these days I haven’t been playing in that style very much. I can see lots of mixture there. That’s nice you captured those things. Mude liked that a lot on tour [1983 tour of the United Kingdom and Europe], and so did Luken and Mondreck [who were playing kushaura]. They’d request that I switch to it. This shows me earlier things I used to do which were very good. They should stay in the storeroom! 1.kt7.4 : Pitch substitution D, which answers the two preceding Ds, slightly prolongs the G dyad area in relation to the basic part. 1.kt7.5: Here, rest substitution drops several pickups from left-hand shuffle figures, lessening the technical demands on the thumb and increasing the bass line’s onbeat emphasis. Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (8) (1.kt8.1 ) (similar to Bangiza [4] kutsinhira [1] rotated; same as Bangiza [5] kushaura)

This part emphasizes left-hand shifting three-pulse keystroke figures, and includes tremolo G in segment 3. This is one of those kutsinhira that Bandambira taught me. It’s one of the Bangizas that I managed to learn the time when we were doing research in 1971. I saw him playing and quickly learned from what he was doing with his fingers. I learned my left-hand keys and the first four keys on the right-hand side of the mbira. That was the total of how he was doing it. The other right-hand keys— the 9th, 8th, 7th, and so on— I had to work out myself. I improvised a lot of the variations. It’s a multipurpose part, but I mostly think of it as a kutsinhira because it’ll often be played in that position. Its role is to interlock, to get everything meshed. That’s what it does because there’s a lot of alternating of [rightand left-hand] keys— and crisscrossing of keys [changing directions of leaps within and between left-hand manuals]— which makes it part of kutsinhira. It falls in that category of parts. It’s a rich song. 1.kt8.2  illustrates substitutions in segments 3 and 4 (harmonic-addition C and passing-tone B) that re38

Chapter 1

spond to the scalar descent of segment 2, creating comparable figures. 1.kt8.5 : Substitutions reinforce dyad F in segment 1, and introduce high Gs in segment 4, starting the next cycle’s scalar descent a beat earlier than in 1.kt8.4. 1.kt8.6: He points out with satisfaction how his Chandasarira quotation emphasizing bass F, and his subsequent D-F bass figures, correspond to, or respond to, one another. 1.kt8.8–12: He typically initiates such heavy-bass variations, replete with double and triple noting, in segment 4 of the piece’s cycle. They involve demanding techniques that he tends to expand when using this part in the kutsinhira role, but limit when using it in the kushaura role. All those kinds of improvisations were ones that I invented. I started doing that long ago. Over time, I kept on working on improvising. As you can hear, the style is similar to how I use those basses on other songs. That tells you that it really is my style, my approach. It’s interesting that some other players have come to know that, to identify me through my own music. They say, “This is Cosmas,” from hearing some of the CDs and recordings I play on. Many people have come to me and said, “We could tell from the recordings that it was you who was playing.” I really had to build up to that over the years. Typically, when I start using the double noting, it’ll be when I’ve played other parts for enough time and want to throw in something that gives a little twist, some difference to what has been going on. Some substitutes are a bit distant from the whole system, but others are closely linked. Sometimes I keep moving from one to another that is close to what I’ve been playing, so that they are interrelated. I’d stay on those kinds of substitutes for two or three cycles. Controlling the shapes of his left-hand figures, he differentially applies double noting and triple noting to individual segments. In 1.kt8.8, segments 1 and 4, he creates double-noting figures with identical or related contours that talk to one another, while leaving the third figures in each segment unaltered. The latter are already in conversation, he explains, pointing out their similar shapes. Moreover, they indicate his variation’s relationship to the main part. Taking an alternative tack in another demonstration, he transformed the first two figures in segments 1 and 2 with double noting, but reverted to the model’s original figures in segments 3 and 4. I asked why he

did not carry the double-noting substitutions through the cycle. Although the option was available to him, he said, it would have created a different sound than he had been after. His changes in the initial segments achieved the balance and particular conversation between figures that he wanted at the time. 1.kt8.9 comprises a rhythmically dense bass line with double-noting and “gapped” triple-noting figures. 1.kt8.10: Here, he uses the three D triple-noting figure substitutions over the cycle, but he can also selectively mix them with figures in the same structural positions quoted from the basic part or from other variations. 1.kt8.11: In the context of his evolving Bangiza (1) practices, he viewed this and related variations as composed of substitutions in relation to the basic part. I also regard those as substitutes because my right hand continues doing the very same thing, while I replace certain things in my left hand. All left-hand variations in this section can be played with Bangiza (1)’s cascading high lines 1.kt8.4–5, he advised. I asked if it would be acceptable to vary kutsinhira (8)’s basic part through left-hand rest substitution, for example, deleting the middle pitch of each shifting three-pulse figure. When I demonstrated this for segment 1, producing alternate-pulse midrange figures, he interpreted my performance as a variation of kutsinhira (5). That’s for when you want to do a pamusoro with an additional voice [L7/A]. Then you can play that pitch as a substitute, that duri key. One of the functions of the less taxing pamusoro part, he went on to say, was to give the player’s hands a rest. It’s like dancing shangara. You can’t always dance the heavy steps [he taps out a rapid triple subdivision of the beat: 1–2–3 1–2–3 1–2–3, etc.]. At times, you have to switch to the lighter one like the one Chivhanga taught me [he taps out a variant pattern incorporating rests into some beat division 2 positions above: 1–x–3 1–2–3 1–x–3 1–2–3 1–x–3 1–2–3, etc.]. Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (9) (1.kt9.1 )

Kutsinhira (9) emphasizes bass alternate-pulse figures with pitch repetition and leaps in contrary motion. In 2008, our review of Cosmas’s 1999 Bangiza (1) recording in Zimbabwe (discussed further below) revealed this kutsinhira, which he did not recall having

played before. He listened with pleasure, commenting: It shows for sure that when you’re playing, things suddenly come to you, come into your hands. You don’t plan for this. Maybe the [ancestral] spirits will be pushing for it, pushing you to go in a different direction. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Versions Bangiza (1): Solo Version (1) (1.sv1.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura [1])

Solo version (1) combines the left hand of kushaura (1) with variation 1.ks1.2’s right-hand pattern transformed through elaborate pitch insertion. The latter produces thickened chording figures incorporating double and triple noting. Usually, I reserve these kinds of things for my solo playing. 1.sv1.3: Right-hand rest substitution produces a lighter chording pattern; pitch substitution emphasizes dyad B. 1.sv1.4 reconfigures the pattern by introducing gaps or breaks in third- and first-beat areas (beat division 2). 1.sv1.5: In contrast to the variations above, this variation illustrates elaborate high-line chording. Bangiza (1): Solo Version (2) (1.sv2.1 )

The version emphasizes midrange shifting three-pulse keystroke figures with narrow leaps in contrary motion. Cosmas recalled this in 2001 after I shared a related part with him that I had learned from Musekiwa Chingodza in 1994 (chap. 40, 40.1.sv2.Ch). This was my own invention from the seventies based on similar things I heard other musicians performing at the time. 1.sv2.2–3: Pitch substitution and insertion in the second halves of segments produce figures incorporating triple-noting A and G tremolos. Bangiza (1)

39

Bangiza (1): Solo Version (3) (1.sv3.1)

Cosmas created solo version (3) by transforming solo version (2) (variation 1.sv2.2). Right-hand rest substitution, pitch/key substitution, and pitch insertion introduce B chording and figures emphasizing triple noting. These were my own inventions. 1.sv3.2 : Right- and left-hand rest and pitch substitution change the balance of octave Cs, Bs, and Ds. 1.sv3.3: Performing solo version (3), he discovered that softening his attacks on the first pitch of each segment’s third beat produced special effects. 1.sv3.4: Subsequently, substituting rests for the “ghost” notes reconfigured the left-hand pattern, producing another variation. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura-kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination r; web demonstrations : combinations a–b, g–i, m, o). Initially in our discussions, he suggested that he could successfully pair either kushaura (1) or (2) with kutsinhira (1) or (2) (combinations a , b , c). Upon further reflection, he decided that when the kushaura player switches from (1) to (2), it was best for the kutsinhira player to follow suit, changing from kutsinhira (1) to (2) (combination i ). Many things work technically, he explained, but he especially liked the pairing kushaura (2)–kutsinhira (2). He also pointed out that as musicians shared ideas in the moment, the overlap between their changing parts produced distinctive combinations. If one musician changed from kushaura (1) to kushaura (2) in the leading role, for example, the following musician might take a few moments to grasp the change and respond to it, switching, say, from kutsinhira (1) to kutsinhira (2). In the interim, the two musicians created a unique textural mesh from overlapping features of kushaura (2) and kutsinhira (1). Combination h  illustrates Cosmas’s pairing of kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (9), the part that he conceived during his recorded performance of Bangiza (1). Over the years, his ongoing review of arrange40

Chapter 1

ments revealed his changing preferences. After trying out various kutsinhira possibilities for kushaura (3), for instance, he initially approved kutsinhira (1), but later rejected it in favor of kutsinhira (5) (combination m). The latter combination’s left-hand interlocking was more satisfying to him at the time. Eventually, he found the combination wanting, and decided that it worked better incorporated in larger arrangements in which additional players filled out the resultant middle and lower voices. We also tried out kushaura (3) with kutsinhira (6) (combination n). Despite the temporal overlap of its left-hand pitches, the combination was fine, he said, because of its parts’ interlocking right-hand pitches. Even if a little unconventional for two-player arrangements, the combination added variety to his system. Reassessing an earlier combination kushaura (3)–kutsinhira (1) in this light, he said that it, too, could usefully diversify his music for a change. Moreover, he added, he sometimes appreciated the effects created by right-hand patterns on the same level if they occupied complementary vertical space. For example, one musician can play the basic line, another, the high line. Then I can hear two voices mixing instead of one. They’re talking at the same time. Once when we experimented with combination n, I shifted kushaura (3) one pulse later in relation to kutsinhira (6) to achieve greater left-hand interlocking. The trade-off was that the maneuver put the kushaura and kutsinhira’s right-hand patterns on the same level. While he did not approve the particular arrangement, our trial resonated with his practices more generally. The same kind of thing you just tried out on “Bangiza (1),” you’ve heard me doing when we play “Kuzanga” or the new “Bangiza (4)” [in the latter cases, playing the kushaura a step behind as a kutsinhira part]. When you’re used to doing that and are versatile, that gives your music a different flavor. You’ll be switching among all those things and that’s what makes your playing very tasty. Music is food for the ears, so it needs different spices. Three-Part Arrangements

Reflecting on three-part designs, Cosmas sketched out the roles that he and his associates played within the ensemble Mhuri yekwaRwizi (combination o  and combination p):

1st player: Luken would play kushaura (1) 2nd player: Mondreck would play kutsinhira (5) pamusoro 3rd player: Cosmas would alternate cycles of kutsinhira (6) and (7)

This reminds me that Mude loved singing with those basses— kutsinhira (6) and (7)— in that arrangement. Luken would come in with the main kushaura. Then Mondreck would bring in that pamusoro version. Then I’d come in with the basses, switching back and forth between those kutsinhira. I’d start with kutsinhira (7). That, together with kutsinhira (5) pamusoro, was a really wonderful combination. Then I’d switch to go to the heavy-bass kutsinhira (6) because this one has the lead. That’s the one Mude used to like— that double-noting bass one. And I’d switch back and forth against Mondreck’s pamusoro. Oh, Mude used to love that! There is a comparatively greater degree of overlapping between composite right-hand patterns in threeplayer arrangements: The right hand is going to be on the same level as one of the other guys. This can produce the effects of intermittent right-hand “chording,” and in combination with the left-hand patterns, thickened pitch stacks. Combination q and combination r illustrate alternative three-part arrangements in which he shifts the rhythmic positions of kutsinhira (1) and (2) to achieve the desirable balance: 1st player: Bangiza (1) kushaura (1) or (2) 2nd player: Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) 3rd player: Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (1) or (2) shifted one pulse earlier

In the absence of a third player, he favors the two-player options (combination g  and combination l): 1st player: Bangiza (1) kushaura (1) or (2) or switching back and forth 2nd player: Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in other parts for a change.

Whether playing kushaura or kutsinhira, Cosmas’s developmental course reflects his interest in diversifying his own performance’s expression and that of the group. When moving from kushaura (1)’s basic line to high lines, for example, part of my reason is wanting to hear the interlocking of the high notes with the kutsinhira. He can also initiate high lines, inviting his partner to follow him. Likewise, his transformation of his part through rest insertion invites a response. Skipping notes leaves gaps [rests] in what I’ve been playing that have to be filled by the kutsinhira player. In our duo renditions, he directed me to alternate kushaura (1) and (2), emphasizing the former, and within the scheme, to switch between basic-line and high-line performance. Meanwhile, he alternated cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2) to complement my changing parts. Although he said that he enjoyed the changes my occasional pitch substitutions brought about in our composite performance, he would not necessarily respond to them with substitutions in his own part. Throughout, however, when either of us changed to high-line performance or back to the basic line, the expectation was that the other would follow suit. Table 1.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

The good thing about this performance is how the transitions work between parts [in the kushaura and kutsinhira performances]. They should be smooth so they don’t interfere with the hosho player or the other mbira player. This recording also addresses how long I play a particular thing, whether so many cycles or minutes, the timing of my shifting between different things [parts and variations]. He notes a brash pitch in the kushaura high line (around 1:39). We’d played so much preparing for the American tour that year [1998–1999], that when I made this recording my nails were worn out. I was using false nails that created a metallic sound when they struck certain keys. It actually sounded better here than I remembered. It’s OK. This is also the kind of thing that gets covered by the sound of the buzzers when I’m playing mbira inside a gourd resonator. 2:33: In his kutsinhira performance, he began emphasizing [accenting] the basses there. This enhances Bangiza (1)

41

TABLE 1.1 Bangiza

(1)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 4) (1.ks1.1) kt (1) w bl (begins seg 4) (1.kt1.1)

0:00

kt (1) w hl (1.kt1.4)

0:29

kt (2) w hl (1.kt2.2)

1:05

kt (1) w hl (1.kt1.4)

1:25

kt (2) w bl (1.kt2.1)

2:09

kt (1) w hl (1.kt1.5)

2:34

3:31

transition to kt9 w bl/ch (1.kt9.1)

3:12

3:35

kt (9) w hl (1.kt9.2)

3:16

ends

3:47

0:19

0:48

ks (1) w hl (1.ks1.10)

1:24 1:34

ks (1) w bl (1.ks1.1)

1:44

ks (2) w hl (1.ks2.5)

2:28 2:30

ks (2) w bl (1.ks2.1)

2:47

ks (2) w hl (1.ks2.5)

2:53 3:15

ks (1) w bl (1.ks1.1)

4:00

ks (2) w bl (1.ks2.1)

4:05

ends

4:06

42

Chapter 1

their interlocking with the kushaura’s basses, bringing out five-pulse figures in the composite bass line. 3:34: A new part unexpectedly appeared during the kutsinhira performance. Cosmas raised his eyebrows and allowed himself a quick smile as he developed it. Subsequently, I transcribed the part, adding it to our collection as kutsinhira (9) above.

Bangiza (1): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

F ds 1

1.Bangiza (1)

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 1. Bangiza (1) : Compilation

43

Bangiza (1): Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt7

kt8

kt9

sv1

sv2

sv3

F ds 1

3

1.Bangiza (1) 44

1. Bangiza (1) : Compilation

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Bangiza (1): Kushaura (1) 1.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

1.ks1.1

1.ks1.2

1.ks1.3

1.ks1.4

1.ks1.5

1.ks1.6

1.ks1.7

Simplified line

1.Bangiza (1)

Kushaura (1) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kushaura (1)

45

Right-hand high-line variations

1.ks1.8

1.ks1.9

1.ks1.10

1.ks1.11

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

1.ks1.12

1.ks1.13

1.ks1.14

1.ks1.15

1.Bangiza (1) 46

1. Bangiza (1) : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

1.ks1.16

Right-hand chording variations

1.ks1.17

1.ks1.18

1.ks1.19

1.ks1.20

1.ks1.21

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand accentuation variation

1.ks1.22

1.Bangiza (1)

Kushaura (1) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kushaura (1)

47

Bangiza (1): Kushaura (2) 1.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

1.ks2.1

1.ks2.2

1.ks2.3

Right-hand high-line variations

1.ks2.4

1.ks2.5

1.ks2.6

Left-hand variation with high line

1.ks2.7

1.Bangiza (1) 48

1. Bangiza (1) : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

Right-hand chording variations

1.ks2.8

1.ks2.9

1.ks2.10

1.ks2.11

1.ks2.12

1.ks2.13

Left-hand accentuation variations

1.ks2.14

1.ks2.15

1.Bangiza (1)

Kushaura (2) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kushaura (2)

49

1.ks2.16

Bangiza (1): Kushaura (3) 1.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.ks3.1

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (1) 1.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

1.kt1.1

Basic line

1.kt1.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

1.kt1.3

1.kt1.4

1.Bangiza (1) 50

1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

1.kt1.5

Left-hand variation with basic line

1.kt1.6

Left- and right-hand variation

1.kt1.7

Right-hand chording variations

1.kt1.8

1.kt1.9

Left-hand accentuation variations

1.kt1.10

1.kt1.11

1.kt1.12

1.Bangiza (1)

Kutsinhira (1) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

51

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (2) 1.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.kt2.1

Right-hand high line

1.kt2.2

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (3) 1.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.kt3.1

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (4) 1.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.kt4.1

Right-hand high line

1.kt4.2

1.Bangiza (1) 52

1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (5) 1.kt5.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [2] kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variations

1.kt5.1

1.kt5.2

1.kt5.3

1.kt5.4

Right-hand high line

1.kt5.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

1.kt5.6

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (6) 1.kt6.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [5] kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

1.kt6.1

1.Bangiza (1)

Kutsinhira (6) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (6)

53

Right-hand high line

1.kt6.2

Left-hand variation with high line

1.kt6.3

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (7) 1.kt7.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [5] kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

1.kt7.1

Right-hand high-line variations

1.kt7.2

1.kt7.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

1.kt7.4

1.kt7.5

1.Bangiza (1) 54

1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (7)

Kutsinhira (7)

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (8) 1.kt8.1 serving as model (similar to Bangiza [4] kutsinhira [1] rotated; same as Bangiza [5] kushaura)

Right-hand basic line and variations

1.kt8.1

Basic line

1.kt8.2

1.kt8.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

1.kt8.4

1.kt8.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

1.kt8.6 quotation from Chandasarira variation (10.kt6.5)

1.kt8.7

1.Bangiza (1)

Kutsinhira (8) 1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (8)

55

1.kt8.8

1.kt8.9

1.kt8.10

1.kt8.11

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

1.kt8.12

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (9) 1.kt9.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.kt9.1

Right-hand high line

1.kt9.2

1.Bangiza (1) 56

1. Bangiza (1) : Kutsinhira (9)

Kutsinhira (9)

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

1.kt9.3

Bangiza (1): Solo Version (1) 1.sv1.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura [1])

Right-hand basic line and variations

1.sv1.1

1.sv1.2

1.sv1.3

1.sv1.4

Right-hand high line

1.sv1.5

Bangiza (1): Solo Version (2) 1.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

1.sv2.1

1.Bangiza (1)

Solo Version (2) 1. Bangiza (1) : Solo Version (2)

57

Left- and right-hand variations

1.sv2.2

1.sv2.3

1.sv2.4

Bangiza (1): Solo Version (3) 1.sv3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

1.sv3.1

1.sv3.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

1.sv3.3

1.sv3.4

1.Bangiza (1) 58

1. Bangiza (1) : Solo Version (3)

Solo Version (3)

Bangiza (1): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines ks1.10—kt1.5

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 1.ks1.8—1.kt2.2

1.Bangiza (1)

Combinations 1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

59

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.2—1.kt3.1

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 1.ks1.8—1.kt4.2

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.2—1.kt5.1

1.Bangiza (1) 60

1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt8.2

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt9.1

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 1.ks2.5—1.kt2.2

1.Bangiza (1)

Combinations 1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

61

j. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks2.1—1.kt4.1

k. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks2.1—1.kt5.1

l. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand high lines 1.ks2.5—1.kt8.12

1.Bangiza (1) 62

1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

Combinations

m. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks3.1—1.kt5.2

n. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic line and high line 1.ks3.1—1.kt6.2

1.Bangiza (1)

Combinations 1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

63

Three-Part Arrangements o. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt5.2—1.kt6.1

p. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5)/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt5.2—1.kt7.1

1.Bangiza (1) 64

1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

Combinations

q. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (8)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 1.ks1.1—1.kt8.1—1.kt1.1 shifted

r. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (8)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines and high line 1.ks1.1—1.kt8.1—kt2.2 shifted

1.Bangiza (1)

Combinations 1. Bangiza (1) : Combinations

65

2 Bangiza (2)

This song’s basic part and variations are different enough from “Bangiza (1)” to give it an independent classification as “Bangiza (2).” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2). Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Bangiza (2): Kushaura (2.ks.1)

The kushaura was a part that Chivhanga taught me. This part comprises a succession of combined-hand shuffle figures. After he first performed the part for me, I asked where he typically began it. I hadn’t really thought about that seriously, he replied. Initially surprised by his answer, I realized that it had been many years since the matter required his deliberation. A reflection of his mastery of the piece and improvisatory flexibility, multiple starting points had become second nature to him. For pedagogical purposes, he reminded himself of his preference given in the current transcription. In the early days, Chivhanga had initially taught him the piece with “segment 4” as the beginning of the cycle, he recalled. 2.ks.3 : Right-hand pitch insertion on third beats increases the part’s octaves. 2.ks.4: Left-hand pitch insertions on beat divisions 1 and 3 reinforce the 66

right-hand shuffle figures with octaves. The left-hand shuffle figures’ alternating upward and downward leaps are reminiscent of those of Bangiza (1) kushaura (3), though combined with a different right-hand pattern. 2.ks.5: In segments 2 and 3, third beats, rest substitution eliminates right-hand B chording, while pitch substitution introduces bass Bs. The latter are reminiscent of the pitches’ appearance in Bangiza (1) kushaura (1)’s basic part on second beats. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Being able to play the same part consistently throughout, that’s where the discipline comes in. Sometimes you have to test your discipline. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (1) (2.kt1.1) (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse later)

My re-creation of a part that William Rusere taught me in 1994 (chap. 40, 40.2.kt1.Ru) reminded Cosmas of this multipurpose part in his own repertory that served as a kutsinhira to Bangiza (2). 2.kt1.3 : Right-hand pitch substitution increases the upper voice’s emphasis on A, and in segment 3, creates a scalar descent from D that dissolves tremolo G. Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (2) (2.kt2.1)

This was the part I dreamed when I was visiting Colorado for some workshops and concerts in 2003. In your dream, did you have a sense of its identity as a kushaura part or a kutsinhira part? No. I just heard the music. Later I figured out how I could use that. I learned I could use it as a kutsinhira with “Bangiza (2),” or as a solo version. I could also use it as a kutsinhira to the part you played that came from William [40.2.ks.Ru.1].

2.kt2.5 : Left-hand substitution A in segment 3 creates an alternate-pulse figure F-D-A in the middle voice that responds to comparable figures in segments 1 and 4. 2.kt2.8: In segments 1 and 4, Cosmas transforms figures by substituting roots for fifths in the underlying sequence’s dyad D and dyad C areas, respectively. He transforms figures in segments 2 and 3 by reversing the temporal positions of the root and fifth of dyad B in the middle and lower voice. 2.kt2.10: In this variation, he sometimes adds R4/B to R1/B (segments 2–3, pickups to third beat) introducing a touch of chording with his left-hand substitutions. In segment 4, he reverses the temporal positions of the root and fifth of dyad A. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations emphasized by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination c; web demonstrations : combinations a–b). In one of our sessions, Cosmas asked me to play the kushaura of each of his Bangiza versions, so that he could demonstrate their distinctive mixtures with kutsinhira parts. Afterward, I asked whether, for two of the kushaura versions, he had used the “same” kutsinhira part (labeled Bangiza [2] kutsinhira [1] and Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [5]) in different beat positions. That’s right. That’s so they interlock properly [in each context]. That’s why I say “Bangiza (1)” and “Bangiza (2)” are different, and I like to keep them separate. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically combines the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (2). Bangiza (2)

67

TABLE 2.1 Bangiza

(2)

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks w bl & RHvar (begins seg 4) (2.ks.1, mix w RH R1/B subs as in 2.ks.2)

Kutsinhira

Counter

Reflections

0:08

kt (1) w bl (begins seg 3) (2.kt1.1)

0:00

0:24

kt (1) w hl (2.kt1.6)

0:16

1:06

kt (1) w bl & RHvar (2.kt1.2, mix w RH R1/B subs as in 2.kt2.2)

0:58

1:24

kt (2) w bl & LHvar (2.kt2.2, mix w LH 2.kt2.9 & 2.kt2.10)

1:16

1:46

kt (2) w hl (2.kt2.11)

1:38

2:23

kt (2) bl (2.kt2.10)

2:15

2:36

kt (1) w bl & RHvar (2.kt1.2, mix w RH R1/B subs as in 2.kt2.2)

2:28

3:11

kt (1) w hl (2.kt1.6)

3:03

3:32

kt (1) w bl & RHvar (2.kt1.2, mix w RH R1/B subs as in 2.kt2.2)

3:24

ends

3:55

4:03

68

ends

Chapter 2

Table 2.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition.

0:11: Here, I do those right-hand substitutes in kutsinhira (1) [R1/B for R4/B in segments 2 and 3], but not often, because I want my main message [the right hand’s basic line] to get through. That’s why I keep saying the same thing. 1:08: I went to kutsinhira (2) there because I was now satisfied that my first message was getting through and I wanted to hear the bass notes. When you make changes like that, you have to be persuasive. The audience wants to hear changes, but you can’t be arrogantly doing that. You can’t suddenly change your playing, turning off in a new direction— like someone who just comes and interrupts a conversation you’re having. Also, you can hear that I stopped playing the high lines in the kutsinhira there. Sometimes I do this: [he lets out a shout]. But I can’t always do that. Sometimes I need to stop shouting when I play and speak with a normal voice. I drew attention to the left-hand substitutions in his kutsinhira (2) performance, which included left-hand pitch-pair reversals F-B in segments 2 and 3— sometimes combined with right-hand R1/B substitutions. Also, in segment 4, midrange pitch-pair reversal, E-A (2.kt2.10), which reverses the keystroke pattern of the basic part’s figure A-E. You saw in the villages how women cooked in the clay pots, methodically turning over the vegetables as they cook them. That’s what I do with the keys sometimes. 2:30: Now you can hear that after the high lines, I’m back to my normal voice again. 3:14: Now, I’m back to the high lines. 3:28: From this point on, Cosmas points out his R1/B for R4/B substitution (segments 2 and 3) in response to the kushaura’s R1/B emphasis. There, the substitutes [R1/B] are talking to one another. It’s a conversation going on between the kushaura and the kutsinhira.

Bangiza (2): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

F ds 1

2.Bangiza (2)

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 2. Bangiza (2) : Compilation

69

Bangiza (2): Kushaura 2.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

2.ks.1

2.ks.2

2.ks.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

2.ks.4

2.ks.5

Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (1) 2.kt1.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

2.kt1.1

2.kt1.2

2.Bangiza (2) 70

2. Bangiza (2) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

2.kt1.3

2.kt1.4

Right-hand high-line variations

2.kt1.5

2.kt1.6

Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (2) 2.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

2.kt2.1

2.kt2.2

Right-hand high-line variations

2.kt2.3

2.Bangiza (2)

Kutsinhira (2) 2. Bangiza (2) : Kutsinhira (2)

71

2.kt2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

2.kt2.5

2.kt2.6

2.kt2.7

2.kt2.8

2.kt2.9

2.kt2.10

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

2.kt2.11

2.Bangiza (2) 72

2. Bangiza (2) : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Bangiza (2): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 2.ks.3—2.kt1.3

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 2.ks.3—2.kt2.5

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 2.ks.5—2.kt2.3

2.Bangiza (2)

Combinations 2. Bangiza (2) : Combinations

73

3 Bangiza (3)

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, on any of the remaining kushaura or kutsinhira parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Bangiza (3): Kushaura (1) (3.ks1.1  )

This type of “Bangiza” was the first type I learned. It was associated with Bandambira’s way of playing the piece. I learned it in the sixties from Erick Muchena. This part comprises right-hand alternate-pulse figures with a downward leap and pitch repetition, and left-hand compound (2+1) figures with downward leaps. I noted the R4–B7–R4 (B-A-B) alternation in segment 4, which mixes pitches from dyad B and dyad D (the latter, beginning the next cycle). Would other possibilities for variations be acceptable, like substituting midrange R1/B for midrange A? He said that although he could use that (It sounds good), his first preference was the B-A-B succession. As an exercise, we tested alternative pitches as substitutions for A on the left side of the keyboard, but he rejected each in turn. 3.ks1.4: Some of things I do now— such as this line substitution and other things like that— were part of my improvisations. 3.ks1.6  : I learned some of the high lines as part of the basic piece, but I im74

provised other high lines myself as I played. When I move on to high lines like this one, I’ll give it four, five, even six cycles. Reviewing 3.ks1.7, he explained the import of his right-hand pitch substitution repeating A in segment 2. Its effect was to relax the tension of the initial cascading high-line gesture and increase the drama of his leap to the subsequent gesture in segment 3. We have Shona words for that: “dzokorora,” which means “repeat,” like to repeat the keys. And “wuruka” or “svetuka,” which means “jumping.” The two low notes there give the music more power. To give an example, that change is like pausing to put your car in a more powerful gear when preparing to overtake another vehicle. I also decided to stay lower there so that afterward when I go on— say, after playing that two or three cycles— I’ll have enough energy to do more things, to push further. Alternative variation practices focus largely on the left-hand pamusoro or midrange keys. 3.ks1.9–11: In relation to variation 3.ks1.9, the subsequent variations replace B7/A and tremolo L6/G with pitch substitutions reducing the compass of movement on the left side of the instrument. Variation ks1.10 reinstates midrange Gs, and increases D and C repetition, at the end of the cycle, creating a dyad F and dyad B mixture. Reviewing 3.ks1.10’s left-hand Cfor-A substitution at the end of segment 4, he said that it was correct and that, moreover, he could substitute key R1/B there as well: I’d just be mixing from all the different variations I play. I like to change the voice there to give my playing a different flavor. Variation 3.ks1.11 emphasizes left-hand D and C drones. Demonstrating his mix-and-match processes, he created yet another variation by substituting segment 1 of variation 3.ks1.10 for segment 1 of variation 3.ks1.11. 3.ks1.12–14: In addition to these pitch and rest substitutions, he creates a hybrid variation by leading segment 1 of 3.ks1.12 into segments 2–4 of 3.ks1.13. 3.ks1.15–18: Pitch insertions increase the rhythmic density of the basic midrange pattern, creating variations with unique sequences of shuffle patterns with narrow downward leaps, and F, D, and C drones. Some add figures with leaps to G or A on fourth beats. 3.ks1.19–20: Most of the chording, I improvised myself. Here, Cosmas ends each segment’s chording passage with a single pitch.

3.ks1.21–23 illustrates right-hand triple noting produced by pitch insertion, and its combination in second- and fourth-beat areas with left-hand elaborate pitch and rest substitution. 3.ks1.24–25 mixes right-hand triple noting with rest substitution selectively restoring the basic part’s alternate-pulse figures. 3.ks1.26–29: Accentuation comprises an additional means of varying kushaura (1). Beyond highlighting different elements within parts’ textures, accentuation can make the music talk, he says, bringing about emergent figures that respond to one another, answer one another. Bangiza (3): Kushaura (2) (3.ks2.1 )

This pamusoro part combines right-hand compound (2+1) figures and left-hand alternate-pulse figures with pitch repetition and narrow upward leaps. In segment 1, its combined-hand keystroke pattern incorporates tremolo G. This was my creation in the seventies or eighties, based on what I heard in other players’ versions. Bangiza (3): Kushaura (3) (3.ks3.1 )

This pamusoro kushaura, also created by Cosmas, emphasizes a right-hand pattern with spare triple-striking figures including pitch repetition, and left-hand compound (1+2) figures with pitch repetition and a narrow upward leap. In segment 1, its combined-hand keystroke pattern incorporates tremolo G. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. I’d suggest a medium tempo for this song because it’s very rich [the kutsinhira parts have technically challenging bass lines]. Cosmas begins one demonstration by playing kushaura (1)’s basic part very slowly, before increasing his speed to a medium tempo, then slightly faster. Meanwhile, he adds the cascading high lines (3.ks1.6–8) for a few cycles, and reduces range, initially switching to developing high-line substitution 3.ks1.4, Bangiza (3)

75

then to left-hand variation 3.ks1.11, eliminating lowermidrange pitches. Reviewing his performance, he points to 3.ks1.1: That’s the most important part. It’s the backbone of the song. You should base about 90 percent of your playing on that. After that part, I’d play the first variation [3.ks1.4] for one or two cycles. The same with the next [3.ks1.11]. Just one or two cycles is enough time to feature it, so it makes some difference, giving more flavor to the music. Then I’d go back to the basic pattern. Each time, after doing a variation, I like to go back to the most basic one. In other performances, he gradually increases the range of his right-hand melodies: moving through basic-line cycles (its 3:2 figures recurring twice per segment), developing high-line cycles (its figures’ contours occupying a full segment), and high-line cycles, their gestures leaping to the top of the instrument’s range and dividing the form into two equal parts. He reflects on his strategies for the distinctive rightand left-hand variations presented in our kushaura (1) transcriptions. Pitch substitution: Those substitutions on the lefthand side were of my own making. I usually bring those in after having given enough time to the basic variation. Then I decide to give it a little bit of a break and start substituting other keys for keys B7 and L1. To my mind, these variations represent the same kinds of changes, and are as good, as when a singer changes styles from yodeling to humming. That’s the kind of thing I’ll also be doing. Also, I’ll be giving the keys themselves— and my hands— some breathing space [here, meaning by varying his keystroke patterns and physical movements on the keyboard]. Chording: In a short demonstration, he emphasizes chording for several cycles, then in the last cycle, he reverts to the part’s basic line in segments 1 and 2, switching to chording patterns in segments 3 and 4. I can use the chording around the whole cycle, or I can break it up, mixing chording with single notes. Triple noting: In one demonstration, he plays softly, adding triple-noting figures here and there. I do these things because I want the music to have that difference, that mixing of things. By triple noting, you’re creating a different feel. You’re adding different little melodic patterns to what already exists. 76

Chapter 3

Rest substitution: At this point in the performance, there has already been a lot of intensity, playing up and down the keys, so I can begin adding gaps to my music. When I get to those variations, giving my fingers breathing space— I won’t be tiring them much now. Besides giving them a break, are there other things that motivate your mixture of triple noting and lefthand rest substitution? I do that because of really wanting to make sure that by reducing the density of my playing, my music doesn’t go down and fade. Sometimes I want to put on a little more pressure to keep the music on track, to support the level I really want. Because if I drop too many keys on one side of the mbira, the music can go down too much. I don’t want that to happen. So, my triple noting on the right side of the mbira represents some of the keys on the left-hand side I’d otherwise be playing, but have stopped now [in effect, filling in gaps introduced in the left-hand pattern]. His approach enables him to be playful and relaxed with the music, while at the same time, keeping everything covered. Accentuation: Cosmas demonstrates 3.ks1.26 for several cycles, then switches to 3.ks1.28 for a while. At last, he returns to 3.ks1.26, mixing its performance with the midrange pitch-substitution variation 3.ks1.22. Throughout, he subtly varies his touch. Next, he demonstrates the different controls he puts on his use of accentuation: accenting second and fourth beats (3.ks1.27), adding right-hand accentuation to the scheme (3.ks1.28) and, finally, shifting right- and left-hand accentuation to first and third beats, while dropping midrange As and Gs from the lower voice (3.ks1.29). [Overall], variations are my signs showing that I want to intensify the music. I’m moving, rebuilding, intensifying my way of playing. I keep this going for a while, since it’s now the most important part of the music. As soon as I begin, I bring in a lot of things: the high lines and the lower keys. Or I can mix them. Anything I feel like bringing into it really, because when the spirits are so high, that’s the time for doing a lot of different things [in this context, “high” refers to the whole feeling of a ceremonial event, the players’ and audience’s excitement, the animated singing and dancing]. Differentially applying his techniques, he takes pleasure in creating different designs. He can use fig-

ures presented in segment 1 of any variation’s voice as a model for subsequent segments, imbuing the cycle with the same character, or mix figures in the first two segments of his variation with figures of the last two segments of others. Alternatively, he can create hybrids by substituting larger vertical components from source parts or variations: polyphonic chunks of a segment or more. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (1) (3.kt1.1  )

A Bangiza version I had learned from William Rusere in 1994 reminded Cosmas of this part, which had slipped from his memory over the years. Originally, this was part of the “Bangiza” I learned from Bandambira in the seventies. 3.kt1.1 emphasizes left-hand five-keystroke zigzag figures with leaps in contrary motion that overlap segment boundaries; and right-hand alternate-pulse figures with pitch repetition and a downward leap. At the end of segment 1, midrange B (R1) joins midrange G and shallow bass F and D to form a unique four-pulse figure that leaps out of the mix. I asked why he treated the figure as a relatively constant feature of the basic part and its variations. I want that to stay there because it helps me keep my playing steady. It’s something I can keep returning to, to make sure I’m on the right track. Locking into the beat, the figure steadies his time amid the largely offbeat features of the part and its variations, helping him keep his place in the cycle. On the fourth beat of segment 4, high B (R4) also plays an interesting role, signaling the end of the melody and setting up the next cycle. It tells me that I’m starting again after going right around the circle. That B has a feel that I like. It gives a different feel to the whole thing. That’s why I chose that instead of the lower B octave. (The higher pitch’s exposure within the texture contributes to its effectiveness as an aural marker.) 3.kt1.3  : This represents a major high-note variation. I also learned it from the way Bandambira was doing his high lines.

3.kt1.5: Cosmas calls attention here to the processes of rest substitution and pitch substitution through which he created this variation. 3.kt1.6 : Through bass F and E substitution, this variation eliminates the former pattern’s midrange As (pickups to second and fourth beats), narrowing the compass of the bass line. This substitute is totally my own creation. I can’t be precise, but it was more than twenty years ago. I can play those two parts [3.kt1.5–6] for even six or seven cycles. It’s important to give them enough time when playing the full song. 3.kt1.7: That again was my own variation. As you can hear, I subtracted the upper keys on the left-hand side, but I remained on the basses. His A substitutions reinstate some of the basic part’s features. 3.kt1.8 : This variation represents the same idea as above, but with Fs and Es substituted for As. The challenge of maintaining kutsinhira (1)’s offbeat bass emphasis is intensified in 3.kt1.7–8 by rest substitution eliminating upper-midrange onbeat pitches in the model part (first and third beats), and breaking up his four-pulse “performance-steadying” figure at the end of segment 1. The result is a combinedhand 3:2 polyrhythm, its upper-voice pitches only aligning with the bass on pickups to first and third beats— maintaining a feeling of heightened rhythmic tension. Despite their unique features, he considers variations 3.kt1.7–8 to be part of the family of basic kutsinhira (1), and classifies them as variations rather than independent parts. These were my improvisations, he adds, ideas that came to him in performance. So was related variation 3.kt1.9. A lot of other things I learned myself; and, also, from seeing the ways that other musicians were playing. But now I can’t remember exactly which of those I learned from whom. 3.kt1.10 : As in this right- and left-hand mixture, Cosmas enjoys combining high lines with left-hand variation 3.kt1.6. 3.kt1.11–13: These variations represent different chording possibilities for the basic line. 3.kt1.14–16: Adopting another approach, he experimented with accentuation to bring different features of kutsinhira (1) to the fore. In 3.kt1.14, he produces an offbeat emphasis by accenting pitches on beat diviBangiza (3)

77

sion 3 of the first and third beats. At one point, he combined the accentuation schemes given in 3.kt1.14 and 3.kt1.16, alternating hard attacks on right-hand pitches with hard attacks on left-hand pitches, emphasizing different beats and pulses in the part’s upper and lower voices. 3.kt1.17 illustrates a favored combination of his that includes accents encircling the fourth beat of segment 1. I really wanted to hear how different emphases I put on certain keys affect the turnaround [changing configurations] of the music. To me, that’s what sends me into a different world altogether as I’m performing. I still remember how happy I was when I came up with this variation for bass accentuation. Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (2) (3.kt2.1)

Kutsinhira (2), an independent part, comprises a lefthand pattern mixing compound (3+1) figures and alternate-pulse figures; right-hand alternate-pulse figures that, beginning on beat division 2, emphasize a downward leap to repeated pitches. Cosmas learned it from his son, Mudavahnu. Muda had learned it from an American musician visiting Zimbabwe, Stephen Golovnin, who, in turn, had learned it from a local Zimbabwean musician. This is a recent one in my playing, going back to the nineties. After Muda showed it to me, I found it to be a very good part. The actual part that he taught me was the most basic pattern, which was what he’d managed to learn of it. So, most of the other things I play with that, like the high lines, I had to work out and implement myself. I asked about the distinctive melodic turn G-C-B in segment 1, subsequently varied in segment 3, CC-B. (In the first instance, C represents a harmonic addition, B prolongs dyad B; in the second instance, B represents a harmonic addition.) He explained that he had introduced those pitches to give the part a different flavor. I want people to hear that everything is not as usual there. It’s something to stimulate people. It creates expectation, makes people sit up and think, “What’s the next thing that’s going to happen?” That’s why it attracted you, too; people in the audience can hear that something is different. 3.kt2.2 : On the pickup to segment 4, the right hand’s A substitution represents dyad D, replacing 78

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harmonic-addition B in the basic part. Approving the substitution, Cosmas reminded me: Small changes can make a big difference. 3.kt2.3, 3.kt2.7–8, and 3.kt2.12 : Right-hand variations like those [emphasizing metric shifting] are nice, but they’re not really the backbone, like the way we have the basic line. Those with the shift in them should be classified as advanced variations. 3.kt2.13 : As in 3.kt2.12, he sometimes favors bass F instead of midrange A in segment 4 of this variation, in effect, substituting the root for the third of the underlying dyad. 3.kt2.14–15: Here, he described the initial chording elements on the pickup to the cycle as cycle-return markers in his system: We have a word for that, “pinduka,” which means “turning.” Combining the keys R3/A and R4/B is my signature there, my way to show that turning. The R1 and R4 combination is just the normal way of playing , not necessarily indicative of turning in general, but in the context of this part, I think of keys R1 and R4 as ending the cycle. These are examples of the little clues I worked out for myself that help me. The clues tell me where I am in the melody and the cycle of a part when I play. It’s like thinking of the words that go with the melody of the song “Karigamombe”— “Dongi, mombe, mbudzi” [Donkey, cow, goat]— or like focusing on a particular key in the cycle. If I lose track of things, I can always listen for that. Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (3) (3.kt3.1 )

This pamusoro kutsinhira comprises left- hand alternate-pulse figures with a narrow upward leap to repeated pitches; and right-hand alternate-pulse figures with repeated pitches and a narrow downward leap. I created this in the nineties or thereafter. It’s hard to say when for sure, since some of the new things I came up with then were similar to things I’d played earlier, but with a different twist. I remember I used to play a lot of kutsinhira on the “Bangizas” with Luken, Mude, and Mondreck during our European tours [1990 and 1994]. As you can see, these are my own things for when I want to hear some pamusoro— a change to something lighter— and a chance to rest my fingers.

3.kt3.2: If you want to rest and not touch the bass manual, this is a good change [L1/G for B6/F substitution]. It also changes the melody, another reason why I want this substitute. 3.kt3.3: These A substitutes are good for mixing with the pamusoro when you’re improvising. The emphasis on midrange A markedly changes the pattern’s contour, from one auditory perspective, creating three-pitch figures with downward leaps from F and E that overlap segments’ second and third beats, and segment boundaries. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Kutsinhira (1) is the most important part because it’s the basic kutsinhira for that song. I give it equal time to the main kushaura part in my playing [kushaura (1)]. I can bring in the other kutsinhira parts like kutsinhira (2), but for a short while, giving them a lower percentage of the kutsinhira performance. I’d play kutsinhira (3) for maybe two minutes to give enough time of play— not just a little, but less than kutsinhira (1) or (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

mance in which he ratchets up the intensity further, using right-hand triple-striking techniques with the full complement of kutsinhira (1)’s left-hand pitches (3.ks1.1). In a short demonstration, he sets up an alternating scheme between a cycle of solo version 3.sv.2, and a cycle of kutsinhira (1) in which he plays continuous three-pulse high-line figures (imported from solo version 3.sv.4), and switches between kutsinhira (1)’s original left-hand pattern and its variations. You see? I can make a “cocktail” in the left hand, mixing in the other patterns. I can make a “cocktail” of all those variations, all those substitutions. I noted again that, throughout, he had maintained the four-pulse G-B-F-D figure discussed earlier. Yes, he reiterated, you’ve got to get back into the track rhythmically each time through the part. Such virtuosic playing is commonly reserved for solo performance in which a musician simulates the complexity of two or more players’ interlocking parts. At the same time, Cosmas can, for limited periods, marshal the solo version to intensify his performance in the context of the group: I’d typically use a version like this during the middle of a performance, bringing it in for a change. I can do that for maybe two cycles. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

Solo Version Bangiza (3): Solo Version (3.sv.1 )

Using kutsinhira (1) as the basis for his solo version, Cosmas began by dropping the bass Es and Fs (beat division 2, second and fourth beats) from the original left-hand pattern, leaving a succession of shuffle keystroke figures with wide upward leaps including octaves. Next, he created right-hand three-pulse figures in the second- and fourth-beat areas through pitch substitution and pitch A insertion, implementing a comparable strategy to that guiding kushaura (1)’s performance. The right-hand insertions are for the missing bass keys in the left hand [pattern] of kutsinhira (1). When I want to give a break to my basses, I respond with the keys on the right-hand side [maintaining the solo version’s momentum]. He adds that there are other times in solo perfor-

This section samples the kushaura-kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination o; web demonstrations : combinations a, d–o). Speaking generally about the aesthetic guiding his choices, he explains: I don’t want the parts to lose their identity in the mergers; I want to hear two or three different things flowing in and out of each other. It’s like the designs of the Zambezi [River], the flow of its different currents with branches and sticks riding on them. What makes the music enjoyable especially is the mix they [different parts] create, while each keeps its own flow and uniqueness. When that’s lost by not playing timeously [that is, without the proper rhythmic relationship between the parts], you lose the flavor of putting the two things together. Combination a — kushaura (1) basic line and Bangiza (3)

79

kutsinhira (1) basic line— shows the alignment of basic interlocking kushaura and kutsinhira parts for Bangiza (3). I would also use kutsinhira (1) with my kushaura variations like the tremolo one [3.ks1.9]. The compelling effects of kushaura-kutsinhira combinations are never far from his mind. Although the conventions of interplay generally dictate that the kutsinhira player respond to the changes introduced by the kushaura player, exchanges of ideas can also be initiated by the former. Combination b: When I start playing the kutsinhira variation which has many gaps [3.kt1.7, which drops the middle voice], the kushaura player will switch to the pamusoro kushaura variations [3.ks1.10–11, which emphasize the middle voice]. Or the other way around. When one musician plays those pamusoro kushaura parts, it also signals that the kutsinhira player should switch to the other part because they go well together. The other variations [3.ks1.12–14, incorporating rest substitutions into the middle voice] represent the same idea [as 3.ks1.10], so they work well with that kutsinhira variation too. When playing such kushaura, Cosmas sometimes accents his right-hand Cs and Ds (first and third beats) to compensate for the kutsinhira variation’s absent midrange Cs and Ds. In combination c, the parts’ left-hand patterns occupy complementary space within the music’s texture, the kushaura emphasizing the middle register, the kutsinhira emphasizing the bass. Additionally, the kushaura’s combined-hand accents interlock with those of the kutsinhira part, creating a distinctive composite accentuation scheme. Combination d  illustrates the basic kushaura (1)–kutsinhira (1) arrangement with high lines. As we tried out different combinations, Cosmas realized that his practices were broader than those that had initially occurred to him during our discussions. He concluded that his basic kushaura (1) and its left-hand variations (for example, 3.ks1.10–14) could be used with all his kutsinhira (1) variations. Combination e  through combination g  illustrate kushaura (1)–kutsinhira (2) with different righthand lines. Combination h : Reflecting on this combination, he added that all his kushaura parts, including kushaura (1), went well with kutsinhira (3). Combination i  and combination j  pair kutsin80

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hira (1) with kushaura (2) and kushaura (3), respectively. In the latter case, I asked about the degree of temporal overlap between the parts and vertical proximity of figures at different pitch levels. Yes, this combination is irregular in the overlapping. It gives an example of the variety of ways different parts, when brought together, interlock. There are differences in combinations’ interlocking. After Cosmas and I tried out other combinations, he added that kushaura (3) also goes well with kutsinhira (2). Combination k  through combination m  illustrate the pairing of multipurpose kutsinhira parts with different right-hand lines. He shifts kutsinhira (2) a pulse earlier to facilitate interlocking. In this context, using either version of kutsinhira (2) sounds nice: the one with the regular right hand or the one that also has the shifted right-hand pitches [combination l ]. These were the combinations that the mhepo spirit that possessed my father Joshua liked. Over the decades, as Cosmas deepened his understanding of the relationships between different Bangiza versions, he discovered new possibilities for crossversion combinations. Initially, his focus on Bangiza (3)’s distinctive polyphonic features and starting point in the cycle had led him to treat the version as independent of the others. In the 1990s, however, during an extended session in which we played Bangiza (1) together, Cosmas’s hands and ears suddenly led him from Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) to those of Bangiza (3), surprising him with the revelation of their common basis. Subsequently, his discovery enabled him to approach Bangiza (1) and (3) from different starting positions or angles, expanding his use of the versions’ parts (shifted or rotated for alignment with counterparts) in various cross-version arrangements. For example, after playing Bangiza (3) kutsinhira (1) in combination m above, he sometimes switches to Bangiza (3) kushaura (1) (combination n), which invites his partner to switch to Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) in a rotated position (arrow in transcription shows 1.kt8.5’s cycle beginning in Bangiza [1] context). Or, if another person is playing kutsinhira (1) in the first situation [combination m] and I’m playing the kutsinhira (2), I sometimes move back and forth between kutsinhira (2) and “Bangiza (1)” kutsinhira (8) [combination o]. This requires him to shift Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) a pulse earlier than its position in combination n. That’s also

good to bring in. These are the kinds of things that happen when things are really moving— when I’m in the groove, in the flow. At such moments, his virtuosic navigation of parts transcends their conventional musical roles, highlighting, as well, the fluid qualities of his repertorial categories.

TABLE 3.1 Bangiza

schematic

Kushaura (PB)

Kutsinhira (CM)

ks (1) basic kt (1) basic kt (1) w LHvar (3.kt1.6)

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in kutsinhira (3) for a change. In our duo renditions, he directed various aspects of our interplay and revised arrangements as new ideas occurred to him in performance. One time, he asked me to emphasize kutsinhira (1) while he played kushaura (1). After we had established a groove, he experimented with switching between kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (2), which required shifting the latter a pulse earlier than normal. After a few attempts at the maneuver, he alternated the parts with confidence. He had discovered that transitioning smoothly between them required leaving a little gap between them, he later explained, shaving a few pitches off one or the other. Another time, he revised the arrangement, as sketched out in table 3.1. Within its framework, he advised that we continue responding to contour changes in our respective right-hand patterns, and to major left-hand variations, so that they complemented one another. He explained his arrangement’s logic: When I go to the pamusoro [3.kt3.1] after I play the basic kutsinhira (1) [3.kt1.1], it’s because I want to hear something lighter and to rest my fingers. The same with that part’s substitute [3.kt3.2; G-for-F substitution, segment 1]— I can do that if I don’t want to play the bass manual at all. The A substitutes are part of my improvising [3.kt3.3]. When you hear me do that, that’s when you can go to any of the kushaura pamusoro substitutes. Stay on those while I blend in the A substitutes because I want to hear the contrast between our parts. Of course, I may go to those substitutes to respond to something that you’re doing as well. I expressed admiration for the precision with which he slotted A substitutions in his part throughout the cycle, replacing the second element of three-pitch alternate-pulse figures. Cosmas responded: It requires self-discipline to make changes like that and

(3): Cosmas’s revised general

kt (1) basic kt (3) w LHvar (3.kt3.1–3) (recommends playing kt [3] here for a minute or two as a transition part) ks (1) w LHvar (1.ks1.9–15) ks (1) basic

kt (1) basic kt (2) basic

ends

ends

not be pulled in other directions. You have to say to yourself, “This is the way I want to do it this time,” and stick to it. There’s a reason behind every key that I play— I’m not just playing anything. I’m playing the keys that project what I want to hear. In another arrangement, he wanted to emphasize the to-and-fro of the contrasting parts, kutsinhira (1) and (2), in relation to a constant kushaura (1). In our rehearsal, when he tried the transition from kutsinhira (1) to (2), he initially fumbled and stopped. He had not played kutsinhira (2) for a while, he explained, and could not remember exactly how it fit the kushaura. Asking me to repeat the latter, he experimented with his entrances over several cycles, shifting kutsinhira (2)’s relationship to my part until, at last, it slotted in naturally. That’s the position I was looking for! he exclaimed. It goes very well. Table 3.2 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

This is mostly very good, sounding very nice overall. The speed was good on this recording, lively. It’ll make people want to dance. At mapira [ceremonies for the ancestors], Bangiza (3)

81

TABLE 3.2

Bangiza (3)

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 1) (3.ks1.1)

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt (1) w bl (begins seg 1) (3.kt1.1)

0:00

kt (1) w hl (3.kt1.3)

0:12

1:26

kt (1) w bl (3.kt1.1)

1:06

1:33

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (3.kt1.9)

1:13

1:54

kt (1) w bl (3.kt1.1)

1:34

2:16

kt (1) w hl (3.kt1.3)

1:56

2:46

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (3.kt1.10)

2:26

3:07

kt (1) w hl (3.kt1.3)

2:47

kt (1) w bl (3.kt1.1)

3:08

ends

3:44

0:20

0:31

ks (1) w hl (3.ks1.7)

0:32 1:23

2:15

3:18

ks (1) w bl (3.ks1.1)

ks (1) w hl (3.ks1.7)

ks (1) w bl (3.ks1.1)

3:28 4:02

ends

4:04

82

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the tempos of pieces also vary. Mude could really push the tempo at times, calling out for the hosho to be faster or briefly stepping into the role of conducting the ensemble [miming the downbeat of the hosho pattern with his right hand]. Other times, the tempos were slower, as heard on the pieces recorded at a bira on the Soul of Mbira and Shona Mbira Music CDs.

Bangiza (3): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

kt1

kt2

kt3

sv

F ds 6

3.Bangiza (3)

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

6

1

4

Compilation 3. Bangiza (3) : Compilation

83

Bangiza (3): Kushaura (1) 3.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

3.ks1.1

Basic line

3.ks1.2

Simplified line

3.ks1.3

Developing high line

3.ks1.4

Right-hand line substitution

3.ks1.5

Right-hand high-line variations

3.ks1.6

3.ks1.7

3.Bangiza (3) 84

3. Bangiza (3) : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

3.ks1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

3.ks1.9

3.ks1.10

3.ks1.11

3.ks1.12

3.ks1.13

3.ks1.14

Left-hand variations with right-hand developing high line

3.ks1.15

3.Bangiza (3)

Kushaura (1) 3. Bangiza (3) : Kushaura (1)

85

3.ks1.16

3.ks1.17

3.ks1.18

Right-hand chording variations

3.ks1.19

3.ks1.20

Right-hand triple-noting and left-hand variations etc.

3.ks1.21

3.ks1.22

3.ks1.23

3.Bangiza (3) 86

3. Bangiza (3) : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

3.ks1.24

3.ks1.25

Left- and right-hand accentuation variations

3.ks1.26

3.ks1.27

3.ks1.28

3.ks1.29

Bangiza (3): Kushaura (2) 3.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

3.ks2.1

3.Bangiza (3)

Kushaura (2) 3. Bangiza (3) : Kushaura (2)

87

Bangiza (3): Kushaura (3) 3.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

3.ks3.1

3.ks3.2

3.ks3.3

3.ks3.4

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (1) 3.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

3.kt1.1

Basic line

3.kt1.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

3.kt1.3

3.Bangiza (3) 88

3. Bangiza (3) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

3.kt1.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

3.kt1.5

3.kt1.6

3.kt1.7

3.kt1.8

3.kt1.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

3.kt1.10

Right-hand chording variations

3.kt1.11

3.Bangiza (3)

Kutsinhira (1) 3. Bangiza (3) : Kutsinhira (1)

89

3.kt1.12

3.kt1.13

Left- and right-hand accentuation variations

3.kt1.14

3.kt1.15

3.kt1.16

3.kt1.17

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (2) 3.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

3.kt2.1

Basic line

3.Bangiza (3) 90

3. Bangiza (3) : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

3.kt2.2

3.kt2.3

3.kt2.4

Simplified line

3.kt2.5

3.kt2.6

Developing high line

3.kt2.7

3.kt2.8

Right-hand high-line variations

3.kt2.9

3.Bangiza (3)

Kutsinhira (2) 3. Bangiza (3) : Kutsinhira (2)

91

3.kt2.10

3.kt2.11

Left-hand variation with developing high line

3.kt2.12

Left-hand variation with high line

3.kt2.13

Right-hand chording variations

3.kt2.14

3.kt2.15

3.kt2.16

3.kt2.17

3.Bangiza (3) 92

3. Bangiza (3) : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (3) 3.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

3.kt3.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

3.kt3.2

3.kt3.3

Bangiza (3): Solo Version 3.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

3.sv.1 etc.

3.sv.2

Right-hand high-line variations

3.sv.4

3.sv.5

3.Bangiza (3)

Solo Version 3. Bangiza (3) : Solo Version

93

Bangiza (3): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks1.1—3.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks1.11—3.kt1.7, accents added

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks1.29—3.kt1.1, accents added

94

3.Bangiza (3)

3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 3.ks1.6—3.kt1.3

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks1.1—3.kt2.2

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 3.ks1.1—3.kt2.13

3.Bangiza (3)

Combinations 3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

95

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 3.ks1.6—3.kt2.13

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks1.1—3.kt3.1

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks2.1—3.kt1.1

3.Bangiza (3) 96

3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 3.ks3.1—3.kt1.1

Multipurpose Parts Combined k. Kutsinhira (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 3.kt1.1—3.kt2.2 shifted

l. Kutsinhira (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 3.kt1.1—3.kt2.12 shifted

3.Bangiza (3)

Combinations 3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

97

m. Kutsinhira (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 3.kt1.1—3.kt2.13 shifted

Cross-Version Combinations n. Bangiza (3) Kushaura (1)/Bangiza (1) Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand high lines 3.ks1.6—1.kt8.5 rotated

3.Bangiza (3) 98

3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

Combinations

Cross-Version Combination with Multipurpose Parts o. Bangiza (3) Kutsinhira (1)/Bangiza (1) Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand high lines 3.kt1.3—1.kt8.5 rotated

3.Bangiza (3)

Combinations 3. Bangiza (3) : Combinations

99

4 Bangiza (4)

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, the remaining kutsinhira parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Bangiza (4): Kushaura (4.ks.1)

This is a kushaura kwepamusoro emphasizing left-hand shuffle keystroke figures that minimize the bass; its right-hand pattern includes a rest at the end of each segment. I learned this “Bangiza” from Musekiwa in 2001 or 2002. I just spent a short time with him and he showed me the basic kushaura. This is a sorrowful part which sounds like it’s saying, “We need rain to respond to our music.” I enjoy this song, but in my system, it isn’t as important as the other “Bangizas.” [Over the decade, it would assume increasingly greater importance within his repertory.] When I asked Cosmas where in the cycle he began the part, he said that it had been some time since he had thought about that self-consciously. To refresh his memory, he tried out different possibilities for Bangiza (4). I want to find a clue [a certain pitch or figure in the cycle] for the best starting point, he said, eventually settling on the current beginning. It feels like it starts here. That’s how I’m thinking about it. 100

4.ks.2 : Although he regards the basic-line part (4.ks.1) as complete in itself, he likes to vary it with B chording for a change. 4.ks.5–6: After learning the basic kushaura from Musekiwa, I added my own high notes [in order] to respond to the kutsinhira. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (1) (4.kt1.1 ) (similar to Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [8] rotated; arrow in transcriptions shows 1.kt8.5 cycle beginning in

he incorporates a Chandasarira quotation that he also works into Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8), 1.kt8.6. Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (2) (4.kt2.1 )

Cosmas draws attention to its shifting three-pulse keystroke figures— which largely leap from a midrange pitch to a bass pitch and back again— and the figures’ embedded double noting in segments 3–4. This shows how I can bring bits and pieces of what I do on some compositions into my playing of other compositions. 4.kt2.5: When playing kutsinhira (2), he favors Ffor-D substitutions in the last three-pulse figure of segment 2, emphasizing the fifth of the dyad B over the third. In segments 3 and 4, his substitutions represent dyad fifth and root exchanges. He tried out the variation with the kushaura to test the latter substitutions. It’s good for variety, he concluded, but my first preference is what I did earlier in this same place [the basic part’s figures with double noting].

Bangiza [1] context)

Bangiza (4): kutsinhira (1) is distinguished from Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) by a B1/G for L7/G substitution (segment 2, second beat), which adds a singular bass G to the lower voice, while eliminating kutsinhira (8)’s tremolo G. As in the case of Bangiza (3), Bangiza (4)’s distinctive features and starting point in the cycle had initially led Cosmas to regard the version as totally separate from the other “Bangizas.” However, after his conceptual breakthrough with Bangiza (3) recounted in the last chapter, he began experimenting with Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8)’s applications in the context of Bangiza (4) as well. Retraining himself to hear kutsinhira (8) from another angle— that is, perceptually reconfigured from Bangiza (4)’s starting point in the cycle— he eventually became comfortable interlocking the part with Bangiza (4) kushaura and hooking it up with the version’s other kutsinhira. 4.kt1.8: Sometimes he substitutes L7/G for B1/G in the basic part. I think differently about that at different times when I play it. In effect, here, he imports tremolo G from the original model part, Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8). 4.kt1.9: I composed this variation. In segments 1–2,

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (3) (4.kt3.1 )

When we explored the piece in 2003, Cosmas composed this part, emphasizing left-hand shuffle keystroke figures with wide downward leaps. You can come in wherever you feel it’s easier. I start it as given here, where I thought it would be easiest, but you’ll hear others start at other places. 4.kt3.7: This is a pasi option for variation [left-hand bass keys]. 4.kt3.8: This is a pamusoro option for variation [lefthand midrange keys]. You can bring it in for both segment 1 and segment 3 or use it separately for one or the other. Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (4) (4.kt4.1) (same as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Over the course of our performances in 2007, Cosmas conceived the idea of using his pamusoro kushaura one step behind as a kutsinhira (4). After trial and error, he worked it smoothly into his kutsinhira arrangements. 4.kt4.2 : Although he considers the basic part to be complete as it is, he sometimes varies it with B chording. Bangiza (4)

101

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations a–b, d, f ). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he directed me to play the basic kushaura part continuously while he focused on kutsinhira (1), sometimes going to heavy-bass variations like 4.kt1.9. He also suggested double-noting substitutions (bass F, midrange A) for the last two figures of kutsinhira (1)’s cycle (playing C-F-F, C-A-A), and periodically importing deep basses appearing in Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (3), but rotated. He also liked

102

Chapter 4

to switch into 4.kt4.2, playing the kushaura one step behind as a kutsinhira part (combination f ). (NB: In combinations g–i, arrows show the cycle beginnings of 2.kt1.1, 2.kt2.1, and 5.kt5.4 in their respective Bangiza [2] and Bangiza [5] contexts.) Table 4.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

During the performance, I thought I heard Cosmas varying kutsinhira (1) with rest substitutions and asked him about it afterward. This issue is how you apply your fingers to the keys. I play softer on some keys than others to get the effect I want. Sometimes I’m emphasizing the first note of the [lefthand] three-note groupings in each segment to bring out those things, sometimes the second note. My purpose is like dancers lifting their legs much higher at times than other times when dancing the same steps. That’s emotional. I imagine dancers as I play. Sometimes it helps me to have such images in my mind. Also, when I went into “Bangiza (2)” [kutsinhira part: 1:51] I was combining things from different songs. Those were the things that were contesting with one another— and with “Bangiza (4)” kutsinhira— all wanting to come to my fingers.

TABLE 4.1

Bangiza (4)

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks w bl (begins seg 1) (4.ks.1)

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt (1) w bl & RHvar (begins seg 1) (4.kt1.1, mix w RH subs)

0:00

1:06

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (4.kt1.6, mix w RH subs)

0:56

1:42

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w double- & triple-noting bass figs as in Bangiza [5], 5.kt5.4, segs 1–2, rotated)

1:32

1:53

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (4.kt1.9, then brief return to hl, 4.kt1.7)

1:43

2:01

Bangiza (2) kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (2.kt2.11, mix w 2.kt2.10, RH/LH subs)

1:51

2:28

Bangiza (4) returns: kt (1) w bl & RHvar (4.kt1.1, mix w RH subs)

2:18

2:37

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (4.kt1.1, mix w double- & triple-noting bass figs as in Bangiza [5], 5.kt5.5, rotated)

2:27

2:45

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w double- & triple-noting figs as in Bangiza [5], 5.kt5.6, segs 1–2, rotated)

2:35

2:50

kt (1) w bl & RHvar (4.kt1.1, mix w RH subs)

2:40

2:57

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w double- & triple-noting bass figs as in Bangiza [5], 5.kt5.6, segs 1–2, rotated)

2:47

3:01

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w RH subs)

2:51

3:16

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w double- & triple-noting bass figs as in Bangiza [5], 5.kt5.6, segs 1–3, rotated)

3:06

3:22

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w RH subs)

3:12

3:28

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w LH subs, including 4.kt1.9, segs 1–2)

3:18

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (4.kt1.7, mix w LH subs as in Bangiza [5], 5.ks.16, segs 1–2, rotated)

3:38

ends

3:54

0:10 1:01

2:14

3:11

ks w hl (4.ks.6)

ks w bl (4.ks.1)

ks w hl (4.ks.6)

3:48

ks w bl (4.ks.1)

4:02

ends

4:04

Bangiza (4)

103

Bangiza (4): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

F ds 6

1

4

4.Bangiza (4) 104

4. Bangiza (4) : Compilation

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

Compilation

Bangiza (4): Kushaura 4.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

4.ks.1

Basic line

4.ks.2

4.ks.3

Simplified line

4.ks.4

Right-hand high-line variations

4.ks.5

4.ks.6

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (1) 4.kt1.1 serving as model (similar to Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [8] rotated)

Right-hand basic line and variations

4.kt1.1

Basic line

4.Bangiza (4)

Kutsinhira (1) 4. Bangiza (4) : Kutsinhira (1)

105

4.kt1.2

4.kt1.3

4.kt1.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

4.kt1.5

4.kt1.6

4.kt1.7

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

4.kt1.8

4.kt1.9

quotation from Chandasarira variation (10.kt6.6)

4.Bangiza (4) 106

4. Bangiza (4) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (2) 4.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

4.kt2.1

4.kt2.2

Right-hand high-line variations

4.kt2.3

4.kt2.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

4.kt2.5

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (3) 4.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

4.kt3.1

4.kt3.2

4.Bangiza (4)

Kutsinhira (3) 4. Bangiza (4) : Kutsinhira (3)

107

4.kt3.3

Right-hand high-line variations

4.kt3.4

4.kt3.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

4.kt3.6

4.kt3.7

4.kt3.8

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (4) 4.kt4.1 serving as model (same as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

4.kt4.1

Basic line

4.Bangiza (4) 108

4. Bangiza (4) : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

4.kt4.2

4.kt4.3

Simplified line

4.kt4.4

Right-hand high-line variations

4.kt4.5

4.kt4.6

4.Bangiza (4)

Kutsinhira (4) 4. Bangiza (4) : Kutsinhira (4)

109

Bangiza (4): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.2—4.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.2—4.kt2.1

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 4.ks.6—4.kt2.3

4.Bangiza (4) 110

4. Bangiza (4) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.2—4.kt3.1

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 4.ks.6—4.kt3.4

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.2—4.kt4.2

4.Bangiza (4)

Combinations 4. Bangiza (4) : Combinations

111

Cross-Version Combinations g. Bangiza (4) Kushaura/Bangiza (2) Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.1—2.kt1.1 rotated

h. Bangiza (4) Kushaura/Bangiza (2) Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.1—2.kt2.1 rotated

i. Bangiza (4) Kushaura/Bangiza (5) Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 4.ks.1—5.kt5.4 rotated

4.Bangiza (4) 112

4. Bangiza (4) : Combinations

Combinations

5 Bangiza (5)

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (3) and (4) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Bangiza (5): Kushaura (5.ks.1 ) (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [8])

This song is called “Bangiza (5)” because it’s an independent song, different from the other “Bangizas.” It’s one that I can use for multiple purposes. If I’m playing being more than one [player], I can use the part as a kushaura or a kutsinhira. It fits both sides. It has reversible roles [see also Bangiza (4) kutsinhira (1)]. The basic part comprises left-hand shifting three-pulse keystroke figures, which in segment 3 interlock with right-hand pitches to produce the upper voice’s characteristic G tremolo. I asked if, as in other contexts, he varied segment 2’s right-hand basic line with a B-for-C substitution producing the figure C-CB-B-A-A. He said that retaining three Cs was important to him in this instance. Even when I make a change in this for a while, I always return to it. 5.ks.2  : Substitutions (harmonic-addition C and passing-tone B) in segments 3 and 4 create scalar-descent figures responding to the prior segments’ gesture. 113

5.ks.3 transforms the basic line through rest substitution and pitch substitution. 5.ks.4: This simplified line comprises As and Gs, while inserting Bs into the part’s middle voice. 5.ks.5 illustrates a developing high line emphasizing oscillation between A or G and higher pitches. I just do this for a short while, then move into the main stream of high lines. He taught me this developing high line in 1999, but when I demonstrated it from our transcription two years later, he had no recollection of it. Reabsorbing it from a single hearing, he introduced it in subsequent performances. 5.ks.6 illustrates one of his characteristic high lines, which emphasizes the gesture of a wide leap to G and scalar descent filling in the octave. He liked to initiate high lines in segment 4 of the cycle, he said (where G represents the fifth of the underlying dyad). 5.ks.7–10  and 5.ks.11 introduce figure and pitch substitutions varying the initial pattern and adding a second high-line gesture that eliminates tremolo G. Those are my own creations. When playing the high notes continuously this way, that’s where you’ve got to play the parts five or six times. You’re going right around the cycle, playing the high notes. Then, eventually, you need to give them a rest and come down to the lower right-hand notes, the most basic ones [keys R1–R5]. 5.ks.12–15: In these left-hand variations, he subtly alters the part’s shifting three-pulse figures in different segments, largely focusing on midrange pitches. Sometimes a single pitch substitution is enough to cause a new satisfying figure to emerge. 5.ks.16: He taught me this variation in 2005 when I asked him if he ever thought in terms of applying to one composition, characteristic figures associated with another. This is my “Nhemamusasa yepasi” variation. I can just do it for a portion of Bangiza. In segments 1–2, he quotes the initial four left-hand figures appearing in Nhemamusasa yepasi, segments 2–3. 5.ks.17–19: In these examples, he transforms the left-hand pattern through figure and pitch substitution, producing variant figures around the cycle with comparable shapes that respond to one another. 5.ks.21–23 illustrate his experimentation with double noting (embedded in shifting three-pulse figures). Although he did not think of the left-hand changes above as reshaping the kushaura into an independent 114

Chapter 5

part, he appreciated each substitution for its unique contribution. If you have the feel of those substitutes, they’re really different from the basic part and from one another. Each has a different effect on the music. (He reminds me that although he restrains his use of such variations in the context of Bangiza [5] kushaura, he expands them in the context of other versions where they serve as kutsinhira, for example Bangiza [1] 1.kt8.9–11.) 5.ks.24–26 illustrate chording possibilities for the basic part. While demonstrating the first two, he stressed that the substitutions in segment 2 (third beat) were deliberate. He does not always want to hear the midrange B mixed with its higher octave and pursues alternatives, here substituting harmonic-addition G and producing a simultaneity of a third. Over the course of performances, such changes introduce different harmonic qualities to the chording line, as well as differentially weighting its elements. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. With “Bangiza (5),” I’d usually start playing the normal way [5.ks.1], then, after going five or six cycles, I’d bring in left-hand substitutes. After that, I’d go back to the original, then come back to the substitutes. Cosmas commonly creates combinations by mixing and matching components of different variations. This includes his discriminating mixture of high lines and left-hand patterns with substitutions. In the case of 5.ks.17, he experimented with basic-line variations as well, settling on variation 5.ks.3’s rest substitutions. To his ear, the variation opened up 5.ks.17’s musical texture, bringing out its distinctive left-hand figures and creating just the effect he was after. Similarly, he observed, switching from the basic line to high lines generally increased the midrange pattern’s exposure. Particularizing his practices for Bangiza (5), Cosmas withholds his use of accentuation. The version lends itself to more uniform, quieter playing, he explained. At the bira ceremony, I often play this quietly in the background during the time when the ensemble stops and the spirits [possessed mediums] are discussing things among themselves. Most “Bangiza” songs are so sweet, you can just play them slowly and that’ll do the trick.

Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira

5.kt1.14 : As with this high line, Cosmas favors lefthand D-for-C substitution in the fourth-beat area of segment 3, extending the part’s midrange D drone. He also uses the substitution with other right-hand lines.

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (1) (5.kt1.1)

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (2) (5.kt2.1)

Kutsinhira (1) emphasizes left-hand shifting three-pulse keystroke figures comprising wide leaps from a midrange pitch to a bass pitch and a return to a midrange pitch. The left-hand keystroke pattern produces an alternatepulse auditory stream with pitch repetition in the middle voice and spare 3:4 “segment” figures in the bass. As a seasoned player, you accumulate more experience as time goes on, and you start making your own compositions [parts and variations] that add to the things you inherited, the things you found already being there. “Bangiza (5)” kushaura is one of the songs on which I worked out my own following part. I came up with this part during the eighties when we were traveling in England and Europe on our Mhuri yekwaRwizi tour. That’s when I started working on those new kutsinhira improvisations and using them when I performed there. How that happened with kutsinhira (1) is very interesting. As I played the kushaura, I felt there was something missing that I really wanted to hear: some kind of staggering [interlocking] from a following part. So, I experimented with a lot of different things, trying out different ways of playing kutsinhira for “Bangiza (5).” But also, I wanted to stay very close to the nature of the kushaura, how the main part was sounding. When you said you missed hearing “some kind of staggering,” did you mean the way that in Kuzanga, the “same” parts can be played in shifted positions by two musicians? Yes, but I wanted a similar part, not an identical part. I was striving for something with a difference. He added that he had also been influenced by his prior experiences with Mhuri yekwaRwizi’s arrangements for three to five mbira players, which required him to come up with other kutsinhira parts for Bangiza (5). 5.kt1.11–13: Here, his incremental left-hand options for the basic part include an A substitution in segment 1, the substitution’s incorporation in segments 2–3, and the combined A substitutions along with a contrasting figure in segment 4.

When I played a part that I had learned from Musekiwa Chingodza in 1994 for Cosmas (chap. 40, 40.5.aks.Ch), it reminded him of his own former part, given here as kutsinhira (2). He had composed it years before, but it had receded in memory. The part emphasizes left-hand shifting three-pulse keystroke figures comprising wide leaps from a bass pitch to a midrange pitch and back again. This produces an alternate-pulse auditory stream with pairs of repeated pitches in the lower voice and spare 3:4 “segment” figures in the middle voice. 5.kt2.6: I like to play this variation with the bass B substitute [segment 2], as well as with the original key [B6/F]. If the G triple-noting figure [segment 3] is too difficult technically for students, he advises, they can play kutsinhira (2)’s original figure with an octave leap in its place (B1/G–L1/G–B1/G). 5.kt2.8 : Midrange pitch substitution in segment 3 emphasizes common-tone D as a drone. Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (3) (5.kt3.1 ) (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [6] shifted one pulse earlier)

In this challenging part, Cosmas all but eliminates the midrange pitches, while emphasizing offbeat bass shuffle figures including double noting that generate tension throughout. The bass figures’ rhythm contrasts with that of the right hand’s alternate-pulse figures; alignment occurs on the first and last pitch of the bass line’s pairs of shuffle figures (beginning on beat division 2 of the first beat). Those were the basses that Mude really liked. He’d say, “If you play like that, I can sing well!” When we were performing, when he wanted that, he’d call out: “Mabesi!” [Shona-ized English for “More basses!”] When I started playing those basses, then Mondreck would start really singing and Mr. Mude would shout, “Ipapo!” There, that! Keep on playing that there! Bangiza (5)

115

In segment 1 (pickup to the third beat), the righthand passing-tone B positioned over a bass E hints, perhaps, at a dyad E substitution for dyad A in the underlying sequence. 5.kt3.2: In the developing high line, right-hand Afor-B substitution (segment 1, pickup to the third beat) combines with left-hand E, reproducing the conventional 1–3–6 harmonic movement. In segment 4 of the developing high line, the final figure, A-A-G, which slightly prolongs dyad A, can also be played with a G substitution, creating a subtly altered figure A-G-G. Both are good. With such substitutes, I’ll be giving a different lineup in terms of the voices I usually want to hear from the right-hand keys and the left-hand keys— so I can hear different voices at the same time [that is, A or G over midrange C, rather than octave C in the basic part]. Shifting or shuffling the keys as I play produces the “same” thing, but with differences [reordering or changing his emphasis on the pitches of a discrete key sequence]. There are many roads to Magaya village, the long way and shortcuts. You can’t always use the same way, but you can always get to Magaya in peace; that’s what’s important. Like getting back to the place where things start. Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (4) (5.kt4.1) (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [7] shifted one pulse earlier)

This part generates rhythmic tension through the bass line’s perpetually offbeat shuffle figures; and harmonic ambiguity through its emphatic midrange A drone. 5.kt4.3 : Cosmas likes to include the D substitution for a change. In relation to the basic part, it slightly prolongs dyad G. Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (5) (5.kt5.1)

Emphasizing heavy shifting three-pulse bass figures, kutsinhira (5) is comparable to certain Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) variations (1.kt8.9–11), but shifted one pulse earlier. As its double and triple noting increases the technical demands of performance, they intensify the bass pattern’s polyrhythmic qualities in relation to the beat and to the upper voice’s alternate-pulse pattern. 5.kt5.6 : Here, left-hand bass substitution, along with the high-line variation, encompasses the full range of the mbira. 116

Chapter 5

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (6) (5.kt6.1)

Cosmas taught me this part in 1994. Eight years later, it had fallen into disuse. When I played the part back to him from our transcription, he reflected its left-hand figures’ distinctive compound (3+1) rhythms (begin in segment 4, fourth beat, beat division 2). You can hear it’s like “Chipembere”— that approach, that angle (chap. 11, Chipembere, kutsinhira [1]; also, kushaura [1], shifted a pulse later). I used to do that a lot in my playing of “Bangiza.” These substitutes you captured quickly at the time were just those that came to my mind then. I’d phrase them differently each time I played— using and mixing substitutes— so I had many different formations of this. If you had asked me to play it again exactly that way I’d played it, the automatic movement of my hands is so rapid that I’d have played a different one than the one you had requested. After several trials, Cosmas got kutsinhira (6) back into his hands and experimented with it in different musical roles. It was too early to settle the issue of its classification, he concluded. A year later, after we had experimented with its application with different counterparts, he decided that it could be a kushaura or kutsinhira. In that sense, it was a multipurpose part. Our study presents it in its kutsinhira position; shifted a pulse later, he could use it as a kushaura. What we’re demonstrating, the shifts of the position on the beat— those are the things that make it either kutsinhira or kushaura. In different positions, I’d combine it with many different things, but I wouldn’t combine it with “itself”: the same part one step behind like “Kuzanga” kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1). 5.kt6.2 : Right-hand substitution here expands the pattern of repeated-pitch pairs and, in relation to the basic part, anticipates the change to dyad C by a pulse. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), (3), and (4). Because Cosmas does not consider kutsinhira (1) to be as substantive as some kutsinhira, he likes to mix it with others: In my playing, I use it as a launching pad, launching me to other kutsinhira parts and coming back to it. On

other compositions, I’ve also used certain things like this, which play that role. Kutsinhira (1) allowed Cosmas to warm up his performance, to get his bearings, and to establish momentum before switching to parts with demanding bass lines like kutsinhira (5) and (6). Reflecting further on his arrangements’ part successions, he added: I often introduce kutsinhira (2) after I play kutsinhira (4). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Solo Versions Bangiza (5): Solo Version (1) (5.sv1.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura [1])

This part’s genesis brought to light a phenomenon I had heard other players discuss over the years: the creative role of dreams in musical conception. Late one extremely hot afternoon during our visit to Simon Mashoko’s home in Masvingo in 1999, Cosmas sought me out, mbira in hand. He had recently awakened from a nap and wanted to play for me what he had just recreated from his vivid sonic dream. It included kushaura (1)’s left-hand pattern, as well as overlapping right-hand shifting three-pulse figures. The part which I dreamed mixes kushaura and kutsinhira and uses a lot of intensity on the right side. It’s challenging to play. Practicing these patterns, together with gradually increasing the tempo, will make the fingers much more flexible. I’d use it for soloing mostly. At the same time, he could envision additional possibilities. It would fit well with certain kutsinhira if the kutsinhira player performed them with a spare righthand pattern. 5.sv1.2–3 illustrate a high line, and a variation expanding a figure’s range in segment 4. Left-hand substitutions found in related parts— for example, Bangiza (5) kushaura and Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8)— can also be incorporated into this solo version. Bangiza (5): Solo Version (2) (5.sv2.1) (same as kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse later)

I’d typically use this part for solo playing, not kushaura playing, so the heavy basses wouldn’t interfere with the kutsinhira part.

5.sv2.6 : In this left-hand variation, he combines a high line with deep bass substitutions, encompassing the full range of the mbira. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination n; web demonstrations : combinations d–i, l–m). Commonly, while the first player performs kushaura, he switches back and forth between kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (2), (3), and (5) (combinations a–c, d –i ). He also brings in kutsinhira (4) for a change (combination h ). With respect to combination b, I asked him about the merging parts’ distinctive chording in the dyad G area (respectively G-D and A-D, beginning of segment 3), and their resultant mixture. In terms of the sound, there’s a little bit of difference, but I like the way they both sound [together]. When I play my part, I also alternate them in that point in the cycle. I keep them tense [unpredictable] when I play. Combination f : We reexamined the temporal overlapping of kushaura and kutsinhira left-hand figures. Yes, but it works. There are some contrasting melodies in the left hands, and the parts’ right hands interlock as well. He verified that the parts’ rhythmic placement was correct in our transcription. I asked whether the kutsinhira could be shifted a pulse later than given here, creating left-hand interlocking between the parts— even if this sacrificed the interlocking qualities of their right-hand patterns. We tried this out, and he rejected the combination. Even if there were three or more players, he maintained, he would keep kutsinhira (2) in the same position. Cross-Version Combinations: “Bangiza (5) and Bangiza (1)”

When Cosmas came to regard Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) as distinctive enough to serve as a kushaura part for an independent version, “Bangiza (5),” he began developing different practices for the part’s role in each context. Playing it as a kushaura in various Bangiza (5) Bangiza (5)

117

combinations, he largely confined the part to shallow bass variations. In Bangiza (1) combinations, where the part served as a kutsinhira, he elaborated its deep bass variations. Further distinguishing his Bangiza (5) renditions was kutsinhira (1), the counterpart he had invented for the independent kushaura. When he combined Bangiza (5) kushaura with Bangiza (1)’s kutsinhira, he shifted the latter’s beat position a pulse earlier than in the Bangiza (1) context, imbuing them with distinctive qualities. In my approach, I enjoy mixing [components of] the two “Bangizas.” Representing the fluidity of his practices, another kind of cross-version arrangement combines Bangiza (5) kushaura with Bangiza (1) kushaura (1), treating the latter in its regular beat position as a kutsinhira. In a third design, the first player performs Bangiza (5) kushaura, while the second player switches between Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1) and Bangiza (1) kushaura (1). (Note the pairs’ changing composite patterns in Bangiza [5] combination a, and in chap. 1, Bangiza [1], combination g .) In still another arrangement, while the first player performs Bangiza (5) kushaura, the second player switches between Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1) and Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (2), the latter shifted a pulse earlier. (Note the pairs’ changing composite patterns in Bangiza [5] combination a and Bangiza [5] combination k.) Various three-player arrangements combine Bangiza (5) kushaura and Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1) with either Bangiza (1) kushaura (1) or (2) (combination l ). Alternatively, they substitute kutsinhira (3) for kutsinhira (1) in the arrangements above (combination n and combination m ). Such combinations are like the singing at a bira: so many different voices at the same time— some higher, some lower— but all flowing in the same direction. It’s also like the Zambezi River, or Victoria Falls. When I was depot manager in that part of the country, I used to take my mbira there and sit beside the river. As I played, I’d watch all the patterns of the swirling water— different edges [contours] of designs, all different sizes— all trying their best to flow in the same direction. Just like mbira music itself.

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Chapter 5

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (3). In our duo renditions, he commonly asked me to remain with the kushaura while he alternated the two kutsinhira. After a performance in which he emphasized kutsinhira (6) as well— the “Chipembere” one (combination j)— he reminded me: On a big song like “Bangiza,” I can really play any of the kutsinhira, whatever comes into my mind if I can make it fit nicely. Table 5.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. At the moment of the performance, he responded to Bangiza (5)’s kushaura by playing Bangiza (1) kushaura. Reflections

This is a good demonstration of how these two parts work together, and why I call them multipurpose. Either can be kushaura or kutsinhira. Here, “Bangiza (5)” kushaura (1) is used as a kushaura and “Bangiza (1)” kushaura (1) works as its kutsinhira. It’s like with you and me, after so much playing together, you could start playing one— either one would do— and I’d just come in with the other one. Listening to the end of the performance, he reminded me: When playing in a bira, it’s important not to stop playing abruptly if you see anyone still dancing or singing. You can’t just leave them jumping up in midair. You can indicate you’re going to stop by reducing your tempo— or if you’ve been playing hard, by reducing your volume— so people hear that things are now decreasing in the music. What reminded me of that was the way, on the recording , “Bangiza (1)” kushaura kept on by itself after the other part had stopped— as if it was still accompanying a dancer or singer who was finishing up. As a mbira player, I need to take them through that to the end.

TABLE 5.1 Bangiza

(5)/Bangiza (1)

Kutsinhira (role assumed by Bangiza [1] kushaura [1])

Counter

0:18

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w bl (begins seg 4) (1.ks1.1)

0:00

0:25

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w hl (1.ks1.10)

0:07

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w bl (1.ks1.1, begins w G-tremolo subs, seg 3)

0:25

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w hl (1.ks1.10)

0:34

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w bl & RHvar (1.ks1.1 & RH pitch inserts, 1st-beat areas)

1:32

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w hl (1.ks1.10)

1:53

2:50

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w bl (1.ks1.1, begins w G-tremolo subs, seg 3)

2:32

2:57

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w hl (1.ks1.10)

2:39

3:25

Bangiza (1) ks (1) w bl & RHvar (1.ks1.1 & RH pitch inserts, 1st-beat areas)

3:07

ends

3:39

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks w bl & RHvar (begins seg 4) (5.ks.2 & RH sub/ch)

0:11

ks w hl (5.ks.10)

0:37

ks w bl & RHvar (5.ks.24 & RH ch subs)

0:43 0:44

ks w bl (5.ks.2)

0:49

ks w hl & RHvar (5.ks.10 & RH subs)

0:52 1:49

ks w bl (5.ks.2)

1:50 2:11

ks w hl (5.ks.10)

3:40

ks w bl & RHvar (5.ks.2 & RH subs)

3:56

ends

3:57

Bangiza (5)

119

Bangiza (5): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

sv1

sv2

F ds 1

3

6

5.Bangiza (5) 120

5. Bangiza (5) : Compilation

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Bangiza (5): Kushaura 5.ks.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [8])

Right-hand basic line and variations

5.ks.1

Basic line

5.ks.2

5.ks.3

5.ks.4

Simplified line

5.ks.5

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

5.ks.6

5.ks.7

5.Bangiza (5)

Kushaura 5. Bangiza (5) : Kushaura

121

5.ks.8

5.ks.9

5.ks.10

5.ks.11

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.ks.12

5.ks.13

5.ks.14

5.ks.15

5.Bangiza (5) 122

5. Bangiza (5) : Kushaura

Kushaura

quotation of Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version (1) (25.sv1.1) 5.ks.16

5.ks.17

5.ks.18

5.ks.19

5.ks.20

5.ks.21

5.ks.22

5.ks.23

5.Bangiza (5)

Kushaura 5. Bangiza (5) : Kushaura

123

Right-hand chording variations

5.ks.24

5.ks.25

5.ks.26

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (1) 5.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

5.kt1.1

Basic line

5.kt1.2

5.kt1.3

Simplified line

5.kt1.4

Developing high line

5.Bangiza (5) 124

5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

5.kt1.5

Right-hand high-line variations

5.kt1.6

5.kt1.7

5.kt1.8

5.kt1.9

5.kt1.10

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.kt1.11

5.kt1.12

5.Bangiza (5)

Kutsinhira (1) 5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (1)

125

5.kt1.13

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

5.kt1.14

Right-hand chording variations

5.kt1.15

5.kt1.16

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (2) 5.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

5.kt2.1

5.kt2.2

Right-hand high-line variations

5.kt2.3

5.Bangiza (5) 126

5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

5.kt2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.kt2.5

5.kt2.6

5.kt2.7

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

5.kt2.8

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (3) 5.kt3.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [6] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variation

5.kt3.1

Basic line

5.kt3.2

Developing high line

5.Bangiza (5)

Kutsinhira (3) 5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (3)

127

Right-hand high-line variations

5.kt3.3

5.kt3.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

5.kt3.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

5.kt3.6

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (4) 5.kt4.1 serving as model (same as Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [7] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

5.kt4.1

Right-hand high line

5.kt4.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.kt4.3

5.Bangiza (5) 128

5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

5.kt4.4

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (5) 5.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

5.kt5.1

Right-hand high-line variations

5.kt5.2

5.kt5.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.kt5.4

5.kt5.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

5.kt5.6

5.Bangiza (5)

Kutsinhira (5) 5. Bangiza (5) : Kutsinhira (5)

129

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (6) 5.kt6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

5.kt6.1

5.kt6.2

Right-hand high line

5.kt6.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

5.kt6.4

Bangiza (5): Solo Version (1) 5.sv1.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura [1])

Right-hand basic line

5.sv1.1

Right-hand high-line variations

5.sv1.2

5.Bangiza (5) 130

5. Bangiza (5) : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

5.sv1.3

Bangiza (5): Solo Version (2) 5.sv2.1 serving as model (same as kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

5.sv2.1

Right-hand high-line variations

5.sv2.2

5.sv2.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

5.sv2.4

5.sv2.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

5.sv2.6

5.Bangiza (5)

Solo Version (2) 5. Bangiza (5) : Solo Version (2)

131

Bangiza (5): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 5.ks.1—5.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines and chording 5.ks.24—5.kt1.15

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 5.ks.4—5.kt1.3

5.Bangiza (5) 132

5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and high line 5.ks.2—5.kt1.14

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 5.ks.10—5.kt1.14

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 5.ks.10—5.kt2.8

5.Bangiza (5)

Combinations 5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

133

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 5.ks.1—5.kt3.6

h. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 5.ks.1—5.kt4.3

i. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines 5.ks.10—5.kt5.6

5.Bangiza (5) 134

5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic lines 5.ks.1—5.kt6.2

Cross-Version Combinations k. Bangiza (5) Kushaura/Bangiza (1) Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 5.ks.1—1.kt2.1 shifted

5.Bangiza (5)

Combinations 5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

135

Three-Part Arrangements l. Bangiza (5) Kushaura/Bangiza (5) Kutsinhira (1)/Bangiza (1) Kushaura (1) with right-hand basic lines and high line 5.ks.2—5.kt1.14—1.ks1.1

m. Bangiza (5) Kushaura/Bangiza (5) Kutsinhira (3)/Bangiza (1) Kushaura (1) with right-hand basic lines 5.ks.1—5.kt3.1—1.ks1.1

5.Bangiza (5) 136

5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

Combinations

n. Bangiza (5) Kushaura/Bangiza (5) Kutsinhira (3)/Bangiza (1) Kushaura (1) with right-hand high lines and basic line 5.ks.7—5.kt3.4—1.ks1.1

5.Bangiza (5)

Combinations 5. Bangiza (5) : Combinations

137

6 Bayawabaya

“Bayawabaya” comes from “kubaya,” which means “to spear” or “to pierce.” It’s actually a war song for singing and drums; a ngoma [drum] song that was converted for mbira. You can play mbira and/or ngoma when people are singing that. A long time ago in Zimbabwe, when there were wars among the different clans, “Bayawabaya” was used a lot by the fighters in our Kanengoni clan, including in their battles with the [invading] forces led by Matema. Kanengoni was a chief with more than forty wives. We used to have a very strong army. Sekuru [Grandfather] Magaya told me that the soldiers would be in the front lines fighting with spears, while those in the back lines would be singing that song. Today, the song is for times when people are suffering or crying, for example, times connected to death and burial. Such situations are related to that of war. It’s so important a song that it’s played at ceremonies like kurova guva when they go to get the spirit [the anniversary-of-death ceremony for passage of the spirit of the deceased to the spirit world]. That’s the meaning of the song, as I know it. At funerals and mapira at Magaya and Zaranyika villages, there was always a time when the elders asked me and my fellow mbira players to play “Bayawabaya.” Then all the Magaya spirits would be drawn to the ceremonies. It’s the song that Joshua Magaya’s spirit, Mudenda, liked especially. [At our ceremonies], he’d come whenever that song was played and possess Joshua. It’s also a national song. If you go to a soccer match in Zimbabwe when our national team is playing against another country’s team, you can hear the spectators singing “Bayawabaya.” People will be urging the boys to put more strength into their game, like going into battle. I remember that it was also used by Simon Rwizi, Mude’s relative who was living among the Ndebeles in Bulawayo. He used to sing it in the Ndebele language. Some would join in, although it wasn’t traditionally a Ndebele song. NB: In this piece, the beat is subdivided into two pulses. 138

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Bayawabaya: Kushaura (6.ks.1 )

I was taught most of “Bayawabaya” by Chivhanga. It was during my very early years in the sixties. Songs like “Bayawabaya,” “Karigamombe,” and “Muzoriwa” were among my first songs. Reviewing the basic kushaura part from our 1972 transcription, Cosmas reports, I still play that the same way today. 6.ks.3  : Video (a) closely corresponds to the transcribed version and audio recording; video (b) includes right-hand variations, for example, metric shifting in segment 3. He stresses the importance of B chording, which he adds to his simplified line, enriching my performances. Alternatively, he varies the line by playing R1/B or R4/B separately. 6.ks.4: Initially he indicated that although he could shift right-hand G from the pickup position to the onbeat position in any of the segments where the pitch occurred, he would not take the same liberty with righthand A. By 2006, his practice had changed. I can really shift this one [B7/A] as well as the others. You know, on this song, there aren’t so many things happening [changes of a larger scale] as on other songs. The basic character of this song is simpler, so I like to keep changing, switching things around to make it more interesting. 6.ks.13 : Right-hand substitution emphasizes octave displacement and, in segments 2–3, the swapping of roots and fifths in dyad C areas. 6.ks.14: Characteristic of his fluid treatment of Bayawabaya, his variation techniques here include rest substitution, pitch substitution, metric/pitch shifting, and pitch insertion. 6.ks.15–16, 6.ks.17 : Good examples of mixing approaches given here: shifting notes, adding gaps, and adding last-beat fills [insertions]. As I said earlier, I think of such changes like drumming on the keys with the thumbs:

like playing an upstroke, or a downstroke, or hitting with both hands at the same time. 6.ks.19–20 , 6.ks.21: I still do those things today, he said, referring to our 1972 transcriptions’ depiction of metric shifting, pitch insertion, and pitch substitution in his high lines. After listening to his early performance of the same, he adds: As you can hear on the tape, and also in the things we wrote down, my mbira comrades and I mixed a lot of things in those days. They’re coming back to me. The performance is also reflective of the different ways people dance as they go through the ceremony [elaborated further below]. 6.ks.23–26: These left-hand variations are challenging to mix. 6.ks.28–29: Reviewing our 1972 transcriptions, he was surprised that he had played the left-hand substitutions so long ago. After picking up 6.ks.29’s substitutions from the recording and teaching them to me, he added, I hadn’t realized that I was always doing those things as well. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. “Bayawabaya” is reserved for special occasions where it’s required. I’ll start playing slowly as in any other song and increase my speed gradually. This is a song that doesn’t need to be played too fast. That’s my approach— not too fast, not too slow. Sometimes I prefer playing it softly since it’s a sorrowful song. Usually, the moment you start playing a song like that, some might start thinking of old memories of their departed relatives. It’s a song that reminds the Shona people of painful times. With a tune like this especially, there are lots of chording possibilities [also combined-hand octaves], and lots of mixing. Here’s where I also think of the fingers like drumming— for example, when playing the alternation of keys R1 and R4— one finger striking down followed by a finger striking up [from under a key]. It’s a completely different tune with a different hosho rhythm [that coincides with the kushaura’s left-hand pattern] and different dancing. As you have seen, people will be singing and demonstrating/acting as if they were in a war situation, wielding axes and spears. They’ll be dancing— imagining they’re in a battle, mimicking fighting through dance; mock soldiers doing summersaults. Bayawabaya

139

In my playing, I can do the same things as the people dancing at a bira or guva. So, it’s not structured in as consistent a way as with other songs. Like the meaning of the title, I can use any weapon I want when I play it. It’s like fighting, like spearing: jabbing keys in different ways, changing all the time. I can go to any key instead of going to the same one. I am always shifting. Every key must be awake and ready on highest alert. I can call upon it at any moment, strike it any minute. It needs to defend itself. I must be in a mood as if an actual battle is taking place. I must feel that at the ceremony when this song is called for. I don’t have to worry about giving the song this or that substitute for three, four cycles. No. It’s about anything that’s happening. There’s confusion. So, what comes [to mind] first is suitable for that approach. Just go for it. That’s exactly how I was shown to play “Bayawabaya,” and that’s what we do when we’re playing it at a ceremony. We don’t have something really formal to stick to on this song. I’d want you to try it that way when you play it. After reviewing one of our recordings, Cosmas differentiated his practices during different stages of the kurova guva ceremony, for example, when going to get the spirit [from the grave]. Although it’s typical for me to do a lot of mixing on this song, I don’t do a lot of different or complex things when I’m playing while marching to the grave. I play more simply when walking because of the movements. But when I’m stationary— seated, or kneeling and playing on my knee— I play more complex versions of this song, more difficult substitutes. That’s when I do the tricky high-note shifting and accenting, rather than the simpler, basic right-hand pattern. When it comes to accentuation, though, did you say you restrain the technique’s use in relation to the others? Yes, I don’t do that a lot on this song. You know certain things are individualistic. My approach to each song is separate from the others because each song has different characteristics. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (1) (6.kt1.1 )

6.kt1.2 : Here, Cosmas varies the right-hand basic line through metric shifting and rest substitution. 140

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6.kt1.6 uses pitch substitution to increase the range of the developing high line. 6.kt1.12: From our 1972 transcriptions, he picked up these substitutions, including left-hand pitches that create a scalar descent in the bass in the first two segments, subsequently increasing the lower voice’s bass B emphasis. 6.kt1.13–14: He demonstrates kutsinhira (1)’s leftand right-hand variations, playing them a few times, then returns to the kutsinhira’s basic part. I was trying to find different things to add more richness to that song. That’s why you hear me doing some new things that are my own creations. Especially adding notes to fill in a lot of gaps [in the basic part or other variations]. Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (2) (6.kt2.1)

6.kt2.2 illustrates the simplified right-hand line. 6.kt2.4: Examining this developing high-line variation, Cosmas draws attention to the figures in segment 4. This is the cornerstone for other variations, the things I change in the other segments. 6.kt2.7 : Here, he demonstrates a high line in which, after major changes to segment 3, he subtly alters his cornerstone figure by shifting right-hand G a pulse later. 6.kt2.15: He uses this left-hand A-for-D substitution in segment 4 as a setup, he explains. The distinctive midrange A sets up the part’s next cycle and the lively bass figures that follow. In this variation, the right hand of segment 4 stays the same. After two cycles, he returns to the basic part again. 6.kt2.22 : Continuing his demonstration of kutsinhira (2) above, he adds a developing high line, varied here through metric shifting and pitch and rest substitution, while incorporating left-hand substitutions. Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (3) (6.kt3.1 )

This is my own part. Chivhanga only taught me the basic kutsinhira. I likely composed this in the nineties when playing at a kurova guva. To my ears, the basic kushaura left too much space [rests]. I wanted to hear the kushaura filled up, so I created this kutsinhira. 6.kt3.2: Examining his pitch insertions and pitch substitution, he says: These are my little changes, my spicings.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (3). He reminds me: The one playing kutsinhira will come in with basses. Giving a kutsinhira (1) demonstration, he plays the basic part (6.kt1.1), then moves to variations 6.kt1.13–14. In the final cycle, he says: Now I’m going to do a lot of other things for kutsinhira (1). After playing high line for a while [6.kt1.17], I can add this. He plays 6.kt1.12’s bass substitutions, before phasing in right-hand chording, 6.kt1.18–20. Cosmas also includes kutsinhira (2) in his arrangements. In one succession, he begins with kutsinhira (1) (6.kt1.1), moves to kutsinhira (2) (6.kt2.1), then the latter’s variations 6.kt2.12–14 as well as others. Sometimes I treat segment 4 as a cornerstone, he reiterates, that is, keeping its figures stable while changing others over the course of the cycle. I introduce kutsinhira (3) when I’m really into the music. It gives a different flavor to what I had been doing up to that point. I’d play for a number of cycles, maybe a minute or so to give it enough time. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Versions Bayawabaya: Solo Version (1) (6.sv1.1 )

Concerning a rhythmically dense part like this (continuous right-hand playing, two attacks per beat), I asked Cosmas how he varied the left-hand pattern. I drop out keys, maybe ones on the bottom [bass manual] or upper ones [midrange manual]. I can also add substitutions here or there. Is this right-hand pattern only for solo playing or for use in the ensemble as well? On this song, you can use the technique when the kushaura and kutsinhira are played together. As you can hear, the way the basic “Bayawabaya” is structured, there are a lot of spaces in between the notes. So, it would be ideal for you to fill those spaces when you play by yourself. 6.sv1.2: After comparing these triple-noting substitutions to the basic version above, he points out that in segment 4, he can either use right-hand A or D (referencing dyad D). I do it both ways.

6.sv1.8: Are these substitutions only for solo playing or can you use them with kushaura or kutsinhira parts? On “Bayawabaya,” you can throw all those things in the other parts as well. Does this mean you accept greater overlapping between the merging parts than on other songs? Yes. 6.sv1.5–7 illustrate high-line variations, including those in which rest substitution breaks up the continuous upper voice. 6.sv1.9–10, 6.sv1.12–13: During our 2002 review of his 1972 solo version recording, which highlighted his early skill and fluency, he retrieved these left- and right-hand variations. He reiterated that they could also be incorporated into his kushaura and kutsinhira parts. Conversely, he could incorporate figures from the latter into his solo versions. Demonstrating this, he initiated solo version (1) with its insistent right-hand patterns, and he soon began incorporating kutsinhira (2)’s lefthand variations 6.kt2.16–21. Reflecting on the variation 6.sv1.12 and prior variations: I make deliberate choices to bring about changes in my playing. These variations— like the octave G [to octave D] jumps [pickups to segments 1–2] and the fast G-B-G-B movements [segments 2–3, pickups to third beats]— make your fingers as flexible as rubber. Other changes are good for the opposite reason— for giving your mbira some breathing space. Otherwise, there will be suffocation; your fingers will go hoarse. [He laughs.] It’s like yodeling. You can’t keep your voice high like that all the time or you’ll go hoarse— singers, too, must give themselves a breathing space. At the same time, he reminds students that it takes skill to render even the subtlest variations correctly. Sometimes, small details like those [above]— little changes— if not done right, won’t show the correct structure of the piece. 6.sv1.13 illustrates his use of right-hand double noting to compensate for the left-hand gaps created by shifting midrange Es and Ds in fourth-beat areas. Bayawabaya: Solo Version (2) (6.sv2.1 )

In this version, I worked out how to fill all those gaps in the basic kushaura. That’s part of my improvisation. It makes it sound like two or three instruments. That’s what I was really after. I really wanted to add some more, to Bayawabaya

141

have an impact. I use that part for solo playing, especially that one, because, as you can see, there aren’t many gaps left there. 6.sv2.2: When we reviewed 6.sv2.1, Cosmas said that he could also use a C-for-B substitution in the second beat of segment 4. This produced the simultaneity F-C, suggesting the substitution of dyad F for dyad B in the underlying form. In fact, years earlier, he had taught me 6.sv2.2 as the basic version, but later changed his practice, emphasizing B in the original part and treating C as the substitution. I can use either, he reiterated. As I’ve always said, everything is situational. It depends on what I want for the specific context I’m playing in. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (combination a through combination g; web demonstrations : combinations b, d, and g). Cosmas observed that in Bayawabaya, more so than other songs, kushaura and kutsinhira are played on the same level. In part, owing to the piece’s duple division of the beat, a greater proportion of the kushaura and kutsinhira’s left-hand pitches fall on the same pulses than usual, while interlocking occurs between their right-hand pitches over the cycle. It’s important for musicians understanding their roles, he says, reflecting generally on the nature of sympathetic musical interaction. It’s obvious from what the complementary part is doing, what shifts are necessary in your own part. Say, the kushaura begins playing a rhythmically dense right-hand pattern. When I hear the kushaura player doing that, as the person who will be playing the kutsinhira part— like kutsinhira (1)— I should scale down and simplify my right-hand side. The

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same applies for the kushaura player. When he hears the kutsinhira player doing the same kind of thing on the lefthand side [he demonstrates kutsinhira (2)’s energetic bass figures], then the kushaura player should play something simple [he demonstrates 6.ks.4]. There are different trade-offs here. When the kushaura does more pamusoro [left-hand midrange patterns], it lets the kutsinhira emphasize the basses. Playing kutsinhira, when you hear the kushaura player having initiated things, you’ve got to respond accordingly. There are plug-ins [substitution figures], which are so complementary. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (2). In our duo renditions, he directed me to play the kushaura with different things thrown in [switching among right-hand variations], while he moved from kutsinhira (1) to kutsinhira (2) to kutsinhira (3), as well as back and forth between them. Table 6.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

I change more often on this song than on others. As you can hear, this piece has its own special hosho rhythmic accompaniment. When I hear the kutsinhira basses, it reminds me of people dancing with ceremonial axes, the mediums dancing like they’re fighting in a war. When they’re in a fighting mood, I play more energetically to drive them, to inspire and energize them. As a mbira player, you’re like a fireman in a locomotive, pushing more coal into the furnace.

TABLE 6.1 Bayawabaya

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w sl (begins seg 1) (After opening w ks sl [6.ks.3 & var], Cosmas constantly varies the patterns w RH or LH subs & metric shifting, as in ks dhl [6.ks.6–18], hl [6.ks.19–22], & RH/LHvar [6.ks.24, 6.ks.27]. He retains the basic ks’s LH figs [E-G, E-A, & D-G], while varying RH pitches above them. He avoids deep basses.)

0:03

kt (2) w sl & LHvar (begins seg 2) (Throughout the performance, Cosmas creates new combinations by uniquely mixing figs from different variations, including 6.kt2.20 & 6.kt1.1, seg 1; 6.kt1.12, segs 2–3; 6.kt2.19, segs 2–3; 6.kt2.2, seg 4.)

0:00

0:10

kt (2) w dhl

0:07

kt (2) w hl

1:02

1:13

kt (2) w dhl

1:10

1:19

kt (2) w sl

1:16

kt (2) w dhl

1:28

ends

3:10

0:12

ks w dhl

0:50

ks w hl

1:05 1:15

1:30

ks w dhl

ks w hl

1:31 1:47

ks w dhl

1:54

ks w hl

2:02

ks w dhl

2:18

ks w hl

2:42

ks w dhl

3:13 3:14

ends

Bayawabaya

143

Bayawabaya: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

sv1

sv2

G ds 1

3

6

6.Bayawabaya 144

6. Bayawabaya : Compilation

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Bayawabaya: Kushaura 6.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

6.ks.1

Basic line

6.ks.2

Simplified line

6.ks.3

6.ks.4

6.ks.5

Developing high line

6.ks.6

6.ks.7

6.Bayawabaya

Kushaura 6. Bayawabaya : Kushaura

145

6.ks.8

6.ks.9

6.ks.10

6.ks.11

6.ks.12

6.ks.13

6.ks.14

6.ks.15

6.Bayawabaya 146

6. Bayawabaya : Kushaura

Kushaura

6.ks.16

6.ks.17

6.ks.18

Right-hand high-line variations

6.ks.19

6.ks.20

6.ks.21

6.ks.22

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

6.ks.23

6.Bayawabaya

Kushaura 6. Bayawabaya : Kushaura

147

6.ks.24

6.ks.25

6.ks.26

Left- and right-hand variations

6.ks.27

6.ks.28

6.ks.29

Right-hand chording variations

6.ks.30

6.ks.31

6.Bayawabaya 148

6. Bayawabaya : Kushaura

Kushaura

6.ks.32

6.ks.33

Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (1) 6.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

6.kt1.1

Basic line

6.kt1.2

6.kt1.3

Simplified line

6.kt1.4

6.kt1.5

Developing high line

6.Bayawabaya

Kutsinhira (1) 6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (1)

149

6.kt1.6

6.kt1.7

Right-hand high line

6.kt1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

6.kt1.9

6.kt1.10

6.kt1.11

6.kt1.12

Left- and right-hand variations

6.kt1.13

6.Bayawabaya 150

6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

6.kt1.14

6.kt1.15

6.kt1.16

6.kt1.17

Right-hand chording variations

6.kt1.18

6.kt1.19

6.kt1.20

6.Bayawabaya

Kutsinhira (1) 6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (1)

151

Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (2) 6.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

6.kt2.1

Basic line

6.kt2.2

Simplified line

6.kt2.3

Developing high line

6.kt2.4

6.kt2.5

Right-hand high-line variations

6.kt2.6

6.kt2.7

6.Bayawabaya 152

6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

6.kt2.8

6.kt2.9

6.kt2.10

6.kt2.11

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

6.kt2.12

6.kt2.13

6.kt2.14

6.kt2.15

6.Bayawabaya

Kutsinhira (2) 6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (2)

153

6.kt2.16

6.kt2.17

6.kt2.18

6.kt2.19

6.kt2.20

6.kt2.21

Left- and right-hand variations

6.kt2.22

6.Bayawabaya 154

6. Bayawabaya : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

6.kt2.23

Bayawabaya: Kutsinhira (3) 6.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

6.kt3.1

Left- and right-hand variations

6.kt3.2

6.kt3.3

Bayawabaya: Solo Version (1) 6.sv1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

6.sv1.1

6.sv1.2

6.Bayawabaya

Solo Version (1) 6. Bayawabaya : Solo Version (1)

155

6.sv1.3

6.sv1.4

Right-hand high-line variations

6.sv1.5

6.sv1.6

6.sv1.7

Left- and right-hand variations

6.sv1.8

6.sv1.9

6.sv1.10

6.Bayawabaya 156

6. Bayawabaya : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

6.sv1.11

6.sv1.12

6.sv1.13

6.sv1.14

introductory material

solo version (1) begins

Bayawabaya: Solo Version (2) 6.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

6.sv2.1

6.sv2.2

6.Bayawabaya

Solo Version (2) 6. Bayawabaya : Solo Version (2)

157

Bayawabaya: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 6.ks.1—6.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 6.ks.3—6.kt1.2

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 6.ks.21—6.kt1.17

6.Bayawabaya 158

6. Bayawabaya : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high lines 6.ks.13—6.kt2.22

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high line with chording, and basic line 6.ks.32—6.kt2.13

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 6.ks.19—6.kt2.9

6.Bayawabaya

Combinations 6. Bayawabaya : Combinations

159

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 6.ks.1—6.kt3.1

6.Bayawabaya 160

6. Bayawabaya : Combinations

Combinations

7 Chakwi

“Chakwi” is a shortened version of “machakwi,” which means surface water in a vlei or a boggy place. In the mbira circles, “Chakwi” refers to cooling down of terrible situations within the community. For example, if you pour water on a burning fire, it will extinguish the fire. It’s a song that was played during the most difficult times for “Chaminuka the Great.” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Chakwi: Kushaura (1) (7.ks1.1 )

I don’t remember for sure who first taught me this, or when, but since you recorded it in 1972, it’s likely I learned it from Justin. We used to share a lot of material with one another. I also used to play this with David Maveto in 1973. He comes from a mbira-playing family in Mhondoro and taught at the Kwanongoma College of Music in Bulawayo. This was during a several-month period in which I also taught mbira at the college. I remember that we used to play “Chakwi” at my brother Aloise’s place. In fact, we recorded it with our group and it was played on the air. In 2001, we re-created this part from our 1972 transcription. It comprises overlapping right-hand and left-hand shuffle keystroke figures with downward 161

leaps (octaves, in the left hand). He had not performed it for several years. While the transcription’s annotation described the part as a solo version, he remembered it as a kushaura part. Contributing to his impressions, he said, was a playing session with ethnomusicologist Patricia Sandler when he first visited America (in the 1990s) that had reminded him of his early Chakwi performances with Maveto. Between 2002 and 2008, he sought to reconstruct his practices. This is a challenging one. What’s challenging about it? It’s different in terms of the features of the song. Also, how the right-side and left-side mbira keys relate to each other. The movements of the fingers are different from most of the songs, for example, lots of alternating in the right-hand side [between right-hand index finger and thumb]. The melody has its own kind of thing, a different flavor in terms of sound. It’s a different breed. I don’t have a more simplified pattern for the basic line. 7.ks1.4–5: He traces the keystroke patterns on his mbira that produce high-line variations’ wide leaps from high E, F, and G. That’s where the challenge is. It’s different from the usual. Impossible doing that [he smiles, raising his eyebrows]. Usually, these little extensions come to you when you’ve been playing a long time. 7.ks1.6: In 2008, he remembered an early left-hand variation, a little something to add at the very beginning to kick off the performance. In segment 1, midrange C, shifted a pulse earlier, creates a fleeting alternate-pulse figure before settling into the basic shuffle pattern. Pitch substitution varies the left-hand pattern’s octave succession. This is an example of how I was experimenting with things in those days. Chakwi: Kushaura (2) (7.ks2.1 )

This part combines kushaura (1)’s right-hand shuffle pattern with a distinctive left-hand alternate-pulse keystroke pattern with leaps in contrary motion. Each segment begins with a left-hand leap of an octave, as did his initial variant kushaura (1) figure, 7.ks1.6. In 2008, he recalled the source of this part: Last year, after our sessions in North Carolina, our “Chakwi” sounded so nice, I kept practicing it when I returned to Zimbabwe. I was really getting into it, and something came back to me that I used to play with David Maveto but had completely forgotten about. During those 162

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days in Bulawayo, each time David and I performed, he’d play kushaura and I’d play kutsinhira. I’d hear Maveto playing that kushaura (2) beside me, but I couldn’t see how he was doing it. I really liked some of the substitutes he was using. What kept on coming back into my head was how it was sounding when he was playing. So later, by myself, I tried to re-create what I was remembering— since I already knew the song. That’s how I came up with this [7.ks2.1]. It was based on David’s playing. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura (1) continuously. When working kushaura (2) into the performance, I’d go back and forth between the two kushaura, giving kushaura (2) two minutes or so, then going back to the main one and giving it more. At times, he would add lefthand substitutions to the latter in segment 3: replacing midrange A with midrange F (third beat, beat division 2) and midrange F with bass B (fourth beat). Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Kutsinhira

When Cosmas began reconstructing his practices for Chakwi, he was initially unsure of its kutsinhira. After teaching me kushaura (1), he suggested that we play the piece whenever we met, to jog his memory. Typically, we began playing the kushaura in unison. Once it had settled, he broke away, shifting his performance into an interlocking kutsinhira position and experimenting with variations. In the early stages of our routine, he was dissatisfied with the results. Amid his trials, he had the revelation that the piece Chandasarira could assist him. “Chakwi” and “Chandasarira” are of one family, he explained. Testing a few of Chandasarira’s kutsinhira with Chakwi kushaura (1), he approved the combinations. Further explorations led to the parts presented here as the basis for his cross-composition arrangements. Chakwi: Kutsinhira (1) (7.kt1.1 ) (similar to Chandasarira kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

His preference for the basic line reiterates right-hand Cs in segment 1 (second beat) in relation to dyad E in the sequence model, creating harmonic ambiguity. 7.kt1.2–4: In segment 1 of these variations, B substitutions create scalar descents, while clarifying dyad E’s presence in the sequence. Chakwi: Kutsinhira (2) (7.kt2.1 ) (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [6] shifted one

cycle to cycle. In part, his aim was to distinguish his treatment of borrowed repertory from Chandasarira in the context of Chakwi, he said. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

pulse earlier)

7.kt2.6–9: Our study of Cosmas’s 1999 recordings yielded numerous left-hand variations. In one instance, he played kutsinhira (2) over several cycles, while successively incorporating substitutions given in 7.kt2.6, 7.kt2.8, and 7.kt2.9. As in the movement between 7.kt2.6 and 7.kt2.7, he also changed his emphasis on certain substitutions from one cycle to the next. 7.kt2.10–11: From the recording session, he picked out this line substitution and its variation, which incorporated shifting three-pulse bass figures with embedded double noting. Chakwi: Kutsinhira (3) (7.kt3.1) (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse earlier)

7.kt3.2 : In segment 1, B substitution in the upper voice creates a linear descent, while clarifying dyad E’s presence in the sequence. Chakwi: Kutsinhira (4) (7.kt4.1 ) (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse earlier)

Reviewing this part in 2005, Cosmas recalled: We can also use the pamusoro “Chandasarira” kutsinhira. In this context, it’s the cross-breed [here meaning multipurpose part]. Over the years, he continued to explore the part’s possibilities for invention. In late 2008, when we played Chakwi, for example, he had begun inserting pitches between the part’s left-hand alternate-pulse figures: selectively transforming them into shifting three-pulse figures and uniquely mixing them into the pattern from

Solo Version Chakwi: Solo Version (7.sv.1)

The solo version’s basic line incorporates Bs in segment 1, which, together with bass Es, unambiguously reference dyad E. Subsequently, the version fleetingly references dyad C, before the early arrival of dyad A. 7.sv.2 : In segment 1, his right-hand G-for-A substitution spices the music with an adjacent-dyad mixture. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations a, f, i). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in other parts for a change. When playing the kutsinhira role, he tends to devote more time to kutsinhira (1) and its variations than to his other options. Reflecting his changing practices over time, my notes in 2003 indicate his preference for kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (2). He also felt that kushaura (2) went well with all the kutsinhira. I raised the issue of overlapping left-hand patterns produced by combinations involving parts that shared the same rhythmic basis (see 7.ks2.1 and 7.kt4.1 in combination i). Yes, some of the kutsinhira are on the same level as kushaura (1), but that’s OK because their right hands interlock. Chakwi

163

In one of our duo renditions, he directed me to play kushaura (1), while he moved between kutsinhira (1) 7.kt1.12 (combination b), kutsinhira (1) 7.kt2.1, and the latter’s variations 7.kt2.6–11 (variation 7.kt2.11 appears in combination e). During another session, he suggested that we switch roles. He was interested in playing the kushaura and wanted me to gain experience with the following parts. Afterward, he commented on my initial difficulty fitting kutsinhira (4) to his kushaura (1) (combination g). Their rhythmic bases were different enough that I had required a few starts to enter the flow of the kushaura patterns correctly and firm up the parts’ interlocking. To assure greater confidence in my entrances, he advised me to listen more closely to his part before entering the music, and he shared one of his “musical clues” with me. If I aimed to synchronize my midrange F with his midrange F on the fourth beat of segment 3— the only point in the cycle that they fell on the same pulse— their alignment would confirm

164

Chapter 7

the parts’ successful interlocking. If our Fs were out of phase, his pitch’s position would instantly tell me how to adjust. Beyond its assistance, his advice threw light on his extraordinary hearing acuity. As a performer, he followed the “conversations” between kushaura and kutsinhira patterns at every pitch level (including their less exposed middle voices), sensitive to the minutest variance in their schemes of coincidence and alternation. Table 7.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

2:32: He points out the gap [rest] in his kushaura’s right-hand pattern. That’s where I wanted to do something else, but I couldn’t connect with it. I hesitated for a moment, but decided not to struggle with it, and I continued with what I was playing.

TABLE 7.1 Chakwi

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 1) (7.ks1.2)

0:08

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 4) (7.kt1.1, mix w RH & LH subs)

0:00

1:05

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (7.kt1.8, mix w RH & LH subs)

0:57

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 7.kt2.4; LH: 7.kt2.6–8)

1:29

kt (3) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 7.kt3.3; LH: 7.kt3.4–6)

2:03

2:35

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 7.kt2.4; LH: 7.kt2.6–7)

2:27

2:49

kt (3) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 7.kt3.3; LH: 7.kt3.4–6 & 7.kt2.6–7)

2:41

kt (2) w sl & LHvar (RH: sl as in Chandasarira 10.kt4.2 shifted; LH: 7.kt2.6–7)

3:08

3:43

kt (2) w hl w RHvar (7.kt2.4)

3:35

3:51

kt (3) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 7.kt3.3; LH: 7.kt3.4–6)

3:43

ends

3:55

1:06

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (7.ks1.4)

1:37 1:44

ks (1) w bl (7.ks1.2)

2:11 2:13

3:08

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (7.ks1.4)

ks (1) w bl (7.ks1.2)

3:16 3:42

4:02 4:03

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (7.ks1.4)

ends

Chakwi

165

Chakwi: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

sv

A ds 3

5

3

1

7.Chakwi 166

7. Chakwi : Compilation

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

Compilation

Chakwi: Kushaura (1) 7.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

7.ks1.1

Basic line

7.ks1.2

7.ks1.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

7.ks1.4

7.ks1.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

7.ks1.6

7.ks1.7

7.Chakwi

Kushaura (1)

7. Chakwi : Kushaura (1)

167

Chakwi: Kushaura (2) 7.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

7.ks2.1

Chakwi: Kutsinhira (1) 7.kt1.1 serving as model (similar to Chandasarira kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variations

7.kt1.1

Basic line

7.kt1.2

7.kt1.3

7.kt1.4

7.kt1.5 168

7.Chakwi

Simplified line

7. Chakwi : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Right-hand high-line variations

7.kt1.6

7.kt1.7

7.kt1.8

7.kt1.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

7.kt1.10

7.kt1.11

7.kt1.12

7.kt1.13

7.Chakwi

Kutsinhira (1)

7. Chakwi : Kutsinhira (1)

169

Right-hand chording variations

7.kt1.14

7.kt1.15

Chakwi: Kutsinhira (2) 7.kt2.1 serving as model (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [6] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variations

7.kt2.1

7.kt2.2

7.kt2.3

Right-hand high-line variations

7.kt2.4

7.kt2.5

170

7.Chakwi

7. Chakwi : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

7.kt2.6

7.kt2.7

7.kt2.8

7.kt2.9

Left- and right-hand variations

7.kt2.10

Left-hand line substitution

7.kt2.11

Chakwi: Kutsinhira (3) 7.kt3.1 serving as model (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variation

7.kt3.1

7.Chakwi

Kutsinhira (3)

7. Chakwi : Kutsinhira (3)

171

7.kt3.2

Right-hand high line

7.kt3.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

7.kt3.4

7.kt3.5

7.kt3.6

Chakwi: Kutsinhira (4) 7.kt4.1 serving as model (same as Chandasarira kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

7.kt4.1

Right-hand high line

7.kt4.2

7.Chakwi 172

7. Chakwi : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Chakwi: Solo Version 7.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

7.sv.1

7.sv.2

7.sv.3

7.Chakwi

Solo Version

7. Chakwi : Solo Version

173

Chakwi: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks1.1—7.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks1.1—7.kt1.12

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 7.ks1.3—7.kt1.11

7.Chakwi 174

7. Chakwi : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 7.ks1.4—7.kt2.4

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high line and high line 7.ks1.3—7.kt2.11

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks1.1—7.kt3.2

7.Chakwi

Combinations 7. Chakwi : Combinations

175

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks1.1—7.kt4.1

h. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks2.1—7.kt2.1

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 7.ks2.1—7.kt4.1

7.Chakwi 176

7. Chakwi : Combinations

Combinations

8 Chaminuka ndiMambo

This piece is “Chaminuka, the King /Chief.” It reminds me of those years when we, the Magayas, used to have our mapira regularly. Our ancestral spirits really wanted that song. It used to be liked by the senior spirits. It was one of the songs that the mhepo [spirit] who possessed Joshua liked very much. People singing would substitute the words “Kanengoni ndiMambo,” praising the grandfather of Magaya, Kanengoni [Cosmas’s great-great-grandfather]. Chief Kanengoni used to have a strong army. During a time of war [eighteenth century], the Chivero people, whose territory was being invaded, appealed to Kanengoni for help in repelling their enemies. For his services, he was given land in Mhondoro, the Mashayamombe area, and a wife. That’s why there’s a strong relationship between the Chivero people and the Chikonamombe people. The Chiveros were known for having powerful spirits for rainmaking who assisted Chaminuka as well. This song makes me think of my late wife, Joyce, who belonged to the Chivero people. My grandfather Sekuru Magaya used to go past their village, saying, “I want one of my muzukuru [Shona kinship designation referring here to grandchild] to marry in your house.” So, grandfather picked Joyce for me. He kept telling me jokingly to go to her. He said, “I want that black one kept for my muzukuru,” encouraging me to pursue her [Cosmas laughs warmly]. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections. 177

Kushaura Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kushaura (8.ks.1)

I learned this piece during the Chivhanga years in the sixties. Reviewing our 1972 transcriptions of the piece’s kushaura and kutsinhira parts, he explains: I still play this tune at home at ceremonies. It’s just that it didn’t come to my mind in 1999 when we were doing our second mbira study and recording the repertory that time around. 8.ks.2  illustrates the basic line’s distinctive compound (3+2) rhythm, as well as B chording throughout. 8.ks.4, 8.ks.5: Here, he incorporates B chording in his simplified line and developing high line. 8.ks.11: A note on our 1972 transcription indicates that he reserved his practice of midrange G double noting for the kushaura, as illustrated here. 8.ks.14: On a 1999 recording, after playing the basic part, Cosmas introduced bass D and E substitutions on segments’ second beats and, in segments 1 and 4, bass B substitutions on third beats, producing a distinctive bass line. As you can see, I’m now adding changes to the full cycle. 8.ks.16 : In his simplified-line variation, he aligns a bass B substitution with B chording (third beat, segment 4), reinforcing the root of the underlying dyad. 8.ks.17  illustrates his incorporation of the bass substitution above into his high-line variation, but without B chording. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

left-hand line substitution that fundamentally alters kutsinhira (1)’s lower voice. 8.kt1.16 : Here, the basic line with a G substitution referencing dyad C combines with a line substitution closely related to the one above. Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kutsinhira (2) (8.kt2.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura)

8.kt2.1 and 8.kt2.4: Our 2002 review of early recordings of Cosmas and his friend Luken Kwari turned up this part and variation in Cosmas’s kutsinhira playing. He observed: Sometimes I’m doing exactly what Luken is doing in the kushaura part, one step behind, but then I switch into the other things I just discovered on the tape. I wouldn’t have remembered them. They’ve been hiding from me. Although kutsinhira (2) has the same left-hand pattern as the kushaura, he explained, its offbeat righthand pattern— as well as its distinctive combined-hand keystroke pattern (groupings of two left-thumb keys followed by a right-thumb key)— warranted the part’s independent classification. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Version Chaminuka ndiMambo: Solo Version (8.sv.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Kutsinhira Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kutsinhira (1) (8.kt1.1)

Our 1972 transcriptions indicate that the kushaura and kutsinhira (1) are essentially the same (“following part, for playing one step behind”), but with key B1/G substituted for L1/midrange G and for B7/midrange A. 8.kt1.15  illustrates a high line combined with a 178

Chapter 8

On one occasion, practicing the “new” kutsinhira material from his recording led him to an intensified part with right-hand shuffle figures and double noting. It shows that the mind is like a computer. The taped version of kutsinhira (2) reminded me of this solo version I used to play on this piece in the old days, though it’s not on our Nonesuch records.

Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination g; web demonstrations : combinations c–d, f). He pointed out that kutsinhira (2)’s interlocking arrangement with the kushaura differed from that produced by kutsinhira (1). Kutsinhira (2)’s left-hand pattern was on the same level as the kushaura, duplicating its pitches, while the parts’ right-hand patterns interlocked (combinations f –g).

TABLE 8.1 Chaminuka

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (2). Table 8.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

That’s really great sounding. As you can hear in my kutsinhira performance, I’m moving from the kutsinhira to the kushaura and back because, for this song, you can be a step behind playing the same thing. While playing kushaura or kutsinhira, he can also import ideas introduced in the counterpart, adjusting their beat positions accordingly.

ndiMambo

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w sl (begins seg 4) (8.ks.4)

0:11

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (begins seg 4) (8.kt1.9)

0:00

0:32

kt (1) w bl (8.kt1.1)

0:21

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.kt1.14; LH: 8.kt1.9)

0:31

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.kt1.14; LH: 8.kt1.10)

0:55

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.kt1.14; LH: 8.kt1.12, 8.kt1.13 & other subs)

1:05

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.kt1.14; LH: 8.kt1.9)

1:15

0:37

ks w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

0:42 0:44

ks w hl (8.ks.7)

0:51

ks w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

1:06 1:16

ks w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.15, 8.ks.14)

1:26 1:34

ks w hl (8.ks.7) (continued)

Chaminuka ndiMambo

179

TABLE 8.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

1:47

ks w dhl & RHvar (8.ks.5)

ks (shifted to kt position) w bl & LHvar (LH: 8.ks.12)

1:36

1:53

ks w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.12) ks (shifted) w dhl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.14)

1:44

ks (shifted) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.15)

1:57

kt w hl & RH/LHvar (8.kt1.15, mix w LH 8.kt1.1, seg 3)

2:03

ks (shifted) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.14)

2:39

ks (shifted) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.15)

2:49

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (8.kt1.9)

2:55

ks (shifted) w hl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.13)

3:10

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (RH/LH: 8.kt1.10)

3:20

1:55 2:08

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

2:14 2:39

ks w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

2:50 3:00

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.7; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

3:06 3:21

ks w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.12, seg 3)

3:31

180

3:50

ks w sl & LHvar (RH: 8.ks.4; LH: 8.ks.14)

ks (shifted) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 8.ks.5; LH: 8.ks.13–14)

3:39

4:03

ends

ends

3:52

Chapter 8

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

sv

G ds 1

3

6

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Compilation

181

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kushaura 8.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

8.ks.1

Basic line

8.ks.2

8.ks.3

Simplified line

8.ks.4

8.ks.5

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

8.ks.6

8.ks.7

182

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Kushaura

Kushaura

8.ks.8

8.ks.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

8.ks.10

8.ks.11

8.ks.12

8.ks.13

8.ks.14

8.ks.15

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

Kushaura 8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Kushaura

183

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

8.ks.16

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

8.ks.17

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kutsinhira (1) 8.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

8.kt1.1

Basic line

8.kt1.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

8.kt1.3

8.kt1.4

8.kt1.5

184

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

8.kt1.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

8.kt1.7

8.kt1.8

8.kt1.9

8.kt1.10

8.kt1.11

8.kt1.12

8.kt1.13

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

Kutsinhira (1) 8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Kutsinhira (1)

185

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

8.kt1.14

8.kt1.15

Left-hand line substitution

Left- and right-hand variation

8.kt1.16

Left-hand line substitution

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kutsinhira (2) 8.kt2.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura)

Right-hand basic line and variation

8.kt2.1

Basic line

8.kt2.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

8.kt2.3

186

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

8.kt2.4

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Solo Version 8.sv.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

8.sv.1

Basic line

8.sv.2

8.sv.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

8.sv.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

8.sv.5

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

Solo Version

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Solo Version

187

Chaminuka ndiMambo: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 8.ks.1—8.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 8.ks.3—8.kt1.2

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 8.ks.16—8.kt1.16

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo 188

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 8.ks.17—8.kt1.15

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 8.ks.9—8.kt1.6

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 8.ks.2—8.kt2.1

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo

Combinations 8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Combinations

189

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 8.ks.9—8.kt2.3

8.Chaminuka ndiMambo 190

8. Chaminuka ndiMambo : Combinations

Combinations

9 Chaminuka, We

“We” [pronounced “weh”] is an expression, as if to say, “Chaminuka, Oh!” or “Chaminuka, indeed!” This is based on a traditional vocal piece. Many people also know it as “Rwakaenda naMambo,” literally, “The One That Went with the Chief.” That’s a line we sing with it. It means that “Chaminuka, We” is the song that Chaminuka’s mbira players played for him when he journeyed south to confront the Ndebele king Lobengula whose armies had been harassing the Shona. That was the time Chaminuka asked the Ndebele to send a small boy to kill him with a knife, sacrificing himself for the Shona people. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Chaminuka, We: Kushaura (9.ks.1 )

Luken and I were taught this song by Ephat Mujuru around 1968 or 1969. Chaminuka, We’s distinctive melodic components follow a call-and-response format at different levels of organization. On one level, the figures in the second half of each segment answer those in the first half. On another level, the combined figures of segment 2 answer those of segment 1; the combined figures of segment 4 answer segment 3. On a higher level of organization, the melodic components of the second half of the cycle answer those of the first half (initial 191

figures of segments 3 and 4 are transposed a step higher than those in segments 1 and 2). Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously.

Kutsinhira Chaminuka, We: Kutsinhira (9.kt.1)

The kutsinhira is close to the kushaura. Many things on the same level [pitches coinciding on the same pulses], but other things are different for the interlocking. 9.kt.2–3: When I move to the high lines, I like to use certain shifts and substitutes with them. He refers to metric shifting in segment 3 of the first example; right- and lefthand substitution in segment 1 of in the second example. 9.kt.5 : Most of the left-hand substitutes I know for this song are small ones. 9.kt.6 : I use these basses together with these lower right-hand notes [segments 3–4]. I usually drop the basses when I bring in the high lines and concentrate on them. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously.

192

Chapter 9

Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination c; web demonstrations : combinations b–c). When we re-created these combinations from our early drafts of transcriptions, Cosmas found that I had missed some of Chaminuka, We’s nuances. Its kushaurakutsinhira design includes greater overlap than usual for mbira pieces, he said, but its subtle interlocking features were critical. I need to hear this in my music for it to satisfy me, for it to be correct. In subsequent demonstrations, he helped revise my version of the kutsinhira part, adding slight metric shifts and substitutions until, when combined with the kushaura, it reproduced the requisite textural mesh. In combination a, parts’ figures begin each segment with identical pitches and follow similar courses with intermittent interlocking, before converging on the last two beats. Similarly, in the other combinations, many pitches reinforce one another in unison, with sporadic interlocking at different pitch levels. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira given here.

Chaminuka, We: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

G ds 4

6

9.Chaminuka, We

2

4

6

1

5

1

6 1

Compilation 9. Chaminuka, We : Compilation

193

Chaminuka, We: Kushaura 9.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

9.ks.1

9.ks.2

Chaminuka, We: Kutsinhira 9.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

9.kt.1

Right-hand high-line variations

9.kt.2

9.kt.3

characteristic Magaya left-hand metric shifting with high line

characteristic Magaya left-hand substitution with high line

9.kt.4

194

9.Chaminuka, We

9. Chaminuka, We : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

9.kt.5

Left- and right-hand variations

9.kt.6

9.kt.7

9.kt.8

9.Chaminuka, We

Kutsinhira 9. Chaminuka, We : Kutsinhira

195

Chaminuka, We: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 9.ks.1—9.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 9.ks.1—9.kt.6

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic line and high line 9.ks.1—9.kt.5

9.Chaminuka, We 196

9. Chaminuka, We : Combinations

Combinations

10 Chandasarira (also known as Chawasarira) “Chandasarira” literally means: “Why have I remained behind?” or “Why do I remain behind?” The song applies to different situations. For example, people tend to have serious problems when they are left as a family after losing a mother or father. Take yourself, for example. Your father passed away and you’ve inherited the leadership role. When people start giving you a lot of problems, you start to think, “Now I’m in trouble. Why did I remain behind to face all these things?” Mr. Mude called the song “Chawasarira,” which literally means “What did you remain behind for?” According to Mude, the song used to be played at a bira when most of the ancestral spirits had come [possessed their mediums], but still others remained behind [in the spirit world]. With this song, Mondreck and Erick would sing words associated with their clan, Mufakose, and its totem, the hwata or secretary bird. Praising their clan in their lyrics, they’d sing, “Hello, Hwata!” [also referencing Mufakose] or “Oh, Hwata, Muchanyara!” [Hwata, you shall be ashamed!]— referring indirectly to whatever might have shamed a person. Or, when requesting that we play “Chandasarira,” they’d ask jokingly, “Can you play that Hwata song?” Now, when I perform this piece— also “Mahororo”— I always think of Mondreck because he used to like them and he sang them the best. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1) and (4), later working on kutsinhira (6) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

197

Kushaura Chandasarira: Kushaura (10.ks.1 )

This is a kushaura that was a favorite of Mondreck’s. He taught me the kushaura part in the early years, in the sixties before I even met you— the time Erick and Mondreck and I used to play that together a lot. That experience made me want to play the part. In 1971, Cosmas explained that he had learned the first part and the second part, but I never went further. I haven’t come across a lot of players who played a different type of “Chandasarira.” So, “Chandasarira” is a song for which I don’t have many variations. There isn’t much that I put into it, besides what I was taught. Looking over our 1972 transcription of 10.ks.1 in 1999, he said: I still play this one, the main one, the same way. You know, Mondreck taught me the basic thing. The complementary things like the substitutes, I had to work out myself. 10.ks.6: The high lines, like this one, are also my own improvisations. 10.ks.8 : When I play these kinds of substitutes, I’d stay on those two or three cycles, giving each enough time. 10.ks.13: He likes mixing in the left-hand substitutions, for example, going to key L3/C before B7/A on the outside of the mbira, creating the midrange C-A figure in segment 3. 10.ks.14 : Another time around the cycle, he elaborates the substitution figure above (segments 1, 2, and 4), and, in segment 3, he goes to the inside of the keyboard to keys B3/C and B2/B, adding a scalar-descent bass figure. The latter contrasts with the adjacent segments’ figures comprising upward leaps of thirds and fourths. In relation to the transcription, video (a) includes lefthand variation (for example, 10.ks.15) and basic-line rest substitution; video (b), left-hand variation and high-line substitution (including figures from 10.ks.6). 10.ks.17–22: He typically initiates this piece’s chording figures in segment 3. 10.ks.18: In segment 3 (fourth-beat area) of Cosmas’s high-line chording pattern, substitutions combine with left-hand pitches to produce a simultaneity of a second (F/G) and ascending step motion (midrange A-B). I like those things. Those are little things that spice the music. The spice is not harsh, it’s just mild. And it’s different from the other chording variations I can play in 198

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the same place. In segments 2 and 4, he plays the lower chording elements, R5/C and R4/B, with his thumb rather than his index finger, freeing the latter to play the higher elements R8/F and R7/E. (See also 10.ks.20.) 10.ks.21: My playing here [chorded compound (1+3) figures] is more or less the same as Luken’s because we both learned this song from Erick and played a lot with Mondreck. You may find one or two substitutes— a few keys— in our versions that are different. That depends on each individual’s development. It can never be exactly the same. 10.ks.23–28: You can do these accents as I’ve shown, or mix them, like putting in or taking out accents [segment 3] in different cycles. I make those choices as I go along. The way I want to do it— what I want to project— just comes to me as I play. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Giving a short demonstration of variations, he announces: I’ll start by playing the basic, then the high lines. He plays the part with the basic line (10.ks.1) for one cycle, in this instance holding back the lower element of the B chording (key R1) that he usually introduces in segment 1. Then I’ll move on to the left side of the mbira [10.ks.14]. Next, I’ll add the high lines. He plays 10.ks.12, then 10.ks.5, before winding things up. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (1) (10.kt1.1 ) (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse later)

I learned this song from Erick in the 1960s. Erick used to play with John Kunaka for quite some time, so he might have learned it from him. In the 1990s when Cosmas reviewed our 1972 transcriptions of his and Luken’s respective versions of kutsinhira (1), he said that he still regarded Chandasarira as limited. That’s my kutsinhira. I still play like that because that song has no variations, kushaura or kutsinhira. Reviewing our early recordings, he simi-

larly observed: These [his own and Luken’s versions] are more or less the same, but I heard one substitute that’s different. When closer listening did not turn up the variation, he explained: I think this is because we knew each other’s parts and both played them. We still do. Kutsinhira (1) should start on the left-hand side of the mbira (L3/C on beat division 1), he offered; he only introduced right-hand A (the pickup shown in parentheses) the second time through the cycle. I start there because that’s where Erick started when he taught me the part. Is it typical to start with a left-hand pitch rather than a right-hand pitch? Not necessarily. There are certain parts that you may start with the right hand. 10.kt1.2 : In segment 1, pitch substitution starts the scalar descent a pitch earlier than the basic line and, in the second half of the cycle, carries the descent pattern over the boundary between segments 3 and 4. 10.kt1.4: Although he initially reported that he did not have a simplified right-hand line for the kutsinhira that was equivalent to the kushaura’s, he recalled the pattern given here in a later review. 10.kt1.5 : This is my basic high line with one peak. 10.kt1.7, 10.kt1.8 : Here, I add a second peak to the melody. 10.kt1.10–11: I asked him about his alternative pitch choices for chording in segment 1, sometimes favoring fourths (keys R2/G and R5/C); sometimes favoring thirds (keys R3/A and R5/C). Yes. I’ll be looking for a change in the melody and may want it a bit lighter or a bit heavier. Those are the things I’ll be considering. There are a lot of things that will be happening in my mind. 10.kt1.15: In segment 2, he points to his leap and descending chording line, explaining that at times he likes to create things in twos (repeated simultaneities). Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (2) (10.kt2.1)

This new part came to Cosmas while he was recording kutsinhira (1) for our project. Reflecting on the pattern, he said that the left-hand pattern (shifting threepulse figures) carried playful linguistic associations. I hear it saying, “Han-di-di . . . Han-di-di . . . Han-di-di” [I don’t want . . . I don’t want . . . I don’t want]. Having initially classified this multilayered pattern

as an independent kutsinhira, he was ambivalent about his decision. He was still in the process of refining his classification system, he said. Vacillating a year later: I consider it a variation because it’s emanating from kutsinhira (1). It’s a variation, not a separate kutsinhira, since it clearly comes from the former [he had produced it by transforming kutsinhira (1)’s left-hand pattern through pitch insertion]. A few years later, in 2005, he reverted to his former position, settling the matter for our study. His alternative views represented complementary ways of thinking about the same thing, he explained. Kutsinhira (2) was clearly unique and clearly related to the part that had spawned it. 10.kt2.4  illustrates his creation of a high-line variation that approaches scalar gestures through leaps of thirds and fourths. Over the years, while experimenting with both kutsinhira (2) and kutsinhira (1) in performance, he continued to describe the piece’s limited capacity for variation. In 2003, however, a session playing together challenged his theoretical position. As I performed the kushaura part, he entered its stream with his index finger alone, introducing an interlocking high-line pattern. Gradually, he phased in kutsinhira (2)’s left-hand pattern, and began testing the ground for alternative midrange and bass figures. After a few cycles of trial and error, a look of delight flashed across his face, as new ideas flowed through his fingers, cycle after cycle, in productive conversation with the kushaura’s patterns. Recording his creations, we subsequently represented them in our study as variations 10.kt2.7–9, and kutsinhira (3)–(6). Initially, he had suggested that we treat 10.kt2.7 as an independent part because of its unique contour, its figures produced by jumping back and forth between keys. In 2005, however, he changed his mind, considering its genesis and its relationship to kutsinhira (2)’s features in his classification: When I first improvised this [plays 10.kt2.7], it was from hearing a lot of this [plays kutsinhira (2)]. Then I wanted to try it the other way around [that is, reversing the order of the first two keys/pitches in each three-pulse figure]. I tried it and I felt it was sounding the way I liked. 10.kt2.9 : Here, he combines a high line with the left-hand variation 10.kt2.7. 10.kt2.10 nuances the left-hand variation above Chandasarira

199

with selective ghost notes and combines it with the kutsinhira’s right-hand basic line. Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (3) (10.kt3.1 )

In 2003, Cosmas considered this part to be a variation of kutsinhira (2), but two years later he indicated that it had enough of its own distinction to be given a different kutsinhira name. In fact, kutsinhira (3) represents a development of kutsinhira (2)’s “ghost note” variation above (10.kt2.10), further transformed by rest substitution. Because of kutsinhira (3)’s challenging starting point on beat division 2, he recommends that students use the previous part as a stepping-stone. It’s easier for beginners to start with kutsinhira (2), the main part, then learn the variation [10.kt2.7], then variation [10. kt2.10]— learning to play certain keys lightly. In the end, they can learn to drop those keys out [kutsinhira (3)]. Marveling at the process, he adds: You see? That produces three different “variations” from one: the main one, the turned-around one, the light one, and the one with gaps. Despite his interest in kutsinhira (3) at the time, when I re-created it for him a few years later, it had slipped from his memory. This one’s a nice kutsinhira to be reminded of— the one with [rest] substitutes I’m no longer playing. It went into storage when I stopped using it often and mixing it with other kutsinhira. It’s only when playing a song continually and intensely that these things come back to you, and you find yourself applying all these substitutes. Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (4) (10.kt4.1 ) (similar to Chakwi kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse later)

This is one that mixes pamusoro and basses that came to me when I was playing kutsinhira (1). I also use it as a kutsinhira for “Chakwi.” As with his other kutsinhira right-hand options, he sometimes emphasized right-hand C in segment 1, followed by a downward leap to a pair of As (10.kt4.1), while other times, using B-for-C substitution to create a descending scalar figure (10.kt4.3). In the first case, C’s emphasis can be interpreted as prolonging the dyad C area or creating a mixture of dyad C and dyad E’s pitches. In the second case, B substitutions reference the underlying dyad E in the harmonic sequence. 200

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What I’m doing when I do that [choosing between right-hand Cs or Bs in relation to left-hand Cs and Es], I’m creating different hybrids, like mixing some things you won’t think will go together. When things are always going one way, I experiment and want to see what happens if I try it another way. As the production manager of the music, I purposely add or subtract keys like the B when I want to— for a change. Also, this needs some control— and discipline— to stick to one thing at a time, then the next time, introduce another. If you don’t do that, your music will just be done haphazardly. You can hear that with some players. You’ll say, “That’s rubbish, what is this?” With other players, you’ll say, “Yes, it’s well lined up!” 10.kt4.5: We examined segment 4’s left-hand substitution, an extension of the F-drone figures he had introduced in segment 3 of variation 10.kt4.4. This one is now a hybrid, he explained. It’s half-half. Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (5) (10.kt5.1 ) (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse later)

This is another one that just came to me when I was playing kutsinhira (1) during our session. It has those heavy basses [shifting three-pulse figures with embedded double noting]. I also use it as a kutsinhira for “Chakwi.” Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (6) (10.kt6.1 ) (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse later)

This kutsinhira’s left-hand pattern emphasizes shifting three-pulse figures comprising octave leaps in contrary motion. 10.kt6.3: Here, we examined the right- hand pitches in segment 1 and revisited the general options involving figures like C-C-C-C-A-A and C-C-B-BA-A. He reiterates: When I play, I’ll be wanting to hear a difference there or it becomes monotonous. I need to keep changing to keep enjoying the music. I must first satisfy myself. Then I know others in the audience are also enjoying themselves. 10.kt6.4–6: In one demonstration, he began incorporating a distinctive left-hand figure comprising leaps in contrary motion (10.kt6.4, segment 4). It was a figure that he commonly favored in Chakwi. Subsequently, he developed the idea further through a series

of segment-3 figures in which a wide downward leap was followed by a narrow upward leap (10.kt6.5). A cycle later, he elaborated the series in segments 3–4, creating a half-half hybrid [10.kt6.6]. This is OK when I want to keep the flow of that pattern going like that. The connection is smooth between the patterns. 10.kt6.7: Our discussion of the productive exchanges between Chandasarira and Chakwi reminded him of comparable practices illustrated here, in which he imported some left-hand “Nhemamusasa yepasi” things into the structure of Chandasarira. Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (7) (10.kt7.1 )

On an occasion in which Cosmas reexamined kutsinhira (6)’s half-half variation 10.kt6.6, segment 4’s figures reminded him of a former practice that continued the figures, going full circle; in effect, transforming the hybrid variation into this independent part. I created this well after Erick passed away in the late nineties. I’d give it four or five cycles because I really want to put that in the spotlight, for it to be felt. It goes with the kushaura. I’ll play this part when I’m really in the groove of it. Sometimes when I get something like this, I’ll want to apply it elsewhere where I can fit it in [for example, chap. 1, Bangiza (1), kutsinhira (8) (1.kt8.6)]. Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (8) (10.kt8.1 )

He revealed a comparable practice during our review of kutsinhira (4)’s hybrid variation 10.kt4.5, when I asked if he ever continued its distinctive bass pattern in segments 3–4 (alternating higher and lower bass pitches) around the cycle. Without hesitation, he picked up his mbira and demonstrated kutsinhira (8). I created this around the same time as kutsinhira (7), after Erick passed. At a certain point, Erick and Mondreck and I played so much together with Mhuri yekwaRwizi. I was also going with the two of them to other mapira where they’d been hired on their own. Erick always played kutsinhira on certain songs like “Chandasarira,” but asked me to do so on others. Since I played kushaura when we played the song with Erick, there wasn’t a need for me to learn more about the kutsinhira side of things. After the [independence] war, during the period while he was still alive, I was working with the Dairy Marketing Board in different parts of the country. It was then that I started creating

different things that I could play on my own. After Erick’s death, I wished I had learned more from him about the song. I’d give kutsinhira (8) four or five cycles so people will feel it. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), (2), and (3). During a demonstration of Chandasarira kutsinhira performance, Cosmas advised: Kutsinhira (1) is a pamusoro [here, emphasizing upper-midrange pitches]. After playing this, the main kutsinhira, I can shift to another pamusoro one [kutsinhira (2)]. The main part, I give more than ten cycles, the second [kutsinhira (2)], two or three cycles, then back to the first. Then I can bring in the other ones. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination j; web demonstrations : combinations a–b, d, g, i–j). When playing kutsinhira (1), he does not use accents, reserving the technique for the kushaura part instead. He explains that the structural similarities between Chakwi and Chandasarira enable him to use multipurpose kutsinhira parts in the pieces’ respective combinations, and to import melodic-rhythmic material from one piece into performances of the other. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Among his expanding repertory options, Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (6). At the same time, all are compatible. He adds: I don’t really want to put these choices in terms of which parts are more important than the others, but in terms of what each person’s personal preference is. In our duo renditions, he would play kushaura Chandasarira

201

(1), staying close to its basic features— for example, its prominent bass line— while adding a few left-hand variations, 10.ks.13–16. This approach would allow me to hear the lead part well, he said, in turn, freeing me to do lots of other things in pamusoro kutsinhira (1), mixing them with his kushaura patterns. Over the history of our performances, I gradually found myself playing things that differed from what he had taught me. In one breakthrough, my fingers, which had embodied the kutsinhira’s alternate-pulse pattern and could maintain it consistently, began to reach out from the pattern to explore other possibilities. Along the middle voice’s contour, my left thumb would periodically leap from the midrange manual to the bass manual and back again, incorporating an octave pitch substitution or a fleeting bass figure into the lower voice. With greater confidence, my thumb began inserting pitches into the basic pattern at different points: developing shifting three-pulse figures in the manner of kutsinhira (5) and (6) and their variations, 10.kt5.4 and 10.kt6.5–6. This led Cosmas to reflect on his own experiences: The more you know a song, the freer you are. Things come to you and you play them without thinking about it. Offering encouragement, he noted that I was nearing the stage in my Chandasarira renditions that when

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I failed at the new things I tried, I could switch immediately to something else that would work. That’s the stage in which you enjoy the music the most. He also gave me spontaneous signs that I was on the right path. While focused on my mbira playing during performances, I would occasionally hear him let out a shout of appreciation at an improvised bass excursion or complementary midrange variation that energized our music’s texture and increased its interest. That’s good, he told me after one performance. When you mix things like that, covering everything [all the keys], it frees me to play a lighter part and gives me the power to sing well. Table 10.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

There are small changes in my playing, but I’m being very consistent here, with the same substitutes and variations. It’s really good, but sometimes I can hear my speed going up and down. That’s because of trying to keep the same speed as the [prerecorded] hosho. The tempo is a little bit up or down on this track, but the hosho and mbira are going along together with everything intact.

TABLE 10.1 Chandasarira

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w hl w RHvar (begins seg 1) (10.ks.7) kt (1) w hl & RH/LH var (begins seg 1) (10.kt1.7)

0:00

1:27

kt (2) w hl & RHvar (10.kt2.4)

1:18

2:09

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (10.kt1.7)

2:00

2:55

kt (2) w hl & RHvar (10.kt2.4)

2:46

3:03

kt (2) w bl & LHvar (10.kt2.1)

2:54

3:17

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (10.kt2.5)

3:08

3:35

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (10.kt1.7)

3:26

ends

3:47

0:09 0:15

ks w hl & LHvar (RH: 10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.14)

1:25

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.15, & other subs)

2:11

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.15)

2:46

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.14)

3:07

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.15)

3:41

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (10.ks.7, mix w LH 10.ks.14)

3:56

ends

Chandasarira

203

Chandasarira: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

kt8

A ds 3

5

1

10.Chandasarira 204

10. Chandasarira : Compilation

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

Compilation

Chandasarira: Kushaura 10.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

10.ks.1

Basic line

10.ks.2

10.ks.3

10.ks.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

10.ks.5

10.ks.6

10.ks.7

10.Chandasarira

Kushaura

10. Chandasarira : Kushaura

205

10.ks.8

10.ks.9

10.ks.10

10.ks.11

10.ks.12

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

10.ks.13

10.ks.14

10.ks.15

10.Chandasarira 206

10. Chandasarira : Kushaura

Kushaura

10.ks.16

Right-hand chording variations

10.ks.17

10.ks.18

10.ks.19

10.ks.20

10.ks.21

10.ks.22

Left-hand accentuation variations

10.ks.23

10.Chandasarira

Kushaura 10. Chandasarira : Kushaura

207

10.ks.24

10.ks.25

10.ks.26

10.ks.27

10.ks.28

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (1) 10.kt1.1 serving as model (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

10.kt1.1

Basic line

10.kt1.2

10.Chandasarira 208

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

10.kt1.3

10.kt1.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

10.kt1.5

10.kt1.6

10.kt1.7

10.kt1.8

10.kt1.9

Right-hand chording variations

10.kt1.10

10.Chandasarira

Kutsinhira (1) 10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (1)

209

10.kt1.11

10.kt1.12

10.kt1.13

10.kt1.14

10.kt1.15

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (2) 10.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

10.kt2.1

Basic line

10.kt2.2

Simplified line

10.Chandasarira 210

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Right-hand high-line variations

10.kt2.3

10.kt2.4

10.kt2.5

10.kt2.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

10.kt2.7

10.kt2.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

10.kt2.9

Left- and right-hand variation

10.kt2.10

10.Chandasarira

Kutsinhira (2)

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (2)

211

Right-hand chording variations

10.kt2.11

10.kt2.12

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (3) 10.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

10.kt3.1

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (4) 10.kt4.1 serving as model (similar to Chakwi kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variation

10.kt4.1

Basic line

10.kt4.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

10.kt4.3

212

10.Chandasarira

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

10.kt4.4

10.kt4.5

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (5) 10.kt5.1 serving as model (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variation

10.kt5.1

Basic line

10.kt5.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

10.kt5.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

10.kt5.4

10.Chandasarira

Kutsinhira (5)

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (5)

213

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (6) 10.kt6.1 serving as model (same as Chakwi kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variation

10.kt6.1

Basic line

10.kt6.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

10.kt6.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

10.kt6.4

10.kt6.5

10.kt6.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

10.kt6.7

214

10.Chandasarira

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (6)

quotation of Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version (1) (25.sv1.1)

Kutsinhira (6)

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (7) 10.kt7.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

10.kt7.1

Chandasarira: Kutsinhira (8) 10.kt8.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

10.kt8.1

10.Chandasarira

Kutsinhira (8)

10. Chandasarira : Kutsinhira (8)

215

Chandasarira: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt1.2

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 10.ks.8—10.kt2.4

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt3.1

10.Chandasarira 216

10. Chandasarira : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt4.1

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand simplified lines 10.ks.4—10.kt4.2

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt5.1

10.Chandasarira

Combinations 10. Chandasarira : Combinations

217

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt6.1

h. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic line with chording, and high line 10.ks.17—10.kt6.3

i. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt7.1

10.Chandasarira 218

10. Chandasarira : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand basic lines 10.ks.1—10.kt8.1

10.Chandasarira

Combinations 10. Chandasarira : Combinations

219

11 Chipembere

I learned this song from Moses Chisirimunhu, the mbira player who came for healing consultations with my father, Joshua. Moses just told me that it was “Chipembere” [Black Rhinoceros]. Later I heard Mr. Mude saying it meant that the spirits were very powerful, like the rhino. That’s why, when a spirit leaves the svikiro [spirit medium, that is, abandons its host, taking away its powers], the svikiro will sometimes fall to the ground. “Chipembere” now reminds me of my late father, Joshua, who was a healer. He was a kind man, but he sometimes had a terrible temper. When he was very angry, he rushed outside and fell on all fours, charging forward, furrowing the ground like a chipembere! Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kushaura (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Chipembere: Kushaura (1) (11.ks1.1 )

When I learned this kushaura from Moses, he only had time to teach me the basic notes. I still remember that kushaura part. Its distinctive left-hand pattern comprises compound (3+1) keystroke figures, beginning on the pickup to the cycle. 220

11.ks1.1–9: Because it was only a short time that Moses was visiting, he couldn’t go through everything with me, just some things like this [11.ks1.6]. Some of the things I later added [right-hand variations in segments 3 and 4, for example] were of my own improvisation. I created things based on what I was hearing other mbira players doing. I had to add a lot of things on the right-hand side as well as the left-hand side. You can play these for two or three cycles. My aim is to give each slot enough time. When you start making those little changes, you need to go through them all. I’ll stay with these until I move up to the high notes. 11.ks1.8 : Here, C and B substitution subtly alters the pattern’s contour, for example, creating figures with different repeated pitches and, in segments 2 and 4, introducing scalar-descent figures. 11.ks1.10–11: While playing the basic part, he conceived these simplified lines and dictated them to me. Looking over the prominent rest substitutions in 11.ks1.11, he described their effectiveness in reconfiguring the basic alternate-pulse pattern. For example, the recurring pairs of As sound as if they’re talking to one another, as do the G tremolos (segments 3 and 4). The simplified lines can also be combined with the left-hand patterns of his other kushaura parts, he advised. 11.ks1.14  : After giving the basic-line variations enough time to be heard here, I move on to the high-line variations. 11.ks1.17: Sometimes when I go to heavier bass variations, I like to keep coming back to this key [B6/F] in the first half of the song [variation]. 11.ks1.18–19: Examining chording variations, he pointed out the substitutions in segments 1 and 2. As I’m hearing it, these are the kinds of small changes that make a difference in the music [B-for-A substitution, which changes simultaneity A-D to B-D]. 11.ks1.20–21: He also recalled his right-hand A and G triple-noting variations, which, in relation to the basic part, are largely produced by pitch insertion. Those of the initial example also include timbral changes introduced by key substitution (R2/G for L6/G, segments 3–4). The second example illustrates further key substitution (L6/G, L7/A) in relation to the variation above it. These are more advanced and require a seasoned player’s technique. Considering kushaura (1) in relation to his larger

store of Chipembere components, he explains that kushaura (2) and (3) [below] are whole things that are different and complete. They should be given their own standing as independent kushaura. Chipembere: Kushaura (2) (11.ks2.1 )

Cosmas created this part by transforming kushaura (1): alternating left- and right-hand keys around the cycle, as well as leaving certain keys out and choosing others to keep in. The part also reflected his interest in lightening the technical demands of performance. I dropped some of the keys from the original kushaura to complement certain kutsinhira variations that need increased speed [the tempo must be fast enough for them to be effective]. I was also thinking of ones like my “charging rhino” part [kutsinhira (3) ahead] when I created kushaura (2). 11.ks2.2, 11.ks2.3 : I asked if he ever incorporated tremolos into the lower portion of his high-line patterns. I prefer to use the higher notes here [he points to R5/C for R2/G substitution in segments 3–4] with this variation. I usually move into it when the music has become so intense, and I have a chance to play it with a kutsinhira that goes well with it. 11.ks2.4: In situations like this, he thinks of triplenoting As (segments 3–4) as compensating for the gaps created by his left-hand rest substitutions on second beats. Chipembere: Kushaura (3) (11.ks3.1 )

Kushaura (3) uses the same left-hand alternate-pulse rhythm as kushaura (2), but pitch substitutions create variant contours in segments 1 and 2 (midrange Fs replacing bass Fs in the previous part), producing the new hybrid part. Kushaura (3) needs to be independent because different interesting things are happening in the structure. 11.ks3.2 : Here, he incorporates a high line into the kushaura. Chipembere: Kushaura (4) (11.ks4.1 )

Further pitch substitution concentrated on the third element of kushaura (3)’s left-hand three-pitch figures Chipembere

221

creates the distinctive upper-midrange voice, forming the basis for kushaura (4). 11.ks4.3: His introduction of tremolo Gs here is another example of mixing, that is, incorporating variant elements among a part’s features.

Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Chipembere: Kutsinhira (1) (11.kt1.1)

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura (1) continuously. Typically, when I play kushaura (1), I’ll start slow but sure, and build up my speed. Cosmas demonstrated basic- line variations 11.ks1.4–8, introducing a flow of subtle changes in segments 3 and 4, and finally climbing higher (11. ks1.12–14). I notice that in your basic-line playing, before you go to the high-line section, you sometimes use the B chording, R1 and R4 together, and sometimes play them separately. Yes. I do it both ways. How do you apportion the variations? At the very beginning [basic-line variations] before coming to the high lines, I can go for two or three cycles using different substitutions. I’d stay on each, giving myself enough time to cover them, then move to another one. As you can see, there are a lot of different things happening at the same time on this part. How much do you emphasize kushaura (1) before going to the other kushaura? I’d first give kushaura (1) enough time, maybe play it for more than twenty cycles, then come to the other ones. When it comes to playing for long periods, it’s difficult to say in terms of cycles. Usually, I use minutes. Sometimes you can play kushaura (1) for two minutes, then move to the pamusoro ones like kushaura (3), and give it half of that— something like that. I’ll give more time to my basic kushaura (1). If you want to play all the kushaura parts, would you go through them in the order we present them here, giving so much time to each, or would you go back and forth between the kushaura (1) and the contrasting pamusoro parts? When I bring in something new, I always want to go back to the basic: bring in something different, then go back again. You see, that gives variety at different intervals. 222

Chapter 11

I didn’t have a chance to learn the kutsinhira from Moses Chisirimunhu. The “second” part, I had to work out on my own. Cosmas largely inferred its patterns from an ensemble’s composite patterns on a commercial recording. The kutsinhira’s left-hand compound (3+1) keystroke pattern is shifted a pulse earlier than kushaura (1)’s pattern. 11.kt1.3: He advises that his simplified right-hand line can be combined with left-hand patterns of any of the kutsinhira. He can also import the rest-substitution variation of the kushaura’s simplified line (11.ks1.11), shifting it into the appropriate position. 11.kt1.5  Here, he demonstrates a high line including a second F substitution a pulse earlier than its appearance in variation 11.kt1.4. 11.kt1.7  illustrates a left-hand C substitution at the end of segment 1, anticipating dyad F in the sequence model by a pulse. Chipembere: Kutsinhira (2) (11.kt2.1)

Reminiscent of kushaura (2)’s left-hand alternate-pulse pattern with three-pitch figures, kutsinhira (2)’s pattern is shifted a pulse later; its figures emphasize pitch repetition. In fact, he composed it to complement kushaura (2). When teaching me kutsinhira (2), he experimented with different entry points in the cycle to determine which was the most appropriate. Narrowing the possibilities to either the first right-hand high C or left-hand bass F in the current transcription, his initial feeling was that the part began with the latter (beat division 1). When we played it together with kushaura (1), however, he entered the kutsinhira’s cycle on the pickup with right-hand C, reverting to an earlier phrasing, as he put it. There are certain adjustments I make when I’m playing the following part to “Chipembere” since I had to compose the kutsinhira part myself on this song. I have lots of things that I do to interlock with the kushaura.

11.kt2.2 : Here, he combines a high line with the basic left-hand pattern. Chipembere: Kutsinhira (3) (11.kt3.1)

This is my “charging rhino” part. It’s a powerful one. Looking over segment 4, Cosmas pointed to the stepwise motion, bass E to D. He liked to walk that way on the bass manual. In this instance, the pitches provided the framework for his figures E-B D-G (D and G comprise harmonic additions). I noted that in segment 2, pickup to the third beat, he played a right-hand R1/B substitution on the same pulse as left-hand B7/A, producing an interval of a second in the middle register. He reviewed the substitution and smiled. To my ears, the two keys really revolutionize my playing. I like the mixture, the two different sounds when they come up together. Over the years, however, he was ambivalent about R1/B substitution and in the end decided that the higher octave was more appropriate in relation to A. 11.kt3.3 : Sometimes he substituted bass G in segment 2, where it represents a harmonic addition, while increasing the pitch’s presence over the cycle. 11.kt3.4: In segment 4, he also liked to use substitution E at times, that is, staying on bass E rather than descending to D in the basic part’s figure. In this instance, the substitution references dyad A. 11.kt3.6–9: I use different approaches here, in the ways I apply my fingers to the keys. I reminded him of another performance in which he applied hard accents to every left-hand key around the cycle. Yes, I’ll play the left side harder when I want it to stand out from the right side. Chipembere: Kutsinhira (4) (11.kt4.1 )

Muda taught me this to me because I liked it. You know, my son goes around the country learning from different musicians. This was from Simon Rwatsvirira, who also went by the surname Hoto. Sadly, he died a couple of years ago. 11.kt4.3: This is my variation. Like the whole part [kutsinhira (4)], it’s a cooling one, but with these lowernote substitutes, it becomes even cooler. He refers to its emotional impact on the performance: the settling qualities of its heavy-bass repetition and drone effects. 11.kt4.5–6: You’ve said that, whether chording or

playing high lines with this part, you don’t go all the way up to the top of the right manual, but stay around R6/D. Yes. That’s what I do. That’s the most suitable way I’ve discovered to do that part. Is it a problem to go higher? [In kutsinhira (2), for example, he emphasizes high lines.] No. I just enjoy playing it that way, stopping there [upper-voice D]. I want to focus attention on the basses, without other things on the right side of the mbira competing with it. Chipembere: Kutsinhira (5) (11.kt5.1)

The part’s distinctive features include its perpetually offbeat bassline. I like to include the B chording with this basic part, even if it’s only a little in segment 2. 11.kt5.2  illustrates his use of a high line with the left-hand pattern. 11.kt5.5–6: Beyond his basic left-hand accents transcribed here, he sometimes diversifies his expression by playing left-hand pitches softly, while playing the right side strongly throughout. Also, as I go along, I’ll be mixing different accents between the hands too. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (3). Reviewing his strategies as a seasoned player and elaborating on them: To this day, Cosmas considers kutsinhira (1) and (2) to be the most basic kutsinhira. His next choice for a basic part is kutsinhira (3). When I’m using kutsinhira (3), I don’t play it continuously. I alternate it with the first one, kutsinhira (1). He follows a comparable scheme of alternation with other kutsinhira that are an extension of kutsinhira (3) like kutsinhira (4). I play that one for a few cycles and leave it to go back to kutsinhira (1). He regards kutsinhira (5) as a remote variation of kutsinhira (3) and typically plays it for a little while before returning to the more basic kutsinhira. In one session, he demonstrated his kutsinhira approach by beginning with kutsinhira (1), initially playing its basic-line variations, then its high lines. That’s how I play it. He switches to kutsinhira (5) and variations. I do that a couple of times, then move again to Chipembere

223

something a little bit different [kutsinhira (2)]. Next, he returns to kutsinhira (5). Pausing, he explains: When I move into doing this [kutsinhira (5)], I’ll give it maybe two or three minutes’ time— doing all the things I’ve just been playing. Then I’ll revert to the main one [kutsinhira (1)] and do it for about four more minutes. Other common maneuvers involve expanded kutsinhira sequences: I’d give kutsinhira (3) two cycles, leading into two cycles of kutsinhira (4) [11.kt4.1] and its left-hand variation [11.kt4.4]— giving to them half of the time I’d give to the main one, kutsinhira (1). Then I’d return to kutsinhira (3) for two cycles. His description of kutsinhira (3)’s special place in his practices at the bira highlighted aspects of his interaction with worshippers that shape his choices. That “charging rhino” one has a punch to it. Because of the intensity there [at ceremonies], when people have been dancing very seriously and are really into it, that’s also when I start playing kutsinhira (3) to get them even more inspired. Cosmas demonstrates segments 1 and 2 with their repeated left-hand shuffle figures: When I do this, you’ll see people suddenly dancing hard— jumping! jumping! He moves to segments 3 and 4, adding: But now, I’m going toward a water hole! That’s why my basses will be going downward, descending. Then [at the top of the cycle], I’m back to the charging section again. I’ll also switch to that part when I want the spirit to come [possess its medium], especially after it has been resisting for a long time. I’ll be playing accenting those keys from the duri one [B7/A]— ngi-ndi! ngi-ndi! ngi-ndi!— playing so intensely, until you’ll hear that medium expressing that the spirit has arrived. For example, when Mudenda possessed my father at our ceremonies, he would be calling at the top of his voice: “Hi-ya!” “Hi-ya!” “Hi-ya!” Hearing that, I would keep my part up for five or six cycles to keep up the intensity or whatever time it took, until I was satisfied that that spirit had settled, because sometimes it can retreat from the medium if you lower the intensity abruptly. The crowd who is watching the medium can also see what’s happening and will be calling out to the mbira players, “Mbira! Ipapo!”— imploring them to keep up the parts they are playing. Once I’m satisfied that that spirit is settled, then I’ll move to kutsinhira (4), which lowers the intensity while keeping up the momentum. It’s a cooling one compared to kutsinhira (3), but it holds the spirit there. 224

Chapter 11

Then I go on to kutsinhira (4) variation [11.kt4.3], cooling things off further. I use the kutsinhira (4) basic part as a transition from kutsinhira (3) to this variation. You can’t just abruptly make such changes, but need to make them smoothly. In other situations, after we’ve been playing kutsinhira (3) so intensely, I’ll switch to kutsinhira (4) when I see that the dancers are beginning to tire. I’ll want to give people some rest or relief for a while. Kutsinhira (4) restores more of a sense of peace. You’ll see people revert to the normal way of dancing again, until I return to the “charging rhino” part. I like to go back and forth between them. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination k; web demonstrations : combinations a, c–d, f, h). Cosmas observed that in contrast to other compositions’ kutsinhira, those of “Chipembere” come in first. They lead the kushaura. They’re ahead rather than behind. He refers to the structural positions of merging parts’ pitches as he perceives them. In combination a, he points to the kutsinhira’s combined right-hand C and left-hand bass F in the pickup positions to segments 1–3. The pitches occur one pulse before occurring in the kushaura part. More commonly, this relationship is reversed in kushaura-kutsinhira combinations, he explains, especially in right-hand interlocking in which the kushaura introduces pitches a pulse before they appear in the kutsinhira. In such cases, the kutsinhira follows. He likens the task of matching kushaura and kutsinhira to that of finding compatible oxen to draw his plow. You have lots of variations like you have lots of oxen, but you also have to have your best span [a pair that work well together]. Yes, you have your first choice for a span, your second, and your third. Recounting his Chipembere practices, he says that kushaura (1) works with kutsinhira (1) through (6) (combination a  through combination c ). Kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) together are fine, for instance. Moreover, once establishing the part combination,

players can converse through variations. When the kushaura player switches to a bass double-noting variation [11.ks1.17], the kutsinhira player would respond to give them a chance to chitchat together [for example, combination b]. That’s the kind of thing, too, that can work the other way around. The kutsinhira player can introduce something like that and the kushaura player will respond in his playing. He especially likes kushaura (2) with kutsinhira (2) (combination d ), and recalls his kutsinhira practice of accenting B7. Remember that Bandambira called this key duri? That means the mortar of the mortar and pestle. That’s the way I’ll be pounding that B7 key, like it’s the duri. Kushaura (2) also works with kutsinhira (3). Kutsinhira (3) is different, the “charging rhino” one. It has all sorts of right-hand changes going on, as well as left-hand changes. We try out other combinations. Kutsinhira (4) can go with all the kushaura parts, he concludes. Take kushaura (2)–kutsinhira (4), for example. In the context of group interplay, he is inclined to limit his highline excursions with kutsinhira (4). With that part, I don’t like to include a lot of this [points to his upper-right manual] because the kushaura player is already covering it. That’s why I emphasize the basses. Kutsinhira (5) works well, too (combination e, and combination f). I like that, he says after we play the latter. I feel it can be very stimulating— emotional and what have you. As I play for my audience, usually I bring in those parts when I see there’s serious dancing and that playing those will make people feel energized. When someone changes to the kushaura (2) variation 11.ks2.4 especially, it inspires him to switch to kutsinhira (5). Yes, it’s a very nice combination. After various trials with kushaura (3) through (5), he reaffirms that they work with all the kutsinhira. With kushaura (3), his preferences include kutsinhira (1) (combination g), in which he enjoys mixing lefthand midrange variations 11.kt1.9–11, and kutsinhira (2) (combination h ). While all the kushaura fit kutsinhira (3) technically, according to his taste, he reserves the part for certain kushaura parts and variations. For example, he turns to kutsinhira (3) when he hears his partner play kushaura (4) with tremolo variation 11.ks4.3 (combination j). When his player goes into kushaura (4), he typically emphasizes

kutsinhira (1) (combination i). Kutsinhira (4) also creates a satisfying combination with the kushaura (combination k). Ultimately, Cosmas is guided not only by his sense of complementarity between his and his musical partners’ patterns, but his sense of appropriate choices, emphases, and development within his own kushaura or kutsinhira performance. When playing kutsinhira, for instance, I move through my system of different kutsinhira parts [discussed at the end of the kutsinhira section], while the first player does different things. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with kutsinhira (1), (2), and (3), bringing in other parts for a change. At one point in our duo renditions, he decided to play kushaura so that he could reorient himself to singing with its features, and asked me to play kutsinhira. (Previously, he had become used to the ways his vocal lines fit with the kutsinhira parts he tended to play in other groups.) Subsequently, when we performed Chipembere, he emphasized kushaura (1), moving between the basic line and high line, and occasionally varying the patterns with segment 2’s B substitutions (11.ks1.1–8). Meanwhile, I played kutsinhira (1), following him with comparable right-hand changes. When he became comfortable singing with the kushaura and I had come up to speed with other kutsinhira parts, he encouraged me to begin phasing them into our performances as well. Table 11.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

1:30: That’s my signature there [kushaura (2)]. I thought of that part when I was thinking of a charging rhino— playing different things here, playing around with the same keys, but hearing different melodies. The tempo is fast here, which is OK because I can play at different levels. You should be able to adjust to play slow or fast, otherwise it’ll be difficult. Sometimes, you need an energetic tempo like this for an energetic performance. Chipembere

225

TABLE 11.1 Chipembere

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w hl (begins seg 1) (11.ks1.13)

0:14

kt (1) w hl (begins seg 3, pickup to 3rd beat) (11.kt1.6)

0:00

0:48

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (11.kt1.10)

0:34

1:00

kt (1) w hl (11.kt1.6)

0:46

1:23

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (11.kt1.10)

1:09

2:00

kt (5) w hl (11.kt5.2)

1:46

2:34

kt (1) w hl (11.kt1.6)

2:20

2:40

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (11.kt1.10)

2:26

kt (5) w hl (11.kt5.2)

2:46

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (11.kt1.10)

3:09

kt (5) w hl (11.kt5.2)

3:37

ends

3:49

1:30

ks (2) w bl (11.ks2.1)

1:35

ks (2) w hl (11.ks2.3, mix w RH G-tremolo subs as in 11.ks2.1, segs 3–4)

3:00

ks (1) w hl (11.ks1.13)

3:23

3:48

ks (2) w hl (11.ks2.3, mix w RH G-tremolo subs as in 11.ks2.1, segs 3–4)

3:51 4:02

ends

4:03 226

Chapter 11

People can listen to slower tempos on the Soul of Mbira and Shona Mbira Music CDs. I can hear the tempo varying slightly with the “Chandasarira” recording. It’s natural because you tend to tire when you play [refers to the fluctuating tempo of the hosho track that he had initially recorded]. The music is flowing like a flowing river, which has some bends, but the mbira parts are going nicely with that— following correctly with the current.

Chipembere: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

A ds 6

1

11.Chipembere

6

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5 1

3

Compilation 11. Chipembere : Compilation

227

Chipembere: Kushaura (1) 11.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

11.ks1.1

Basic line

11.ks1.2

11.ks1.3

11.ks1.4

11.ks1.5

11.ks1.6

11.ks1.7

11.Chipembere 228

11. Chipembere : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

11.ks1.8

11.ks1.9

11.ks1.10

Simplified line

11.ks1.11

Right-hand high-line variations

11.ks1.12

11.ks1.13

11.ks1.14

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

11.ks1.15

11.Chipembere

Kushaura (1) 11. Chipembere : Kushaura (1)

229

11.ks1.16

11.ks1.17

Right-hand chording variations

11.ks1.18

11.ks1.19

Right-hand triple-noting variations etc.

11.ks1.20

11.ks1.21

left-hand key substitution

Chipembere: Kushaura (2) 11.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.ks2.1

11.Chipembere 230

11. Chipembere : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

Right-hand high-line variations

11.ks2.2

11.ks2.3

Right-hand triple-noting variations

11.ks2.4

left-hand rest substitution

11.ks2.5

Chipembere: Kushaura (3) 11.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.ks3.1

Right-hand high line

11.ks3.2

Chipembere: Kushaura (4) 11.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.ks4.1

11.Chipembere

Kushaura (4) 11. Chipembere : Kushaura (4)

231

Right-hand high line

11.ks4.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

11.ks4.3

Chipembere: Kutsinhira (1) 11.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

11.kt1.1

Basic line

11.kt1.2

11.kt1.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

11.kt1.4

11.kt1.5

11.Chipembere 232

11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

11.kt1.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

11.kt1.7

11.kt1.8

11.kt1.9

11.kt1.10

11.kt1.11

Chipembere: Kutsinhira (2) 11.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.kt2.1

11.Chipembere

Kutsinhira (2) 11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (2)

233

Right-hand high line

11.kt2.2

Chipembere: Kutsinhira (3) 11.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.kt3.1

Right-hand high line

11.kt3.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

11.kt3.3

11.kt3.4

11.kt3.5

Left-hand accentuation variations

11.kt3.6

11.Chipembere 234

11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

11.kt3.7

11.kt3.8

11.kt3.9

Chipembere: Kutsinhira (4) 11.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

11.kt4.1

11.kt4.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

11.kt4.3

11.kt4.4

11.Chipembere

Kutsinhira (4) 11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (4)

235

Right-hand chording variations

11.kt4.5

11.kt4.6

Left-hand accentuation variations

11.kt4.7

11.kt4.8

11.kt4.9

11.kt4.10

Chipembere: Kutsinhira (5) 11.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

11.kt5.1

11.Chipembere 236

11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (5)

Kutsinhira (5)

Right-hand high-line variations

11.kt5.2

11.kt5.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

11.kt5.4

Left-hand accentuation variations

11.kt5.5

11.kt5.6

11.Chipembere

Kutsinhira (5) 11. Chipembere : Kutsinhira (5)

237

Chipembere: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 11.ks1.1—11.kt1.7

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 11.ks1.17—11.kt1.8

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic line and high line 11.ks1.1—11.kt3.3

11.Chipembere 238

11. Chipembere : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 11.ks2.3—11.kt2.2

e. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic line and triple noting, and high line 11.ks2.4—11.kt5.2

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines 11.ks2.3—11.kt5.2

11.Chipembere

Combinations 11. Chipembere : Combinations

239

g. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 11.ks3.1—11.kt1.8

h. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 11.ks3.2—11.kt2.2

i. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 11.ks4.2—11.kt1.5

11.Chipembere 240

11. Chipembere : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 11.ks4.3—11.kt3.1

k. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high line, and basic line with chording 11.ks4.2—11.kt4.5

11.Chipembere

Combinations 11. Chipembere : Combinations

241

12 Chipindura

The word “chipindura” has many meanings, like “the turning over of things,” but in mbira circles it is mostly connected with the idea of change. Mr. Mude gave the example of the changing of events like our independence after the war. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Chipindura: Kushaura (12.ks.1 )

I learned this song, the kushaura and kutsinhira, from Ernest Chivhanga in the early sixties. I was very young, around seven or eight years old. The kushaura and the kutsinhira substitutes were some of the things I used to hear other people play and then would try to work out for myself. Cosmas typically limited B chording to the first segment of the basic part, subsequently favoring R4/B within right-hand scalar descent over the boundary of segments 2 and 3. This part reminds me of some of the words Chivhanga used to sing with the song, like “Daka nehama.” This refers to an outcast, one who is on bad terms with his relatives and feels hatred toward them. The phrase fit the recurring combined-hand five-pulse figure that begins in segment 3 (pickup to third beat). When Chivhanga 242

was playing kutsinhira (2), he’d be singing that expression three times with the kushaura melody I was playing. 12.ks.2 : For a change, I like to simplify the main part. 12.ks.3 : Adding the B chording gives me another variation. 12.ks.5  illustrates a high line with two high peaks that in segment 4 incorporates a component of Cosmas’s signature developing high line. 12.ks.7: I learned this right-hand variation from Luken in 1972 and still play it this way. Altering the first half of his previous high line with an offbeat right-hand figure substitution, Cosmas produced a combinedhand shuffle keystroke pattern emphasizing commontone B. When I take things away like this, removing the original notes, I’ll be adding a little of something different to my playing. Also, obviously, that one rests my hands. It’ll be a joyful rest. He smiles. This is a different style than the main part, not just a by-product. I consider it to be a hybrid part or variation. Usually, I include that part when things in the music have become very intense. 12.ks.10: Re-created from our 1972 transcription, the substitution anticipates dyad C by a pulse. I still do this on the left side [of the mbira], but I use it sparingly. It’s not favorable for all situations. 12.ks.13: In 2002, we picked up this substitution from a demonstration, recorded years earlier. It’s a good one. One thing it shows [in relation to 12.ks.12] is a switch in segment 3 from the far-left side of the mbira [B7/A on the bass manual] to the far-right side [B1/G]. It gives a much better flavor to the melody. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. On one occasion, he demonstrated the succession: basic-line variation 12.ks.1, developing high-line variation 12.ks.4, and high-line variation 12.ks.5. I play the basic kushaura before adding high lines for three or four cycles. Then I give equal or more time to the high lines, five or six cycles. Reflecting on left-hand variation 12.ks.13, which introduces an emphatic bass G in segment 3, he reminds me that his choices are partially contingent on the other artists with whom he is performing. I used to do that one, but don’t really do it anymore. It doesn’t mean

I’ve forgotten it. These days I’m playing mbira with Beauler and other people. Sometimes they play in ways that don’t allow me to use those parts. I must wait till I can play with my son, Muda, whose playing is now strong enough that I can play different kinds of things with him. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Chipindura: Kutsinhira (1) (12.kt1.1 ) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

In normal situations when playing this song, you can make the main kushaura into a kutsinhira and mix the two of them, the one being a step behind the other. Chivhanga taught me this. 12.kt1.2 : Here, Cosmas simplifies the basic line. 12.kt1.3  illustrates his use of B chording with the simplified line. 12.kt1.7  incorporates a high line into the main part. Chipindura: Kutsinhira (2) (12.kt2.1 )

Chivhanga taught me this kutsinhira as well, a hybrid part with an offbeat bass G drone. In the first half of the cycle, left-hand shuffle keystroke figures emphasize downward octave leaps alternating Gs and higher pitches. In the second half, narrower leaps to bass G from shallow basses alternate with octaves and wider intervals. Auditory streaming produces bass compound (1+2) melodic-rhythmic figures (beginning at the end of segment 2, beat division 2). Meanwhile, the upper voice emphasizes figures with leaps in similar motion, followed at the end of segment 2 by figures largely imitative of the bass. Throughout, upper-voice pitches partially double midrange and bass pitches in octaves. In segment 4, Cosmas distinctively mixes high B, representing the root of the underlying dyad, with bass C carried over from dyad F. In 2002, reviewing our 1972 transcription, he reported: I still do it this way. I keep the right-hand high notes, Ds and Es, as part of the backbone. And I want to include the B chording in both the first and second segments. 12.kt2.4: In 1999, he taught me this high-line patChipindura

243

tern, which leads the initial descending gesture into the basic line at the end of segment 2. Reviewing the part in 2001, we found that over the intervening years, he had concentrated on high lines that incorporated a second G peak and descent in segment 3— a practice that he had previously reserved for kutsinhira (4), variation 12.kt4.7. Such lines were suitable for both kutsinhira, he had discovered. 12.kt2.5 : The way I learned this kutsinhira from Chivhanga, it didn’t have a lot of high notes. I had to work out substitutes for high notes that went properly with the kushaura high notes, being a step behind. 12.kt2.6 : Sometimes in segment 4 he reinforces high B with a bass B substitution, referencing the root of the underlying dyad. 12.kt2.8: He considered this to be a variation rather than a new kutsinhira because it has fewer different things happening compared to others. Usually, I give myself at least a minute when I go to that— going up to substitute B7 [A] instead of down to B1 [G] in segments 3 and 4. When I play kutsinhira (2), if I’m giving the basic pattern two minutes, for example, then I give half of the time, one minute, to this variation. 12.kt2.10: He equivocated when classifying this pattern, initially viewing it as the product of elaborate pitch substitution and rest substitution applied to the basic part. A year later, he felt that, for its unique features, it could stand as a separate kutsinhira. He suggested that we consider this if I felt it would be less confusing for learners and more consistent with other examples. In fact, it remained a borderline case for Cosmas. He could think of it as either a hybrid “variation” or a distinctive “kutsinhira part.” He could further diversify its patterns, he added, by mixing in midrange A-for-G substitutions given in 12.kt2.8 (segments 3 and 4) and left-hand rest substitutions given in 12.kt2.11. 12.kt2.12–14: The accents aren’t things that I work out and do the same way each time. Where I want them comes to me as I play. I make a different decision in each cycle; it’s rotational. Exemplifying his point, Cosmas gave a demonstration in which, for the first cycle, he played the part without accentuation; for the second cycle, accented midrange Gs in segments 1 and 2 and the initial bass E in segment 3. In the third cycle, he restricted his accents to Gs in segments 1 and 2. 244

Chapter 12

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (3) (12.kt3.1)

Reviewing this kutsinhira after a few years, he offered: I’d still classify this part as an independent one because it has a different appeal. How I started working on it was by beginning with the regular part, kutsinhira (2). Reenacting his discovery of kutsinhira (3), he played “regular” kutsinhira (2) through the second half of the cycle, which comprised compound (1+2) figures with leaps to bass G. Rounding the cycle, he nodded toward his left hand as he continued the pattern in segments 1 and 2 and forward, producing a bass line wholly composed of compound (1+2) figures. That was my own improvisation. I really wanted to see how that would go with the structure. 12.kt3.2: He went on to demonstrate various highline gestures, experimenting with importing those of kutsinhira (2) into his performance of kutsinhira (3). I think I can take the high-line fragment from the first half of it and combine that with the new left-hand pattern. When I’m really into playing, I do that kind of thing: I take part of one, half-half, and part of another— then they mix in the music. I combine these different things from different high lines. It makes my music more flexible. When I’m really into it, it’s easy for me to do that. I’ll just be swinging. 12.kt3.3 : Here, as in 12.kt2.6, he likes to complement high B with a bass B substitution for bass C in segment 4 at times, referencing dyad B. 12.kt3.4: His midrange E substitutions elaborate the pitch’s presence as a drone in the second half of the cycle. I really wanted the part to have the feel of different substitute keys there and to hear how that would go with the music. It’s like I’m alternating keys, skipping over some and putting others in their place. How do the changes affect the two halves of the cycle? I really wanted to contrast those sections. It’s another kind of mixing. That’s how I came up with that variation. Chipindura: Kutsinhira (4) (12.kt4.1)

This part is definitely my own improvisation. As you can hear, it also has some of the original [hybrid] one, kutsinhira (2), which I’d learned from Chivhanga. Then I went further, continuing this style on the left-hand side so that all four sections have the same feel. His approach was

largely the same as he had used to transform kutsinhira (2) into kutsinhira (3) earlier. In this instance, varying kutsinhira (2)’s initial pattern of shuffle figures through pitch substitution on the first and third beats and carrying it through the cycle, he produced onbeat D and E drones in the middle voice, and in the lower voice, oscillation between offbeat bass G and a higher pitch. 12.kt4.4–5: Here, left-hand substitution emphasizes bass B in the first instance, and in the second, midrange A. He said that kutsinhira (4) and its variations were comparatively simpler and easier to manage than the previous two kutsinhira (excepting 12.kt4.8). 12.kt4.6 : Left-hand D-for-E substitution on segment 2’s first beat reproduces the midrange pattern of segment 1 and its octave emphasis so that the two respond to one another. 12.kt4.7: This variation is a little bit of a mix. Among other things, it incorporates kutsinhira (1)’s tremolo G into segment 1, which in itself represents a mix with the kushaura part. The variation’s midrange G substitutions, in conjunction with the part’s bass G emphasis, prolong the dyad G harmony in segments 1–2, respectively minimizing the presence of dyad B and dyad C. Reflecting on 12.kt4.7’s elements above, he says: This is exactly the kind of thing I use a lot when I’m playing with Beauler [adapting to her style]. That’s part of the improvisation I did in kutsinhira (2). Are you referring to the change in the basses especially? Yes, that was my own. Adding it to my kutsinhira complemented her when she was doing the kushaura. He initially taught me this left-hand variation in 1999 in connection with kutsinhira (2) (12.kt2.4). At the time, he also diversified the part in performance by incorporating kutsinhira (4)’s left-hand figures in segments 3–4 as substitutions (12.kt4.1), replacing kutsinhira (2)’s compound (1+2) bass figures with a constant offbeat bass pattern. He explained that the latter helped stabilize the music in the second half of the cycle when adding high lines to the part. In 2001, when I performed variation 12.kt4.7 for Cosmas, he said that his practices had moved on. He was no longer playing the straight left-hand figure substitutions together with high lines, but rather was concentrating on substitutions that emphasized the upper end of the

bass manual. He pointed to key B7/A in 12.kt4.5 and to the animated E-A and D-A figures they produced in 12.kt4.8, increasing the challenges of performance and adding excitement to the music.

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (5) (12.kt5.1 )

This part represents a further development of the kutsinhira (4) variation above, 12.kt4.8. I’d consider this to be an independent kutsinhira because it has a lot of different things. It’s my creation. 12.kt5.3: That’s an additional variation of mine, he said after a demonstration, my own improvisation on that part. Let’s get it down before it runs away because I really like the way it sounds. I came up with this at a time when the playing was very intense [at the bira] and people were about to consult the spirits. Then I just felt like playing it that way. When it happens [the inspiration], I decide what things to pick from where and how to put them together differently [what components to combine from which sources]— and I try them out. In this case, I made what I was playing into another kutsinhira variation that I really liked. You say that the things you add should be related to the music? Yes, if you’re improvising when you’re playing a part, there should be that interrelationship between the new things and the old things. The part you’re bringing in should have additions— but good additions.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). In his kutsinhira arrangement, which specifies certain part sequences, Cosmas likes to use kutsinhira (2) as a springboard to kutsinhira (3). It’s easier for me to start with kutsinhira (2), then to come to kutsinhira (3). I do that to get into the music before I switch over. In this instance, technical considerations of part transition and his sense of musical development led him to re-create the history of his compositional endeavors. Particularizing his practices for kutsinhira (2), he does not typically use chording. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Chipindura

245

Solo Version Chipindura: Solo Version (12.sv.1 ) (same as kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse earlier)

This is my creation, which I’d use for soloing. Cosmas reminds me that another reason for improvising in such a manner in the first place was to create following parts for certain musicians. In the role of kutsinhira, such multipurpose parts compensated for, and complemented, others’ spare kushaura playing styles. Kutsinhira variation 12.kt5.3 served the same purpose. In most cases, because of its richness, I use it as a solo part. There are a lot of keys involved because I’ll often be representing both parts. If there’s a kutsinhira player present, I wouldn’t use it as a kushaura part. When performing by himself, he generally takes greater liberties than he would otherwise. For example, he can potentially treat figures from any of his kutsinhira parts as substitutions, typically shifting them a pulse earlier so their bass pitches fell on the beat. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations b, d–g). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

In the 1970s Cosmas reported that in the “lead” role, he played the one kushaura part he had learned from Chivhanga. In the “following” role, he would vary the kutsinhira more substantially, creating greater activity in the bass. Since I’m playing the kutsinhira part, I’ll be led by the person playing the kushaura, following his speed. In 2005, we tested all of the kutsinhira again. At this time, he said that he typically emphasized kutsinhira (2), bringing in other parts for a change. They all go together with the kushaura. In our duo renditions in 2008, he asked me to play the kushaura and recommended the following sequence: 246

Chapter 12

1. basic line: Play it one time to get rolling. 2. simplified line: Give this two or three cycles. 3. developing high line: Feel free to stay with that for as many as three or four cycles. 4. high line: Feel free to stay on that for as long as you like. 5. simplified line: Return to this because that’s the time I like to come back to the simplified line [in the kutsinhira] one step behind, and I need to be given that opportunity by the lead player [combination b ].

After that, I was free to mix my right-hand patterns in any order, changing my emphasis on them at will, and closing the kushaura performance with any one. In relation to the kushaura scheme above, Cosmas largely emphasized kutsinhira (2), incorporating in its framework variations 12.kt2.6–9 (variation 12.kt2.6 appears in combination d ). For a change, he enjoyed kutsinhira (4)’s offbeat bass line (combination f ) and its variations 12.kt4.4–5, which contrasted with the other kutsinhira’s compound (1+2) bass figures. He also appreciated kutsinhira (3)’s left-hand variation 12.kt3.4 for its hybrid qualities. Another routine evolved from our interaction. At one point, he wanted to play the kushaura and asked me to play kutsinhira (1), the same part a step behind. I found that when I stayed on my part for long stretches, he would take increasingly greater liberties in the kushaura chair. One surprising turn involved his switching to “kutsinhira (2)” with its heavy basses, shifted a pulse earlier into the kushaura position so that it interlocked with my kutsinhira (combination i). Referring to comparable practices by others, he pointed out that on this song, players like Beauler sometimes use the kutsinhira as a kushaura to distinguish their versions. Table 12.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

Reviewing the recording, Cosmas pointed out his use of a new variation in relation to our transcribed collection at the time. These are things that come into your hands as you play [for example, 12.kt2.11, which deletes the first pitch of each of 12.kt2.10’s midrange G double-noting

TABLE 12.1 Chipindura

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w bl/ch & RHvar (begins seg 1) (12.ks.1, mix w RH dhl 12.ks.4, seg 2) kt (4) w bl & LHvar (begins seg 1) (12.kt4.2, mix w LH 12.kt2.1, segs 3–4)

0:00

kt (4) w bl & LHvar (12.kt4.2, mix w LH 12.kt4.5, segs 3–4)

0:25

kt (2) w bl (12.kt2.1)

0:34

1:12

kt (1) w hl (12.kt1.4)

0:55

1:17

kt (2) w bl (12.kt2.1)

1:00

1:25

kt (2) w bl & LHvar (12.kt2.1, mix w LH 12.kt2.11, segs 1–2, & 12.kt4.5, segs 3–4)

1:08

1:28

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (12.kt1.7)

1:11

kt (4) w bl & LHvar (12.kt4.2, mix w LH 12.kt2.1, segs 3–4)

2:08

2:34

kt (2) w bl & LHvar (12.kt2.1, mix w LH 12.kt2.8, seg 3)

2:17

2:51

kt (4) w bl & RH/LHvar (12.kt4.2, mix w RH/LH 12.kt2.11, segs 1–2)

2:34

3:59

kt (4) w bl & LHvar (12.kt4.5, mix w LH 12.kt2.1, segs 1–2)

2:42

3:08

kt (4) w bl (12.kt4.2)

2:51

kt (1) w hl (12.kt1.7)

3:02

ends

3:51

0:17 0:18

ks w dhl (12.ks.4)

0:22

ks w hl (12.ks.5)

0:42

ks w bl/ch & RHvar (12.ks.1, mix w RH dhl 12.ks.4, seg 2)

0:51 1:08

2:25

3:17

ks w hl (12.ks.5)

ks w bl/ch & RHvar (12.ks.1, mix w RH dhl 12.ks.4, seg 2)

ks w hl (12.ks.5)

3:19 4:00

ks w bl/ch & RHvar (12.ks.1, mix w RH dhl 12.ks.4, seg 2)

4:08

ends

Chipindura

247

figures]. Yes, I just twisted it a little bit with my fingers. In a demonstration, he took a moment to get 12.kt2.11 back in his hands, then in the next cycle, he used segment 1 of the variation as a brief segue to segment 2 of kutsinhira (1) (12.kt1.1). I’m using it as a transition. I use certain sections of the phrases— little things I want to do— as a launchpad to other variations. I was inspired to do these kinds of things by listening to how Kunaka shifted from one variation into another— that was his style.

248

Chapter 12

This recording puts me back in those times when I used to see so many things at the ceremonies where I played. It reminds me of some of the women with babies on their backs in a bira, their babies just going along with the music, bobbing up and down as their mothers danced. As I played mbira, I’d see everyone standing up participating, nobody sitting down. My late mother Matilda used to tell me she danced with me the same way at the biras.

Chipindura: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

sv

G alt ds 1

12.Chipindura

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

5

7

3

5

Compilation 12. Chipindura : Compilation

249

Chipindura: Kushaura 12.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

12.ks.1

Basic line

12.ks.2

Simplified line

12.ks.3

12.ks.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

12.ks.5

12.ks.6

12.ks.7

12.Chipindura 250

12. Chipindura : Kushaura

Kushaura

Left-hand variations with right-hand developing high line

12.ks.8

12.ks.9

12.ks.10

12.ks.11

12.ks.12

12.ks.13

Right-hand chording variations

12.ks.14

12.ks.15

12.Chipindura

Kushaura 12. Chipindura : Kushaura

251

12.ks.16

Right-hand line substitution

12.ks.17

Left- and right-hand accentuation variations

12.ks.18

12.ks.19

12.ks.20

12.ks.21

12.ks.22

12.Chipindura 252

12. Chipindura : Kushaura

Kushaura

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (1) 12.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

12.kt1.1

Basic line

12.kt1.2

Simplified line

12.kt1.3

12.kt1.4

Developing high line

12.kt1.5

12.kt1.6

Right-hand high line

12.kt1.7

12.Chipindura

Kutsinhira (1) 12. Chipindura : Kutsinhira (1)

253

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (2) 12.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

12.kt2.1

Basic line

12.kt2.2

Simplified line

12.kt2.3

Right-hand high-line variations

12.kt2.4

12.kt2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

12.kt2.6

12.kt2.7

12.Chipindura 254

12. Chipindura : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

12.kt2.8

12.kt2.9

Left- and right-hand variations

12.kt2.10

12.kt2.11

Left-hand accentuation variations

12.kt2.12

12.kt2.13

12.kt2.14

12.Chipindura

Kutsinhira (2) 12. Chipindura : Kutsinhira (2)

255

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (3) 12.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

12.kt3.1

Right-hand high line

12.kt3.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

12.kt3.3

12.kt3.4

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (4) 12.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

12.kt4.1

Basic line

12.kt4.2

Developing high line

12.Chipindura 256

12. Chipindura : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Right-hand high line

12.kt4.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

12.kt4.4

12.kt4.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

12.kt4.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

12.kt4.7

12.kt4.8

12.Chipindura

Kutsinhira (4) 12. Chipindura : Kutsinhira (4)

257

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (5) 12.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

12.kt5.1

Right-hand high line

12.kt5.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

12.kt5.3

Chipindura: Solo Version 12.sv.1 serving as model (same as kutsinhira [5] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

12.sv.1

Right-hand high line

12.sv.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

12.sv.3

12.Chipindura 258

12. Chipindura : Solo Version

Solo Version

Chipindura: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 12.ks.1—12.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 12.ks.3—12.kt1.3

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines, and chording 12.ks.15—12.kt2.8

12.Chipindura

Combinations 12. Chipindura : Combinations

259

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and basic line 12.ks.5—12.kt2.6

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 12.ks.3—12.kt3.3

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand simplified line and developing high line 12.ks.3—12.kt4.6

12.Chipindura 260

12. Chipindura : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high line and basic line 12.ks.5—12.kt5.1

h. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 12.ks.4—12.kt5.3

Multipurpose Parts Combined i. Kutsinhira (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 12.kt1.1—12.kt2.1 shifted

12.Chipindura

Combinations 12. Chipindura : Combinations

261

13 Dande

Dande is the name of a region of Zimbabwe along the northeastern border where the Korekore people live. It used to be renowned for its salt reserves; people used to go there to dig for salt. It’s also renowned for its good soil for tobacco, which is made into snuff [some spirit mediums/healers use snuff to enhance their powers]. Within the piece’s rhythmically asymmetrical dyad sequence, parts largely prolong dyad C in segment 1 and dyad B in segment 3. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Dande: Kushaura (1) (13.ks1.1)

“Dande” was among the early songs I learned from Chivhanga. He taught me only the kushaura part to “Dande.” The substitutes and things like that are things I observed other people playing. I played with a lot of different musicians and learned from them as well. Things like emphasizing certain keys, the accents— those are my own things. Cosmas’s demonstration: I start this [13.ks1.1] at a slow, reasonable pace, playing it three or four cycles before including the high lines. With this basic part, the one Chivhanga taught me, I include B chording; that should be part of it throughout. Cosmas’s distinctive version of the part’s basic line includes right-hand rest 262

substitutions on the pickups to second and fourth beats in segment 3. I give it that twist there in kushaura (1) only. In segment 3, the second-beat area, the right-hand G represents a fleeting harmonic addition. On the pickup to segment 4, his left-hand pattern substitutes an E octave shuffle figure for the expected D octave figure, prolonging dyad E in the sequence model and eliding dyad G. 13.ks1.3–4, 13.ks1.5 : Here, he accompanies his high lines with a left-hand variation that replaces the E octave shuffle figure on the pickup to segment 4 with an octave D, referencing dyad G in the sequence. I want the basic left hand [pattern] to have the repeated Es; the substitute with the high lines is the one with the Ds. The latter extends the scalar descents in midrange and bass patterns, mirroring that of the high line. He reflected further on his standard high-line practices during the 2002 review of 1971 recordings: Typically, I just use those main high lines [13.ks1.3–5] on this kushaura because I’m concentrating on the other changes I make with the left thumb. Sometimes I leave out things with the right thumb as well. That gives enough variety without bringing in additional high notes. 13.ks1.8: Differing from the previous high lines’ contours, this line substitution emphasizes leaps in contrary motion in the first half of the cycle, figures with leaps to repeated pitches from B in the second half. I learned this from Luken. It was his version. As in 13.ks1.8, he sometimes reinstates his left-hand E octaves at the beginning of segment 4 while playing high lines— an exception to his general practice. 13.ks1.9  illustrates his dramatic introduction of a bass G substitution on the first beat of segment 3, prolonging dyad G and contracting dyad B. 13.ks1.12: Among other changes, octave D substitution returns on the first beat of segment 3, and Gfor-A bass substitution marks the last beat of the cycle. This variation is one of the most basic ones, so I can spend two or three minutes on it. 13.ks1.14 : Rest substitution diminishes the basic part’s midrange E drone, segments 1–2; bass G substitutions frame the second half of the segment. I feel they’re different enough to stay on them. I’d spend about two or three cycles on this one. In relation to the transcription, video (a) adds B chording to the basic line (segments 2–3); video (b) adds high-line substitutions 13.ks1.4 and 13.ks1.5.

13.ks1.16: That double-noting variation sounds great. It wakes you up. It also wakes up your playing partner. Those substitutes are a very nice “punch up” as I’m playing and it doesn’t interfere with my partner. I consider the “punches” just a substitute for the basic part rather than a new part; it just gives a wake-up call. 13.ks1.17: Here, I begin adding a new shape in segment 2. Created by pitch substitution, the emergent compound (1+2) figure— bass E and upward leap EG— is responding to the [preceding] double-noting Gs. 13.ks1.18 creates a succession of midrange G and A double-noting figures. On the pickup to segment 4, he combines midrange E and bass D in his downward keystroke figure, mixing his previous left-hand options in this position. Pointing to the subsequent downward leap in the bass, E-G, he adds, I like that and do it a lot. I think of all three of these [double-noting variations, 13.ks1.16–18] as substitutes rather than as new kushaura. 13.ks1.20: Pitch substitution elaborates midrange E and C drones in segments 1–2, distinguishing this hybrid variation. This is also a basic one, so I can spend two or three minutes on it. It’s heavier on left-hand pamusoro than some of the others. 13.ks1.21–22: I still do these bass substitutes. These sample his left-hand rest and pitch substitutions, as well as the right-hand line substitution that appeared in 13.ks1.8. With respect to 3.ks1.22: That’s one of the variations I used to play, and I still do. Luken used to do things like this too. This must have come from Luken. 13.ks1.23: That was my own improvisation. As I progressed around the cycle, I left out certain things, while sticking to certain things and adding others. 13.ks1.28–29: What is the process like of searching for different patterns within the basic part, like when accenting your double-noting figures here? Usually, I’ll use soft kinds of accentuation when I play, then listen to the result. When I find that certain things start coming up that I like, I accent them harder to make them come out more. That takes a lot of practical experience: playing, trying things, and seeing what fits and what doesn’t. That’s why I do it softly at first sometimes. You keep what works and throw away what doesn’t. Dande: Kushaura (2) (13.ks2.1 )

When reteaching me the repertory in 1999, Cosmas reported that this kushaura was from John Gondo. SubDande

263

sequently, in reviewing our 1972 transcriptions, he recalled that he had acquired it from Luken, who learned it from Gondo. I still play this the same way. I didn’t move from that. I don’t have a simplified version for it. You were saying that this Dande differs from others? Yes. Its rhythm is different. Also, we call this one “Dande yepasi,” because it’s from the bottom up [emphasizing lefthand figures with upward leaps from the bass manual to the midrange manual]. In contrast, kushaura (1), a topdown one, emphasizes downward leaps from the upper manual to the bass manual. Additionally, kushaura (2) places bass pitches in pickup positions. In segment 2, pickup to third beat, the part introduces distinctive five-pulse keystroke figures initiated by a three-pulse component in which the left thumb plays the first key, and the right thumb and index finger play the second and third keys. So it’s got its own style. 13.ks2.2: From reviewing his 1972 recording in 2002, he picked up this challenging right-hand variation with double noting and mixed fingering. Typically, he does not use high lines or high-line chording with kushaura (2). However, he does use spare B chording in segment 3, along with other lower chording options at times (for example, segments 1–2, C with A or G). I worked out a different right-hand basic line and other right-hand things for this one because its rhythm is different from kushaura (1). Dande: Kushaura (3) (13.ks3.1 ) (same as kushaura [2] with altered right-hand pattern)

This was re-created from our 1972 transcription, labeled “Dande yekutanga from [ John] Gondo,” implying the first or an early version of the piece. When I played the part for Cosmas in 1998, he responded: Luken must have taught you this one. I don’t recall playing it. Luken had his own way of playing, which he learned from his teachers. We each learned from different angles. In 2002 he identified the part as “Dande yepasi,” initially classifying it as a “kushaura (2) variation” because of its use of kushaura (2)’s left-hand pattern and comparable three-pulse figures with right-hand Bs beginning in segment 2. In 2005, however, he decided that the uniformity of its combined-hand three-keystroke figures and offbeat upper voice were different enough 264

Chapter 13

to warrant its classification as an independent kushaura. It has its own different flavor as compared with the other. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. I use both kushaura [(1) and (2)] in the same performance, switching back and forth. He gave a few brief demonstrations. Speaking over the first: It’s best to start with kushaura (1) basic, spending a good amount of time there. Then, when I want to change, I go to one of its variations with substitutes that fill in the gaps in the basic part because that helps me make a smooth transition to kushaura (2). He refers here to pitch insertions in 13.ks1.12–20 that create a constant shuffle keystroke pattern. I’d just play the transition variation for a few cycles. I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on it because I’ll already have spent a lot of time on the first one, kushaura (1) basic, which is similar. I’d spend enough time on kushaura (2), too, say about ten cycles, before going back to kushaura (1). Decades later, he no longer depended on transition variations between the two kushaura. Switching from any part or variation to another, and from any point in its cycle, was no longer a problem for him. I asked how he handled high lines when moving among the parts. They should come in from the beginning, after you start your kushaura (1). Picking up his instrument, he demonstrates one cycle of the basic line, adds a high line to the part (13. ks1.4), then changes to kushaura (2)’s basic part. Subsequently, he returns to kushaura (1), emphasizing lefthand variation 13.ks1.10, then returns to the kushaura (2) basic-line part. In another demonstration, he moves once again from kushaura (1)’s basic part to variation 13.ks1.10 to kushaura (2)’s basic part. You can also go from kushaura (1) to kushaura (2) without including the transition variation. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Dande: Kutsinhira (1) (13.kt1.1) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

This is the kutsinhira that I first got from Chivhanga, the same as kushaura (1) but one step behind. 13.kt1.3  illustrates his dramatic introduction of a bass G substitution on the second pulse of segment 3, prolonging dyad G and contracting dyad B. 13.kt1.4  : Cosmas combines his high line with a left-hand variation incorporating the bass G substitution above and substituting an octave D shuffle keystroke figure at the beginning of segment 4. The latter references dyad G and extends scalar descents in middle and lower voices mirroring that of the high line. Dande: Kutsinhira (2) (13.kt2.1)

This kutsinhira also comes from Chivhanga. In relation to kutsinhira (1), this part increases bass activity in segments 1–2, emphasizing Cs and Gs. In segment 1, its figures set up the movement to the underlying F dyad three pulses earlier than the previous part. Cosmas points to the left-hand bass descent F-ED-C overlapping segments 3–4, and reminds me that he treats D as a component of kutsinhira (2)’s basic part, not a substitution. Kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (2) are similar, he says— as are some of Kuzanga’s parts— but not identical. One is following the other closely, but playing some different keys. Once you bring in a new key that moves in a different direction in the kushaura or kutsinhira, it changes their mixture. What’s the desired effect of this? You get some sweet music from the combinations, when you bring together the different keys in the kushaura and the kutsinhira. 13.kt2.8: From his recorded 1972 performance, he picked out this left-hand variation, with oscillation between higher bass pitches and bass G in the first half of the cycle, establishing bass G as a drone. It’s a mix of different things, which can also be used for solo playing. These are good substitutes bringing changes in the bass. I’m not doing those substitutes these days, but only because there are so many other things that I do. 13.kt2.9  illustrates substitutions that largely reinstate the kutsinhira’s original left-hand pitches in segments 1–2, while creating responsive descents to bass G in segments 2 and 4. 13.kt2.10 : I consider these changes substitutes rather than a different kutsinhira.

13.kt2.11  : This was from John Gondo. In segments 1–2, substitution sets up a distinctive oscillation between repeated bass Es and Fs before the leaps to bass G. 13.kt2.12: This was my variation based on Gondo’s. It emphasizes bass E substitutions in segments 1–2. In relation to 13.kt2.11, it prolongs segment 1’s C dyad area by two pulses before arriving at dyad F. 13.kt2.13–14: Wherever you find there are basses being emphasized a lot like this, those are my own variations. He gives his midrange G double noting incorporated in the lower-voice figures with wide leaps to bass G as examples (segments 1–2). These are hybrid substitute parts [the second half of the cycle comprises an extended offbeat bass line with a scalar descent introduced and completed by leaps]. I’m taking different things from different places and bringing them together. 13.kt2.15  illustrates left-hand substitution in segment 2 that answers the initial double noting and leap to bass G with a contour variation including his signature leap of a fifth. 13.kt2.16: Obviously, that’s my way of playing. I’m the one who improvised that. 13.kt2.17–19, 13.kt2.20–21 : The initial variation mixes segments 1–2 of the basic kutsinhira (2) part with a double-noting bass descent in segments 3–4, the product of octave substitution. In an ongoing process of mixing and matching, subsequent examples combine comparable scalar-descent figures with variations in segments 1–2. I typically like to combine that double-noting bass section with other variations that we’ve captured here. You can also use those segments to mix with the first half of the Gondo one [13.kt2.11]. When you incorporate the scalar-descent basses into variations, how long do you play them? Usually, if I do those, I go around two or three cycles. I consider all these to be substitutes rather than different kutsinhira. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). Cosmas describes different courses through lefthand kutsinhira variations 13.kt2.10–13: After going through all of them, then you’ll start choosDande

265

ing the ones that come to your mind and to your fingers when you’re playing. Now, it depends on your enjoyment surrounding this, which influences things as well. The environment also tells you which to bring in. You should feel free to pick what you want and repeat the most interesting variations. In an extended kutsinhira demonstration, he starts his performance by combining kutsinhira (2) high-line variation 13.kt2.4 with left-hand substitution 13.kt2.9, then adds another peak to the high line, as in 13.kt2.5. He explains: I’d spend more time on the first variation. Having given more time to the first, I’ll come to the others, giving each one equal time. On this part, you should feel free to play as follows. He plays the kutsinhira (2) basic-line part (13.kt2.1), then moves on to variation 13.kt2.10— I’ll play that twice— next, variation 13.kt2.13, ending after one and a half cycles. See? I started with the main one, kutsinhira (2), then went to the next level, then moved to the third. You move through the whole sequence before going back to the basic kutsinhira? Yes, then I go back to the beginning because the original part has a distinction that I like. It has a bit of a punch in it which I want to keep reinforcing. I play the other variations, let’s say three or four times each, before going back to the original one. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations a, c, g, i). He reflects on his kushaura-kutsinhira practices: 1. Kushaura (1), repeated without change, goes well with kutsinhira (2) variation 13.kt2.17, distinguished by its double-noting bass line (combination d). Were he playing the kutsinhira in this instance, he would also vary the bass line, incorporating a D substitution on the first beat of segment 4, creating the figure E-E D-D instead of E-E E-D. The latter removes the interval of a second created by bass E and D in the part 266

Chapter 13

combination. However, I’m not adjusting them because of any problem there. I could play those pitches together, matching them, or one step apart. What I’m doing there is looking for something different in what I’m hearing in my music. So sometimes there’s that clash, but it’ll be a clash that I like. To verify that we’re discussing the same feature in the combination, I play bass D and bass E simultaneously on my instrument. Do you hear this as a clash? Yes, I can hear that because that resembles what happens when you have two drums— a big one and a small one— that are being played at the same time. He sings “doomp . . . doomp” from high to low. Hit at the same time? I can hit them at the same time or at different intervals, depending on what I’m looking for. In my system of playing, there are times, certain situations, in which I’ll be seeking something different in the melody. By the way I strike on my keys, whether playing a key once or twice or whatever, I’ll be seeking to bring that kind of clash as an alternative, but it produces sounds that I like. That’s from a combination of the basses: how I line them up between kushaura and kutsinhira. And I can even do it playing solo, if I want to create something like that. It’s similar to majimba [patterns that take unusual liberties, sometimes departing from the form], but good majimba. 2. When the kushaura player moves to kushaura (1) left-hand variation 13.ks1.20, Cosmas, playing kutsinhira, likes to move to the Gondo variation (13.kt2.11) (combination e). 3. Left-hand interplay between the parts (combination f ): Usually, if something different has happened in the kushaura, I respond with something in my kutsinhira part. Usually the changes are similar, in that they’re like two people talking. They’re discussing. One is asking, the other is answering. When we have those double-noting accents [midrange G and A] in the kushaura, that’s when a person makes similar changes in kutsinhira (2) [also, potentially doing the same in combinations involving variations 13.kt2.19–20]. 4. Although emphasizing kushaura (1) in the kushaura chair, he makes departures to kushaura (2) for a change. He favors the latter in combinations with kutsinhira (2) (combination g  and combination h). In our discussions about kushaura (2), he initially

suggested that he could use kushaura (1)’s high lines. When we tested this in kushaura-kutsinhira performance, the kushaura’s constant alternate-pulse high line fell on the same pulses as those of the kutsinhira, with unsatisfactory results. When we substituted kushaura (2)’s basic line (especially its rhythmically varied basic line in [13.ks2.2]), however, the composite’s minimal right-hand interlocking and sporadic chording effects were workable to Cosmas— counterbalanced by the left-hand composite’s continuous interlocking scheme. As discussed in the “Reflections” section below, his practices accommodate exceptions to his general theoretical position of avoiding high lines with kushaura (2), reflecting the situational nature of his choices during performances. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

All the kushaura parts given here work with all the kutsinhira variations. Typically, he emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (2), bringing in other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he requested that I alternate between kushaura (1) and kushaura (2), in the first instance, switching between the basic line and high lines. Meanwhile, he emphasized kutsinhira (2) with lefthand bass substitutions 13.kt2.6–8 (variation 13.kt2.8 appears in combination b). Table 13.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition.

Reflections

This recording demonstrates the importance of sticking with one kushaura at times, with small substitutes. Hearing the transition from kushaura (1) to kushaura (2) should be helpful to students. That can be difficult without an example. It takes some practice to be able to do it. Adding high lines to those parts— and, also, playing without high lines for variety— is important. To be an effective mbira player, you need to remember to do all those effective things. 2:29–3:01: Despite his tendency to avoid high lines with kushaura (2), he found an effective way to use them in this context without conflicting with those of the kutsinhira. In this situation, he plays kushaura (2) high lines in the first half of the cycle and kutsinhira (2) high lines in the second half of the cycle, creating calland-response exchanges. 3:54: He points out his double-noting kutsinhira variation and subsequent shift from kushaura (1) to kushaura (2). That kushaura (2) part awakens the musicians because it’s not that usual. You must be alert [to respond to that with something complementary as a kutsinhira player]. That’s OK there. On this song, when I’m playing that kutsinhira— that phrasing— it’s very challenging. It’s musically difficult to maintain the speed. In that section, what comes into my mind is the history of the people who used to go to Dande to get salt: people meeting there, sitting, discussing things. To me, that musical section is like that, like a house full of people— like in a bira: all the voices of people representing their views, discussing at the same time, arguing about what they want.

Dande

267

TABLE 13.1 Dande

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (begins seg 1) (13.ks1.9, mix w LH subs) kt (2) w hl & LHvar (begins seg 1) (RH: 13.kt2.4; LH: 13.kt2.7)

0:00

0:41

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 1–3)

0:24

1:15

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (includes G double noting) (3.kt2.13–16)

0:58

1:31

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 2–3)

1:14

1:56

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 1–3)

1:39

2:05

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (includes G double noting) (13.kt2.13–16)

1:48

2:21

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11)

2:04

0:17 0:21

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (13.ks1.14, mix w LH subs)

0:33

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (13.ks1.4, mix w LH 13.ks1.13–15)

2:29

ks (2) w bl (13.ks2.1)

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 2–3)

2:12

2:45

ks (2) w hl & RHvar (13.ks2.1, mix w RH 13.ks1.4, segs 1–2)

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.5, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 1–3)

2:28

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 2–3)

2:37

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.5, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 1–3)

2:45

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 2–3)

2:54

2:54 3:02

ks (2) w bl (13.ks2.1)

3:11 3:19

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (13.ks1.9)

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 13.kt2.5; LH: 13.kt2.7)

3:02

3:27

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (13.ks1.4, mix w LH 13.ks1.13–15)

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (13.kt2.11, mix w LH 13.kt2.6, segs 2–3)

3:10

3:44

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 13.kt2.5; LH: 13.kt2.7)

3:27

3:51

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (includes G double noting) (13.kt2.13–16)

3:34

ends

3:46

3:56

ks (2) w bl (13.ks2.1)

4:00

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (13.ks1.9, mix w LH 13.ks1.12, seg 4)

4:02

ends

4:03

Dande: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

kt1

kt2

E ds 6

13.Dande

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

6

1

4

Compilation 13. Dande : Compilation

269

Dande: Kushaura (1) 13.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

13.ks1.1

Basic line

13.ks1.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

13.ks1.3

characteristic Magaya left-hand substitution with high line

13.ks1.4

13.ks1.5

13.ks1.6

13.ks1.7

270

13.Dande

13. Dande : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

13.ks1.8

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

13.ks1.9

13.ks1.10

13.ks1.11

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

13.ks1.12

13.ks1.13

13.ks1.14

13.ks1.15

13.Dande

Kushaura (1) 13. Dande : Kushaura (1)

271

13.ks1.16

13.ks1.17

13.ks1.18

13.ks1.19

13.ks1.20

Left- and right-hand variations

13.ks1.21

13.ks1.22

Right-hand line substitution

13.ks1.23

13.Dande 272

13. Dande : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

Right-hand chording variations

13.ks1.24

13.ks1.25

13.ks1.26

13.ks1.27

Left-hand accentuation variations

13.ks1.28

13.ks1.29

Dande: Kushaura (2) 13.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

13.ks2.1

13.Dande

Kushaura (2)

13. Dande : Kushaura (2)

273

13.ks2.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

13.ks2.3

13.ks2.4

Dande: Kushaura (3) 13.ks3.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [2] with altered right-hand pattern)

Right-hand basic line

13.ks3.1

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

13.ks3.2

Dande: Kutsinhira (1) 13.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

13.kt1.1

13.Dande 274

13. Dande : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Right-hand high line

13.kt1.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

13.kt1.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

13.kt1.4

Dande: Kutsinhira (2) 13.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

13.kt2.1

Basic line

13.kt2.2

Simplified line

13.kt2.3

Right-hand high-line variations

13.kt2.4

13.Dande

Kutsinhira (2)

13. Dande : Kutsinhira (2)

275

13.kt2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

13.kt2.6

13.kt2.7

13.kt2.8

13.kt2.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

13.kt2.10

13.kt2.11

13.kt2.12

13.Dande 276

13. Dande : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

13.kt2.13

13.kt2.14

13.kt2.15

13.kt2.16

13.kt2.17

13.kt2.18

13.kt2.19

13.kt2.20

13.Dande

Kutsinhira (2) 13. Dande : Kutsinhira (2)

277

13.kt2.21

Left-hand accentuation variations

13.kt2.22

13.kt2.23

13.kt2.24

13.kt2.25

13.kt2.26

13.Dande 278

13. Dande : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Dande: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 13.ks1.9—13.kt1.3

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 13.ks1.1—13.kt2.8

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 13.ks1.9—13.kt2.9

13.Dande

Combinations 13. Dande : Combinations

279

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 13.ks1.1—13.kt2.17

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 13.ks1.20—13.kt2.11

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines, and accentuation 13.ks1.29—13.kt2.15

13.Dande 280

13. Dande : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 13.ks2.1—13.kt2.9

h. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 13.ks2.2—13.kt2.1

i. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 13.ks3.1—13.kt2.20

13.Dande

Combinations 13. Dande : Combinations

281

14 Dangurangu

I was never told the meaning of this song by Bandambira, but in our 2003 research, Dzangodza Taunezvi [an expert mbira player who played for a famous medium in Nyandoro] explained that it referred to the process of reaching a verdict in a court case. I don’t play “Dangurangu” very often. NB: Dangurangu’s distinctive characteristics include the powerful kutsinhira offbeat bass, and the structural independence of its kushaura and kutsinhira, here interpreted loosely in relation to the standard sequence’s C transposition model. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and the kutsinhira. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections, respectively.

Kushaura Dangurangu: Kushaura (14.ks.1)

Cosmas began learning this piece from Bandambira’s performances in 1972, picking up what he could. Like “Nyuchi,” the kushaura is a part that you begin with the left hand and right hand playing the same notes [octaves] together. I don’t have many parts for this song. In the old days, I just had the chance to learn those, and later I discontinued playing them. In 1999, we discovered that my early repertory collection did not include Dangurangu parts from Cosmas. However, it included several from John Kunaka. 282

Stimulated by these, Cosmas began re-creating Bandambira’s version for our study from memory. After 1999, he also worked with Sam Mvure, watching Mvure’s hands closely while he demonstrated the piece in order to add details in his initial parts. Sometimes, to break down a song like this for teaching is a problem for the person who is playing. Its features are different from other songs and don’t lend themselves to that. In 2002, he shared his revised kushaura and kutsinhira with me. 14.ks.1: The way I learned this song, the basic part— the backbone— includes the high notes. Do you think of that as the basic line? I think of that as the basic, it’s whole. 14.ks.2 : Here, a rest substitution eliminates B chording in segment 3, bringing out the midrange B-D figure. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. I’ll start slowly, building up as I go on the right side.

Kutsinhira

phatic Fs including double noting, and introduces midrange B in segments 2–3. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination c; web demonstration : combination c). Reviewing combinations a and b, I asked him about the comparatively high number of close intervals in the composite right-hand and left-hand patterns, including seconds. That character is normal when you’re playing a song like “Dangurangu.” If you listen when I’m playing with Beauler, we like those clashes that happen between both parties, the kutsinhira and kushaura.

Dangurangu: Kutsinhira (14.kt.1)

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

14.kt.3 : Left-hand pitch and rest substitution transform the part’s challenging offbeat bass line with em-

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira given here.

Dangurangu

283

Dangurangu: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

C alt

ds 4

(

4 C standard sequence model

6+2

4+2

7

2

1+2

3

5

1

3

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

14.Dangurangu 284

14. Dangurangu : Compilation

1 6

1

)

Compilation

Dangurangu: Kushaura 14.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

14.ks.1

14.ks.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

14.ks.3

Dangurangu: Kutsinhira 14.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

14.kt.1

Left- and right-hand variations

14.kt.2

14.kt.3

14.Dangurangu

Kutsinhira 14. Dangurangu : Kutsinhira

285

14.kt.4

14.kt.5

14.Dangurangu 286

14. Dangurangu : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Dangurangu: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 14.ks.1—14.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 14.ks.3—14.kt.5

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 14.ks.2—14.kt.3

14.Dangurangu

Combinations 14. Dangurangu : Combinations

287

15 Gorekore

I heard that Gorekore was a famous spirit medium of the Korekore people. Maybe the song was a favorite of Gorekore’s. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the solo version. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the solo version section, including the version’s use in “solo version–kutsinhira” arrangements.

Solo Version Gorekore: Solo Version (15.sv.1)

I don’t remember who taught me this song. Initially pulling a three-segment version of the piece from memory in 1972, he subsequently revised and recorded it. When we revisited the recording in 1999, he explained: I don’t play this now. I just forgot it over the years. I don’t hear people talking about it anymore. He picked up his mbira and began re-creating the piece. This is tricky for me to relearn. The fingers have to learn to move quickly in different ways. The version’s fluid texture includes overlapping right- and left-hand shuffle keystroke figures incorporating, in the right hand, double noting and alternate-pulse mixtures. Altogether, the combined hands produce eleven-pulse keystroke figures that overlap segment boundaries. In a final review of our transcription of the version for this study, he suggested 288

a few editorial changes. In his assessment, we had initially given the “developing high line” (15.sv.2) as the “basic line.” To correct this, he advised substituting R2/ Gs for high Ds and R3/As for high Es, keeping everything else the same. Our current basic part incorporates the changes (15.sv.1). He reminded me to explain to readers that our study presents a greater range of variations for some parts than others. All the parts don’t have all the components we’ve demonstrated on some songs. We’ve decided to pick certain things selectively for illustration— just sampling the possibilities. 15.sv.5  illustrates a common left-hand substitution that replaces harmonic-addition bass G with midrange A, referencing the root of the underlying dyad. 15.sv.6: This one especially requires speed, agility. Here, pitch insertion produces three-pulse keystroke components with embedded midrange D and midrange E double noting at the beginning of segments. 15.sv.9 illustrates his use of metric shifting, as well as pitch substitution. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously.

Combined Solo Version and Kushaura Parts

In addition to using this part for solo performance, he uses it as a kutsinhira for Mahororo or Nyamaropa kushaura in the context of cross-composition arrangements (see Mahororo cross-composition combination q ). Implementing Solo Version–Kushaura Arrangements

Reviewing our 1970s recording, he identified himself playing Gorekore in the role of kutsinhira while Luken played Mahororo kushaura (1). He heard nothing new in his performance, he said, beyond the pattern captured in our transcription. I didn’t know many substitutes for this one. Playing the recording again, he shook his head when he heard himself hit three midrange Gs and a low E (segment 1) instead of the expected pattern. I can hear that I got lost there, then found my place and continued. I didn’t intend to do that or to repeat that. Subsequently, a section with distinctive descending figures surprised him: left-hand scalar descents in middle and lower voices including a succession of octave Fs and Es. Typically, I don’t do that on that song. I just went into a part for “Nhimutimu” or something by mistake, because we were ending the piece.

Gorekore

289

Gorekore: Part model and harmonic model sv

G ds 1

3

6

15.Gorekore 290

15. Gorekore : Compilation

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Complilation

Gorekore: Solo Version 15.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

15.sv.1

Basic line

15.sv.2

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

15.sv.3

15.sv.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand developing high line

15.sv.5

15.sv.6

15.sv.7

15.Gorekore

Solo Version

15. Gorekore : Solo Version

291

15.sv.8

15.sv.9

15.sv.10

15.sv.11

15.Gorekore 292

15. Gorekore : Solo Version

Solo Version

16 Karigamombe

The title is the name of somebody who is powerful, who has the power to overturn a cow with great force. I heard that it was connected to a great old chief of the Shona people called Karigamombe who was very powerful. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Karigamombe: Kushaura (16.ks.1)

This one is the basic “Karigamombe” I learned from Chivhanga. My old field notes recall Cosmas’s teachings: “A beginner’s piece, first learn right and left hand together, then learn to play each hand’s pattern by itself, then add chording keys R1 and R4. Only a few styles are associated with this part; not many variations.” That’s still the way I play it, he said in 1999. Chivhanga taught me the basic B chording. He taught me the basic high lines as well. He reminds readers that here, as throughout this method, our representation of parts reflects the point at which he hears each piece beginning. The arrow above segment 4 indicates an alternative entry point, in this case the position that his teacher initially taught him and that he adopted for many years. 293

16.ks.2  : On “Karigamombe,” whether I’m playing at a bira or any other occasion, I typically start with the simplified part, then go to the basic-line part. 16.ks.6  : In this high-line variation, he plays a descending sequence of repeated pitches, walking down the keys of the right-hand manual from top to bottom, and at the end of segment 3, removing R4/B from his B chording. 16.ks.11: Here, left-hand substitutions learned from Chivhanga create a uniform pattern of pairs of repeated pitches around the cycle. The pattern works with all the basic part’s right-hand variations. 16.ks.12–17: As illustrated here, after his teacher introduced him to the concept of right-hand chording with R1/B and R4/B, Cosmas expanded on the concept. I asked how he regarded differing chording options in relation to left-hand pitches on the same pulses. On the second beat of segment 1, for example, he alternatively creates pitch stacks B-F-B, F-G-D, and F-A-D— in the latter instances including harmonic additions in relation to dyad B. He responds playfully: Part of the reason for creating these different things is just like doctors when they’re working on a patient. If it’s very serious like cancer, they try different mixtures of things— a cocktail of different things to see what works. And sometimes miracles can happen, you know. In this case, are the mixtures equally effective? All of those are very good. I really like them. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Demonstrating his development of the music through a sequence of parts and variations, he played each for several cycles, then moved seamlessly to the next. Initially, he established the kushaura basic-line part (16.ks.1), then added high-line variation 16.ks.5. In an unexpected turn, he transitioned to solo version (1) (16.sv1.1). So, these are the different things I’d do when I’m playing “Karigamombe” as a kushaura player. Of course, I went on to play the solo version at last, including some of the basses there. In a situation where I’d use both kushaura and solo version (1), I’d give 90 percent of my time to the first part, the kushaura. 294

Chapter 16

His spare use of solo parts with heavy basses adds spice to a kushaura performance, he says. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (1) (16.kt1.1) (same left hand as kushaura)

The kutsinhira shifts the kushaura’s right-hand pattern one pulse later. Kutsinhira (1) is a good part for beginners learning how to combine kushaura and kutsinhira parts, he says. The tightly synchronized left-hand patterns provide kutsinhira players with a referent in the kushaura part to help them keep their bearings over the cycle, while concentrating on interlocking their pitches with the kushaura player’s in the upper layer of the music’s texture. Kutsinhira (1) is the basic kutsinhira pamusoro for “Karigamombe.” It’s a light kutsinhira. I used to hear Chivhanga playing that, and he showed it to me as well. I don’t use accents with this part, but I can use high notes. It’s nice to give it enough time of play, so I’d really recommend playing it for one or two minutes. 16.kt1.2  illustrates a simplified right-hand pattern that emphasizes upper-voice Gs and midrange Bs. 16.kt1.5 : He combines the left-hand pattern with the same high line used with the kushaura, but shifted a pulse later in the kutsinhira context.

Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (2) (16.kt2.1)

I also learned this from Chivhanga. You were saying that this is also a light part, used especially by people who are starting to play. Yes, usually when people are still very new to the music. That’s one of the first kutsinhira taught to beginners. It’s also a good one because people need to know how to get into the music in a lighter way [its comparatively spare alternate-pulse right- and left-hand keystroke patterns]. Everything can’t be heavy all the time. When you bring kutsinhira (2) in, it’s effective to play about six, eight cycles. It’s important to feature it so that it gives some difference, gives a break from other parts with a lot more basses and what have you [for example, kutsin-

hira (3) and (4) below]. You’re bringing in something that’s almost totally different. 16.kt2.5: He demonstrates left-hand substitutions that, in the middle voice, create a scheme of E and D drones, while increasing the presence of bass G in the segments’ first-beat areas (beat division 2). 16.kt2.6  combines the simplified line with lefthand substitution increasing midrange E repetition and introducing harmonic-addition bass G to the lower voice. 16.kt2.7 : The substitution above works equally well combined with a high line. Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (3) (16.kt3.1)

This kutsinhira, I learned from Erick Muchena. Did you say this is a sadza-stirring part? That’s right, you’re moving in a circle and bringing things together. He gestured with his right hand as if stirring a pot of sadza [millet] porridge with alternating clockwise and counterclockwise movements, likening them to keystroke movements encompassing the left and bass manuals. Overhearing our discussion from the kitchen, Cosmas’s wife Joyce (now deceased) and his daughter Tsitsi teasingly remarked that his skill at this was greater with the mbira than the cooking pot. 16.kt3.2  , 16.kt3.3 , and 16.kt3.4  illustrate the combination of the left-hand pattern with a righthand simplified line, developing high line, and high line, respectively. 16.kt3.5 : Here, pitch substitution in segment 3 re-creates the C-C-B-B fragment of the previous segment’s scalar descent, setting up the subsequent descent in segment 4. 16.kt3.7: His left-hand pitch substitutions eliminating bass Gs alter the contours of the bass line, narrowing its range. He points to his midrange-D-for-bass-G substitution in segment 1. I did that deliberately, he explains. This prepares the way for subsequent substitutions creating imitative figures (midrange D–G–bass D) at the beginning of segments 2 and 4, so that they all respond to one another. 16.kt3.8: In this instance, substitution causes a contrasting figure (an upward leap of a fifth) to jump out from the surrounding pattern of downward leaps. This is my own invention. He introduces this and comparable figures in different contexts as a signature pattern.

16.kt3.9: This is an extension and development of the previous left-hand variation, which creates a strong descending bass line, the first half characterized by shifting three-pulse figures with nested double noting. Although deriving its basic idea from the playing of John Kunaka and others, he applied it uniquely within different compositions, emphasizing it to the degree that it became another of his signature patterns. Typically, I play this part for just a few cycles, then return to the standard version [16.kt3.1]. 16.kt3.10–12: Experimenting with the previous variation in performance, he developed midrange G as a drone in segments 2–3, while extending the double-noting bass line to the bottom of the instrument’s range. Over time, however, he began to find some of his substitutions dull, especially in segment 3, where he felt he had overdone the Gs. Subsequently, he created 16.kt3.11, substituting E for G on a pickup to segment 3 and incorporating his leaping figure into the segment as well. Finding the E substitution more interesting, he substituted another in segment 2 of 16.kt3.12. Here, as you can see, that pamusoro key— E— was calling me. I do this variation when I want to hear more of that sound in the mixture. He reminded me that he regarded such patterns as outgrowths of basic kutsinhira (3), additional substitutes rather than different kutsinhira. Those are my own variations. What I was just shown by Erick was only the straight part [kutsinhira (3) basic-line part]. 16.kt3.13  and 16.kt3.15 : In these examples, he combines one of his elaborate double-noting bass lines with a developing high line and a high line, respectively. You can decide to repeat any variation more than once, then change to a different one and repeat that for a while. Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (4) (16.kt4.1)

In 2002, as we listened to our 1972 recordings, Cosmas picked out this part, in which a shifting three-pulse keystroke pattern produces shallow 3:4 bass figures incorporating midrange A and G. It was his invention, he recalled, but one that had slipped from memory. With little effort, he relearned it from the recording. 16.kt4.6 : Left-hand A substitution referencing dyad D anticipates and lengthens the subsequent cycle’s scalar descent to bass E. Karigamombe

295

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1) (29.kt1.1)

Beyond his use of specialized Karigamombe kutsinhira parts, Cosmas can combine the piece’s kushaura with parts from other compositions in the Nyamaropa family. The first kutsinhira that Chivhanga taught me for “Karigamombe” was a “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira. (See chap. 29, Nyamaropa, kutsinhira [1] and its variations.) Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (3). In one demonstration of his general kutsinhira approach, Cosmas began with kutsinhira (3), playing the sequence: simplified line (16.kt3.2  ), basic line (16. kt3.1), and high line (16.kt3.4). Next, while keeping the left hand the same, he incorporated kutsinhira (1)’s right-hand chording patterns (16.kt1.16) into segments 1 and 4, alternating them with kutsinhira (3)’s high-line variations (16.kt3.4–5) in segments 2–3. In a second demonstration, he began with kutsinhira (3) again, describing it as the most basic to his performance. Playing methodically through multiple cycles of the simplified line (16.kt3.2), basic line (16. kt3.1), and high line (16.kt3.4), he gradually mixed in left-hand substitutions (16.kt3.7 and 16.kt3.9). At last, he moved to kutsinhira (4)’s basic-line part (16.kt4.1). I’ll bring in all those variations as the momentum grows. Now, when you get into all that for “Karigamombe,” you need to give yourself more time because that’s what’s very interesting and very stimulating. You need to play around a lot with it. Proportionately I’ll give kutsinhira (3) about 70 percent of my playing time [with periodic departures to kutsinhira (4)]. The kushaura of “Karigamombe” is so steady [a spare alternate-pulse part, played with little variation]. Yet there’s so much happening during the song. The areas between the notes [pulses left open by the kushaura part] are being filled in by what you’re doing as a kutsinhira player. He also moved between the kutsinhira (1) and (3): At times, I’d play kutsinhira (1) for one or two minutes, but I always give the basic kutsinhira— kutsinhira (3)— more time. After deviating from kutsinhira (1) as well, I apply the same system, going on to do different things, but eventually coming back again to the main controlling part, kutsinhira (3). 296

Chapter 16

Taking another approach in the kutsinhira “chair,” he developed the practice of alternating Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1) with Karigamombe’s kutsinhira parts. I reminded him of our 1972 transcription’s annotation indicating that Nyamaropa’s kutsinhira “could also be used with Karigamombe, but less so than with Nyamaropa.” He explained that he had only intended his remark to be taken as a guideline for a student. Actually, you can emphasize them equally in a performance, or you can even just use “Nyamaropa” the whole time like I used to do with Chivhanga. That’s fine. There’s no problem because they’re brothers, “Nyamaropa” and “Karigamombe.” There was, however, a technical challenge posed by the kutsinhira’s differing rhythmic characteristics. Karigamombe’s kutsinhira begins a pulse before the beat; Nyamaropa’s kutsinhira (1) begins on the beat. For this reason, he sometimes left a small gap between them when making the transition in performance. After a third demonstration, he deconstructed his performance: First, you start with the “Karigamombe” basic pattern [16.kt3.1], then get into those different variations [left-hand variations 16.kt3.10–12]. Next, you move from them and get into “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira (1)— then go back to the basic again [kutsinhira (3)]. On this occasion, he reverted to his earlier strategy. I wouldn’t allow the “Nyamaropa” part to dominate because it’s a heavy one [with demanding bass action]. I’ll just bring it in, let it play for a reasonable amount of time, and pull it out. Then I bring in some lighter ones. After I pull those out, I’ll go back to the “Karigamombe” kutsinhira (3), which also has a lot of keys [basses]. I’ll go back to it because that one is very powerful— equally powerful [as the Nyamaropa part]. If it’s being done nicely, it has even more effect. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Versions Karigamombe: Solo Version (1) (16.sv1.1)

I was not actually taught this part by anybody. I used to listen to other mbira players doing it and wanted to put it into practice, so I just worked it out myself. It’s what I used to see Chivhanga doing as well when he played by himself. That was the straight way, but I added my own things to it. Solo version (1), like the others below, adopts

the underlying rhythmic basis of kutsinhira (3) and (4)’s left-hand keystroke patterns (shifting three-pulse rhythms), but combines them with the kutsinhira righthand patterns (alternate-pulse rhythms) shifted one pulse earlier. He puts it this way: They’re the result of my twisting my right-hand pattern from its kutsinhira position to the kushaura position, to join with the kutsinhira left hand. Although the solo versions’ melodic-rhythmic shapes differ, they retain substantial elements of the basic kushaura. You can hear the backbone of “Karigamombe” throughout. Exploring Cosmas’s approach to variations, I played solo version (1) for him as written, then shifted its right-hand pattern a pulse later into the conventional kutsinhira position. He responded: The last one you played has some alternating there. The right-hand and the left-hand keys are now talking in a different way. It shouldn’t always be the same way. It’s only the goal that’s the same [faithfully representing Karigamombe]. It’s like when you’re going to Magaya village, you can use different roads, but at the end of the day, what’s important is to get to Magaya. Revisiting the issue in 2005, I asked if his solo practices allowed the right-hand liberties I had demonstrated above. Yes. That adds more variety to the music. You can do that when you’re playing solo because it’s like you’re really making your [right- and left-hand] keys talk to each other. It’s like when someone is calling you, using a high pitch [he calls out in falsetto: “Cosmas!”], the responding one can say: “Hey!” [low voice] or “Hey!” [high voice]. So that kind of thing I apply to my keys. It’s how I want them to respond to each other. 16.sv1.3  and 16.sv1.5 respectively illustrate the left-hand pattern with a simplified line and B chording, and with a high line. 16.sv1.6 : Here, pitch substitution in segments 1–2 increases pitch repetition, producing brief G and D suspensions. A passing tone contributes a C suspension in segment 4. Over time, he also created his own left-hand variations. When I’m playing solo on “Karigamombe,” I use a lot of those. I give them each more than eight cycles doing different things because I’ll be going from one to the other, rotating them in my performance. That’s what was so great about John Kunaka too, the way he managed his variations.

16.sv1.7: Here, pitch substitution increases common-tone Ds and Es, creating bass drone effects. 16.sv1.8: I transcribed this from Cosmas’s 1999 recording, in which he transitions from the kushaura to a variation of 16.sv1.7. This also shows how, from any angle in the cycle, you can switch to doing different things. In segment 3, pitch substitution creates a variant of his signature “leaping” figure (downward octave leap followed by an upward leap of a fifth), which he develops further in solo version (2). 16.sv1.9 : Substitution increases midrange D pitch pairs, while creating bass figures with varied contours from segment to segment. Karigamombe: Solo Version (2) (16.sv2.1 )

This version is also mine. Reflecting on the related shapes of each segment’s initial figure and on the figure’s elaboration in segments 2–4, he adds: That’s really my stuff. Most of these variations are the things I worked out. 16.sv2.7: In segment 2, he points to the D-for-C substitution that re-creates the previous left-hand figure, producing a brief suspension in relation to the underlying dyad C. I really like the different flavor this added here. 16.sv2.9: He draws my attention to the bass B substitutions replacing shallow bass Es at the end of segments 1 and 2 (the Es comprise a constant feature of the preceding variations). When I switch to the Bs, it means I’m going down, that is, preparing to extend the bass line to G in segment 3. He sometimes uses this variation as a segue to solo version (3), which emphasizes deep bass pitches. 16.sv2.10: Here, pitch substitution reinstates his signature pattern from the basic solo version (2), mixing it in with the previous variation’s substitutions. Karigamombe: Solo Version (3) (16.sv3.1 )

This version, which he taught me as a “special part” in 1972, emphasizes bass G at the beginning of segments, creating a sequence of spare ascending bass figures that largely spell out the underlying dyads’ roots. Karigamombe: Solo Version (4) (16.sv4.1 ) (same left hand as kutsinhira [3]) Karigamombe

297

In 1999, he reclaimed this part after reviewing our 1972 transcriptions, which described it as a “special part” with mixed kushaura and kutsinhira features. My annotation indicated that, at the time, he also used the part as a “kutsinhira for Nyamaropa.” Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination t; web demonstrations : combinations c, e, h–i, m, o, r). Reviewing various kushaura-kutsinhira combinations, he reiterated that when assuming the role of kutsinhira player, he considers kutsinhira (3) to be the basic one or the backbone and would emphasize it the most. At the same time, all of these kutsinhira work with the kushaura [combination a through combination l]. With kutsinhira (1), you get the overlapping in the left hand of the mbira, the pamusoro keys, but that’s OK because you still have the interlocking on the right-hand side [combination a through combination c ]. He also spoke of cross-composition combinations that mixed parts from different compositions within the same “family.” When Chivhanga and I were playing together in the sixties, he wanted me to play “Karigamombe” kushaura and he’d play the “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira. Cosmas adopted the practice in his own groups at times, treating the “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira flexibly (combinations p–q, r , s–t). As he acquired additional options, he came to view the Nyamaropa part as a secondary kutsinhira in this context and Karigamombe kutsinhira (3) as the primary one (combinations g, h , and i ). In performance, he moved freely between them. His discovery that in certain situations he could treat “solo versions” as kushaura parts expanded his practices further. Periodically switching from Karigamombe kushaura to a solo version, for example, interjected bass pitches into the music that effectively interacted with the kutsinhira basses. This had to be done with discretion, he advised. Too much emphasis on solo versions would defeat the goal of complementary interlocking. Whether I include a solo part while playing kushaura depends on the part the kutsinhira player is performing: how well they fit together. There are some 298

Chapter 16

kutsinhira parts that don’t allow you to combine them with parts that emphasize basses. They’re only for solo playing. [As discussed earlier, some solo versions simulate the effects of kushaura and kutsinhira combined.] In his experiments, he discovered that, although the “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira usually wants the “Karigamombe” kushaura part, the former also worked well with solo version (1) and its variations (combination s and combination t). This was commonly his first choice in the situation. What makes it a good combination is that the “Nyamaropa” basses complement the basses of the solo part. The mixture extends the basses down from the keys of the solo part to create the full pattern [refers to composite figures combining solo version (1)’s shallow bass pitches with the deep bass pitches of the Nyamaropa part]. Ever cautious of overgeneralizing, he brings up various contingencies that, in practice, affect the combination’s success: Although those two go together very well, if you use a lot of different pitch substitutions in the solo part, sometimes they clash with the “Nyamaropa” part. Of course, it depends on the artistry of the musicians who are playing. Some can do things very skillfully, making things work that other players can’t. Lighter parts like kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (2)— which are quite good for people who are starting to learn the following role— also worked well with solo version (1). In fact, in the trade-offs between players, when the kutsinhira player goes from kutsinhira (3) [combination h ] to kutsinhira (2) with the light basses, that’s when the kushaura player can go from the main kushaura to solo version (1) with the heavy basses— because that doesn’t interfere with kutsinhira (2). It makes things even better [combination m ]. Such was not the case for the combination of kutsinhira (3) and solo version (1), he said in his initial assessment. Their contrasting three-pulse left-hand figures fell on the same pulses. That doesn’t give you the best combination. Their basses would conflict with one another— too much overlapping with basses almost playing the same thing. Hearing the combination “a different way” in 2008, however, he maintained that, despite the left-hand overlapping, the high-line interlocking justified the arrangement. He also suggested that solo version (4) responded well to the piece’s kutsinhira parts, including the closely

related part, kutsinhira (3) (combination n). When I asked about the duplication of the left-hand pattern (comparable to the kushaura-kutsinhira [1] combination above), he replied that, in general, overlap is fine. It’s what we want. But this depended on the context. When playing in a large group, you need to seek a position for yourself. Everyone in the group is putting little bits and pieces into the music, so you need to look for some interlocking features that you can add since so many things were already covered by the other players. Sometimes I’m shifting things on the right side [of the mbira], sometimes on the left. Interlocking can be on either side, with duplication on the other. It can involve different [pitch] levels, it can involve different keys or the same keys. A case in point was his creation of solo version (4) in the setting of a large mbira group, including eight or nine people. During Karigamombe’s performance, Cosmas— striving to interlock with the “regular” kutsinhira (3) played by another musician— instinctively shifted the right-hand pattern of his own version of the part a pulse earlier, and “solo version (4)” was born. Reviewing the same combination three years later, he felt the need to clarify his position. You can do this, but I don’t feel it’s the best combination in a small group. I wouldn’t do this in my system with only two musicians. As you can hear, that mixture is not all that satisfying. There’s too much duplication on the left. As I’ve said before, everything with my music is situational. There are times when to do that is fine, like if you’re playing with a group of three to five players. Or with even more people at rainmaking ceremonies when many players from different regions meet to play together. But knowing how to come in, in those situations— and what to come in with— depends on experience. You need a lot of experience to know how best to fit with what’s happening. There is no simple formula to cover all cases. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (3) above, bringing in the other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he directed me to begin with Karigamombe kushaura, while he followed me with kutsinhira (3), the basic one. Eventually, he switched to Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1), suggesting that I give

that mixture some time. Subsequently, he advised me to switch from the kushaura to solo version (1), while he played other kutsinhira, creating new combinations between our parts. Years ago, I enjoyed those mixtures a lot when Chivhanga was playing those solo basses. You won’t get bored when you’re switching to different things like that on the kushaura side. How long should I play the solo version in relation to the kushaura? You can’t stay with that part for a long time. As you can see, it’s heavy to play. For my part above, having initially been thrown by the combination’s interlocking bass pattern, I needed to practice combining the kushaura and Nyamaropa kutsinhira. Cosmas suggested that I focus on the righthand interlocking to stay on track for the time being, until I could hear the contrasting bass patterns’ precise relationship and became comfortable with it. On another occasion when I was playing the kushaura, he switched back and forth between kutsinhira (3) and kutsinhira (1), asking: Hear how they sound [with the kushaura]? Now that you’re a player, you wouldn’t [need to] start with kutsinhira (1). Kutsinhira (3) is more complex from the start, he added, praising the part. He also reminded me of his general principle for right-hand interplay. In my system, when the kushaura and kutsinhira are playing together, the high lines should talk— respond to each other— not one plays low notes while the other plays high notes. When he took greater liberties in our playing sessions, I asked for further clarification. In part, it was a matter of emphasis, he suggested, qualifying his earlier position. When the kushaura player is playing the lead part without the high lines, the kutsinhira person can play the high lines at times, instead of making it uniform all the time. That gives some difference to the music. It’s another way of playing that makes it even more interesting. Usually, you can go for two or three cycles like that. Then the one will start to respond to the other, imitating him. So, while the second player plays high lines over the cycle, could the first player play the basic line for two segments, then switch to high lines for two segments? Yes. You can do that. How about the simplified line? Can you stay with the low right-hand notes while the other plays high lines? Karigamombe

299

Usually, no. That’s why you need to respond with the chording, adding it to the low version. That makes it better when you put the chording in. It makes it fuller. More compatible with the other part’s high lines? Yes. He added that when entering the performance as a kutsinhira player, his strategy differs. It is not only influenced by what the kushaura player is playing, but by the larger performance’s needs. When I join with kutsinhira (1), for instance, I wouldn’t start with the simplified line, but would play the basic line. Why is that different from the kushaura? Because the role of the kutsinhira is that I’m mixing. The kushaura part has just gotten things off the ground. By going for one or two cycles, the kushaura person has already taken enough time doing that [the simplified line], so now I need to move in with something richer. Amid musicians’ changing right-hand interplay, he also responds to the variations they introduce in the music’s middle and lower voices. When the kushaura player switches to “Karigamombe” pamusoro with this substitute [fifths for roots substitution at the beginning of each segment, 16.ks.11], then I’ll switch to pamusoro kutsinhira (1) [16.kt1.10], responding with the same substitute [combination b]. Conversely, he can introduce changes at times, inviting comparable responses from counterparts. Table 16.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and

300

Chapter 16

kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

2:19: Cosmas calls my attention to the transition from kutsinhira (3) to Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1). You have to be precise, play timeously. I ask why he interjects a rest between the parts (2:18). A pause that you introduce in your playing helps you get back in with the new one, a step behind [the kushaura]. 3:54: These things [Nyamaropa kutsinhira’s lefthand bass variations] reminded me of Chivhanga, who taught them to me, and I thought of throwing them in. Years ago, I was enjoying it when he played them for himself, before he’d given me the go-ahead to learn them. He refers to the variant bass figures as wake-up calls. As in Nyamaropa’s kutsinhira variations 29.kt1.8 and 29.kt3.7, they include transformations of shuffle keystroke figures in which pitch substitution and metric shifting (second half of segment 1) creates a compound (1+3) bass figure, its Bs reinforcing the right-hand 3:2 figure in octaves. If you’re not alert, you’ll fall out of the music there. To come back in will not be easy. So, you need to stay married to what you’re playing to avoid any misstep between that combination [“Nyamaropa kutsinhira and Karigamombe kushaura”].

TABLE 16.1 Karigamombe

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w sl (begins seg 4) (16.ks.2)

0:11

ks w hl (16.ks.5)

kt (3) w bl (begins seg 1) (16.kt3.1)

0:00

kt (3) w hl (16.kt3.4)

0:09

Nyamaropa kt (1) w hl & RHvar (29.kt1.5, mix w RH 29.kt1.4, seg 3, & 29.kt1.2, seg 4)

2:07

Nyamaropa kt (1) w dhl (29.kt1.4)

2:44

3:07

Nyamaropa kt (1) w hl & RHvar (29.kt1.5, mix w RH 29.kt1.4, seg 3, & 29.kt1.2, seg 4)

2:56

3:37

Nyamaropa kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 29.kt1.5, mix w RH 29.kt1.4, seg 3, & 29.kt1.2, seg 4; LH: 29.kt1.5, mix w 29.kt1.15, bass-G subs, segs 2–3)

3:26

Nyamaropa kt (1) w hl & RHvar (29.kt1.5, mix w RH 29.kt1.4, seg 3, & 29.kt1.2, seg 4)

3:32

Nyamaropa kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 29.kt1.2, mix w RH 29.kt1.4, seg 3; LH: 29.kt1.2, mix w 29.kt1.8, seg 1)

3:42

0:20 0:37

sv1 w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.sv1.1, mix w dhl 16.sv1.4, seg 4; LH: 16.sv1.1, mix w 16.sv1.8–9)

0:48

sv1 w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.sv1.6, mix w 16.sv1.5; LH: 16.sv1.8, mix w 16.sv1.9)

1:32

ks w hl (16.ks.5)

2:18 2:36

sv1 w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.sv1.1, mix w dhl 6.sv1.4, seg 4; LH: 16.sv1.8, mix w 16.sv1.9)

2:55 2:57

3:39

sv1 w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.sv1.5, mix w 16.sv1.6; LH: 16.sv1.8, mix w 16.sv1.9)

ks w sl (16.ks.2)

3:43 3:53

ks w hl (16.ks.5)

3:53

4:01 4:02

ends

3:50 ends

3:51

Karigamombe

301

Karigamombe: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

sv1

sv2

sv3

G ds 1

3

6

1

16.Karigamombe 302

16. Karigamombe : Compilation

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Karigamombe: Compilation of part models and harmonic model sv4

G ds 1

3

16.Karigamombe

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 16. Karigamombe : Compilation

303

Karigamombe: Kushaura 16.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.ks.1

Basic line

16.ks.2

Simplified line

16.ks.3

16.ks.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

16.ks.5

16.ks.6

16.ks.7

16.Karigamombe 304

16. Karigamombe : Kushaura

Kushaura

16.ks.8

16.ks.9

16.ks.10

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

16.ks.11

Right-hand chording variations

16.ks.12

16.ks.13

16.ks.14

16.ks.15

16.Karigamombe

Kushaura 16. Karigamombe : Kushaura

305

16.ks.16

16.ks.17

Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (1) 16.kt1.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura)

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.kt1.1

Basic line

16.kt1.2

Simplified line

16.kt1.3

16.kt1.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

16.kt1.5

16.Karigamombe 306

16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

16.kt1.6

16.kt1.7

16.kt1.8

16.kt1.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

16.kt1.10

Right-hand chording variations

16.kt1.11

16.kt1.12

16.kt1.13

16.Karigamombe

Kutsinhira (1) 16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (1)

307

16.kt1.14

16.kt1.15

16.kt1.16

Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (2) 16.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.kt2.1

Basic line

16.kt2.2

Simplified line

16.kt2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

16.kt2.4

16.Karigamombe 308

16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

16.kt2.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

16.kt2.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

16.kt2.7

Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (3) 16.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.kt3.1

Basic line

16.kt3.2

Simplified line

16.kt3.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

16.kt3.4

16.Karigamombe

Kutsinhira (3) 16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (3)

309

16.kt3.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

16.kt3.6

16.kt3.7

16.kt3.8

16.kt3.9

16.kt3.10

16.kt3.11

16.kt3.12

16.Karigamombe 310

16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

Left-hand variations with right-hand developing high line

16.kt3.13

16.kt3.14

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

16.kt3.15

Karigamombe: Kutsinhira (4) 16.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.kt4.1

Basic line

16.kt4.2

Simplified line

16.kt4.3

16.kt4.4

Developing high line

16.Karigamombe

Kutsinhira (4) 16. Karigamombe : Kutsinhira (4)

311

Right-hand high line

16.kt4.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

16.kt4.6

Karigamombe: Solo Version (1) 16.sv1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.sv1.1

Basic line

16.sv1.2

Simplified line

16.sv1.3

16.sv1.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

16.sv1.5

16.Karigamombe 312

16. Karigamombe : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

16.sv1.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

16.sv1.7

16.sv1.8

16.sv1.9

16.sv1.10

Karigamombe: Solo Version (2) 16.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.sv2.1

Basic line

16.sv2.2

Simplified line

16.Karigamombe

Solo Version (2) 16. Karigamombe : Solo Version (2)

313

16.sv2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

16.sv2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

16.sv2.5

16.sv2.6

16.sv2.7

16.sv2.8

16.sv2.9

16.sv2.10

16.Karigamombe 314

16. Karigamombe : Solo Version (2)

Solo Version (2)

Karigamombe: Solo Version (3) 16.sv3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.sv3.1

Basic line

16.sv3.2

Simplified line

16.sv3.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

16.sv3.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

16.sv3.5

16.sv3.6

16.sv3.7

16.Karigamombe

Solo Version (3) 16. Karigamombe : Solo Version (3)

315

Karigamombe: Solo Version (4) 16.sv4.1 serving as model (same left hand as kutsinhira [3])

Right-hand basic line and variations

16.sv4.1

Basic line

16.sv4.2

16.sv4.3

Simplified line

16.sv4.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

16.sv4.5

16.Karigamombe 316

16. Karigamombe : Solo Version (4)

Solo Version (4)

Karigamombe: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.1—16.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.11—16.kt1.10

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—16.kt1.2

16.Karigamombe

Combinations 16. Karigamombe : Combinations

317

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.1—16.kt2.1

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—16.kt2.6

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 16.ks.5—16.kt2.4

16.Karigamombe 318

16. Karigamombe : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.1—16.kt3.1

h. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—16.kt3.2

i. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 16.ks.6—16.kt3.4

16.Karigamombe

Combinations 16. Karigamombe : Combinations

319

j. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.1—16.kt4.1

k. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—16.kt4.2

l. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 16.ks.5—16.kt4.5

16.Karigamombe 320

16. Karigamombe : Combinations

Combinations

m. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 16.sv1.6—16.kt2.7

n. Solo Version (4)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 16.sv4.5—16.kt3.4

Cross-Composition Combinations o. Karigamombe Kushaura/Mahororo Kushaura (1) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—18.ks1.6

16.Karigamombe

Combinations 16. Karigamombe : Combinations

321

p. Karigamombe Kushaura/Nyamaropa Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 16.ks.1—29.kt1.1

q. Karigamombe Kushaura/Nyamaropa Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 16.ks.2—29.kt1.3

r. Karigamombe Kushaura/Nyamaropa Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 16.ks.6—29.kt1.5

16.Karigamombe 322

16. Karigamombe : Combinations

Combinations

s. Karigamombe Solo Version (1)/Nyamaropa Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines sv1.9—29.kt1.1

t. Karigamombe Solo Version (1)/Nyamaropa Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 16.sv1.5—29.kt1.5

16.Karigamombe

Combinations 16. Karigamombe : Combinations

323

17 Kuzanga

This refers to conflicts in polygamous relationships, the infighting of the wives scolding one another. I heard that “Kuzanga” was the name of one of the wives of Chief Chakavarika of the Nyandoro clan, who was known for her jealous outbursts. The old ambuya [grandmothers] used to like that song and dance to it. NB: This piece has a three-beat segment structure. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kushaura (2) and kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Kuzanga: Kushaura (1) (17.ks1.1 )

This song, I was taught by my first teacher, Ernest Chivhanga. It was one of the first songs I learned. In 1999, in a review of our 1972 transcriptions, he said that he still played the basic part, along with his original substitutes below. 17.ks1.4  illustrates a high line with two G peaks and scalar descents. 17.ks1.10  : In the transcription and audio recording, left-hand substitution represents the fifth of dyad D. Video (a) incorporates a mixture of basic and simplified lines; video (b), high-line substitution includes 17.ks1.4. 17.ks1.11–12: Those variations on the left side were for Luken and me. 324

17.ks1.15: The low double noting on the right side was also for Luken and me. Kuzanga: Kushaura (2) (17.ks2.1)

I used to play with different musicians for a rainmaker spirit at Manomano in Mondoro, between Magaya village and Mude village. We all used to go for the rainmaking ceremonies. That’s where I heard them playing this pamusoro part [he strikes midrange key L3 twice]. I learned it from seeing them play it at a distance. Other things I had to learn quickly while playing with them. 17.ks2.6: I’d go two cycles with this one, the left-hand variation. 17.ks2.8 : combines a high line with the left-hand pattern of 17.ks2.7. The variation’s use of A substitution, which references kushaura (1), creates a spare lower voice comprising midrange As and Gs. 17.ks2.9  mixes the left-hand features of 17.ks2.8 with right-hand substitutions representing the roots of the underlying dyads (segments 1 and 4, respectively). Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. Cosmas introduces the basic part (17.ks1.1) and gradually increases his speed. A few cycles later, he switches to a simplified line (17.ks1.3), then a high line (17.ks1.9), before returning to the basic part. So, I’ll be moving to and fro, giving each enough time of play on the right-hand side. After giving the kushaura (1) enough time, I’d play the pamusoro part. He demonstrated right-hand variation 17.ks1.15, transitioned to kushaura (2) (17. ks2.1) and, finally, variations 17.ks2.5–7. I’d play a mixture of those, giving them about six, seven, or eight cycles because they really add another turn of events to the music for the listeners. You need to give those substitutions enough time of play. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (1) (17.kt1.1) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Our early 1972 transcription also described “kushaura (1)” as serving both roles. 17.kt1.2  illustrates a high line with two G peaks and scalar descents. 17.kt1.4  : In the transcription and audio recording, left-hand A substitution introduces the fifth of the underlying dyad. Video (a) incorporates a mixture of basic and simplified lines; in video (b), high-line substitution includes 17.ks1.2. Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (2) (17.kt2.1  )

This kutsinhira to “Kuzanga,” I also learned from Chivhanga. In relation to kutsinhira (1), the part substitutes bass G for midrange A or G in fourth-beat areas of segments, as well as in the first-beat area of segment 4. In segments 1–2, it represents a harmonic addition. Our 1972 transcription’s annotation quotes Cosmas: “You can use this for a following part because it has plenty of basses. A change of one note is a madunhurirwa [variation].” 17.kt2.5  illustrates a high line with two G peaks and scalar descents. 17.kt2.8–17: All those are left-side substitutes within the same part. “Kuzanga” doesn’t have many different things to do. 17.kt2.11–12: Pointing to the F-for-E substitution (segment 2, third beat), he advised: You can use either note there. The same substitution, which prolongs the F dyad area, can be used with other left-hand variations, he added. 17.kt2.15: That variation is also mine. 17.kt2.18 : Substitution in the right hand largely increases pitch repetition. In the left hand, it replaces shallow bass pitches with deeper bass pitches, and increases melodic-rhythmic activity with figures comprising leaps in contrary motion (segments 3–4). 17.kt2.19  combines right-hand A-for-D substitution with second- and third-beat left-hand substitutions. The latter increases the part’s shallow bass emphasis, producing compound (1+2) figures with repeated pitches or step movement preceding wide leaps to bass G. Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (3) (17.kt3.1)

The pamusoro part and variations are my own. I figured them out by listening to other musicians. Initially, he Kuzanga

325

classified this pamusoro part as a further variation of 17.kt2.17, in which he had mixed pamusoro and bass elements. Subsequently, he decided that because of his elaboration of the variation’s pamusoro elements, it should be treated as an independent part, kutsinhira (3): a different kutsinhira that can stand on its own. 17.kt3.7 : Right-hand substitution increases pitch repetition, emphasizing dyad roots, while left-hand substitution elaborates the part’s bass G pattern.

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (5) (17.kt5.1 )

During a playing session in 2008, Cosmas recalled a part that he had neglected to teach me and stopped to demonstrate it. I invented this around 2001. It’s different from the others. I wanted to have a new part so I could hear more basses in a different formation. The kutsinhira to “Kuzanga” have a lot in common, except for the specific ways I come to the bass. Usually, I play kutsinhira (5) for four or five cycles, or a minute or so.

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (4) (17.kt4.1)

This is from Bandambira. Years prior to our current classification of this part, I once asked Cosmas whether a player could reverse the direction of kutsinhira (1)’s shuffle keystroke figures, that is, playing their keys from “down to up” instead of “from up to down,” as he had described comparable strategies in the context of other pieces. OK, let’s try it, he offered. The results reminded him of a kutsinhira part of Bandambira’s. Experimenting with the latter, he discovered its versatility, prompting him to rethink its relationship to his other Kuzanga components. After trying it out in shifted beat position, for example, he decided that it qualified as a variation of kushaura (1). With further reflection: It’s very rich, as you can hear in how the basses are mixed up, you know? It’s like the water current going in the opposite direction. I now think of this as an independent kushaura, rather than a variation, which should have its own name. At last, he decided its character was more appropriate for a kutsinhira after all and we reclassified it for our archive as kutsinhira (4). It was only some years later that we discovered the very part among Cosmas’s earliest recorded kutsinhira performances. It had simply slipped from memory. 17.kt4.5 : Left-hand substitution creates a C-G figure reinforcing the sound of the underlying dyad and setting up the subsequent emphasis on G (segments 3–4). 17.kt4.8: Those little ones— the left- hand substitutes— are my own. You can hear that I’m mixing [mixing upward and downward keystroke figures]. 17.kt4.9 : Left-hand substitution creating an upward leap to midrange G in segment 2 and downward leap to bass G in segment 4 reinforces the sounds of underlying dyad C and dyad G. 326

Chapter 17

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), (2), (3), and (4). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Version Kuzanga: Solo Version (17.sv.1) (same as kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

This is the part from Bandambira that most people in our village really liked. When “Kuzanga” was played, they’d ask, “Can you play the Bandambira one?” That’s the “down-to-up” version with the left-hand substitutes. I learned it by watching him and picking things quickly from his playing. Having experimented with kutsinhira [4] in various contexts, he came to regard it as a multipurpose part. This included its role as a solo version— in effect, a “shifted kutsinhira”— that he could alternate with the basic kushaura when performing alone and mix with the latter’s features. 17.sv.6  illustrates his use of kutsinhira (4) variation (17.kt4.5) in shifted position. 17.sv.8: This was one of Bandambira’s favorite variations when he used to play “Kuzanga.” He used the basses as substitutes every time he’d change. 17.sv.9: Those extra basses were my own improvisations [segments 3–4], based also on what I picked from Bandambira’s playing. 17.sv.11, 17.sv.12 : Those were from Justin. He was really interested in the basses, and he showed me certain things on this tune.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously, alternating complete cycles of the basic line with those including the high line, and gradually incorporating additional right-hand and left-hand variations. I do this mostly when playing solo: move into doing things “upside down.” I consider the solo part convertible [its relationship to kushaura and kutsinhira parts enables fluid exchanges]. Having started this way [17. sv.1], I bring in left-hand things [17.sv.9–11] from those [kutsinhira] parts with a lot of basses. Those basses represent the missing part of another player in this arrangement. I’d give the main part more time of play, about 75 percent, and the other part— kushaura (1)— I’ll give 25 percent. So, I’ll still be emphasizing “down-to-up” left-hand things. Cosmas has heard similar practices in other musicians’ performances. While playing kushaura in a group, Beauler also liked to go into this [the solo version] from kushaura (1). That’s OK because she puts it on the level of kushaura [that is, in the kushaura beat position, as given in our study]. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, f–g, i). Concerning his most basic combination, kushaura (1)–kutsinhira (1) (combination a): This is the kind of education I got from Chivhanga because this is how his teachers used to perform at mapira. Sometimes, they used to mix the two parts— kushaura and the same pattern a step behind— putting them together, just the same as you would do playing “Mahororo” and “Nyamaropa” together. He likes to emphasize Kuzanga kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (3) in performance as well; kutsinhira (5) also works with all the kushaura. Concerning pamusoro interplay between the parts (combination h and combination i ): If the one who’s playing kushaura initiates the pamusoro part, you, the person playing the second part, can also switch to the pamusoro, playing a step behind. It interlocks very, very well, and it sounds great. Kutsinhira (3) is the one that can respond

to the pamusoro in the first part [here, refers to kushaura (2)]. Generally, he refrains from using his solo version in ensemble arrangements because it would interfere with what the actual kutsinhira player would be doing. He allows for exceptions, of course. One example is the website recording discussed below, in which he imports the solo version into his kushaura performance. During a recorded demonstration of kutsinhira (2), Cosmas found that placing it in the kutsinhira position in relation to a metronome’s beat presented an unexpected challenge. He intuitively shifted its pulse earlier than intended, its basses falling on the beat rather than off the beat. This may take me some time, he said, as puzzled as I was. When his part continued to slip into the same position, I demonstrated it in the kutsinhira position with the metronome and he trained his playing on mine. (I routinely practiced with a metronome to stabilize my tempo and to become more comfortable maintaining offbeat kutsinhira bass patterns in performance.) We played it in unison for a while, but when I dropped out, he gradually drifted back to the onbeat position again. The kutsinhira position felt unnatural to him in this setting. Ten years later, reviewing the faulty takes, he explained that, like most mbira players, he was not used to playing the part in the kutsinhira position without the kushaura being present. Moreover, his practices allowed for different beat positions in certain musical contexts. Usually, when I play by myself, the hosho is placed on the other beat [that is, in the kushaura position]. On another occasion, Cosmas casually returned to the subject, raising a more delicate issue with bearing on our collaborative efforts. If the truth be told, during our sessions demonstrating parts, he had found the sound of the metronome— the very device to which I had turned to pin down “correct” beat positions— irritating and distracting. So, like any self-respecting musician, he had tuned it out. The cross-cultural musical joke was on me. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (2) and (3). Kuzanga

327

In our duo renditions, he directed me to open with kushaura (1), which he followed with kutsinhira (1). We initially played right-hand basic lines for several cycles, then one of us switched to high lines and the other followed suit for several cycles. While maintaining the right-hand interplay, he transitioned to kutsinhira (2) with its bass G emphasis. This invited a complementary kushaura response with bass variations (17.ks1.12–13). There was precedent for this. In our review of a 1972 recording, he pointed out how his and Luken’s parts responded to one another, accenting their interlocking bass Gs at segment endings. This had become a routinized feature of their interaction. In fact, it was difficult to tell who’s playing which part— me or Luken— because at this point no new substitutes are being introduced. In 2008, an unsettled moment in our performance led to a discussion about the need for complementarity. Cosmas had begun with Kuzanga kushaura, and I followed with a kutsinhira. After a stretch, he suddenly stopped— his dissatisfaction evident. When he had increased his kushaura’s bass emphasis, he complained, I should have responded with increased bass activity, playing things like kutsinhira variations 17.kt2.18 (combination d) or 17.kt2.19 . His reference to the latter reminded him of a heavy-bass part that he had failed to teach me, kutsinhira (5) (combination g ). I’d like you to learn this one so you can play it behind me at such times. I invented this part to have the basses more active, especially when playing with Beauler. When she was playing her basic version of the kushaura [a simplified or light version], I had to be creative to find the best way to suit her style and to complement her. At a subsequent session, after a more successful performance, he praised the interplay between our left-hand patterns and between our right-hand patterns. Sometimes you initiated the conversation by going to the

328

Chapter 17

B1 key and I responded with B1 in the kutsinhira. If you started playing high lines with the R9 key in the kushaura, I followed you in the kutsinhira— and vice versa. Each of us at different times knew when to talk and when to stop talking. Our changes were full of good timing, each of us giving time to the other. That’s the way it should be. This had further ramifications. At various points in the performance, Cosmas, feeling pleased and relaxed, had interjected vocals into the music’s texture: the riffing mahon’era vocables, huro yodeling lines, and kudeketera poetic texts. The conversation between voice and mbira was also something I really liked when I was singing, he later said. After the mbira goes high, to the top right-hand R9 key, I like to respond with kudeketera following the high lines going down. The good thing with this arrangement for “Kuzanga” is the contrast it gives, compared with the other songs. It has a different structure. People will hear that. Table 17.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

2:11: This shows how the solo version can be brought into the kushaura performance. I choose that and I start emphasizing it— putting more pressure, hitting my keys harder— because I want it to be outstanding. [At a ceremony] I do all these things to bring the attention of that spirit [to induce it to possess its medium]. I throw my musical missiles [variations] at different times— throw one out, take it back, try another. And you’ll see the audience’s reaction on the dance floor: they’re suddenly rising from their seats and starting to dance. When adding those basses, I’m again trying to put pressure. With mock deliberation, he pushes his hands forward against imagined resistance, and laughs.

TABLE 17.1 Kuzanga

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 1) (17.ks1.2) kt (2) w bl (begins seg 4, 3rd beat, beat division 2) (17.kt2.1)

0:00

0:18

kt (2) w hl (17.kt2.5)

0:12

0:27

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt2.5; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

0:21

0:41

kt (2) w bl (RH: 17.kt2.1; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

0:35

0:53

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt2.5; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

0:47

kt (2) w bl (RH: 17.kt2.1; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

0:54

kt (2) bl/ch w LHvar (17.kt2.12)

0:57

1:19

kt (1) w bl (17.kt1.1)

1:13

1:22

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt2.1; LH: 17.kt2.10)

1:16

1:39

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt1.2; LH: 17.kt1.1, mix w 17.kt1.4)

1:33

kt (1) w bl/ch (17.kt1.1, mix w LH: 17.kt1.14 & other subs)

1:44

kt (2) w bl/ch (17.kt2.1)

1:55

2:13

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt2.5; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

2:07

2:29

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt1.2; LH: 17.kt1.1, mix w 17.kt1.4)

2:23

0:06 0:14

ks (1) w hl (17.ks1.4)

0:55

ks (1) w bl (17.ks1.2)

1:00

ks (1) w bl/ch (17.ks1.2)

1:03 1:16

1:44

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (17.ks1.4, mix w LH 17.ks1.10)

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (17.ks1.10)

1:50 2:01

sv w bl & LHvar (17.sv.6)

2:11

sv w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 17.sv.3; LH: 17.sv.6)

(continued)

Kuzanga

329

TABLE 17.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt2.5; LH: 17.kt2.8, mix w 17.kt2.9–12 & other subs)

2:33

kt (1) w bl/ch & LHvar (RH: 17.kt1.1; LH: 17.kt1.1, mix w 17.kt1.4)

2:41

kt (3) w bl & LHvar (17.kt3.8, mix w LH: 17.kt1.4, seg 4, & other subs)

2:57

3:43

kt (2) w bl/ch (17.kt2.1)

3:37

3:52

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 17.kt1.2; LH: 17.kt1.1, mix w 17.kt1.4)

3:46

ends

3:56

2:39 2:46

sv w bl & LHvar (17.sv.6)

2:47 3:00

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (17.ks1.10, mix w 17.ks1.14)

3:03 3:28

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (17.ks1.14)

3:41

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (17.ks1.10)

3:55

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (17.ks1.4, mix w LH 17.ks1.10)

4:01

ends

4:02

330

Chapter 17

Kuzanga: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

sv

C alt ds 1

17.Kuzanga

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

5

3

5

Compilation 17. Kuzanga : Compilation

331

Kuzanga: Kushaura (1) 17.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

17.ks1.1

Basic line

17.ks1.2

17.ks1.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

17.ks1.4

17.ks1.5

17.ks1.6

17.ks1.7

17.Kuzanga 332

17. Kuzanga : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

17.ks1.8

17.ks1.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

17.ks1.10

17.ks1.11

17.ks1.12

17.ks1.13

17.ks1.14

Right-hand triple-striking and triple-noting variations

17.ks1.15

17.Kuzanga

Kushaura (1) 17. Kuzanga : Kushaura (1)

333

17.ks1.16

Kuzanga: Kushaura (2) 17.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

17.ks2.1

Basic line

17.ks2.2

17.ks2.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

17.ks2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

17.ks2.5

17.ks2.6

17.Kuzanga 334

17. Kuzanga : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

17.ks2.7

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

17.ks2.8

Left- and right-hand variation

17.ks2.9

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (1) 17.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

17.kt1.1

Right-hand high-line variations

17.kt1.2

17.kt1.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

17.kt1.4

17.Kuzanga

Kutsinhira (1) 17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (1)

335

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (2) 17.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

17.kt2.1

Basic line

17.kt2.2

17.kt2.3

17.kt2.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

17.kt2.5

17.kt2.6

17.kt2.7

17.Kuzanga 336

17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

17.kt2.8

17.kt2.9

17.kt2.10

17.kt2.11

17.kt2.12

17.kt2.13

17.kt2.14

17.kt2.15

17.Kuzanga

Kutsinhira (2) 17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (2)

337

17.kt2.16

17.kt2.17

Left- and right-hand variations

17.kt2.18

17.kt2.19

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (3) 17.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

17.kt3.1

Basic line

17.kt3.2

17.kt3.3

17.Kuzanga 338

17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

17.kt3.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

17.kt3.5

17.kt3.6

Left- and right-hand variations

17.kt3.7

17.kt3.8

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (4) 17.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

17.kt4.1

Basic line

17.kt4.2

17.Kuzanga

Kutsinhira (4) 17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (4)

339

17.kt4.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

17.kt4.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

17.kt4.5

17.kt4.6

17.kt4.7

17.kt4.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

17.kt4.9

17.Kuzanga 340

17. Kuzanga : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Kuzanga: Kutsinhira (5) 17.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

17.kt5.1

17.kt5.2

Kuzanga: Solo Version 17.sv.1 serving as model (same as kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variation

17.sv.1

17.sv.2

Right-hand high-line variations

17.sv.3

17.sv.4

17.Kuzanga

Solo Version 17. Kuzanga : Solo Version

341

17.sv.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

17.sv.6

17.sv.7

17.sv.8

17.sv.9 17.sv.

17.sv.10

17.sv.11

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

17.sv.12

17.Kuzanga 342

17. Kuzanga : Solo Version

Solo Version

Kuzanga: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks1.1—17.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks1.10—17.kt1.4

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks1.10—17.kt2.1

17.Kuzanga

Combinations 17. Kuzanga : Combinations

343

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks1.13—17.kt2.18

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic line and high line 17.ks1.14—17.kt4.4

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 17.ks1.4—17.kt4.9

17.Kuzanga 344

17. Kuzanga : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks1.1—17.kt5.1

h. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks2.1—17.kt3.3

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 17.ks2.9—17.kt3.7

17.Kuzanga

Combinations 17. Kuzanga : Combinations

345

18 Mahororo

“Mahororo” refers to the low voices of the mbira. Chivangha would always sing exuberantly in his lowest bass voice along with those bass lines of ours. The song is also known as “Serevende,” meaning the continuing of things, events, activities. It’s something to do with a joyful occasion when a lot of things are happening. Like when we visited Simon Mashoko’s village and played until the early hours of the morning, he would say, “Oh, Cosmas. It’s now serevende,” meaning we’re really doing it, enjoying it, for happiness. A song like “Mahororo” is a very good song for purposes of celebration, things like that. We usually used to begin our performance at a ceremony like a bira by playing it. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections, respectively.

Kushaura Mahororo: Kushaura (1) (18.ks1.1 )

Chivhanga taught me the basic kushaura and some substitutes and high lines in the sixties. 18.ks1.3: Reconstructed from our 1972 transcription based on Luken’s demonstration. I also play that way, with gaps [rests] in the right-hand pattern. It’s 346

an intro style of Luken’s, used before getting into the full kushaura part. It can also be used with high lines: adding partial gaps in some sections of the right-hand pattern. 18.ks1.6 : In this variation, he adds B chording to the simplified line, altering its contour and increasing its offbeat emphasis. 18.ks1.8 emphasizes D repetition in the upper voice, producing D suspensions over dyad C in segments 2 and 3. 18.ks1.9 replaces harmonic-addition Ds with E substitutions in segment 3’s initial right-hand figure, slightly expanding dyad A’s place in the sequence. 18.ks1.11  : Here, gesture substitution adds a second high peak and descent to the high line. 18.ks1.12: High-line variation reconstructed from our 1972 transcription. That’s exactly what I do, I’m still playing like that. Additionally, in segment 3, he sometimes replaces harmonic-addition Ds with E substitutions representing dyad A (as in 18.ks1.9). That’s why “Mahororo” is sometimes called “Serevende”— meaning something that keeps continuing— because there are so many different things you can do on it. 18.ks1.13: In segment 2, he points to the leap from high D to high G. When I introduce that, I usually don’t do it for a long time. I can do that once or twice, then go to the higher ones [that is, descending from higher pitches like G on the first beat]. 18.ks1.17, 18.ks1.18 : Both introduce bass C substitution (segment 3 and segments 2–3, respectively), creating the prominent C-E figures in the bass line. 18.ks1.19: In 2002, when I reconstructed this lefthand variation from our 1972 transcription, he said that he had forgotten that one. It’s amazing that I played that back then. It’s challenging to play. He asked me to repeat it a few times so he could study the positions of the substitutions in the cycle. I want to figure out how to hook into it from the main pattern. Very interesting. Nice substitute. He subsequently reabsorbed it. It reminds me that I was already developing my own way of playing back in the seventies. 18.ks1.21: We reconstructed this variation from our 1972 transcription. I still do that, Cosmas observed. 18.ks1.22 : Here, D-for-G substitution creates a comparatively static and harmonically ambiguous bass line, alternating between common tones D and E. Sometimes, when I go to a variation like this, it’s because

I like to stay within a certain confined space on the mbira keyboard [here, keys B4/D and B5/E, upper half of the bass manual]. 18.ks1.23: The difference between this and the others is the way I keep coming back to pamusoro G and A. In 1972, you described the variations (18. ks1.20–23) as “special kushaura versions.” Do you think of these substitutes as creating independent kushaura? No, I think of these changes as substitutes only, rather than as creating independent kushaura parts. All those bass substitutes for “Mahororo” were from Chivhanga. I learned a lot of different things from him. Did he talk about how to create new substitutes? He just showed me. All he said during those days was that he, himself, had been shown them by his elder brother. Did musicians typically tell you who taught them the things they showed you? Yes, in many cases, we talked about it. 18.ks1.24 : Cosmas combines a high line with bass substitutions largely spelling out the roots of the dyad sequence. In a sense, it represents a development of the patterns in 18.ks1.17–18. 18.ks1.25: Reconstructed from our 1972 transcription. Years ago, I learned this from Chivhanga— this style with gaps in the right and left hands. I also picked it up from Luken later. He created this purposely by applying his fingers differently to the keys of the basic part: leaving some keys out to create new patterns. I play this way as well at times. It’s a lighter version to start the kushaura with, good to use as an intro. Luken typically fit this kind of variation into his playing for one to three cycles, then moved on to do other things. He wouldn’t do it for the whole time. It’s like putting the gears of a car into neutral before shifting to other gears. Or it’s like putting oil into the engine before getting into full swing. It’s a transition to something greater. It can also be mixed with high notes later in the performance. 18.ks1.27 : Here, Cosmas combines a simplified line with substitutions illustrated in 18.ks1.24. 18.ks1.28–33: The chording comes when I want to give the music a break from the higher lines or the lower keys. That’s when I bring in the chording for a change. I do that for six, seven, or even eight to ten cycles. All the chording I play these days, except for the B chording that Chivhanga taught me, are my own inventions. Did you hear others playing this way as well, or is it a unique part of your style? Mahororo

347

In fact, I didn’t hear most of the people playing this way. I just liked it and I kept on playing, developing it. Reviewing 18.ks1.30, a “special” version with chording from 1972, he reflected on the instrument’s palette of pitches available for creative invention. If you use different variations, I think you can play all the mbira [here, meaning individual keys] on one tune. 18.ks1.34: He accents the midrange L1/G key and B7/A key on the pickups to segments in this variation. I play it a bit louder, these keys. Alternatively, he places accents either on B7/A alone for a change, or just on the L1/Gs in the sequence. Mahororo: Kushaura (2) (18.ks2.1)

This is my pamusoro creation. It’s a different thing also. 18.ks2.2  illustrates the incorporation of B chording into the simplified line. 18.ks2.4: Here, he substitutes Es in segment 3 of the high line, referencing dyad A and reducing the D suspension. 18.ks2.5, 18.ks2.6 : Tremolo G variations reconstructed from our 1972 transcriptions, which Cosmas labeled “special pamusoro.” He incorporates the tremolo into kushaura (1)’s variations as well. When creating left-hand substitutions, he adds, he does not necessarily keep the right-hand pattern the same, but makes certain adjustments to suit the changes he has introduced in middle and lower voices. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. Demonstrating his general approach, he begins with the kushaura (1) simplified-line variation (18. ks1.5), then continues with two cycles of the basicline variation (18.ks1.1). Next, I cycle the high lines [18. ks1.10], then go on, adding variations. It has so many substitutions. If you’re playing high lines and building slowly, how many times do you repeat the variations? Usually, I start with the lower high notes [developing high-line variation 18.ks1.7], and go for a few cycles, maybe two or three times, then go to the high lines. He plays variation 18.ks1.10, indicating that he begins 348

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high-line patterns in segment 1. I repeat that for about four or five cycles, then I come down and bring in the middle lines for five or six cycles [variation 18.ks1.7, but with D substitutions for As and G in segment 3]. After that, I go back again to the high lines, and then on to the chording [18.ks1.28–32]. On another occasion, he begins kushaura (1) with developing high-line variation 18.ks1.7, then plays the basic part (18.ks1.1)— each for a cycle. Next, I go on to chording. I bring them in last after I’ve gone through everything else. Starting again, he demonstrates the righthand sequence: simplified line, basic line, developing high line, and high line, before returning to simplified line again. In this case, you progressed from low to middle to high? Yes, but you should know that songs are situational. The arrangements can vary from part to part, and I play them differently at different times. In a final demonstration of his fluid high-line combination, he emphasizes 18.ks1.12, incorporating segment 3’s right-hand substitutions G-G-G G-F-E in the first cycle, and E-E-E D-C-B in the second cycle. (Comparable figures appear in 18.ks1.11 and 18.ks1.9.) When you have all that, you have a lot of substitutes to mix different ways. For those bass substitutes [18.ks1.20–23], I’ll give each segment [variation] about four or five cycles, then go to a different one. So, I’ll go through all those, giving each a chance. I can play them with the high lines or with the lower notes. It depends on which I want to feature there. They’re all compatible? Yes. He turns his attention to kushaura (2). I bring that in after playing for some time on the basic kushaura (1) and its substitute changes. I only bring the pamusoro kushaura when I’ve seen that I’ve played enough of the others and feel, “Let me now move into that part.” Usually, I play that when the music is really going, getting intense. You can use it with high lines or without. But it’s important to feature it a lot without the high lines, giving it enough time so your concentration is focused on the pamusoro keys. Because the moment you start doing a lot of things at the same time— left and right side of the mbira— some people will now start listening to the right [upper voice] and forget the left [middle voice], which

is special for this part. So, you want to get the attention on one place first. Also, I’ll only do the chording a little to give the part a different flavor. And then I’ll add some things I’m going to demonstrate now. He played kushaura (2) with chording before transitioning to the variation with tremolo G (18.ks2.5), subsequently alternating cycles of the latter in which he added or withheld chording. Sometimes I play with the R1/R4 chording for a change, then feature only R1 to give a different flavor. On another occasion, he elaborated the importance of such distinctions in his system after I had played kushaura (2)’s basic part, incorporating B chording throughout. Criticizing my performance, he explained that one reason that he restricted right-hand techniques with the pamusoro part was to differentiate its practices from those of other parts. If such little differences between these kushaura aren’t maintained in the playing, then you lose sight of which is which. He also reminded me of the limitations of exploring these issues in the context of discussions and short demonstrations. I’ll continue to find different substitutes within this pamusoro part. They’ll come as I play more and more and more— rather than just thinking them up out of the air. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. In this instance, he incorporates a solo version into his kushaura performance.

Kutsinhira Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1) (18.kt1.1)

This is from Chivhanga too. The part includes bass B on the final beat of the cycle, completing the pattern of fourth-beat B repetition in the bass line. The last B iteration can be interpreted as a harmonic addition creating a pitch mixture with the fifth of dyad D. 18.kt1.4  uses B chording to alter the simplified line, largely adding emphasis to segments’ second and fourth beats. 18.kt1.6  : Here, gesture substitution adds a second wide leap and scalar descent to the high line. 18.kt1.9 combines right-hand Bs with bass B on the last beat of the cycle. This can be interpreted as a dyad

B insertion reiterating the segment’s second dyad in the sequence. Cosmas, although you mostly combine right-hand A with bass B at the end of the cycle in this part, you sometimes substitute right-hand B. The B is my second preference. Sometimes it’s fine to use it, but that depends on what is going on in the left-hand pattern. The A always works, but if you use the B substitute, it has to be in the right context. It’s the same with mbira substitutes as with food. It’s like cooking. Everything can’t be sweet or plain. Sometimes you add pepper. 18.kt1.10: This was from Justin, but Luken and I also played it, mixing different things together. 18.kt1.11: I was taught this by Chivhanga. It’s got its own four complete phrases related to the original one [kutsinhira (1)]. He points to segment 2: The Gs are my substitutes here. Regarding the right-hand A and left-hand G mix on the pickup to segment 3: If you’re playing those variations, you play them for two or three cycles, then go back to the main one. He especially likes the final two shuffle figures in segment 4, which also appear in variations below. Like a related figure of John Kunaka’s (chap. 40, 40.18.kt1.Ku), it explodes at the end! That’s my thing. That’s my signature. 18.kt1.14 : Here, the D-for-F substitution (segment 1) prolongs the underlying sequence’s dyad G area for a pulse before the movement to the B dyad. 18.kt1.15: When Cosmas played Mahororo during a session exploring kutsinhira (1), a nice rhythmic break— a little bit of a majimba— suddenly came out [segment 2, octave G double-noting figures]. He stopped and worked on the pattern before integrating it into the flow of the new variation. That took some time to learn, he remarked. I haven’t played it for a long time. Originally, I learned it from Justin, but I don’t know where Justin got it from. 18.kt1.17: He reiterates that the three right-hand Ds work well over the left-hand pitches in segment 3, as would right-hand E-for-D substitutions there. On the fourth beat of segment 4, the combination of righthand B with left-hand bass B is also fine. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (2) (18.kt2.1) (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse earlier)

Mahororo

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I learned this part from Chivhanga also. This is a lighter part. I still do that. It’s the same as kutsinhira (1) in our new system, but with small substitutes and fewer left-hand keys [no pickups to third beats]. 18.kt2.3 : In segment 2, bass G substitution completes the pattern of first-beat Gs in the bass line, which largely spells out the roots of the underlying dyad sequence. 18.kt2.4–6: He notes the changes in different segments of the cycle (created by pitch substitution, metric shifting, and rest substitution), including the last variation, which reminds him of Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (1)’s rhythmic pattern (its combined-hand shuffle keystroke figures). Mahororo: Kutsinhira (3) (18.kt3.1 )

Kutsinhira (3)’s lower voice alternates deep bass and shallow bass pitches, emphasizing bass G on segments’ first beats. Bass pitches on first and second beats represent the root and fifth of dyad G; pitches on the third and fourth beats represent the subsequent dyads’ roots, excepting harmonic-addition G on segment 3’s first beat. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (4) (18.kt4.1 )

Transcribed from our 1972 transcription. I still often play that. Kutsinhira (4)’s lower voice alternates shallow bass and deep bass pitches, avoiding bass G. It ends with bass B, completing the pattern of fourth-beat B repetition in the bass line.

From my experience, when you start this part, you’ll see how they start dancing in response! In this part, I want those pamusoro Es emphasized there [segments 2 and 3]. It’s like at the beginning of kutsinhira (2) for “Karigamombe” [16.ks.11] where I can use the left-hand G-to-D movement one time for the basic, then another time, I can substitute the D for the G— dropping the G and playing the D twice for a change. 18.kt5.3: In segment 4, fourth beat, where B chording appears, either B or A is fine with the melody of this kutsinhira. It also depends where you do it. Here, I do it where the cycle ends. That’s what I’m listening for, and either the A or B chording fits well for that. When I’m really into the music— mixing things in my playing, grabbing something from different variations and putting them together— that’s when I do that [B substitution]. Would you emphasize right-hand A with bass B? I’d emphasize A more. I do that intentionally. When I use A with B, that’s the time when I’ll be wanting to mix things, to hear different things— improvising. That’s the time I try certain things I never did before. So, the B is my other way there. I just enjoy doing different things. Sometimes I’ll be wanting to end [the cycle] with that: [plays A]. Then sometimes I’ll want to end it: [plays B]. Even there I have different ways of doing it. Sometimes I play B chording, but I may just want to play the one key by itself: [plays R1/midrange B]. Or I could play this key instead: [plays R4/high B]. So, on this kutsinhira, let’s use A as the basic key [in our transcriptions], but reproduce B as well. You can really use either of them here on this variation. 18.kt5.4  uses C-for-E substitution to alter the middle voice in segments 2–3, emphasizing dyad C. 18.kt5.5: Justin really liked those different kinds of basses.

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (5) (18.kt5.1)

As we played Mahororo together, this part emerged from Cosmas’s performance of kutsinhira (1). In relation to the latter, it emphasizes midrange E and D drones, and on third beats, incorporates bass G substitutions. Justin taught me that. Yes, that’s a separate kutsinhira. After you’ve gone through those important basic ones, then you can come into this one. It’s another good part. You can go with it for five to seven cycles. That’s fine because it’s an independent thing. It depends also on what you see as the response as you play— whether people are enjoying it. 350

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Mahororo: Kutsinhira (6) (18.kt6.1) (same left hand as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

It can stand on its own independently from the other kutsinhira. The version that I play doesn’t have a lot of chording. 18.kt6.2  illustrates a line substitution that came to Cosmas while demonstrating the basic part with G-C chording in segment 2 (18.kt6.1). 18.kt6.3 : His simplified line emphasizes commontone Gs. In relation to some parts (kutsinhira [7], for

example), segment 3’s A reiteration prolongs dyad A, contracting subsequent dyad C and dyad E. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (7) (18.kt7.1) (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [1] variation [29. kt1.11] shifted one pulse earlier)

Reviewing our 1972 transcriptions, he recalls: We used to alternate this “Mahororo” kutsinhira part with other ones. Anyone playing kutsinhira should be able to do this. I still do this one if I want to. 18.kt7.3 : Here, bass D and F substitutions narrow the compass of the left hand’s keystroke shuffle figures, producing a more uniform pattern of downward leaps. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (8) (18.kt8.1 ) (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

tion assumed that players knew how to shift it so that it interlocked properly in each piece’s setting. Considering its cross-thumbing tremolo technique, he added: It takes great practice and control to play those well and effectively. Likewise, distinctive majimba parts like kutsinhira (10) and (11) below were serious, but I’d only do them for a while. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (10) (18.kt10.1 ) (majimba part; same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [6]; played in the same beat position)

This part, emphasizing pitch repetition and octave doubling, is based on an unusual segment-long figure composed of varied rhythmic components. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (11) (18.kt11.1 ) (majimba part; same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [7]

In our 1972 transcription annotation, Cosmas described this part as an example of a good majimba, but by 2002, he had come to regard it as more conventional: a hybrid of closely related figures from Mahororo kutsinhira (1) (segments 1 and 4) and Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1) (segments 2–3) shifted one pulse earlier. Mahororo: Kutsinhira (9) (18.kt9.1 ) (majimba part; same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [5] variation [29.kt5.3] shifted one pulse earlier)

With respect to kutsinhira (9) and the two kutsinhira that follow— kutsinhira (10) and (11)— our 1972 transcriptions noted Cosmas’s initial advice: “These parts are for joking only; not approved of by Maridzambira and Erick. For joking among friends— not for the bira.” In 2002 he elaborated: In the early days, Mr. Mude, my father, and others who knew mbira disapproved of me and Luken playing those things, but we enjoyed them. Listening to his 1970s recordings, he enjoyed the ways he had incorporated majimba styles, the joking ones among Nyamaropa and Mahororo kutsinhira patterns. Kutsinhira (9) was a case in point. It’s a multipurpose kutsinhira and majimba, a mixture used in both songs [compositions]. Of course, the part’s versatile applica-

variation [29.kt7.2] shifted one pulse earlier)

As he listened to a recorded performance of this part, he smiled at its unpredictable combined-hand variations from segment to segment. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (3). I’d start with kutsinhira (1). That’s the basic kutsinhira for “Mahororo” that I use mostly. I’ll start by staying on the basic line on the right-hand side, then move to the high lines, then also come to the middle keys [developing high line]. Or, the basic shape is that I’ll start with the lower-right keys, then go high, then come down to the lower ones, then go to the middle ones. Sometimes after that, if I want, I can do some chording. The important thing to note is that kutsinhira (1) [basic part] and its variation [18. kt1.11] are interlinked [share prominent features]. That enables him to move smoothly from the original to the variation and back again. Cosmas also finds that designating certain areas within a part’s form for variations is an efficacious approach. When I’m making a variation of kutsinhira (5) and I’m getting ready to change, the first thing I do is signal Mahororo

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that in segment 2. Illustrating his point, he plays kutsinhira (5) with its developing high line (18.kt5.2) and, in segment 2, switches to left-hand variation 18.kt5.5. After a few cycles, he returns to the former part (18. kt5.2), then, over successive cycles, brings in different variations (18.kt5.5–8), introducing each in segments 2 and 3. So, those are two places where I put substitutes. Sometimes I get used to a certain place where I always make changes. Of course, it’s not necessarily segments 2 and 3. He adds that he does not play high lines with such left-hand variations. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Versions Mahororo: Solo Version (1) (18.sv1.1 ) (similar left hand to kushaura [1])

This version’s keystroke patterns (shuffle keystroke pattern in the right hand, alternate-pulse keystroke pattern in the left hand) reverse the common polyrhythmic relationship between right- and left-hand patterns in pieces like Nyamaropa. This comes from Chivhanga. I remember hearing him playing things like this by himself early in the morning when he’d wake up and think about the things he was going to do that day before going off to work. I usually regard this part as something I do when I’m playing solo. Are your variations of this part things you would restrict to playing by yourself? Yes, I usually keep those separate from the basic kutsinhira playing. This “Mahororo” has its own features that are different from the original “Mahororo” [kushaura]. I consider the high notes D and E to be part of the backbone of the solo version. I don’t really reduce the right hand further than this. I don’t have a simplified line for it. Also, I don’t really use chording with high notes here because the kushaura has a lot of alternating on the keys [involving right index finger and thumb alternation] that continues through the kushaura. So, it’s already rich by itself. I drew attention in solo version (1) (18.sv1.1–5) to the range of right-hand pitches (E, D, F, G) combined with left-hand E in segment 1 on the pickup to the third beat, and to right-hand D repetition with left-hand changes in segments 1–2 (18.sv1.2, sv1.6–7). 352

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As you can hear, I’m mixing, taking different pitches and putting them together in different ways. I think of different mixes in relation to the pitches [in one hand or the other] that I’m playing at the time on a certain variation. That’s why I say it’s situational— because the same pitch mixtures may not work on another variation or piece the same way they work on this one. People shouldn’t take it that if something works on one piece, it must work on another. It’s just like my father mixing different herbs for treatments— taking different components and putting them together. Sometimes he’d tell me that a patient quickly responded to one mixture and another patient responded to a different mixture. 18.sv1.2 : Here, substitution in segment 1 introduces D suspensions, while in segments 3–4, it prolongs dyad C by a pulse. 18.sv1.3  : Figure substitution in the solo version, segment 1, produces a spare offbeat high-line descent, while on the second beat, R2/G creates a fleeting simultaneity of a second (G-F) that minimally references dyad B. 18.sv1.8–11: Such [combined-hand] changes are purposeful. Around the cycle, sometimes I want the melody to go down, sometimes up. The right hand also accommodates changes in my left. Reviewing solo version (1)’s variations in 2004 from our 1972 transcriptions, he says: You can see from these variations that I was starting to develop my own style. Chivhanga only taught me the basic part. Mahororo: Solo Version (2) (18.sv2.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura [2])

When Cosmas demonstrated this pamusoro solo part, he initially played right-hand basic-line variation 18.sv2.2, before substituting solo version (1)’s high line with double noting, 18.sv1.6. Afterward, he mentioned that he could also mix kushaura bass substitutions with his solo version’s lefthand patterns, combining them with the version’s righthand options. Highlighting another of his practices was a section of our 1972 recording of solo version (2) in which he alternated a segment of solo version (2)’s lefthand midrange figures with a segment of kushaura (1)’s left-hand midrange/bass figures all around the cycle. 18.sv2.3: Portraying still other options, he incor-

porated solo version (1)’s pamusoro tremolo “break” (18.sv1.8, segment 1) into his solo version (2) performance.

completing the pattern of fourth-beat B reiteration in the bass line. 18.sv3.7 : Here, a high line is combined with the left-hand pattern including bass B substitution.

Mahororo: Solo Version (3) (18.sv3.1) (similar left hand to kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse later)

In 1999, demonstrating the high-line double-noting passages of solo version (1) and solo version (2), Cosmas suddenly found himself playing solo version (3), 18.sv3.1. We later discovered the version in our 1972 transcription, labeled “special part (#30) with double notes” and classified as “kushaura and kutsinhira mixed.” Reviewing its early recording: That’s fast! My speed was very active in those days on the right hand. My fingers were very flexible. Let’s call this one “kutsinhira with double noting on the right-hand side.” That’s what’s happening. In 2002, he still played the part, but was puzzled at its 1972 classification. I don’t know why I called it a “kushaura and kutsinhira mixture” in those early days. Of course, I was still developing, still learning the mbira system myself. Over time, more of the part’s history came back to him: Actually, this is from Chivhanga. He told me that his brother— who was playing at Nyandoro a long time ago for the powerful medium, Ambuya [Grandmother]— said they used this part a lot. Chivhanga used to play this as a solo part, shifting between this and solo version (1). He also used version (3) as a kutsinhira to “Mahororo” kushaura (1). Let’s say it’s a solo part because it has got a lot of double noting happening; it’s including the other [absent] player’s right-hand pattern. One would move to things like that from the kushaura-style solo version (1). These parts are heavy parts. They don’t need speeding up or you won’t be able to add all those changes. It needs to be a bit slower than usual. If the tempo was too slow, however, other problems arose: the part’s rhythmic concept (overlapping right- and left-hand shuffle keystroke figures) was hard to recall and get into. Playing the part required him to be really into the music and well warmed up. 18.sv3.6  introduces B substitution, segment 4,

Mahororo: Solo Version (4) (18.sv4.1 )

Our 1972 transcription also annotates solo version (4) as a “special part: kushaura and kutsinhira mixed.” In 2002, Cosmas modified his classification: No, it’s just a solo part. When I’m playing alone, parts like this just come to me. Its challenging design involves long combinedhand keystroke figures that overlap segment boundaries. They include interlocking right-hand compound (2+1) figures with double noting, mixed with alternatepulse fragments, and left-hand keystroke shuffle figures with a perpetually offbeat bass. Mahororo: Solo Version (5) (18.sv5.1)

In 2005, when I re-created the version above for Cosmas from our transcription, it jogged his memory of this comparably demanding solo version (5). He typically played them in sequence; one led naturally to the other. The way I liked to do it was to go to solo version (5) after I played solo version (4). 18.sv5.2  illustrates his use of B chording; in segment 4, right-hand A substitution anticipates the dyad D area a pulse earlier than the version’s basic line. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination x; web demonstrations : combinations c–d, f–g, i, l–n, q–s, u–x). I usually put my emphasis on kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) (combination a and b; combination c  and combination d ). For all kushaura (1) variations, you can use the basic kutsinhira (1). But remember to bring in some of its variations as well. Kushaura (2) pamusoro goes with kutsinhira (6) pamusoro, the left-hand pitches of the latter played one pulse behind (combination n  and combination o). Those are the ones that go together, the pamusoro parts. Mahororo

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You’ll mix those two. When one person goes to kushaura pamusoro, usually the other person goes to the pamusoro kutsinhira, following suit. Could you also use other types of kutsinhira with the pamusoro? Yes, you can do that, but it has been much more effective for me to mix the two pamusoro parts together to give a different flavor to the music. This is an example of a combination in which he minimized his use of right-hand techniques like chording and only occasionally used high lines. Solo version (1) 18.sv1.6: This has a lot of double noting, so I use it more for solo playing. All the same, he does play it with kutsinhira (1) (combination p). They mix well together. After considering the overlapping pitches of the parts’ upper voices, he qualifies his assessment. When you’re two players, there shouldn’t be too much overlapping. You can play them like that sometimes, but it would sound best in an ensemble when you’re three, four, or five mbira players. Within the latter’s explicitly dense musical textures, such solo versions potentially fill in any remaining gaps. We turned to kutsinhira (4): I still often play that with “Mahororo” kushaura (combination g and combination h). It’s played on the same level [here, meaning that the parts’ left-hand patterns both begin on beat division 3]. It’s also good for “Nyamaropa” kushaura, if you play it one step behind [on beat division 1]. Kutsinhira (4) is for all the “Mahororo” kushaura, except the solo ones. It’s not that it’s wrong to do that, but some combinations are better than others. For solo version (1), my definite preference is with kutsinhira (1). After further experiments, he affirmed that both Mahororo kushaura worked with all the kutsinhira. Do you have a certain order in which you play variations within the combinations? This is a thing that also depends on who I’m playing with. The way my partner is playing influences my changes. In performance, he would make changes in his kushaura parts that complemented changes in the kutsinhira parts and vice versa. He reflects on his use of kutsinhira (7), which incorporates kutsinhira elements from Nyamaropa (combination j). This kutsinhira goes with certain kushaura variations, but people [playing kushaura] need the talent to know how to fit them in. When playing kutsinhira, his choice of parts and variations is influenced by the kushaura’s left-hand substitu354

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tions, especially in the bass. During a session in which I played kushaura (1) left-hand variation 18.ks1.20, he responded with kutsinhira (4) for a satisfying match with a distinctive composite bass line (combination h). When I switched to the kushaura’s left-hand variation 18.ks1.21, he immediately changed to kutsinhira (1), effecting a markedly different composite (combination b). When I’m playing the following part, I just go around all the variations of the kutsinhira, asking myself, “Do they fit?” Amid our review of our 2002 review of a 1972 Mahororo recording, he looked up in surprise at Luken’s innovative liberties in the kutsinhira chair. Cosmas had been playing kushaura (1), and Luken, a sequence of his majimba “joking styles,” when Luken switched to Cosmas’s part, shifted “a step behind.” Cosmas laughed. He had not remembered Luken treating the kushaura as a multipurpose part before, producing such an unusual combination. His old friend had the skill to manage it. Cross-Composition Combinations

Further diversifying his practices, Cosmas liked to mix parts from other pieces with those of Mahororo at times. In his arrangements, one musician would play Mahororo kushaura (1), while the kutsinhira player would switch from Mahororo kutsinhira (1) (combination a) to Nhimutimu (2) solo version (combination t) to Mandarindari kushaura (2) (combination r ; arrow shows 19.ks2.2’s cycle beginning in the Mandarindari context). Even though the right hand will be on the same level as the right hand of “Mahororo,” it’s a nice combination with the left-hand basses. I’ll play it for a short while this way. Also, I use “Mandarindari” kushaura for “Nhimutimu (2)” solo playing in which I’m alternating different parts. Experimenting, we tried out the combination with Mandarindari kushaura (2) rotated a pulse earlier than above (combination s ; arrow shows 19.ks2.2’s cycle beginning in the Mandarindari context). This works too, he said. It’s definitely interlocking. Let’s showcase this one for our study too, because it shows how one can shift a part from the original position to another to produce something different. However, I would consider this a second preference. My first would be the earlier one [combination r]. It’s natural to have first and second preferences.

Although he typically introduced a kutsinhira part in single-beat position in relation to its kushaura counterpart, he felt Mandarindari kushaura (2) lent itself to flexible applications in this context. Perhaps the latter’s varied left-hand rhythmic components enabled this in relation to Mahororo kushaura’s uniform alternatepulse components. He would continue to explore the possibilities. As we played through his arrangements together, the combination “Mahororo and Nyamaropa Chipembere solo version (3)” evoked memories of his former playing partner [combination v ]. That was one of Mondreck’s favorites in Mhuri yekwaRwizi. Each time we wanted to get him into the mood for singing, we played that one and he’d really sing very well. Would you ever switch off parts on different occasions? Yes, Mondreck would either play “Mahororo” or “Nyamaropa Chipembere” and I’d play the other. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and (3) above, bringing in other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he directed me to play kushaura (1), while he played kutsinhira (1) as a point of departure to its left-hand variations because there are

so many things emanating from that basic kutsinhira [18. kt1.9–15, for example]. This arrangement is good, but before people have a lot of technical ability, they may be discouraged by it. As I moved among different right-hand variations in our sessions, Cosmas did not always respond when I transitioned to high lines. In other instances, when I returned to the basic line, he incorporated high lines into his kutsinhira. I later asked why. It’s because I enjoy combinations different ways, sometimes with and sometimes without high-note interlocking. That adds variety. It sounds like we’re talking back and forth, first one speaks, then the other. One has to listen and digest what the other person is doing as one plays. Also, there are different designs, he said, reminding me of the value he attached to diversity. The moon is not always full. Table 18.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

This tempo is very danceable. 2:06: Here, in the kushaura, you can see how that challenging part was incorporated [solo version (1)]. Once introduced, you’ll feel its influence— the effect of its changes. It puts the music into a different gear.

Mahororo

355

TABLE 18.1 Mahororo

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 4) (18.ks1.1) kt (1) w bl (begins seg 3) (18.kt1.1)

0:00

kt (1) w hl (18.kt1.6)

0:12

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (18.kt1.1, mix w LH 18.kt1.11–14 & other subs)

0:37

1:12

kt (1) w hl (18.kt1.6)

0:58

1:24

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (18.kt1.6, mix w LH 18.kt1.11–14 & other subs)

1:10

1:30

kt (4) w hl/ch (18.kt4.1)

1:16

1:37

18.kt (1) w sl & LHvar (18.kt1.3, mix w LH 18.kt1.11, seg 4, & other subs)

1:23

kt (1) w hl (18.kt1.6)

1:27

kt (5) w dhl (18.kt5.3)

1:36

18.kt (1) w sl & LHvar (18.kt1.3, mix w LH 18.kt1.11, segs 1 & 4 & other subs)

2:25

ends

2:42

0:14 0:18

ks (1) w hl (18.ks1.11)

0:26 0:43

ks (1) bl w LHvar (18.ks1.20, mix w LH sub [midrange D for bass B], seg 4)

0:51 0:58

ks (1) bl w LHvar (18.ks1.20)

1:08

ks (1) hl w LHvar (18.ks1.24)

1:41

ks (1) w bl (18.ks1.1)

1:48

ks (1) bl w LHvar (18.ks1.20, mix w LH sub [midrange D for bass B], seg 4)

2:50 2:04

sv (1) w bl & LHvar (18.sv1.1, mix w LH subs)

2:23

sv (1) w bl & LHvar (18.sv1.1, mix w LH 18.sv2.1)

2:31

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (18.sv1.3)

2:39 2:47

ks (1) bl w LHvar (18.ks1.20)

2:53

ends

2:56

Mahororo: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

G ds 1

3

18.Mahororo

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 18. Mahororo : Compilation

357

Mahororo: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt8

kt9

kt10

kt11

sv1

sv2

sv3

sv4

sv5

G ds 1

3

6

18.Mahororo 358

18. Mahororo : Compilation

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Mahororo: Kushaura (1) 18.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

18.ks1.1

Basic line

18.ks1.2

18.ks1.3

18.ks1.4

18.ks1.5

Simplified line

18.ks1.6

18.ks1.7

Developing high line

18.Mahororo

Kushaura (1)

18. Mahororo : Kushaura (1)

359

18.ks1.8

Right-hand line substitution

18.ks1.9

Right-hand high-line variations

18.ks1.10

18.ks1.11

18.ks1.12

18.ks1.13

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

18.ks1.14

18.ks1.15

18.Mahororo 360

18. Mahororo : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

18.ks1.16

18.ks1.17

18.ks1.18

18.ks1.19

18.ks1.20

18.ks1.21

18.ks1.22

18.ks1.23

18.Mahororo

Kushaura (1) 18. Mahororo : Kushaura (1)

361

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

18.ks1.24

Left- and right-hand variations

18.ks1.25

18.ks1.26

18.ks1.27

Right-hand chording variations

18.ks1.28

18.ks1.29

18.ks1.30

18.ks1.31

362

Right-hand line substitution

18.Mahororo

18. Mahororo : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

18.ks1.32

18.ks1.33

Left- and right-hand accentuation variations

18.ks1.34

18.ks1.35

18.ks1.36

Mahororo: Kushaura (2) 18.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.ks2.1

18.ks2.2

Simplified line

18.Mahororo

Kushaura (2) 18. Mahororo : Kushaura (2)

363

Right-hand high-line variations

18.ks2.3

18.ks2.4

Left- and right-hand variation

18.ks2.5

Right-hand chording variation

18.ks2.6

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1) 18.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

18.kt1.1

Basic line

18.kt1.2

18.kt1.3

364

Simplified line

18.Mahororo

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

18.kt1.4

Right-hand high-line variations

18.kt1.5

18.kt1.6

18.kt1.7

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.kt1.8

Left- and right-hand variations

18.kt1.9

18.kt1.10

18.kt1.11

18.Mahororo

Kutsinhira (1) 18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (1)

365

18.kt1.12

18.kt1.13

18.kt1.14

18.kt1.15

Right-hand chording variations

18.kt1.16

18.kt1.17

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (2) 18.kt2.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.kt2.1

Basic line

18.Mahororo 366

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

18.kt2.2

Developing high line

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.kt2.3

Left- and right-hand variations

18.kt2.4

18.kt2.5

18.kt2.6

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (3) 18.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

18.kt3.1

18.kt3.2

Simplified line

18.Mahororo

Kutsinhira (3) 18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (3)

367

18.kt3.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.kt3.4

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (4) 18.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.kt4.1

Basic line

18.kt4.2

Developing high line

Right-hand chording variations

18.kt4.3

18.kt4.4

18.Mahororo 368

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (5) 18.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

18.kt5.1

Basic line

18.kt5.2

Developing high line

18.kt5.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

18.kt5.4

Left- and right-hand variations

18.kt5.5

18.kt5.6

18.kt5.7

18.Mahororo

Kutsinhira (5)

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (5)

369

18.kt5.8

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (6) 18.kt6.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

18.kt6.1

Basic line

18.kt6.2

Right-hand line substitution

18.kt6.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

18.kt6.4

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (7) 18.kt7.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [1] variation [29.kt1.11] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

18.kt7.1

18.Mahororo 370

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (7)

Kutsinhira (7)

Right-hand high line

18.kt7.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.kt7.3

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (8) 18.kt8.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [4] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

18.kt8.1

Right-hand high line

18.kt8.2

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (9) (majimba part) 18.kt9.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [5] variation [29.kt5.3] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

L R L R L

L R L R L R L R L R L

18.kt9.1

18.Mahororo

Kutsinhira (9)

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (9)

371

Left- and right-hand variation

L R L R L

18.kt9.2

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (10) (majimba part) 18.kt10.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [6]; played in the same beat position)

Right-hand basic line

18.kt10.1

Left- and right-hand variation

18.kt10.2

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (11) (majimba part) 18.kt11.1 serving as model (same as Nyamaropa kutsinhira [7] variation [29.kt7.2] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

18.kt11.1

Left- and right-hand variation

18.kt11.2

372

18.Mahororo

18. Mahororo : Kutsinhira (11)

Kutsinhira (11)

Mahororo: Solo Version (1) 18.sv1.1 serving as model (similar left hand to kushaura [1])

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.sv1.1

18.sv1.2

Right-hand high-line variations

18.sv1.3

18.sv1.4

18.sv1.5

18.sv1.6

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.sv1.7

18.Mahororo

Solo Version (1)

18. Mahororo : Solo Version (1)

373

Left- and right-hand variations

18.sv1.8

18.sv1.9

18.sv1.10

18.sv1.11

Right-hand line substitution

Mahororo: Solo Version (2) 18.sv2.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura [2])

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.sv2.1

Basic line

18.sv2.2

Right-hand line substitution

Left- and right-hand variation

18.sv2.3

374

18.Mahororo

18. Mahororo : Solo Version (2)

Solo Version (2)

Mahororo: Solo Version (3) 18.sv3.1 serving as model (similar left hand to kutsinhira [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.sv3.1

18.sv3.2

Right-hand high-line variations

18.sv3.3

18.sv3.4

18.sv3.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

18.sv3.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

18.sv3.7

18.Mahororo

Solo Version (3)

18. Mahororo : Solo Version (3)

375

Mahororo: Solo Version (4) 18.sv4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

18.sv4.1

Right-hand chording variation

18.sv4.2

Mahororo: Solo Version (5) 18.sv5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

18.sv5.1

18.sv5.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

18.sv5.3

18.sv5.4

Right-hand chording variation

18.sv5.5 376

18.Mahororo

18. Mahororo : Solo Version (5)

Solo Version (5)

Mahororo: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.1—18.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and simplified line 18.ks1.21—18.kt1.15

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 18.ks1.6—18.kt1.4

18.Mahororo

Combinations 18. Mahororo : Combinations

377

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 18.ks1.11—18.kt1.6

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.22—18.kt2.6

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—18.kt3.1

18.Mahororo 378

18. Mahororo : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—18.kt4.1

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic line, and developing high line with chording 18.ks1.20—18.kt4.4

i. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand simplified line and developing high line 18.ks1.27—18.kt5.4

18.Mahororo

Combinations 18. Mahororo : Combinations

379

j. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand basic line with chording, and high line 18.ks1.28—18.kt7.2

k. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand high lines 18.ks1.11—18.kt8.2

l. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (9) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—18.kt9.1

L R L R L

L R L R L R L R L R L

18.Mahororo 380

18. Mahororo : Combinations

Combinations

m. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (10) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—18.kt10.1

n. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand simplified line, and basic line with chording 18.ks2.2—18.kt6.2

o. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand high lines 18.ks2.4—18.kt6.4

18.Mahororo

Combinations 18. Mahororo : Combinations

381

p. Solo version (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 18.sv1.6—18.kt1.7

Cross-Composition Combinations q. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Gorekore Solo Version with right-hand simplified line and developing high line 18.ks1.27—15.sv.5

r. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Mandarindari Kushaura (2) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 18.ks1.6—19.ks2.2 rotated

18.Mahororo 382

18. Mahororo : Combinations

Combinations

s. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Mandarindari Kushaura (2) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 18.ks1.6—19.ks2.2 rotated

t. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Nhimutimu (2) Solo Version with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.1—26.sv.1

u. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Nyamaropa Chipembere Solo Version (1) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—30.sv1.2

18.Mahororo

Combinations 18. Mahororo : Combinations

383

v. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Nyamaropa Chipembere Solo Version (3) with right-hand simplified line, and basic line with chording 18.ks1.27—30.sv3.5

w. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Nyamaropa Chipembere Solo Version (4) with right-hand basic lines 18.ks1.18—30.sv4.2

x. Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Nyamaropa Chipembere Solo Version (6) with right-hand high lines 18.ks1.24—30.sv6.6

18.Mahororo 384

18. Mahororo : Combinations

Combinations

19 Mandarindari

We never discussed the meaning of this song when we learned it from Mr. Mude, but when we later asked him for this project, he said it refers to something that’s difficult or hard. It’s a song that used to be played during wartime; also during the time of Chaminuka. I heard it was one of the songs he asked his players to perform for him when things were not going well. Maybe he would get the energy from that, that he needed to persevere, to find a solution to a problem. Mude said that Chaminuka used to dance to that song very much. It was also played when he was on the way to the place in Matebeland where he was killed by the Ndebele king, Lobengula. It was difficult for the Ndebele to kill Chaminuka because of his special powers. He would disappear and reappear at will— until he decided to forgo his powers. Then, Chaminuka gave a knife to a Ndebele child so he could kill him, and he alone would die [sacrificing himself on behalf of the Shona nation]. If he had not done so, the Ndebele would have attacked the Shona people in the north and many would have been killed. Because of its background, “Mandarindari” is associated with difficult problems at hand and with seeking inspiration to solve them. When things are tough, people look for inspiration. We used not to play it so much, except when we performed with Mude. His [mhepo] spirit needed it to be played. That was around 1969, 1970. The person who liked it the most was Mude— and a few others. Today, it’s a song that I don’t play often. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and the kutsinhira, later working on kushaura (2). Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections. 385

Kushaura Mandarindari: Kushaura (1) (19.ks1.1)

Mr. Mude taught us how he played “Mandarindari,” both kushaura and kutsinhira. I’d just observe him, picking things from what he was playing and putting them together. I kept it as it was [did not add many things to it]. It’s a composition for which I have fewer substitutes than other compositions. It doesn’t have too many variations. Cosmas included B chording in kushaura (1)’s basic part. The chording makes it sound dressed. The first kushaura part, with the emphasis I put on certain keys, is rich as it is. So, when I’m playing it, I don’t use high lines. I want to play it as it is. Then it gives a different flavor. I asked about his choice to begin the cycle with midrange F, as we have represented it (the last pitch of segment 4’s fourth-beat combined-hand “wraparound” figure). I found it was just smoother, beginning there. Are you referring to the sound or the playing technique? The technique for playing. It’s easier to start from there. Reviewing his response years later, Cosmas regarded it as incomplete. In our initial discussion, the physical component of performance had simply come to mind first, he said. Really, [midrange F] is where I hear the song starting. When I’m playing, I’m just following the song. I don’t think of all those technical things [you’re asking]. I’m just thinking of playing the song well. 19.ks1.3  and 19.ks1.4  illustrate Cosmas’s use of B chording with the part’s simplified line and developing high line, respectively. 19.ks1.5–7: In 2001, we re-created several left-hand substitutions from our 1972 transcriptions based on Luken’s performance. Luken and I played those the same way since some things we both learned from Mude. Also, we used to leave out certain keys, adding gaps to the music, to give a certain flavor. I still play that way. 19.ks1.7–8, 19.ks1.9 : Mude would do the double noting too, and I learned it from him. Since Mude was playing with a lot of other great players like Dumba— who taught him— he knew a lot. That’s where I got the idea of how best to work out my own improvisations for “Mandarindari.” You can use the G double noting with either kushaura [see kushaura (2), 19.ks2.14]. I also ad386

Chapter 19

vise going through the whole cycle, hitting the double As in segment 2 as well, because, you know, they [the Gs and the As] communicate with one another. I’m trying to avoid a situation of just doing it once and ignoring the other segments. In 2002, after we reviewed our 1972 recording: I don’t hear any new substitutes for “Mandarindari.” At the same time, he pointed out his limited use of techniques that he subsequently developed. I can hear I was playing double Gs and As in that recording, but only in segments 1 and 3. Would you ever take a concept like double noting from Mandarindari and adapt it to other songs like Bangiza, or the kutsinhira for Karigamombe? Yes, partly that idea came from “Mandarindari” in the first place, and I began to expand on that within the repertory. Mandarindari: Kushaura (2) (19.ks2.1 )

Cosmas suggested that we classify this as independent of kushaura (1) because of its distinctive character: That’s where the additional basses come into it. The latter’s bass line emphasized asymmetrical offbeat rhythmic figures, including pairs of compound (2+1) and (1+2) figures. 19.ks2.2 : Here, he drops the lower B chording elements in segments 2–3. 19.ks2.7–12: When I want to fit high lines into “Mandarindari” kushaura, I move on to this second kushaura part. 19.ks2.15  introduces an A-for-G substitution changing the contour of the bass line, while emphasizing underlying dyad A. 19.ks2.16  combines the left-hand variation above with a high-line variation. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating kushaura (1) and (2), placing the emphasis on kushaura (1). In a demonstration, he began with kushaura (1), gradually picked up speed, and switched to kushaura (2). Subsequently, he added high lines. I’d give the two kushaura equal time. If you’re playing

the song for four or five minutes, you could give each half/ half, half of the time. If you’re playing for a longer period, I’d keep going back and forth between them. It’s nice to be moving to and fro. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Mandarindari: Kutsinhira (19.kt.1)

19.kt.1: Although initially suggesting that the basic kutsinhira part include R1/B, he changed his mind a year later. It did not require chording as part of the backbone, but he would bring it in as a variation (19.kt.3). 19.kt.4–6: These upper-voice variations came to him as we performed together. It had been many years since he had played the piece, he reminded me in 1999. These are some of the things that Mude used to do. 19.kt.7  illustrates A-for-G substitution changing the contour of the bass line while emphasizing the underlying dyad A. This complements the changes in 19.ks2.15. 19.kt.8–10: He describes his thinking behind the formation of A and G double-noting figures. When you start adding the G double noting in segment 1 [19.kt.10, pickup to fourth beat]— those “boo-boos”— it’s better to go to the right- and left-hand As as well [pickup to fourth beat, segment 2] because it allows you to hit those together. The bass G [in the basic part, fourth beat] is too low there and would leave a big gap [that is, the leap from midrange A to bass G, if the latter were left in place]. It would result in discord. So, we’re trying to narrow that gap by hitting the As. Also, those substitutes are similar to the other ones [G double-noting figures]. They respond well to one another. 19.kt.11  shows the left-hand variation 19.kt.7 combined with the developing high line. 19.kt.12  illustrates the left-hand double-noting variation 19.kt.10 combined with a simplified line. 19.kt.13–17: As far as I can remember, I used to avoid playing high lines on this kutsinhira and favor chording [with developing high lines]. He adds that he reverts to the part’s basic left-hand pattern because the latter’s emphatic bass Gs (fourth beats) are an effective counterweight to the thickened right-hand pattern.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kutsinhira continuously. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, g–h). Reviewing the possibilities, he says that he emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with the kutsinhira in his performances. “Mandarindari” has one of those arrangements in which the kutsinhira player comes in one pulse before the kushaura player, rather than on the same level or behind. After we played combination a, he elaborated: You can hear how the kushaura sounds [its steady lefthand shuffle keystroke figures and onbeat bass line; its largely alternate-pulse upper voice]. The way it is, it’s got a lot of staggering keys [varied pattern of alternating and coinciding right- and left-hand pitches]. So, the kutsinhira requires a different approach. It’s obvious from the pickup in the kutsinhira that the starting point is that F pamusoro key. You have to be a step ahead of the kushaura part when playing the following part, and you have to jump into it [anticipate the point in the kushaura’s cycle to enter with midrange F, rather than responding after the kushaura’s pitch]. There are a number of songs in which you apply the same system as “Mandarindari” for kutsinhira. “Chipembere” is one of them. It’s a bit challenging, but nice to experience. Different songs with different types of arrangements produce different melodies. Some are much easier to join, some are difficult to get used to joining. The challenging characteristic is the beat issue. One has to really know how to handle different songs according to their features because the beats will be at different places. As long as you know, “That’s where the beat of the song is that starts me going,” then, definitely, you can easily slot in. Other factors also come into play. In one early practice session in which I began the kushaura, Cosmas Mandarindari

387

initially held back his entrance. Finally, several cycles later, he asked me to pick up the tempo. This is a song on which it is difficult to add the kutsinhira if the kushaura is too slow or not steady. Examining our kushaura-kutsinhira combinations including double-noting variations, he reminded me: This can be a way in which players talk back and forth, responding to one another through those repeated notes [combination c , combination e, and combination f ]. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with the kutsinhira. Table 19.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

3:55: 19.ks1.7: Responding to the new variations at the end of the performance, Cosmas remarks: Those just came to my fingers. I don’t know how.

388

Chapter 19

A song like this is a good example for switching parts. As I always said, everything is situational. Like the kushaura parts to “Dande,” it’s not easy to transition from part to part in “Mandarindari.” You need to do it systematically, knowing when the time is right to switch. You need to be ready for that to do it right. You need to plan ahead while you’re playing. Your mind needs to be fast or you’ll be thrown by it. This recording is good. It shows how different songs shift from one mood to another. Coming from any of the other songs, it’s like you’ve been thinking about one thing, but when “Mandarindari” starts, it changes the focus of your mind onto something different. For practices concerning Mandarindari kushaura (2) in the role of kutsinhira, see chap. 27, Nhimutimu (2), cross-composition combination a through combination f (b , c , f ); Mandarindari kushaura (2)’s alternation with Nhimutimu parts in Kunaka Nhimutimu (2) solo performance (see Art of Mbira, chap. 20); and chap. 18, Mahororo, cross-composition with Mandarindari in rotated beat positions (combination r  and combination s ).

TABLE 19.1 Mandarindari

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (2) w sl (begins seg 4) (19.ks2.4)

0:07

ks (2) w bl (19.ks2.1) kt w sl (begins seg 4) (19.kt.3)

0:00

kt w sl & LHvar (G double noting) (19.kt.12)

0:11

kt w dhl (19.kt.3)

0:15

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

0:24

kt w dhl (19.kt.3)

0:36

0:57

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

0:49

1:03

kt w sl (19.kt.3)

0:55

1:21

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

1:13

1:30

kt w dhl (19.kt.3)

1:22

1:40

kt w sl (19.kt.3)

1:32

1:48

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

1:40

2:07

kt w sl (19.kt.3)

1:59

0:08 0:19

ks (2) w dhl (19.ks2.6)

0:23 0:24

ks (2) w sl (19.ks2.4)

0:32 0:44

ks (2) w dhl (19.ks2.6)

0:44 0:49

ks (1) w sl (19.ks1.3)

0:56

ks (1) w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.ks1.9)

1:17

1:45

ks (1) w sl (19.ks1.3)

ks (1) w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.ks1.9)

(continued)

Mandarindari

389

TABLE 19.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

2:22

ks (1) w sl (19.ks1.3)

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

2:14

2:32

ks (2) w sl (19.ks2.4)

2:39

ks (2) w dhl (19.ks2.6)

2:45

ks (2) w sl (19.ks2.4) kt w dhl (19.kt.3)

2:41

kt w sl (19.kt.3)

2:53

2:49 2:50

ks (2) w bl (19.ks2.1)

2:55

ks (2) w dhl (19.ks2.6)

3:01 3:02

ks (2) w sl (19.ks2.4)

3:20

ks (2) w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.ks2.14, quick transition to 19.ks1.3)

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

3:12

3:22

ks (1) w sl (19.ks1.3)

kt w sl (19.kt.3)

3:14

kt w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.kt.12)

3:26

ends

3:53

3:34

390

3:42

ks (1) w sl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (19.ks1.9)

3:52

ks (1) w sl & RH/LHvar (19.ks1.3, mix w RH/LH subs)

4:01

ends

Chapter 19

Mandarindari: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt

G ds 3

1

6

19.Mandarindari

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

1

3

1

Compilation 19. Mandarindari : Compilation

391

Mandarindari: Kushaura (1) 19.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

19.ks1.1

Basic line

19.ks1.2

Simplified line

19.ks1.3

19.ks1.4

Developing high line

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

19.ks1.5

19.ks1.6

19.ks1.7

392

19.Mandarindari

19. Mandarindari : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

19.ks1.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

19.ks1.9

Left-hand accentuation variation

19.ks1.10

Mandarindari: Kushaura (2) 19.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

19.ks2.1

Basic line

19.ks2.2

19.ks2.3

Simplified line

19.ks2.4

19.Mandarindari

Kushaura (2) 19. Mandarindari : Kushaura (2)

393

19.ks2.5

19.ks2.6

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

19.ks2.7

19.ks2.8

19.ks2.9

19.ks2.10

19.ks2.11

19.ks2.12

19.Mandarindari 394

19. Mandarindari : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

19.ks2.13

19.ks2.14

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

19.ks2.15

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

19.ks2.16

Mandarindari: Kutsinhira 19.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

19.kt.1

Basic line

19.kt.2

Simplified line

19.kt.3

19.Mandarindari

Kutsinhira

19. Mandarindari : Kutsinhira

395

19.kt.4

Developing high line

19.kt.5

19.kt.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

19.kt.7

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

19.kt.8

19.kt.9

19.kt.10

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

19.kt.11

19.Mandarindari 396

19. Mandarindari : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Left- and right-hand variation

19.kt.12

Right-hand chording variations

19.kt.13

19.kt.14

19.kt.15

19.kt.16

19.kt.17

19.Mandarindari

Kutsinhira

19. Mandarindari : Kutsinhira

397

Mandarindari: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 19.ks1.1—19.kt.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira with right-hand simplified lines 19.ks1.3—19.kt.7

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira with right-hand simplified lines 19.ks1.9—19.kt.12

19.Mandarindari 398

19. Mandarindari : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 19.ks2.2—19.kt.1

e. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 19.ks2.13—19.kt.10

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic line and simplified line 19.ks2.14—19.kt.12

19.Mandarindari

Combinations 19. Mandarindari : Combinations

399

g. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic line and simplified line 19.ks2.2—19.kt.7

h. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand high line and developing high line 19.ks2.16—19.kt.11

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira with right-hand high line, and developing high line with chording 19.ks2.7—19.kt.16

19.Mandarindari 400

19. Mandarindari : Combinations

Combinations

20 Mukatiende

“Wake up and let’s go.” I heard that this song was intended for our forefathers, who, a long time ago, had a life on the move. They were early birds— people who would start the day very early. So, each morning around four or five, they’d be waking each other up, saying: “Let’s go, let’s go, it’s time to go.” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (4), later working on kutsinhira (1) and (6), then kutsinhira (9), (11), and (13) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Given the large number of kutsinhira parts associated with Mukatiende, he also suggests a more detailed course of study: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

kutsinhira (1) kutsinhira (9) kutsinhira (4) kutsinhira (6) (20.kt6.1), including left-hand variation 20.kt6.14 kutsinhira (7) (20.kt7.1), and mixtures of kutsinhira (6) and (7) figures 6. kutsinhira (5) 7. kutsinhira (3) 8. kutsinhira (11) variations 20.kt11.10–12 9. kutsinhira (13) (in this position or earlier) 10. kutsinhira (14) 11. kutsinhira (15) 401

Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura

tion of high notes. You can come back to the main part [20.ks.1 ] or even the other variation [20.ks.2 ]. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. In this instance, he incorporates solo version (2) into his performance.

Mukatiende: Kushaura (20.ks.1  )

This part with the octaves is part of the backbone of the piece. I was taught this by my younger brother, Leonard, during the late sixties or early seventies. He’d learned it from his friend, whose name I can’t remember. 20.ks.2 illustrates the part with a right-hand simplified line. 20.ks.6: We reclaimed this variation from our 1972 transcription. I still play this version of “Mukatiende,” very much so. 20.ks.7, 20.ks.8 : I used to hear a lot of that from Alexander Kanengoni on records and when I heard him in performances. This is some of his playing on “Mukatiende” that I liked. Luken and I both used to play around with those substitutes. In 20.ks.8, substitution anticipates dyad C in segment 2 and creates a scalar descent in segment 4. 20.ks.10: We reclaimed this variation from our 1972 transcription. I still play this version as well. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Demonstrating his general kushaura approach, he plays kushaura (1)’s simplified line (20.ks.2 ), then transitions to the basic line (20.ks.1  ). I’d start it slowly, building up this way: with the lower notes, do it about three, four cycles, then come to the high lines. He plays variation 20.ks.6, followed by 20.ks.8. When the music gets intense, that’s when you move into playing these kinds of things. As you can hear, the right and left [keys] are complementing one another [forming octaves], so they go well together. That’s the type of arrangement this piece is. How do you typically mix such patterns in performance? After that period of intensity, you should go down again a little by coming to the parts that don’t have a concentra402

Chapter 20

Kutsinhira Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (1) (20.kt1.1)

In 1998 Cosmas recalled: This part, I also learned from Justin Magaya. Two years later, he suggested that the source might have been Leonard. This kutsinhira only has a few basses, but more upper keys on the left side. The mix of those is very sorrowful; it creates that sorrowful atmosphere. The effect is that we’re praying, asking for mercy. We really want some help. Kutsinhira (1)’s prolongation of dyad G in segment 1 elides dyad B in the underlying harmonic sequence. 20.kt1.5: I don’t do the B chording in segment 1 or 4, only segment 2. Sometimes you need a rest. Chording is heavy for the hand. 20.kt1.7 : Here, figure substitution expands the second high-line gesture with G reiteration, on the fourth beat producing a brief G suspension, mixing pitches from dyad C and dyad F. 20.kt1.9 illustrates left-hand pitch-pair reversal creating alternate-pulse figures with upward leaps of a fifth (first beats of segments); in segment 1, E-for-D substitution creates harmonic ambiguity, referencing the root of dyad E four pulses before it appears in the sequence model. This one I consider to be a substitute for the main one [kutsinhira (1)], rather than a different variation. It’s my own invention which I came up with last year [2001]: a mix of different things. 20.kt1.10: While demonstrating the variation above in 2002, he recalled pitch substitutions and insertions (second-beat areas) that he had begun using to selectively transform alternate-pulse figures into three-pulse figures with downward leaps. His experiments with such mixtures provided the basis for 20.kt1.10, one of his latest signature patterns. In segment 1, the three-pulse figure’s E substitution anticipates dyad E and, along with the D insertion, creates

a dyad mixture (dyad G and dyad E). E and C’s recurrence in subsequent segments’ three-pulse figures references dyad C. That one I improvised myself. I just started doing that last year as well [2001]. When you’re on the basic kutsinhira (1), that’s when you move to this other one [left-hand variation 20.kt1.10]. That’s just the way new things come to me when I’m playing. He went on to incorporate a succession of high lines— variations 20.kt1.6–8— into his left-hand variation above. I’d give each about four cycles. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (2) (20.kt2.1)

We retrieved this part from our 1972 transcription. In 2002, after I demonstrated it for Cosmas, he recalled having played it in the early 1970s, but not in recent years. 20.kt2.2 : As portrayed in this variation, an early recorded performance of kutsinhira (2) holds back the lower element (R1/B) of the B chording figures. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (3) (20.kt3.1)

In 1998 Cosmas gave his impression of the basic part’s source: That’s Justin. In 2000 he recollected other performances and revised his attribution: I used to hear Johna [Shona-ized English] Gondo, the blacksmith, playing this part, so we both must have learned it from him. This part— lower basses— cools everything down. It’s like a relaxing thing. And it sounds great for a change. In relation to the piece’s harmonic model, kutsinhira (3)’s prolongation of dyad B in segment 1 elides dyad E. 20.kt3.2 illustrates his discriminating use of B chording with the basic line. 20.kt3.3 : Here, he combines a high line with the basic left-hand pattern. 20.kt3.5 : Pitch substitution emphasizes underlying dyad C. 20.kt3.6 : Pitch substitution elaborates the midrange E drone and extends the deep bass 3:4 pattern. Video (a)’s right-hand pattern adds B chording and G-C chording to the transcribed basic line; in video (b), it substitutes a high line for the basic line.

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (4) (20.kt4.1)

I learned this from John Gondo. He used to do the bass lines, and I picked them up from him. I break up the main part with other variations when I play. 20.kt4.2 introduces a high-line gesture in segment 3 that overlaps the subsequent segment’s boundary, and incorporates an A-for-B substitution for the pickup to segment 1 of the next cycle. 20.kt4.4  : Pitch substitution here produces two high G peaks and scalar descents. 20.kt4.5: I learned this one from Justin or Luken. 20.kt4.6: John Gondo used to play this part. 20.kt4.7: This cross-thumbing majimba variation was one of my creations, some twenty years ago. I kept on playing for a long time. It’s a free-for-all type of thing. I still do this in my performances, but just for fun— not at the bira. You were saying that some younger players like Musekiwa Chingodza also enjoy doing those kinds of things. Yes, Musekiwa really likes playing a lot of that. But the interesting thing is that, when you listen to older musicians like Justin, he used to like that, and Leonard sometimes did that as well. So, the style is not a new one. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (5) (20.kt5.1)

This variation with the basses is from Justin. You should give it enough time. Play it for about four cycles, then shift and go to the next stage. 20.kt5.2 : Here, A-for-B substitution introduces a subtle passing tone to the beginning of the next cycle. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (6) (20.kt6.1)

I learned this one from Erick in the seventies. It’s an important part that complements the basic one [kutsinhira (4), which Cosmas emphasizes in performance]. It’s as important as the basic, so you’ve got to give it enough time of play. Go for more than ten cycles. 20.kt6.2  : Transcription and audio recording illustrate the discreet use of B chording, while videos (a)–(b) include varied chording schemes (octave B, GC, and A-C). 20.kt6.4 : Substitution creates a high G suspenMukatiende

403

sion over left-hand three-pulse figures representing dyad B and dyad F, respectively. 20.kt6.5 : In segment 1, pitch substitution adds uniformity to the scalar-descent pattern comprising pairs of repeated pitches (see also 20.kt6.3). 20.kt6.6–13: These are some of the many left-hand extensions for kutsinhira (6). I’d play these for two cycles each. My aim is to mix the substitutes in different ways. 20.kt6.6: I remember seeing Erick doing this. 20.kt6.8: I also saw Erick doing some of the mixing of the one [above] with other things, like this double-noting version. This one is a mix. So are the ones that follow it. I also learned that approach from John Kunaka. So, these were not all your own variations? Not all of them. But some things like the double noting became my style more than other people’s because I really liked the improvisations you could do with them. 20.kt6.12: During a video recording in which he demonstrated the process of mixing and matching the components above, Cosmas suddenly exclaimed: Something wants to come! As he pursued the impulse that had seized him, new substitutions flowed into his performance. He stopped to teach me this variation. When I’m speaking of improvising, I’m talking about things just coming into my head like this when I play. 20.kt6.13: Several years later, when reviewing the recording session above, he spotted this variation again and elaborated on its underlying process: That was a moment where one part of my mind wanted to get into something, but my fingers wanted to do something else. It shows how things come to you in performance and you have to move quickly with the winds, or you’ll be left behind. The normal ways I play that part didn’t click for me then, so I was forced to do something different. That was my improvisation. It happened so fast, it was too late to think about it; it had already passed. I was forced to go to a different key, but the issue was how to make it work in that context. I’d had to go through that period in a nice way, trying to make what looks bad, look good, and avoiding discord. You can point this out so people see what the musician goes through, the difficulties that occur during performances. You must manage such things intelligently. I like the result there. It’s a good one. I’m doing something different. What I’m looking for is what’s interesting, a new and unusual combination. Like there [segment 3, fourth-beat area]: What it sounds like is I’m playing octave E substi404

Chapter 20

tutes [L4 and B6] where the kushaura plays octave Fs. [In segment 4, Cosmas also substitutes bass B for bass E in relation to dyad A.] I can keep playing [the part] basically the same way, while constantly changing one key here, one key there. 20.kt6.14 : The transcription illustrates Cosmas’s elaborate left-hand double-noting variation, in segment 1, prolonging dyad G and eliding dyad B. In video (a), he adds chording to the basic line, and in video (b), substitutes a high line. He had initially classified 20. kt6.14 as a separate kutsinhira part, but later, at his suggestion, we returned to its current position as a variation. Despite its unique features, he argued that, in the context of “Mukatiende,” you can easily tell that these are substitutes of the main part [kutsinhira (6)]. The latter had provided the springboard for his creation. When I’m playing parts like that and it’s so intense— the ideas constantly coming into my head— that’s when I start hearing and playing variations like that: crisscrossing, improvising— playing keys I didn’t plan to play before. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (7) (20.kt7.1)

During one of our playing sessions together, his performance of a kutsinhira (6) variation (20.kt6.14 ) reminded him of this part. Let’s record it before I forget it! he called out excitedly. Later, he considered the new part’s relationship to the previous one: That’s different, as you can see from how my left hand is plucking the keys. He mimed the thumb’s movement between the manuals: reversing back and forth. It goes in a different direction than the other [kutsinhira (6)], so it should stand on its own as an independent part. The character of its shifting three-pulse figures— leaping from a key/pitch on the upper manual to one on the lower manual and back again— has become a feature of his personal style, he added. Kutsinhira (7), like variation 20.kt6.14 above, which had brought it to mind, prolongs dyad G and elides dyad B. 20.kt7.4 lent itself to different classifications. As presented here, Cosmas thought of its distinctive features as figure substitutions in relation to the basic part, 20.kt7.1. At the same time, he could make a case for it as an independent part. It was a borderline case. He noted the three-pulse figures with downward leaps introduced in second-beat areas, which he had also incorporated into kutsinhira (1) variation 20.kt1.10. These

were also his own inventions and signature patterns. I’ve never taught that variation or this one to anyone else. I usually hold back these kinds of things from students because it takes them too long to learn them. I wait till students are ready to handle such variations. 20.kt7.6 : Here, substitutions in segments 3–4 create responsive figures using the full complement of triadic elements associated with dyad A.

NB: In relation to the beat positions of the previous kutsinhira, Cosmas shifts kutsinhira (9) through kutsinhira (14) below one pulse earlier, that is, one pulse to the left in our transcriptions.

rest and pitch substitution and pitch insertion reconfigure the left-hand pattern: introducing a three-pulse figure in segment 2 and developing it in segments 3–4. In videos (a)–(c), Cosmas adds left-hand variations, as well as incorporating right-hand chording (a), basicline variation 20.kt9.11 (b), and high-line substitution 20.kt9.2 (c). I still play it this way, but I move into basses a lot these days [playing alternative parts emphasizing lower voices]. 20.kt9.8 : Here, pitch substitution restores some former left-hand figures, while rest substitution increases the proportion of alternate-pulse figures to three-pulse figures overall. Sometimes when your fingers are doing all that, it’s physically very involving. That’s why you bring in certain changes replacing the others with something simpler. One effect is that you’re giving your fingers a rest. You’re resting your left hand. Reviewing 20.kt9.5–10: These are the various pamusoro substitutes that I learned from Bandambira during the early years when you were doing your research in Zimbabwe. So, when you were working on that program, Luken and I had the chance of observing and listening to him playing. That’s when I managed to learn some of those things. I’m talking about the substitutes because we saw that the main part he was playing was identical to how we were already playing it— the part we had learned from Erick. My memory is that Bandambira would just go on doing different things as he played and we’d pick things up from that. He would always play a song differently. 20.kt9.11 incorporates distinctive right-hand figures emphasizing common-tone Gs and Bs in segments 1–2; on segment 1’s third beat, G comprises a harmonic addition.

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (9) (20.kt9.1)

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (10) (20.kt10.1)

I learned kutsinhira (9) from Erick Muchena and Bandambira between 1967 and 1969. After hearing them play, I interpreted what they did. 20.kt9.2 illustrates the part with a high line, which increases the exposure of the midrange melody. 20.kt9.5: In this variation, he points out that the initial components of segments’ figures respond to one another around the cycle: G-D G, G-D G, A-E A, A-E A. That’s what I want, he explained. I want them talking among themselves. 20.kt9.7 : As recorded in our 1972 transcription,

That part is from Luken. That’s from a long time ago, back in the seventies when we were playing together. Kutsinhira (10) is another part with a sorrowful feeling to it. It’s also a multipurpose part; it can be used as kushaura or kutsinhira. Sometimes we used it as a kushaura when we were playing, just being two. In that situation, we treated it as a featured part [repeating it with little variation]. But when we’re playing being three, it’ll normally be a kutsinhira, a second kutsinhira. It’s an advanced part because of the rhythm [combined-hand shifting three-pulse figures]. It’s for a

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (8) (20.kt8.1 )

Reviewing his performance from a 1972 field recording in 2005, we retrieved this part, which had receded in his memory. He recalled that it was his deliberate trial to mix Mukatiende kutsinhira (6)’s fourth-beat figures with Taireva kutsinhira (2), quoting the latter’s initial alternate-pulse figure and adapting it to Mukatiende’s form. 20.kt8.2–4: These are different mixes of things. They reminded him of the flexibility required to introduce bass substitutions at different points in the cycle: beginning and ending them differently, coming at the part from any angle. 20.kt8.5–6: These are hybrid variations, half one thing, half another. As in the first half of the cycle, he periodically rested his right hand for one or two segments during performances, while simplifying his left hand’s keystroke pattern.

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player who knows how to bring things in, how to maneuver on a part. There are so many things involved because you’ve dropped some of the keys and there are lots of gaps; it’s a different style that you’re introducing into the music. In these kinds of parts where the basic version has fewer notes than others or seems too naked, we should include B chording as part of the basic line. That would make it better dressed. Of course, as a variation, I can play it in the simplified way. You can play it in the “Nyamaropa” or standard tuning; we used to do that in the old days with Luken. But, ah, it’s too sweet [especially sweet] for gandanga tuning. It tastes nice that way. That’s my special preference. It doesn’t really sound the best in “Nyamaropa” tuning. In gandanga is where Luken and I used it as a kushaura mostly. 20.kt10.3: He initially described this variation as incorporating the right-hand basic line, but later relegated the octave Gs in segments 1–2 to the position of substitutions. The cycle’s last right-hand B is a pitch insertion that alters the established pattern, forming an alternate-pulse right-hand figure leading to segment 1 of the next cycle. 20.kt10.3–4: These are both sorrowful ones. 20.kt10.5 : Here, B chording on the first beats in segments 1–2 replaces octave Gs. Subsequent pitch substitution and pitch insertion produce a new combined-hand pattern with seven-pulse figures incorporating tremolo Gs. 20.kt10.6–10: Luken taught me most of these. I enjoyed hearing them in his playing very much. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (11) (20.kt11.1 )

Cosmas described the genesis of this part in the preceding one: Around 1977, I heard Luken’s version, kutsinhira (10), and learned it from him. I regarded it as a shortcut. A shortcut? I got the term from Bandambira. One day, when Luken and I were proudly playing kutsinhira (10) as we knew it for him, we saw he was not pleased. “No! It’s not complete!” he began shouting. “It’s not full! There’s something else.” Then he demonstrated other things for us. Like Kunaka, he used the term “madunhurirwa,” which implies a shortcut— something left out. It’s still a complete variation, really, but one that leaves out some keys, like the way “Nhemamusasa” kushaura (3) pamusoro leaves out the basses. 406

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I liked what Luken had played— that kutsinhira (10)— but I said, “I want to develop it.” I had the feeling that there was more to it, something beyond that, and I started exploring. That was in the 1980s. Having previously perfected his performance of left-hand shifting three-pulse figures, he began applying the technique to kutsinhira (10). That’s when I started adding left-hand jumps like G to D [20.kt10.3–4, first beat of segments 1 and 2]— different things like that— within the part’s framework. One day when he was taking it all around the cycle and combining it with the jumps he liked, he suddenly improvised kutsinhira (11). Subsequently Cosmas came to view the sparer kutsinhira (10) as being of the same family, but a “shortcut.” 20.kt11.5–9: These are also my creations from the early eighties. I think of those left-hand changes as a subset of the main part, as substitutes, rather than adding up to a new part. You can shift things around when you play, starting by introducing the substitute in one segment or the other or combining them. I still play this part or things very close to it. 20.kt11.10–12: These are my creations from the same period. When I move into these heavy basses, I’ll stay for about four or five cycles doing that. I asked Cosmas if we should consider reclassifying any of his left-hand variations as independent kutsinhira parts. If it’s not too much for people to learn it this way, let’s keep them together because, myself, I classify them as [belonging to] the same family: one part with different segments [variations]. You can hear that their melodies are derived from such a thing and that they’re all related. Kutsinhira (11) is one part that’s spiced differently. He was aware that he had at times classified comparable variations with heavy basses as “independent parts” in the context of other pieces. That was justified because in those cases he emphasized them in performance, he said. However, when playing Mukatiende kutsinhira (11) (20.kt11.1)— characterized, as it was, by shallow basses— he treated his heavy-bass variations 20.kt11.9–12 as temporary departures. I clearly hear all of them [above] as variations of the main part that we’re looking at here. Like kutsinhira (10), Cosmas tends to prefer playing kutsinhira (11) with an instrument with gandanga tuning, although it works with the “regular” tuning as well.

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (12) (20.kt12.1)

When I played this part for Cosmas a year after he taught it to me, he nodded at familiar musical gestures in the lower voice, including its emphatic midrange G drone. Yes, that’s my style. You can hear a lot of that in variations that I play, so that’s like my signature. The part prolongs dyad G in segment 1, eliding dyad B in the underlying sequence. 20.kt12.2  incorporates B chording in the basic line. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (13) (20.kt13.1 )

This is from Justin. Pointing out kutsinhira (13)’s role in his system, as well as its midrange E and D drones and spare 3:4 bass figures, he suggested that we classify it as an independent part. It’s another cooling one. (NB: 20.kt13.1’s bass line is the same as that of 20.kt3.6, though their midrange lines are distinct.) There are variations that I play at a certain stage when I feel I want to cool things down. You say that you play the high lines sparingly with this part, while emphasizing chording? Yes. It’s because I’ve got that other part that’s similar, kutsinhira (3), with which I play high lines. So, I want to give something different here. After demonstrating left- hand variations 20.kt13.3–12, he added: With all of these things to do with the bass, I don’t really need the high notes. There are plenty of other things for me to work with on this part. I asked what guided his choices when working with mix-and-match processes of composing variations. I bring in these left-hand variations so that people will not get bored hearing the same things. 20.kt13.4: You can hear that’s me. I’m playing this instead of concentrating only on these other keys [those of the basic part]. I spread out on the keys here [he encircles keys B1/G through B6/F on the keyboard and traces the variation’s keystroke pattern]. I wanted to hear the exceptional sound produced by the keys when they’re put together in that manner. Does the issue of rhythm come into it? Yes, I really want to hear a good flow happening. So, I search for the keys and the timing of when I should play them to bring out what I have in mind. 20.kt13.6: Here, in the second half of the cycle, he

incorporates figures from kutsinhira (12)’s basic part into second- and third-beat areas. 20.kt13.8: That’s me also. You can see that this part is related to the others, but it also has its own identity because the arrangement of the keys is different enough. Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (14) (20.kt14.1)

This kutsinhira is a mix of different things. The right hand is kept steady, while the left hand is given the opportunity to do a lot of different things on this part. I asked him whether changing activity from one hand to the other during performances was a strategy of his. Yes, when you give a chance to one, then the other, attention is driven to a certain area at one time [certain keyboard manual/voice], another area at a different time. 20.kt14.4: That’s my creation in the early eighties. When I moved into those heavy basses, I’d do that for about four or five cycles. Variations like that go back to an earlier period. You know, some go back to the eighties, some go back to the seventies, and some go back to 1966 or 1967. They differ because I was expanding. I was getting involved with a lot of mbira playing. 20.kt14.5: That’s where I go all the way down with the basses to the lowest note [covers an octave from L1/G through bass-manual keys B6/F to B1/G]. It was in the eighties when I developed the idea of going all the way down the line with those basses [shifting three-pulse figures with embedded double noting]. That makes the music more lively. When I do that all around the cycle, straight through to the last note, it’s full of different things— which is whole. So, yes, [theoretically] it could be separated from the others as an independent thing, but I also see it as an extension of the main one [20.kt14.1]. 20.kt14.6  combines a high line with left-hand variation comparable to the pattern above. 20.kt14.7–8: Here, he illustrates the rhythmic liberties that he sometimes takes in performance, in the first cycle introducing an unusual spare 3:4 “break” for a segment, and in the second cycle, developing it for three segments before hooking back into the basic part. That’s what really requires teamwork between the two hands, in order to keep things balanced. Then I’m looking at everything like a puzzle, just working on every key [in both hands]. That’s part of my art, to throw in different things each time I do it. Mukatiende

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Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (15) (20.kt15.1) (majimba part; same left hand as kutsinhira [4])

During our 2002 review of Cosmas’s 1972 majimba practices, he demonstrated this part, based on kutsinhira (4) but infused with a midrange G drone. He plays the latter with a L1/G cross-thumbing technique, alternating right and left hands. I still do this just for fun sometimes. It’s not for the bira, though. Majimba are brought in after you have been playing a song the regular way. We never started a song by playing majimba. The word “majimba” means a mixed message, like when someone indicates contradictory things instead of saying what they want. Sometimes my mother would ask my brother, Leonard, if he wanted something that she’d just cooked and he’d say, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh. . . . OK” [expressing ambivalence before accepting her offer]. Then my mother would get irritated and say, “I can’t give you anything unless you tell me whether you really want it or not!” 20.kt15.3: Tremolo G substitutions in segments 1 and 4 further mask kutsinhira (4)’s left-hand pattern, increasing the variation’s ambiguity. 20.kt15.4  and 20.kt15.5 : Pitch substitution reinstates pitches from the basic part. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), (4), and (6). These are among the kutsinhira that are most basic or, I’ll say, regular. In numerous sessions, Cosmas demonstrated successions of parts and variations that he favors and explained the thinking behind his choices. Basically, when you’re playing “Mukatiende,” you have to think and act fast: shifting, moving to different [beat] positions with different kutsinhira. It’s the same issue when you’re changing from tune to tune without stopping like we used to do with Mhuri yekwaRwizi. You can’t ask for the music to stop while you prepare to change from one thing to another. As in his sampled movements below, he typically aimed to create sequences of parts with contrasting features to keep the performance interesting: 408

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1. Moving between kutsinhira (1) and any of the “heating up” parts discussed further below

I bring that part in when things are really in full swing and I’ve played to the extent that things have heated up enough. A lot of things are happening and people are enjoying the music. When I know that the music has gotten to the climax, that’s when I introduce kutsinhira (1) things into my playing because it doesn’t have a lot of basses. I spend more than ten cycles concentrating on that. It’s an important area so you should give it enough time of play. It is a sorrowful part. 2. Moving to cooling part kutsinhira (3) from kutsinhira (4) or kutsinhira (6)

You bring this part in after you’ve played kutsinhira (4) and the kutsinhira (6) variation with more basses [20. kt6.13]. After exhausting those things, kutsinhira (3) is like cooling things down. That’s the effect of those [sparer] lower basses— and it sounds great for a change. This cooling-off one, you can play for about ten cycles. That’s fine. You have to give it enough time. It’s like a relaxing thing. Things can’t always stay at the same tempo [here, meaning rhythmic density]. 3. Moving to kutsinhira (4) majimba variation (20. kt4.7) from kutsinhira (4) (20.kt4.1)— or from any of the “heating up” parts to create musical climaxes

Kutsinhira (4) is an important part for “Mukatiende.” When you play other kutsinhira, you should always try to come back to this basic one. It has an important role, for instance, assisting in the maintenance of the music’s beat. (The contours of kutsinhira [4]’s alternate-pulse bass figures align with the first and third beats.) In a demonstration of the part, he plays 20.kt4.2 for a while, then switches to 20.kt4.3 before coming to 20.kt4.1. (Here, he varies his theoretical arrangement in which the basic line preceded the high lines.) As you can hear, I’ve represented the high lines. The way I started them, going from one to the other, is like I’m different people who are calling each other. When you’re calling somebody, your voice will go up to get the person’s attention [20.kt4.2 introducing one high-line gesture]. But when that somebody responds [20.kt4.3 introducing a second high-line gesture]— showing that he hears you, that he’s getting you— your voice will go down [returning to the basic part, 20.kt4.1]. So that’s how I’ll do it.

Usually, I bring in a variation like this majimba one [20.kt4.7] at a climax of things when they’re really happening. It’s a free-for-all type of thing. You stay on it for a while. Again, it’s situational: how you’re reading the situation. If people are enjoying that part, you’ll stay with it for as long as you feel is enough. Don’t overdo it; don’t underdo it. Try and make sure that you’re in between. 4. Moving between kutsinhira (4) and kutsinhira (5)

Trying out different parts in one of our sessions, he initially had difficulty with kutsinhira (5), then stopped. Sometimes a part like this doesn’t come right away on its own. It comes as I play other things. I like to start with the regular, basic kutsinhira (4), then move into these other things later. Subsequently, he began his demonstration with kutsinhira (4) and switched effortlessly to kutsinhira (5). It’s just like a chain, he remarked. Like a chain? Yes, in my system, the variations and things I bring into a performance are interconnected. It’s just like a chain that has different links, hooked together. Or, it’s like a train with different coaches. They pull one another. They help each other. 5. Moving back and forth between kutsinhira (8) and kutsinhira (3)

Cosmas also enjoyed alternating kutsinhira (8)— the hybrid of Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2) and Mukatiende kutsinhira (6)— and kutsinhira (3). 6. Moving back and forth between kutsinhira (9), shifted a pulse earlier in relation to the beat, and kutsinhira (4); also, detouring to kutsinhira (6)

You can bring kutsinhira (9) in whenever you feel like it, after playing the basic ones. Usually, I just do kutsinhira (9) twice and move from there to some of those variations like kutsinhira (4) [20.kt4.6]. Adding another link to the chain, he moves from kutsinhira (4) (20.kt4.1) to kutsinhira (6) variation 20.kt6.8. 7. Moving back and forth between kutsinhira (10) and kutsinhira (6) or kutsinhira (11)

When using comparatively spare kutsinhira (10) in the following role, Cosmas explains, the part doesn’t have to

remain as empty as it is. I’d play it as is just for one or two rounds, then fill the part, mixing it different ways. When we add those fills, they complement the basic part [refers to pitch insertions, as in 20.kt10.5  and 20.kt10.6–10]. During a performance, you bring in all those little things— making changes. Sometimes you’re playing the simpler part without many things; other times, you’re switching back again to the parts with many things added. Kutsinhira (6) also has many extensions or different segments to it, which stretches it out when you play [for example, 20.kt6.6–13]. That’s why, when you start doing those kinds of left-side things, you have to give the part enough time. The challenge is bringing in your changes at the right level [beat position] because sometimes where you think your fingers should be— where it feels natural— isn’t exactly where the changes are supposed to take place [kutsinhira (10) and kutsinhira (11) are shifted a pulse earlier than kutsinhira (6)]. 8. Moving from kutsinhira (1) to kutsinhira (11), the latter shifted a pulse earlier

After playing the kutsinhira (1) variation [20.kt1.10] with high notes [20.kt1.7], kutsinhira (11) is among those I could play next. I’d play it for a few cycles, about four or five. 9. Moving from kutsinhira (3) to kutsinhira (12) or to kutsinhira (12) variation 20.kt12.4, the latter shifted a pulse earlier with respect to the beat

I’ll go to that part when I’m coming from the relaxing period now [kutsinhira (3)]. When you’re ready to start adding more firewood to the fire, you bring that one in. It’s important also to give it enough time, let’s say about six or seven cycles. I go stage by stage, first playing the basic part [20.kt12.1], then adding substitutes [20.kt12.4]. 10. After the sequence kutsinhira (3) to kutsinhira (12), moving to kutsinhira (13), the latter shifted a pulse earlier in relation to the beat

Kutsinhira (13)’s another cooling one. When I bring that in, it’s like fluctuation happening here. I came from the first cooling part [kutsinhira (3)], then I went to a part that was pushing things up [kutsinhira (12)]. Now I’ve come back again to something that’s like the first [kutsinhira (13)’s spare 3:4 bass pattern is close to kutsinhira (3)’s Mukatiende

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bass pattern]. I’m just balancing things. As you’ve seen in the bira, when people are tired of dancing, they can be sitting down, nodding their heads, following the music. Such a part [kutsinhira (13)] would be good for that time. Give it enough time again, eight to ten cycles. Demonstrating his gradual intensification of kutsinhira (13), he plays multiple cycles of its basic part, switches to variation 20.kt13.8, which introduces audible shifting threepulse bass figures in segments 3–4, then to variation 20.kt13.10, which opens with a scalar-descent pattern of shifting three-pulse figures with embedded double noting. 11. Different schemes incorporating kutsinhira (14) within longer part successions

a. kutsinhira (13) to kutsinhira (1), kutsinhira (4), kutsinhira (6), or kutsinhira (13) variation 20.kt13.8, and kutsinhira (14), the latter shifted a pulse earlier in relation to the beat b. sequence a above can extended by following kutsinhira (14)’s basic part with variation 20.kt14.5, finally ending with kutsinhira (1) c. sequence a above can be expanded with the introductory succession: kutsinhira (13) variation 20.kt13.8 to kutsinhira (14) variation 20.kt14.5, the latter providing a springboard to kutsinhira (13)

Reflections on the options above: After the basic kutsinhira (13), the cooling one, I’ll be moving to those other regular ones [kutsinhira (1), (4), and (6)], or to those like the kutsinhira (13) variation [20.kt13.8 with intensified left-hand bass figures in segments 3–4]. Then I’ll go to kutsinhira (14). When I start going to this, I’m now raising things, making it lively again. Variations like 20.kt14.5–6, which take shifting three-pulse figures all the way down the bass line to the lowest note when they’re complete, have the feel of starting to build up intensity again from where things have been a bit cooler. They’re like putting stepladders in place to reach the climax. They give me a springboard that I can operate from, going somewhere else and coming back. I always come to that bass line from other things. I’ll give it, let’s say, four cycles. Then I climb [in range] and move forward [to kutsinhira (1)]. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. 410

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Solo Versions Mukatiende: Solo Version (1) (20.sv1.1 ) (based on kushaura)

Solo version (1) is Cosmas’s creation based on kushaura. In second-beat areas, he shifts midrange pitches including substitutions a pulse later than in the original. I call it “the lazy left thumb” one because its rhythm is slightly different. The latter produces combined-hand five-pulse keystroke figures overlapping segments’ second and third beats— well suited to solo performance, he says. When you start filling in phrases like this, you’re filling in the gaps in the kushaura normally left for the kutsinhira part. That’s what makes it a different kushaura, a kushaura for solo playing. The solo version’s figures prolong the underlying dyad G in segments 1–2, to different degrees, delaying arrival at subsequent dyad areas. 20.sv1.2–4: These left-hand variations grew out of a performance of his midrange lazy-thumb figures, in which over three cycles, he initially “ghosted” third-beat pitches— playing them in a whisper— then dropped them altogether through rest substitution. Mostly, I don’t use chording with the “Mukatiende” solo version because the right thumb and finger are always alternating [playing shuffle keystroke figures with upward leaps]. That alternating sound is required to be heard all the time. Mukatiende: Solo Version (2) (20.sv2.1)

Where did you get the idea of bringing the basses into the pamusoro kushaura part? I used to hear a lot of different musicians like Mubayiwa Bandambira, John Kunaka, Alexander Kanengoni— and many others whose names I can’t remember— who used that style of extending [from the midrange keys] to the basses when they were playing solo. That was around the seventies. My main reason for “overlapping” the basses [that is, inserting them in the kushaura part in beat positions typically covered by the kutsinhira] was to represent two players playing together. I was using a lot of that because I stayed by myself for a long time in Bulawayo and other areas where I had no musicians to play with. When I play with a second person playing kutsinhira, I refrain from those basses because some of them could interfere with it.

How did you go about developing that approach? Sometimes when I was playing “Mukatiende” kushaura by itself, it sounded a bit empty. I felt like playing some low pitches instead of keeping it high all the time, so that’s when I’d move to the basses. They’re convertible, those pitches [can be played in different registers]. I notice that in some of the variations— 20.sv2.2–3, for example— you substitute pitches one step away from those in the basic part (20.sv2.1), exchanging midrange E for F (segment 1) and bass C for D (segment 2). My main reason was wanting to add a different voice and a lower sound. It puts the melody on a lower level. Such changes are just as good for singers. You know, Simon Mashoko or Mude sometimes want to sing: [Cosmas sings a high huro passage]. Then sometimes they say: [Cosmas sings a low vocable passage]. Different things like that, so it’s just a question of choosing. 20.sv2.6  illustrates combined-hand variations employing rest substitution and pitch substitution in different layers of the solo version’s texture. Mukatiende: Solo Version (3) (20.sv3.1)

This solo style is also my composition. You can tell because it has a lot of challenging triple striking and double noting, which I do on the left side and the right side as well. Because of that, I consider this to be a “kutsinhira” for solo playing [having more kutsinhira characteristics than kushaura characteristics]. 20.sv3.3 : In this variation, Cosmas incorporates a bass B for G substitution, emphasizing to the third of the underlying G dyad just for a change. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Cosmas played solo version (1) for two cycles, then in the next two cycles, filled gaps in the upper melody on the pickup to the third beat in segment 3 with octave Fs. Reviewing segment 1, he called my attention to the three midrange Ds in the left-hand “lazy thumb” pattern. They have to be played strongly, he advised. Otherwise the pattern changes. In subsequent demonstrations of solo version (2), he used solo version (1) as a springboard. In the first instance, he began with 20.sv1.1 and moved through

left-hand variations 20.sv1.2–4, before playing a few variations of solo version (2). I’d just do those twice before I’d revert to the original, then go back and forth. In the second instance, he began with the kushaura’s basic part (20.ks.1), but soon substituted one or two segments from solo versions (1) and (2). Afterward, he explained to me that when playing solo version (2) (20.sv2.1), he commonly mixed its segments’ bass variations in different combinations to create interesting hybrids. Turning to solo version (3), he moved between the basic-line version and rest-substitution variation 20.sv3.2, which removed every other pitch to create a right-hand alternate-pulse pattern. At times, he substituted left-hand midrange octaves for bass Es and Fs at the end of segments (20.sv3.3 , 20.sv3.4), subsequently reinstating them along with pitch insertions that completed the left hand’s pattern of three-pulse figures. Before bringing his performance to a close, he added pitch substitution in second-beat areas to recreate his signature shifting three-pulse figures comprising downward leaps (20.sv3.5; see also kutsinhira [1] variation 20.kt1.10). Taking still other tacks, he explored nuances of expression through accentuation, subtly changing the texture by differentially weighting octave elements within overlapping right- and left-hand figures. At one moment, he played them with equal force; at another, he changed his emphasis on them. At extremes, when I strike keys together, I’ll make the right key quieter so I only hear the other key, bringing out the one on the left rather than the higher double on the right. Then again, sometimes I’ll reverse that and make the left key quieter. Sometimes when I strike two keys in a row, you’ll only hear the first one. I’ll be doing the motion twice, but not actually touching the second key. I can control that when I get to the key itself because my fingers are used to that. I pretend to do like this [hitting twice], but only strike once. Or I may do it so lightly you’ll hear the second strike, but not the first. Or I can make the first louder and only pretend to hit it a second time. Of course, later I can come back again and really double it, hitting it so you hear it twice. Beyond the options above, he sometimes incorporates certain kutsinhira parts into the flow of his solo Mukatiende performances, for example, kutsinhira (11) with its tributaries [20.kt11.5–9] and its related part [kutsinhira (10)]. Mukatiende

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Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination w; web demonstrations : combinations b, d–f, h, l, n, p, r, v–w). Generally, all kutsinhira given in our method go with kushaura (1). In the role of kutsinhira player, he tended to emphasize a sequence of three parts: kutsinhira (4), kutsinhira (9), and kutsinhira (6) (combination f , combination k, and combination h ). Subsequently, he would select other kutsinhira according to the situation, while continuing to cut back and forth among the three above. Kutsinhira (10) had an especially flexible role in his practices. In relation to the kushaura, he would alternate the part and its variations with other pamusoro parts like kutsinhira (9) (combination l  and combination m). In another arrangement in Mude’s group, kutsinhira (10) also played a role as an independent song: a different version of “Mukatiende” without a special name. It was just another way of playing it. One would start the performance with kutsinhira (10), treating it as a [relatively fixed] kushaura, brought in for a while and taken out. Then a second player would join in with an appropriate kutsinhira. Erick used to play kutsinhira (6) (multipurpose-part combination u). Since kutsinhira (6) is rich, “kutsinhira (10)” could stay the same or be mixed [that is, alternated] with others like kutsinhira (9), which Erick preferred in this context (multipurpose-part combination t). Cosmas’s inherited practices also included three-part arrangements involving kutsinhira (10) (combination v  and combination w ). The ones we played in Mhuri yekwaRwizi with Luken and Mondreck— being three— Mondreck would start the regular kushaura [20.ks.1], Luken would come in with kutsinhira (10) [also, variations 20.kt10.6–10], and I would come in with kutsinhira (4) [high-line variation 20.kt4.3] or kutsinhira (6) [basic line or the double-noting bass variation 20.kt6.8]. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with the sequence kutsinhira (1), (4), and (6), or kutsinhira (4), 412

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(9), and (6) mentioned above. In either case, he brings in other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he directed me to play the kushaura while he rotated different kutsinhira. Within each, he started with the basic version for a few or more cycles, then added high lines. Before one of our performances, he reminded me: Begin the “Mukatiende” kushaura slowly so I can add all the kutsinhira parts with heavy basses first. After six or so cycles, you can increase the tempo. It should be like an airplane on a runway slowly gaining speed till it accumulates all its force. During the performance, he developed the sequence: 1. kutsinhira (9) (a pulse earlier in relation to the beat than the others [below]) 2. kutsinhira (4) basic line to high-line variations 3. kutsinhira (6) with high lines, then moving to double-noting bass variations 4. kutsinhira (1) 5. kutsinhira (4)

He had previously asked that whenever he left pamusoro kutsinhira (9) for parts in shifted beat positions, I take over kutsinhira (9) for several cycles to continue the high-line interlocking. I also had the option of switching back and forth between kutsinhira (9) and the kushaura, which worked with his alternative choices. Coordinating our moves, we also engaged in responsive right-hand interplay, alternatively emphasizing right-hand basic lines or high lines together. In a 2008 session, Cosmas initiated the Mukatiende kushaura and I followed with kutsinhira (9), eventually switching to kutsinhira (4). Too focused on my own playing at the time, I later reflexively reverted to kutsinhira (9), missing that in the interim he had taken over my previous part. The instant our parts converged, he shook his head and stopped the performance. I’d changed to that when you went to kutsinhira (4) because I really wanted to hear that high-note interlocking. That’s why you really must listen to what your partner is playing when you play and before you change— that should influence what you play. We started again. He initiated the kushaura and I joined in with kutsinhira (9), eventually moving through the sequence: kutsinhira (4), kutsinhira (1), kutsinhira (3). Meanwhile, whenever I

introduced high lines, he switched from the kushaura to kutsinhira (9) with responding high lines. Whenever I withdrew the high lines in my part, he returned to the kushaura. In another performance, when I responded to his kushaura with kutsinhira (9), he allowed ample time for the combination, then switched into solo version (2) and its variations, dramatically changing the music’s complexion (combination s). Combined with the rhythmic density of kutsinhira (9), his changes introduced an ongoing succession of bass figures that created surprising waves of cross-rhythmic motion under the figures I was playing. In the most interesting schemes, our respective patterns alternately tugged at one another and aligned, tugged at one another and aligned. That was the purpose of my change, he said afterward, to introduce those bass lines into the mix. Filling out the bottom of the music’s texture in relation to the pamusoro emphasis of my part comprised a form of complementary interplay. That also shows that you really have to understand

your partners. When I played with Justin and Erick, we needed to respond to one another. It was the same when I played with Chivhanga. When it worked the right way, you’d hear old men in the bira saying, “Cosmas’s and Chivhanga’s mbira are talking!” When those kinds of things are happening, that’s what makes the music outstanding and enjoyable. When that happens, you’ll also see dancers energized because the music is compelling. It should compel one to dance, or to move the body when seated. Then you know your music is reaching out to the audience. If you hear other musicians play, you’ll hear the separation of parts in their music, like one playing high lines with no response from the others. He added that he could only play certain parts like kutsinhira (8) (which mixed features of Mukatiende and Taireva [1]) with Luken, his old mbira-playing partner, because of the complementary way that Luken responded to them as a kushaura player. Table 20.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition.

TABLE 20.1 Mukatiende

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w bl (begins seg 1) (20.ks.1)

0:17

kt (4) w hl (begins seg 1) (20.kt4.2)

0:00

0:35

kt (4) w hl & RHvar (20.kt4.3)

0:18

kt (4) w hl (20.kt4.4)

0:26

0:59

kt (9) w bl/ch & LHvar (20.kt9.8)

0:42

1:04

kt (9) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 20.kt9.3; LH: 20.kt9.8)

0:47

kt (6) w bl & LHvar (embedded double noting initiates cycle) (20.kt6.10, mix w LH 20.kt6.11–12 & other subs, before settling into 20.kt6.10)

1:17

0:43

sv (2) w bl (20.sv2.1)

0:47

sv (2) w bl & LHvar (20.sv2.3)

1:09

sv (2) w bl & LHvar (20.sv2.3, mix w 20.sv2.1)

1:32

sv (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (20.sv2.4 added to mix above)

1:34

(continued) Mukatiende

413

TABLE 20.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

1:43

ks w bl (20.ks.1)

1:51

ks w bl & LHvar (20.ks.8)

kt (6) w dhl & RH/LHvar (embedded double noting initiates cycle) (RH: 20.kt6.4; LH: 20.kt6.9)

1:34

kt (6) w hl & RHvar (20.kt6.4)

1:39

2:26

kt (6) w bl/hl & RH/LHvar (embedded double noting initiates cycle) (RH: 20.kt6.2, mix w 20.kt6.4; LH: 20.kt6.14)

2:09

2:35

kt (6) w bl/ch & LHvar (embedded double noting full cycle) (20.kt6.14)

2:18

kt (6) w hl & LHvar (embedded double noting full cycle) (RH: 20.kt6.4; LH: 20.kt6.14)

2:26

2:56

kt (6) w hl & LHvar (embedded double noting full cycle, mix w rest subs) (RH: 20.kt6.4; LH: 20.kt6.14, mix w 20.kt6.15)

2:39

3:08

kt (4) w hl & RHvar (20.kt4.2–3)

2:51

kt (3) w bl & RH/LHvar (20.kt3.6)

3:17

kt (3) w bl & RH/LHvar (20.kt3.2)

3:38

ends

3:45

1:56 2:00

ks w bl & LHvar (20.ks.8, mix w 20.ks.1, seg 3)

2:08

ks w bl & LHvar (20.ks.8, mix w 20.ks.7, seg 4)

2:43

3:34

ks w bl (20.ks.8)

ks w bl & LHvar (20.ks.8, mix w 20.ks.7, seg 4)

3:55 4:02

ends

Reflections

Even though I was playing the kushaura and kutsinhira parts for the recording, I can hear the same instincts in my performance as when I play with other people. My instincts kept coming in because, within my system, I respond to unexpected things that arise. When they occur, I can’t say, “No, I don’t want to play you. Don’t come in!” In our culture, you can’t tell unexpected visitors who arrive on your doorstep to go away. You have to find a way of accommodating them. That’s part of improvisation too. 1:00: Concerning the change from kutsinhira (4) to pamusoro kutsinhira (9): That’s nice. You can hear how the pamusoro kutsinhira interacts with the kushaura, changing [beat] positions— how the high lines interact differently. They’re talking to each other— the high lines of the 414

Chapter 20

kutsinhira talking to the high lines of the kushaura, like two people talking. The kushaura in the lead position is quite distinct there. I can hear two distinctive things going on, that’s why I said they’re talking to one another. When I asked about the features of kushaurakutsinhira interplay distinctive to Mukatiende, he turned to other lively metaphors. In my imagination, it’s like the kushaura part and pamusoro kutsinhira (9) are two elephants, side by side— maybe mother and child— leading the other elephants single file to the water hole. Then later, you see a bunch of males and others following behind them. That’s when the playing is taken over by kutsinhira (6) and the other heavy-bass ones [kutsinhira (4) and kutsinhira (3)]: the big bull elephants, the rear guard that had earlier remained behind.

Mukatiende: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

kt8

E ds 3

5

20.Mukatiende

1

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

Compilation 20. Mukatiende : Compilation

415

Mukatiende: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt9

kt10

kt11

kt12

kt13

kt14

kt15

sv1

sv2

E ds 3

5

1

20.Mukatiende 416

20. Mukatiende : Compilation

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

Compilation

Mukatiende: Compilation of part models and harmonic model sv3

ds 1

3

20.Mukatiende

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

2

4

6

Compilation 20. Mukatiende : Compilation

417

Mukatiende: Kushaura 20.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

20.ks.1

Basic line

20.ks.2

Simplified line

20.ks.3

20.ks.4

Right-hand high-line variations

20.ks.5

20.ks.6

Left- and right-hand variations

20.ks.7

418

20.Mukatiende

20. Mukatiende : Kushaura

Kushaura

20.ks.8

20.ks.9

20.ks.10

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (1) 20.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

20.kt1.1

Basic line

20.kt1.2

Simplified line

20.kt1.3

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt1.4

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (1) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (1)

419

20.kt1.5

20.kt1.6

20.kt1.7

20.kt1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt1.9

20.kt1.10

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (2) 20.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

20.kt2.1

Basic line

20.Mukatiende 420

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

20.kt2.2

20.kt2.3

Simplified line

20.kt2.4

Right-hand high line

20.kt2.5

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (3) 20.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt3.1

20.kt3.2

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt3.3

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (3) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (3)

421

20.kt3.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

20.kt3.5

20.kt3.6

Right-hand chording variations

20.kt3.7

20.kt3.8

20.kt3.9

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (4) 20.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.kt4.1

20.Mukatiende 422

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt4.2

20.kt4.3

20.kt4.4

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt4.5

20.kt4.6

L R L R L R L R L

20.kt4.7

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (5) 20.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt5.1

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (5)

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (5)

423

20.kt5.2

Right-hand high line

20.kt5.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

20.kt5.4

Right-hand chording variation

20.kt5.5

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (6) 20.kt6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt6.1

20.kt6.2

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt6.3

20.Mukatiende 424

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (6)

Kutsinhira (6)

20.kt6.4

20.kt6.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt6.6

20.kt6.7

20.kt6.8

20.kt6.9

20.kt6.10

20.kt6.11

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (6) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (6)

425

20.kt6.12

20.kt6.13

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt6.14

20.kt6.15

Right-hand chording variations

20.kt6.16

20.kt6.17

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (7) 20.kt7.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.kt7.1

20.Mukatiende 426

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (7)

Kutsinhira (7)

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt7.2

20.kt7.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt7.4

20.kt7.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

20.kt7.6

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (8) 20.kt8.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.kt8.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt8.2

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (8)

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (8)

427

20.kt8.3

20.kt8.4

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt8.5

20.kt8.6

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (9) 20.kt9.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.kt9.1

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt9.2

20.kt9.3

20.Mukatiende 428

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (9)

Kutsinhira (9)

20.kt9.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt9.5

20.kt9.6

20.kt9.7

20.kt9.8

20.kt9.9

20.kt9.10

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt9.11

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (9) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (9)

429

20.kt9.12

20.kt9.13

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (10) 20.kt10.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt10.1

Basic line

20.kt10.2

Simplified line

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt10.3

20.kt10.4

20.kt10.5

20.Mukatiende 430

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (10)

Kutsinhira (10)

Right-hand chording variations

20.kt10.6

20.kt10.7

20.kt10.8

20.kt10.9

20.kt10.10

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (11) 20.kt11.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt11.1

20.kt11.2

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (11)

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (11)

431

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt11.3

20.kt11.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt11.5

20.kt11.6

20.kt11.7

20.kt11.8

20.kt11.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

20.kt11.10

432

20.Mukatiende

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (11)

Kutsinhira (11)

20.kt11.11

20.kt11.12

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (12) 20.kt12.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt12.1

20.kt12.2

Right-hand high line

20.kt12.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

20.kt12.4

Right-hand chording variation

20.kt12.5

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (12) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (12)

433

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (13) 20.kt13.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.kt13.1

20.kt13.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt13.3

20.kt13.4

20.kt13.5

20.kt13.6

20.kt13.7 434

20.Mukatiende

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (13)

Kutsinhira (13)

20.kt13.8

20.kt13.9

20.kt13.10

20.kt13.11

20.kt13.12

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (14) 20.kt14.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.kt14.1

Right-hand high-line variations

20.kt14.2

20.Mukatiende

Kutsinhira (14) 20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (14)

435

20.kt14.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt14.4

20.kt14.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

20.kt14.6

Left- and right-hand variations

20.kt14.7

20.kt14.8

Left- and right-hand line substitution

20.Mukatiende 436

20. Mukatiende : Kutsinhira (14)

Kutsinhira (14)

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (15) (majimba part) 20.kt15.1 serving as model (same left hand as kutsinhira [4])

Right-hand basic line

R L R L R L R L R L R L etc.

20.kt15.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.kt15.2

20.kt15.3

20.kt15.4

20.kt15.5

Mukatiende: Solo Version (1) 20.sv1.1 serving as model (based on kushaura)

Right-hand basic line

20.sv1.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.sv1.2

20.Mukatiende

Solo Version (1)

20. Mukatiende : Solo Version (1)

437

20.sv1.3

20.sv1.4

Mukatiende: Solo Version (2) 20.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

20.sv2.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.sv2.2

20.sv2.3

20.sv2.4

20.sv2.5

20.Mukatiende 438

20. Mukatiende : Solo Version (2)

Solo Version (2)

Left- and right-hand variations

20.sv2.6

20.sv2.7

Mukatiende: Solo Version (3) 20.sv3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

20.sv3.1

20.sv3.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

20.sv3.3

20.sv3.4

20.sv3.5

20.Mukatiende

Solo Version (3)

20. Mukatiende : Solo Version (3)

439

Mukatiende: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt1.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt1.7

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 20.ks.3—20.kt2.1

20.Mukatiende 440

20. Mukatiende : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.8—20.kt3.5

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic line and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt4.4

f. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic line and high line 20.ks.8—20.kt4.4

20.Mukatiende

Combinations 20. Mukatiende : Combinations

441

g. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt5.1

h. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic line and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt6.5

i. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 20.ks.3—20.kt7.1

20.Mukatiende 442

20. Mukatiende : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt8.1

k. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand high lines 20.ks.5—20.kt9.2

l. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt9.8

20.Mukatiende

Combinations 20. Mukatiende : Combinations

443

m. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (10) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt10.5

n. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt11.1

o. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (12) with right-hand basic line and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt12.3

20.Mukatiende 444

20. Mukatiende : Combinations

Combinations

p. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (13) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt13.1

q. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (14) with right-hand high lines 20.ks.5—20.kt14.7

r. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (15) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 20.ks.1—20.kt15.5

20.Mukatiende

Combinations 20. Mukatiende : Combinations

445

s. Solo Version (2)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic lines 20.sv2.4—20.kt9.1

Multipurpose Parts Combined t. Kutsinhira (9)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand high lines 20.kt9.2—20.kt6.3

u. Kutsinhira (10)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic lines 20.kt10.1—20.kt6.1

20.Mukatiende 446

20. Mukatiende : Combinations

Combinations

Three-Part Arrangements v. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (4)/Kutsinhira (10) with right-hand basic lines and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt4.4—20.kt10.5

w. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (6)/Kutsinhira (10) with right-hand basic lines and high line 20.ks.1—20.kt6.5—20.kt10.5

20.Mukatiende

Combinations 20. Mukatiende : Combinations

447

21 Mutamba

Mutamba is a type of tree with fruit that looks like an orange. Those fruit trees help you during times of drought because the mutamba fruit is edible and has lots of juice. In a season when you can’t get corn, you can eat mutamba instead. The full name of the song is “Mutamba wakuva,” which means “The mutamba tree has stopped bearing its fruit.” The implications are that when you are given a good harvest, you need to thank the spirits. If you fail to thank them by having a ceremony, that’s when the fruit tree you are relying on will die. In its general meaning, the song reminds people to thank the spirits for all their assistance in life or there will be hardship. I remember once in the sixties, I played that at a bira at Magaya village with Joel Muzambi Zaranyika. Zaranyika is his family name, like Mugadza is for me. Simon’s mother, VaBepura, was present, and we played it very well on that occasion. [VaBepura is a clan name given to women of her totem; she was of the Korekore people.] Afterward, she came to us and said: “When I die, I want you to play that song for me!” [that is, for her spirit]. After other ceremonies where we played “Mutamba,” she always used to say the same thing. Because of the way we played it, it made her think very deeply, she said. She also praised our playing of it to my mother. That’s something I don’t forget. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and the kutsinhira. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

1

Kushaura Mutamba: Kushaura (21.ks.1)

Most likely, I learned the kushaura and kutsinhira from Chivhanga in the sixties. Reviewing his early recordings in 2001, he related its kushaura to a comparable part he had performed with Beauler Dyoko during our 1999 US tour. It provided the basis for the instrumental arrangement of her antiwar song Rasai Mapfumo (Throw Away Your Spears). She often does this with her own songs, borrowing parts from mbira songs. Our old recording shows me why I also learned Beauler’s piece so quickly on the tour. I had had the traditional song in my background. He drew my attention to the piece’s unusual cycle ending: the left-hand leap from midrange A to F on the far-left side of the instrument. In segment 3, he also pointed out shuffle patterns reiterating common-tone A as a drone. Such movements in this piece are challenging because they involve different moves on the keyboard than most pieces. They substitute distinct moves for the familiar moves. 21.ks.7  illustrates a variation created through metric shifting, pitch substitution, pitch insertion, and rest substitution. 21.ks.8 : A recorded demonstration of this lefthand variation introduces a midrange D-for-F substitution on the second beat of segment 1, setting up the same figure in segment 2. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously.

Kutsinhira Mutamba: Kutsinhira (21.kt.1)

Cosmas worked out this kutsinhira part from our 2002 review of his 1972 recorded performance.

2

Chapter 21

21.kt.9 includes a quotation from a Chipindura variation (chap. 12, Chipindura, 12.kt4.4). 21.kt.10 : In segment 1, bass G-for-B substitution elaborates the lower voice’s deep bass offbeat emphasis. At the same time, it prolongs dyad G, eliding dyad B in the underlying sequence. 21.kt.11 : Here, pitch substitution and rest substitution vary patterns in the upper and lower voices. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination e; web demonstrations : combinations b, e). I remember as a child that when Chivhanga and I played “Mutamba” at Dyanda village, where my mother was born, her uncle, VaMuhwendu, used to comment on our mbira playing. He used to praise the way we played our high lines together, saying, “There are some girls who are singing in their calabashes!” He was an old man in his nineties by then. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira given here.

Mutamba: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

D alt ds 4

6

21.Mutamba

2

4

7

2

3

5

1

3

6

1

Compilation 21. Mutamba : Compilation

3

Mutamba: Kushaura 21.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

21.ks.1

Basic line

21.ks.2

21.ks.3

Simplified line

21.ks.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

21.ks.5

21.ks.6

21.ks.7

4

21.Mutamba

21. Mutamba : Kushaura

Kushaura

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

21.ks.8

21.ks.9

Mutamba: Kutsinhira 21.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

21.kt.1

Basic line

21.kt.2

Simplified line

21.kt.3

21.kt.4

21.kt.5

Developing high line

21.Mutamba

Kutsinhira

21. Mutamba : Kutsinhira

5

Right-hand high-line variations

21.kt.6

21.kt.7

21.kt.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

quotation of Chipindura variation (12.kt4.4) 21.kt.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

21.kt.10

Left- and right-hand variation

21.kt.11

6

21.Mutamba

21. Mutamba : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Mutamba: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 21.ks.1—21.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic line and simplified line 21.ks.8—21.kt.11

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand simplified lines 21.ks.3—21.kt.2

21.Mutamba

Combinations 21. Mutamba : Combinations

7

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand high lines 21.ks.6—21.kt.6

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand high lines 21.ks.7—21.kt.10

21.Mutamba 8

21. Mutamba : Combinations

Combinations

22 Muzoriwa

“Muzoriwa” means somebody who is smeared or suspected of something. It’s like bad things happened somewhere and people feel you were involved. It’s connected with “Dangurangu” because someone who is suspected— smeared by rumor, accused— needs a fair trial. I’ve heard the expression “Dangurangu raMuzoriwa,” for example, meaning the trial of a person named “Muzoriwa” who has been accused. If you listen to these pieces, you will find they are related. Once, Dzangodza Taunezvi showed me that you can play half of “Muzoriwa” within “Dangurangu” [incorporating figures from the former within the latter’s structure]. I’d like to experiment with this as well sometime. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Muzoriwa: Kushaura (1) (22.ks1.1 )

This is one of the songs I learned when I was very young. I was taught the main kushaura and kutsinhira by Chivhanga. I learned the basics in the sixties and composed the substitutes from the seventies on. I felt that the song really needed something more, so I added some bass substitutes— and some things on the right-hand side— to the main kushaura. It’s one of those songs that I don’t play that often, and 9

therefore I don’t know that many variations. It’s a song that is not that much in demand within the worshipping community. In 2001, he reported that for kushaura (1), I don’t have anything more simplified than the basic line. The shape of the melody can’t do with fewer notes. Compositions are not all the same that way. In segment 3 of the majority of parts, Cosmas combines a left-hand octave D shuffle figure with a right-hand scalar descent beginning with C— initially representing an adjacent-dyad mixture. When I asked whether he ever substituted another pitch for B in the pattern, he replied that it was basic to the song. My interpretation of his version’s underlying form includes a dyad B insertion: D-F-(B)-A or 2–4–(7)–6. 22.ks1.2: In segment 1, the alignment of the B substitution with midrange E hints, perhaps, at a fleeting dyad E insertion in the succession: C-(E)-A-C. 22.ks1.3: In 2002, he recalled this simpler pattern, initially teaching it to me with right-hand A emphasized throughout segment 3. A few years later, he added an R1/B-for-A substitution in the third-beat area. Again, it’s a part that doesn’t have so many different variations. It’s got some substitutes. The kushaura substitutes just came to me as I gained some experience in my playing. 22.ks1.5 : In his classification system for Muzoriwa, the final melodic figure in segment 4 distinguishes the “developing high line” from the basic line. 22.ks1.8: We re-created this variation from our 1972 transcription. That’s Luken! Cosmas exclaimed. That’s how he plays it for sure. I’d play those for two cycles or more. 22.ks1.9: In 2001, I asked whether a right-hand B-for-C substitution over midrange E in segment 1 would also be appropriate (implying a dyad E insertion, referencing the conventional movement 1–3–6). Initially, when I played it for him, he rejected the idea, but over subsequent years he changed his mind. In our final review of his repertory, he advised: Yes, you can use it, but as a substitute, not as the main note. Although he had rarely played it when demonstrating the piece, it occasionally appeared in his performances; see also 22.ks1.12 and 22.ks1.19. 22.ks1.11 illustrates a high-line variation. 22.ks1.12 : Pitch substitution creates a scalar descent in segment 1 and D reiteration in segments 3– 10

Chapter 22

4, in the latter case, replacing his characteristic figures with a D drone. 22.ks1.20: Teaching me the basic kushaura part in 2002, he included bass F in segment 3, but in 2005 he substituted A, relegating F to a substitution. I also use that F with the other variations that I play [22.ks1.20–22, for example]. They both work nicely. So, elements of the basic left-hand pattern and those of 22.ks1.20–22 can be mixed? You can mix them. I’d want to do it one way for one or two cycles, then go to the others and do the same thing. I go through a series of different ones. 22.ks1.22: After demonstrating the bass D substitution in segment 4, he noted that it worked well in conjunction with the right-hand developing high-line figure: E-D-G (22.ks1.5). 22.ks1.23–24: I called attention to substitutions for midrange C in segment 1 (pickup to fourth beat), especially harmonic-addition D: Sometimes I play it. In certain cases, I leave this one in [midrange C]. I don’t play that all the time. Even in the regular part, you sometimes use D as a substitute. 22.ks1.25–27: In 1999 we reviewed these variations, some re-created from our 1972 transcriptions, others retrieved from early recordings. I still do those, he observed. These are just minor substitutes. They don’t affect the playing very much, so you can do it when you want. With respect to the midrange double-noting options: You can bring those in as well, it sounds great. The basses are there too, but it’s like you’re mixing them with a little bit of the pamusoro as well. I think of these as variations on the main part, not as different parts. 22.ks1.35: Here, he imports ideas from Kuzanga solo version (17.sv.1) to create a Muzoriwa variation. The idea for Kuzanga’s solo version came to him while performing the piece’s kushaura. Subsequently, he discovered that he could quote and repeat the solo version’s initial shuffle figures (segment 3) within a portion of Muzoriwa’s harmonic and rhythmic structure (segment 3), producing an effective Muzoriwa variation. There are things that are always sounding in my mind. I think, “How can I best fit these into other songs? How can I incorporate them into my [larger] system?” Does something like that ever happen without your trying, but just pops into your playing at the right place at the right time? Yes, some things can happen that way when I’m really

performing— then things start coming to me. Sometimes I end up doing certain things I’d never have done before. Usually, it happens when I’m in a serious performance and I’m really focused. Then lots of things will be happening. 22.ks1.37–39: These variations sample “break” patterns that Cosmas taught me in 2007 (3:2 figures in octaves). In the context of Muzoriwa, he regards them as little majimbas imported from kushaura (4). 22.ks1.38 , 22.ks1.39 , and 22.ks1.40 illustrate the importation of majimba patterns in different segments, producing variant designs over the cycle. 22.ks1.41: Reviewing his early practices from our 1972 transcriptions, he responded: That’s interesting, I still do the accents I put on the Gs. Muzoriwa: Kushaura (2) (22.ks2.1)

This one [initially classified as a kushaura (1) variation], I’d change to an independent part, since a lot is happening with the pamusoro. 22.ks2.9: Cosmas had initially considered classifying this variation as an independent part, but in the end, he decided its similarities to kushaura (2) outweighed the differences. I see this style of playing as different on the keys. Some elements are the same as the other variations, which results in the melodies being similar, but how the fingers are applied is completely different. He refers to the increased right- and left-hand single keystroke alternation created by rest substitution (pickups to segments 1– 3), and the left-hand leaps involving pitch substitutions midrange C and bass D (segments 1 and 4). 22.ks2.10 : In segment 3, midrange C-for-D substitution references the underlying dyad F less ambiguously than the previous adjacent-dyad mixtures of lefthand D and right-hand C. Muzoriwa: Kushaura (3) (22.ks3.1 )

I created this kushaura in the nineties. I came up with that one at a time when I was playing “Kuzanga” a lot by myself. Then I thought: What if I apply the same principle on “Muzoriwa” that I do on “Kuzanga”? He refers to combining pitch substitution with pitch-pair reversal, here, largely reversing the order of pitches within the kushaura’s left-hand shuffle figures. The seed for the idea can be found in his earlier kushaura (1) variation 22.ks1.35, segment 3.

I usually play this for some time, two or more minutes, quite a number of cycles. Since it’s upside down [keystroke figures emphasizing leaps from low to high pitches, rather than high to low pitches], I’m blending a different way of playing than anything I was playing before. I have to give it enough time. 22.ks3.2 : Here, with a right-hand C-for-A substitution, the second figure imitates the first, responding to it. At the same time, it prolongs dyad C in segment 1, weakly referencing or eliding dyad A. 22.ks3.3: Pitch substitution in segment 1 reinstates dyad A. Muzoriwa: Kushaura (4) (22.ks4.1 )

This is my own invention. That was a long time ago, in the seventies. Like others of my variations, I sometimes like to drop out my basses and remain on the pamusoro. That can just happen when things come to you in the course of playing and you try something different on a particular song. I’ll play that two or three cycles, a minute is enough to me. When I play that a lot, I consider it a good majimba. These things are challenging. It’s important that you absorb these new things into your playing one at a time. I used to play that in 1976 or 1977 with David Maveto in Bulawayo. I was doing different things in those days because I didn’t have my usual players from Harare with me. The part represents a further development of the majimba he introduced in the context of kushaura (1) variations 22.ks1.37–39. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. Cosmas demonstrates kushaura (3)’s left-hand shuffle pattern with upward leaps, then points to the E-A figures in segments 1 and 2 produced by pitch substitution, and reflects on his method of building a performance (22.ks3.3). When my father taught me how to thatch roofs, I learned that you have to do it in stages: first layer, second layer, third layer. It’s like that with playing. I begin with the basic and, after that, in this variation, I add different substitutes. I can mix them different ways, weaving in the substitutes. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Muzoriwa

11

Kutsinhira Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (1) (22.kt1.1  ) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

22.kt1.2 illustrates a high-line variation. 22.kt1.3 : Pitch substitution creates a scalar descent in segment 1, and D reiteration in segments 3–4, which replaces his characteristic figures. Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (2) (22.kt2.1)

This part represents a development of kutsinhira (1) in which bass G substitution largely replaces the second pitch of every other shuffle figure, introducing harmonic additions on fourth beats of segments 2 and 3. Some of the substitutes like bass G in the kutsinhira part, I added myself. I was taught to play it as you would “Kuzanga,” whereby you’d be a step behind the kushaura playing the same thing. But I was interested in making a little bit of a difference in that arrangement. That’s when I came to be including that bass in the kutsinhira. In 2006, he drew my attention to segment 1, second- and fourth-beat areas. Since the seventies when playing the kutsinhira, I still use the B1 substitute for L1 in the basses [replacing kutsinhira (1)’s midrange Gs with bass Gs]. I asked about the left-hand pattern’s substitution of octave F (referencing dyad F) for octave D on the third beat of segment 3. That’s fine here since it has that characteristic. But I want to make sure the other kutsinhira have Ds instead. 22.kt2.4  illustrates the developing high line’s distinguishing E-D-G figure at the end of the cycle. 22.kt2.5: Here, as further below, he uses right-hand pitch insertion in his kutsinhira parts to produce new figures, some with double noting. 22.kt2.6 illustrates a high line with a leap to Gs in segment 2. After a short demonstration: I don’t have many kutsinhira variations for this. During subsequent performances, however, additional variations continued coming to him. 22.kt2.9–11: I consider these to be substitutes here, not new parts. As you can hear, sometimes I want to come to a note in those positions that’s a little higher, some12

Chapter 22

times to a note that’s a little lower. With these variations, the F or D left-hand substitutes are good in segments 3 and 4. The same held true for his E-for-F substitution in segment 2, and D-for-E substitution in segment 4. After a review in 2008, he advised me that the latter typically worked with the right-hand figures he uses there. 22.kt2.9: In segment 4, D replaces harmonicaddition F, reinforcing the dyad G area. 22.kt2.10: We initially included this variation shifted a pulse earlier under the classification of “kushaura,” along with kushaura variations 22.ks1.30–31 that contained a few deep bass pitches. At Cosmas’s suggestion, we later moved it among variations emphasizing bass G that he favored in kutsinhira performances. 22.kt2.11: Pitch substitution in segments 2–3 emphasizes the roots of the underlying dyads and, in segment 4, reinstates the basic part’s harmonic-addition F on the second beat of segment 4. On the third beat, octave D substitution, together with right-hand G, anticipates the final dyad G area, eliding dyad E. Sometimes I also do this when I have the high E in the right hand [when playing a developing high line or high-line figure]. I’m making a hybrid of E and D when I do that [mixing pitches from adjacent dyads E and G]. That’s not typical. 22.kt2.16 : Left-hand substitution distinctively emphasizes midrange E in segment 1, prolonging the dyad A area by a pulse. 22.kt2.17 : Midrange D in segment 4 strengthens the dyad G area. Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (3) (22.kt3.1)

Kutsinhira (3) mixes the lively bass figures of segments 2 and 3 with the left-hand figures of kutsinhira (2). 22.kt3.7: In 2003, he called my attention to the bass E-for-F substitution in segment 2, which creates a different effect. In relation to the basic pattern, the substitution anticipates the change to dyad A, and changes the shape of the bass figure initiating a series of compound (1+2) figures. A rich bass part like this one— all those kinds of variations— I composed myself. 22.kt3.8 : In the context of a high-line variation, he creates substitutions in segments 1 and 4, increasing midrange pitch repetition.

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (4) (22.kt4.1)

Kutsinhira (4)’s distinctive left-hand pattern emphasizes offbeat compound (1+2) bass figures with leaps to G in the second- and fourth-beat areas. 22.kt4.2: I asked why he had produced an unbroken succession of As in segment 3, omitting midrange B (pickup to fourth beat). He responded that in this variation— as in those of the other parts as well— both pitches were fine. They are just different ways to bring about changes in the melody. 22.kt4.7 : Segment 1’s substitution creates bass leaps in similar motion, setting up a comparable segment-2 figure; F substitution reinstates the basic part’s pitch. Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (5) (22.kt5.1)

The bass substitutes I used in creating kutsinhira (5) are mine. In relation to kutsinhira (4), first- and third-beat octave displacement eliminates the midrange pattern, creating a bass pattern of shuffle figures largely alternating double noting and leaps to G. 22.kt5.5 : Here, C-for-F substitution intensifies the pattern of pitch repetition across pairs of shuffle figures.

his general kutsinhira approach: On this one, I’d start with the lower right-hand notes as usual, then move to the middle right-hand notes. Both are good for this part. I bring in the chords after I’m done with the high lines— usually as the last thing. In a second demonstration, he moved fluidly between kutsinhira (1) and (2), while changing his emphasis upon them. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Version Muzoriwa: Solo Version (22.sv.1 ) (same left hand as kushaura [1])

In the context of solo playing, he elaborates his use of right-hand pitch insertion, which he periodically introduces in kushaura (1). In fact, I also do some of that kushaura version when I’m playing by myself [pitch insertions increasing rhythmic density in 22.ks1.7–10, for example]. I also increase my high notes because it’s a way of very much closing the net [filling in gaps or rests in the kushaura’s upper voice].

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (6) (22.kt6.1 )

I created many of the bass substitutes you find in this kutsinhira as well. In relation to kutsinhira (5), left-hand octave displacement and midrange A for bass G substitution produce this pamusoro kutsinhira. 22.kt6.6: I asked Cosmas about his substitution of midrange Cs for octave Ds in segment 3 (third beat), emphasizing dyad F instead of a pitch mixture of dyad F and dyad B. Both Cs and Ds are fine in that position. When I raised the possibility of the same options for kushaura (1), however, he rejected the idea. His kutsinhira and kushaura practices typically differed, he reminded me. Like other related matters, his use of the C-for-D substitution in this context was situational. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (2). In a demonstration of kutsinhira (2), he reviewed

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Preparing to demonstrate his solo techniques, he explains: As I play, you’ll see what I’m doing. I’ll touch on most of the things that I do. I’ll just be turning things around [that is, the version’s pitch configurations]. He begins with kushaura (1) high-line variations 22.ks1.14–19. I’ll now be concentrating on the right side, doing certain things like that. I enjoy mixing things in different ways. For you to be able to do those things, you really need to be very conversant with your left-hand side [of the mbira]: knowing the keys so that you don’t have to concentrate on them. He switches to solo version (1) from kushaura (1)’s variations above. As you can hear, certain things I do connect the notes. I use such double-noting and triple-noting substitutes because they give the sound I’m really looking for. He goes on to play high-line variations 22.sv.5–9. Sometimes I do things like that. They happen when I’m really playing now. Muzoriwa

13

You do such things when you want something especially intense? Yes, after I’ve been playing all these other things, and I’m going further, deeper into things. In a break between his demonstrations, I tried to duplicate one of his high lines. Afterward, he cautioned: You picked this up from my playing by watching my fingers, but when I’m playing like this, I’m just concentrating on the sounds I want to produce. If I try to look at what my hands are doing, then I have two contrasting things competing. I should be listening to the music, not watching how my hands are operating. I asked him why— amid his high-line performance (22.sv.5–6)— he sometimes let up a bit at the beginning of the cycle, reducing the pattern’s rhythmic density. You need to give your phrases breathing space so that you can have more energy and do more again. Playing the whole way through, you can tire because you’re doing a lot of triple striking. There’s a lot going on at one time, so you need breathing space for your music— and for your fingers. When you get to that stage, you shift triple striking on a certain phrase to triple striking on another phrase. Each time, going through the cycle, you apply it to the area that you skipped the time before, so you’ll be giving each of your phrases an equal share of it. It keeps changing. Also, it keeps you, the player, conversant with applying those things on every part of the structure. The tempo can also affect your ability to do these things. Sometimes if you’re too slow, you won’t be able to do them. If you go too fast, there’s another problem. So, there’s a certain speed needed for these things to really happen. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination o; web demonstrations : combinations a, c, e–g, k, n–o). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and (2) above, bringing in the other parts for a change. All the kushaura and kutsinhira parts and 14

Chapter 22

their variations in this chapter can be played with one another. At the same time, pamusoro kutsinhira (6) interlocks especially well with the pamusoro kushaura: kushaura (2). Although he typically emphasizes right- hand alternate-pulse figures with Muzoriwa’s kushaura parts, he takes greater liberties with them in the context of kushaura-kutsinhira interplay. On kushaura (1), he sometimes adds things like right-hand double noting [22.ks1.7–10 and 22.ks1.14–19] when playing with the kutsinhira part. They go well together [combination h and combination i]. Sharing left-hand substitutions between kushaura and kutsinhira was a common practice of Cosmas’s. In 2002, reviewing his animated bass figures in kutsinhira (3) left-hand variation 22.kt3.6, he explained: Most of the substitutes for “Muzoriwa,” I play with the first part [kushaura], but as you see here, there are none that you can’t also use on the second part [kutsinhira]. The same held true for his respective emphasis on midrange A and bass G in kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (2) (fourth beat of segment 2). What happens is that the kushaura player, instead of going to the B7 [A], can go to the B1 [G] there and in other places [22.ks1.30–31]. Its basses will be doing what the kutsinhira is doing at times, and other times, alternating its own bass notes with that. They’re responding to one another (combination d and combination g). Similarly, reviewing our 1972 recordings in 2002, he observed that he had added various bass G substitutions to the kushaura, introducing and withdrawing them at different times during his performance (22. ks1.29–31). I still do this when basses are responding to each other in the kushaura and kutsinhira parts. At the same time, he stressed, such exchanges varied with the role he assumed and the nature of the substitutions. He typically emphasizes the most active basses in kutsinhira performance; he incorporates them as substitutions in the kushaura performance to a lesser degree. When working on one of our duo Muzoriwa arrangements, Cosmas initiated the piece with kushaura (1)’s basic part, then after several cycles, he changed to the developing high line. Meanwhile, I joined him with kutsinhira (1)’s basic part and followed his right-hand changes. As he began substituting deep bass pitches in his kushaura, he asked me to intermittently substitute B1/G for L1/G in kutsinhira (1) or to switch

to kutsinhira (2), which included the substitutions. Subsequently, he responded to my changes with identical or related kushaura substitutions. At one point, he added to our arrangement a subtle set of complementary figures for kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) emphasizing upper-voice and midrange G drones in segment 4 (combination b). These were good majimbas, he said. Subsequently, one of us would respond to the other whenever he added his figures. Other times, he switched to kushaura (3), which, when combined with my kutsinhira, created distinctive composite patterns (combination m and combination n ). In 2007 Cosmas began taking greater liberties than usual in our Muzoriwa performances. Within the domain of kushaura (1), he sporadically teased me by playing new “break” patterns— 3:2 figures in octaves (22.ks1.37–39)— that ratcheted up the rhythmic tension and challenged my grip on my kutsinhira part (combination e  and combination f ). To do that for one phrase or to extend it to two phrases is a little majimba, he explained after his initial trial. Afterward, he shifted into kushaura (4), a part that developed majimba figures around the cycle (combination o ). Repeating the kushaura cycle after cycle, he prolonged our parts’ cross-rhythmic tension and increased the demands on my kutsinhira performance until it slipped from its beat position. Having lost the groove, I stopped and looked up from my mbira. He looked back, smiling knowingly. In the context of Muzoriwa, kushaura (4) could qualify as a majimba part, he said, or a good majimba variation. It’s like when you’re walking a tightrope above the water, it can throw you off. It’s a test case: “Can you make it or will you drop into the water?” It teaches one to be levelheaded, steady. You have to maintain the level [the beat position of your part in relation to that of the other player’s]. Usually, when I want to challenge somebody, I take him by surprise with a wake-up call like this one. I put that [the 3:2 “break” figures] in my playing by bits and pieces, then half/half [half the cycle as in 22.ks1.37–39], then a whole cycle [22.ks4.1] or a few. That will make the other person alert. The other player won’t know what to ex-

pect and will have to toe the line. It also tests the steadiness of the hosho player. Some get thrown easily by that. After months of practice, we tried the routine in performance again. Initially, whenever he switched to kushaura (4), I was thrown off my part as before. I kept jumping back in again, however, struggling to find the correct rhythmic relationship between our parts and to sustain my position within their resultant mesh. With time, I managed this with greater assurance, while listening to the shifting patterns of tension and release as he switched back and forth between kushaura (4) and kushaura (1). Later he reflected on the performance with satisfaction. Such interplay is an example of things in our music that go beyond what it’s possible to talk about [that is, to communicate to those with limited background in the music]. I wanted you to experience that so you’d understand what it was and would be able to write about it as well. Table 22.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

Regarding the kushaura, Cosmas observed: That’s a steady performance [he largely switches between the right-hand developing high line and a double-noting variation]. You can compare that to my other recording of “Muzoriwa,” where I was doing different things in the kushaura, going to the pamusoro, et cetera. That’s a good comparison. It shows that sometimes you decide to stick to the main basic pattern for a long stretch, doing other things less. 0:48: With the onset of right-hand double-striking and triple-striking figures, he says he hears the solo version there. Turning his attention to the kutsinhira track: I kept on moving to and fro between kutsinhira (1) and the second basic one, kutsinhira (2) with the basses— and a few bass variations. Each time I approach this differently. No two performances will ever be the same. The recording sounds great.

Muzoriwa

15

TABLE 22.1 Muzoriwa

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 1) (RH: 22.ks1.11–12; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

0:17

kt (2) w dhl (begins seg 1) (22.kt2.4)

0:00

0:25

kt (2) w dhl & LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.13, seg 1)

0:08

0:35

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.15, seg 1)

0:18

0:42

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14)

0:25

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14–15)

0:33

0:58

kt (2) w hl (22.kt2.6)

0:41

1:07

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14–15)

0:50

1:15

kt (2) w hl (22.kt2.6)

0:58

1:23

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14–15)

1:06

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 22.kt2.6; LH: 22.kt2.15)

1:14

1:39

kt (2) w hl (22.kt2.6)

1:22

1:48

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14–15 & other subs)

1:31

2:13

kt (2) w dhl (22.kt2.4)

1:56

2:32

kt (2) w hl & RHvar (22.kt2.6)

2:15

0:46

ks (1) w dhl & RH/LHvar (double & triple striking) (RH: 22.ks1.7–10; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

0:50 0:52

1:31

2:07

16

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (double & triple striking) (RH: 22.ks1.11, mix w 22.ks1.14–16; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.11, mix w 22.ks1.12; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (double & triple striking) (RH: 22.ks1.11, mix w 22.ks1.14–16; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

Chapter 22

TABLE 22.1 (continued)

Counter

Kutsinhira

Counter

2:38

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH 22.kt2.14–15)

2:21

2:54

kt (2) w hl & RHvar (22.kt2.6)

2:37

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.kt2.6; LH: 22.kt2.4, 22.kt2.14–15 & other subs)

2:43

3:11

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (22.kt2.6, mix w LH bass B-for-E sub, seg 1)

2:54

3:19

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.kt2.6; LH: 22.kt2.4, 22.kt2.14–15 & other subs)

3:02

3:29

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.kt2.6; LH: 22.kt2.6, mix w bass B-for-E sub, seg 1; bass E-for-G sub, seg 2; 22.kt2.14–15)

3:12

kt (2) w dhl & RH/LHvar (22.kt2.4, mix w bass B-for-E sub)

3:35

ends

3:47

2:56

Kushaura

ks (1) w dhl & LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.5; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

3:00

3:04

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.11–12; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

3:44

ks (1) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.5; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

3:52

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.11, mix w 22.ks1.12; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

4:00

ks (1) w dhl & LHvar (RH: 22.ks1.5; LH: 22.ks1.1, mix w 22.ks1.24, seg 1)

4:04

ends

Muzoriwa

17

Muzoriwa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

C alt ds 1

6

1

22.Muzoriwa 18

22. Muzoriwa : Compilation

4

6

2

4

7

6

5

3

5

Compilation

Muzoriwa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt6

sv

C alt ds 1

22.Muzoriwa

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

6

5

3

5

Compilation 22. Muzoriwa : Compilation

19

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (1) 22.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.ks1.1

Basic line

22.ks1.2

22.ks1.3

Simplified line

22.ks1.4

22.ks1.5

Developing high line

22.ks1.6

22.ks1.7

20

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

22.ks1.8

22.ks1.9

22.ks1.10

Right-hand high-line variations

22.ks1.11

22.ks1.12

22.ks1.13

22.ks1.14

22.ks1.15

22.Muzoriwa

Kushaura (1)

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (1)

21

22.ks1.16

22.ks1.17

22.ks1.18

22.ks1.19

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

22.ks1.20

22.ks1.21

22.ks1.22

22.ks1.23

22

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

22.ks1.24

22.ks1.25

22.ks1.26

22.ks1.27

22.ks1.28

22.ks1.29

22.ks1.30

22.ks1.31

22.Muzoriwa

Kushaura (1)

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (1)

23

22.ks1.32

22.ks1.33

22.ks1.34

22.ks1.35 quotations of Kuzanga solo version (17.sv.1)

Left- and right-hand variations

22.ks1.36

3:2

3:2

quotation of kushaura (4) variation (22.ks4.1) (see also 22.ks1.38-40) 22.ks1.37

22.ks1.38

22.ks1.39 24

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

22.ks1.40

Left-hand accentuation variation

22.ks1.41

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (2) 22.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.ks2.1

Basic line

22.ks2.2

Simplified line

22.ks2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

22.ks2.4

22.ks2.5

22.Muzoriwa

Kushaura (2)

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (2)

25

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

22.ks2.6

22.ks2.7

22.ks2.8

22.ks2.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

22.ks2.10

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (3) 22.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

22.ks3.1

22.ks3.2

26

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kushaura (3)

Kushaura (3)

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

22.ks3.3

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (4) 22.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

22.ks4.1

22.ks4.2

22.ks4.3

22.ks4.4

22.ks4.5

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (1) 22.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

22.kt1.1

22.Muzoriwa

Kutsinhira (1)

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (1)

27

Right-hand high-line variations

22.kt1.2

22.kt1.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

22.kt1.4

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (2) 22.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.kt2.1

Basic line

22.kt2.2

Simplified line

22.kt2.3

22.kt2.4

28

Developing high line

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

22.kt2.5

Right-hand high-line variations

22.kt2.6

22.kt2.7

22.kt2.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

22.kt2.9

22.kt2.10

22.kt2.11

22.kt2.12

22.Muzoriwa

Kutsinhira (2)

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (2)

29

22.kt2.13

22.kt2.14

22.kt2.15

Left-hand variation with developing high line

22.kt2.16

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

22.kt2.17

22.kt2.18

Right-hand chording variations

22.kt2.19

22.kt2.20

30

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

22.kt2.21

22.kt2.22

22.kt2.23

Right-hand line substitution

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (3) 22.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.kt3.1

Basic line

22.kt3.2

Simplified line

22.kt3.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

22.kt3.4

22.Muzoriwa

Kutsinhira (3)

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (3)

31

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

22.kt3.5

22.kt3.6

22.kt3.7

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

22.kt3.8

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (4) 22.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

32

22.kt4.1

Basic line

22.kt4.2

Simplified line

22.kt4.3

Developing high line

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Right-hand high-line variations

22.kt4.4

22.kt4.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

22.kt4.6

22.kt4.7

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (5) 22.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.kt5.1

Basic line

22.kt5.2

Simplified line

22.kt5.3

Developing high line

22.Muzoriwa

Kutsinhira (5)

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (5)

33

Right-hand high line

22.kt5.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

22.kt5.5

Muzoriwa: Kutsinhira (6) 22.kt6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.kt6.1

Basic line

22.kt6.2

Simplified line

22.kt6.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

22.kt6.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

22.kt6.5

34

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Kutsinhira (6)

Kutsinhira (6)

22.kt6.6

Muzoriwa: Solo Version 22.sv.1 serving as model (same left hand as kushaura [1])

Right-hand basic line and variations

22.sv.1

Basic line

22.sv.2

Developing high line

22.sv.3

22.sv.4

Right-hand high-line variations

22.sv.5

22.sv.6

22.Muzoriwa

Solo Version

22. Muzoriwa : Solo Version

35

22.sv.7

22.sv.8

22.sv.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

22.sv.10

36

22.Muzoriwa

22. Muzoriwa : Solo Version

Solo Version

Muzoriwa: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 22.ks1.1—22.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 22.ks1.36—22.kt1.4

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 22.ks1.12—22.kt1.3

22.Muzoriwa

Combinations 22. Muzoriwa : Combinations

37

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 22.ks1.31— 22.kt2.4

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and developing high line 22.ks1.38—22.kt2.4

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 22.ks1.39—22.kt2.4

22.Muzoriwa 38

22. Muzoriwa : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 22.ks1.12—22.kt2.17

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 22.ks1.15—22.kt3.4

i. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 22.ks1.18—22.kt4.4

22.Muzoriwa

Combinations 22. Muzoriwa : Combinations

39

j. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 22.ks1.1—22.kt5.1

k. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand developing high line and high line 22.ks2.10—22.kt5.5

l. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand high lines 22.ks2.4—22.kt6.4

22.Muzoriwa 40

22. Muzoriwa : Combinations

Combinations

m. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 22.ks3.1—22.kt2.1

n. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic lines 22.ks3.1—22.kt6.1

o. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and developing high line 22.ks4.1—22.kt2.4

22.Muzoriwa

Combinations 22. Muzoriwa : Combinations

41

23 Nhemamusasa

This song’s title means to cut down trees for a temporary shelter. As people moved from place to place, they needed the shelters to protect them from wild animals like lions. This is the first “Nhemamusasa” I learned and one of the original ones, so if I’m asked to play the piece, that’s the one which I should play. It’s the one that every mbira player should know. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) (first, simplified version 23.ks1.4; second, basic-line version 23.ks1.1) and kushaura (2); then any of the remaining kushaura parts. Regarding kutsinhira, he recommends beginning with kutsinhira (2) or (5) (either before the other), later working on kutsinhira (9) and, finally, any of the remaining kutsinhira parts. Given the large number of kutsinhira parts associated with Nhemamusasa in his repertory, he also suggests a more detailed course of study: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

kutsinhira (1) kutsinhira (2) kutsinhira (5) kutsinhira (9) kutsinhira (8) kutsinhira (14) kutsinhira (12) kutsinhira (13) (Let’s put this one after one with strong basses so it shows something different.) 9. kutsinhira (11) 42

10. kutsinhira (6) 11. kutsinhira (3) 12. Work on the other kutsinhira in any order, according to interest.

Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections. NB: The initial dyad group of Nhemamusasa’s harmonic sequence model is slightly offset from Cosmas’s starting point in the cycle.

Kushaura Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (1) (23.ks1.1 )

Sometime in the 1960s, Chivhanga taught me this kushaura and the other most basic parts. Cosmas adds that he initially learned the part as beginning from segment 4 in the current transcription. In our early 1971 lessons, he recalled, my queries about pieces’ formal beginnings and endings had been a catalyst prompting experimentation and further self-reflection on the matter. In the end, he found that he heard the piece differently from his teacher. I had my own feelings about this. I felt the beginning point for Chivhanga was really in the middle of the song, though I hadn’t really thought about it much before. Originally, I accepted what he taught me. A teacher is like a parent. Eventually the child has to discover things for himself. 23.ks1.2 grew out of our 1999 review of our 1972 transcription, which includes a pitch substitution that anticipates dyad F a pulse early in segment 3. I still play that. That key 5 [R5/C] is a substitute for the usual key 6 [R6/D]. Since we learned so many ways over the years, different things like this will just come to me when I’m playing. 23.ks1.3 illustrates rest substitution in segment 4, producing a series of combined-hand shifting threepulse keystroke figures. 23.ks1.5–8: He periodically varied the developing high line through pitch substitution incorporating wider intervals or tenor leaps into the pattern. Such variations originated with Erick Muchena. Sometimes he would be playing the kushaura and I’d be listening to him while playing the kutsinhira— picking up things. He used to play the normal or basic kushaura [23.ks1.1], then add

those substitutes here and there, then return to basic, then add others here and there. Those are the kinds of things I’d play in a bira as well. I really liked those little additions [refers to 23.ks1.6] when I first heard them and asked Erick to show me. It wasn’t part of Chivhanga’s style. Eventually, Cosmas turned his attention to other variations and, these days, only plays the tenor leaps occasionally. It doesn’t interest me much anymore. I learned it at the time, but in the end, it didn’t touch me like the others. 23.ks1.9–17: These are my improvisations, left-hand substitutions, which I usually use with the lower righthand notes rather than the high lines. I’d play these in their places for maybe one or two cycles, then back to the basic left-hand pattern. 23.ks1.10–11: When I do things like that [bass G in segment 4], changing the sound of the key that ends that part of the segment, it means I want to change the flavor. It’s part of my spicing of the music. I asked whether he would play bass G at the end of any of the other segments. No, that note [also] helps to identify where you are in the music. I reserve that variation for that. These are checks, things that shouldn’t be done haphazardly or put just anywhere. It’s like you can’t reach out for food all day long and eat whenever you feel like it. You must save some things for later. 23.ks1.13: When Chivhanga taught me the basic kushaura [23.ks1.1], he told me to keep playing the same thing. But, of course, there was something different which he showed me on his mbira: this variation; a substitute for the basic kushaura. He just said this was another way of playing it. Instead of continuing to do the same thing, sometimes people need variety— even yourself as a musician. The variation reflected his practice of targeting a certain beat area in successive segments of the cycle for the same or comparable pitch substitutions so that they respond to one another (here, A-for-E substitution on fourth beats). He also remembered listening with Chivhanga to local mbira records by Muzazananda that featured the same variation in the 1960s. Mude later used it in his performance on the Soul of Mbira CD in the 1970s. In my performing, I don’t play a lot of that. If you hear my recordings, I have less of it. I’d just give one or two cycles to that. In the early days, Cosmas would at times combine the pattern with his right-hand tenor leaps above. 23.ks1.14 targets third-beat areas for pitch substiNhemamusasa

43

tution, in this case producing a distinctive bass line through octave displacement. 23.ks1.15: I’ll do this [emphasizing midrange E substitution] for two cycles. Those substitutions in segment 4, I’ll only do in that position. In other cases, I’ll do similar substitutions in different positions, like segment 1 especially. 23.ks1.16–18: Reconstructed from our 1972 transcriptions, these variations illustrate a mixture of lefthand pitch substitution and rest substitution on the fourth beats and first beats, respectively. Sometimes I’ll do the first one [23.ks1.16] for two cycles, but not too often. This is a way of giving a key a break. The second two [23.ks1.17–18], I’ll do those occasionally for one cycle, then bring in another change for a cycle. I’m always looking to make a new sound, a new melody. That’s my aim. I’ll do that in segment 4, especially when leaving out more of the right hand. Adding “gaps” to patterns is a technique that he uses when playing intensely, doing many things. When I’m just playing [casually or when giving demonstrations], such ideas won’t come to me in those cases. They won’t be felt. When I start those rests, it’s part of the process of emphasizing certain things [variations] as I go along. When you’re making changes like that, you’re really in the mood for it. You’ll be swinging your body up and down to the beat. 23.ks1.19 : As in this example, he also liked to combine 23.ks1.13’s left-hand substitutions with righthand line substitution. 23.ks1.20: Periodically he combined the left-hand variations with right-hand substitutions in segment 2 above, beginning the pattern’s scalar descent with high F. At the same time, he limited the practice. In my system, if you put the very high notes together with that basic left hand, it distorts the flow of the left-hand pattern. In fact, when Chivhanga taught me the first “Nhemamusasa” [kushaura (1)], he told me it was solid in itself. The way that “Nhemamusasa” was supposed to be played, you didn’t have to add high notes on the right-hand side. He said, “It’s complete as I’ve played it.” So, the first “Nhemamusasa” [kushaura (1)] shouldn’t be changed very much on the right-hand side. I’ve seen a lot of people trying to force that part into playing high lines, which is wrong. 23.ks1.21–25: I use accents mainly on the right side of the keyboard in this part, since the left-hand voices are thick, heavy. 23.ks1.26–30: There were exceptions to his rule, of course, as when he added key B7/A substitutions on 44

Chapter 23

fourth beats, bringing out the left-side melodies and variations [23.ks1.30]. He reminds readers that the illustrations he provides here are just examples, just exercises. In practice, I can accent whichever keys come to my mind as I play. Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (2) (23.ks2.1 )

Kushaura (2) is an independent part, complete in itself. It develops kushaura (1)’s left-hand figure substitution (segment 4 of variation 23.ks1.12) around the cycle. Cosmas views kushaura (2)’s basic left-hand pattern as the product of pitch substitution applied to kushaura (1). This is a serious part for when the kushaura player is really into the music. Because the part has a lot of things going on in it, I’ll need time to cover them. I’d give four cycles to this part. As you can see, the music is now in full swing. What is the origin of this part? Chivhanga taught me that. I was also playing with Justin and he was playing that as well. 23.ks2.3: It’s important not to try to do all these substitutes at the same time [this variation and the developing high lines that follow], but to create different slots for them, give each time to be heard by itself. As an example, he pointed to his C and B substitutions in segments 1 and 3. I can introduce one change like that where it fits over the whole part and play it for at least one or two cycles. 23.ks2.4: Together, we considered the right-hand developing high-line patterns that I had transcribed from his recorded performances. They were his inventions. In the first example, D and E substitutions (segments 1 and 3)— one step higher than the pitches they replace— created brief suspensions quickly resolved by step to pitches representing the underlying dyad roots. That was the way I experienced them. I asked him if he viewed the substitutions as creating tension, then relaxing it through stepwise movement. When doing these movements, I wanted to do on the mbira the kind of thing I heard my grandfather singing in his huro style— i-ye!— that yodel break [high pitch to lower pitch]. I’m not staying on that first key in those situations, but moving through it to the next. These are nice changes. Each time you add a difference [pitches D and E], it makes a nice buildup. That’s well structured when you do that. Also, when I heard a little pitch change

in his mahon’era, I’d try to incorporate that in my mbira playing. The music needs that kind of change from the top downward— from the higher to lower key— otherwise it doesn’t sound good. 23.ks2.9: Here, pitch substitution re-creates a closely related pattern to that of kushaura (1) variation 23.ks1.7. Two cycles for this is enough. When learning kushaura (2) from Cosmas’s demonstrations, I noted how different his right-hand patterns were from kushaura (1), especially his descending high lines. If I ever wanted to play high notes for “Nhemamusasa” kushaura, Chivhanga showed me right-hand substitutes that are found in the other parts such as kushaura (2). With that, I can use a lot of right-hand high notes [for example, cascading scalar gestures]. If you go to the kushaura (2) left-hand notes when adding the high notes, those two complement each other well. He indicated that he liked to start high lines in segment 4 of the cycle. 23.ks2.10–13: All the high lines are fine. They make a nice difference in the sound. They’re perfect. It’s also like the way Mude can start singing very high or a bit lower, varying some steps in his singing. Or he can start lower and then go higher. Did Chivhanga teach you high lines for Nhemamusasa? Yes, he showed me how to play the first and second high lines. Cosmas demonstrated this by initiating kushaura (2) with the basic line (23.ks2.1) and, in segment 4, switching to a high-line variation (23.ks2.23). Subsequently, he created a new mixture by leading kushaura (2)’s right-hand figure (segment 1) into the high-line variation 23.ks2.23 (segments 2–4). Finally, he played the previous high-line variation above, then, in segment 1, switched to high-line variation 23.ks2.20, modifying segment 2 (first beat) with R9/G for R2/G octave substitution 23.ks2.21. After learning the basic high lines from Chivhanga, like those going all the way up to R9/G, I later created new ones on my own. Initially, they took the form of the developing high lines above (23.ks2.5–8) where I emphasize the lower high notes, the Es. Demonstrating 23.ks2.8, he then expanded it into high-line variation 23.ks2.10. Those were my discoveries. Cosmas’s following variations comprise lines including multiple peaks with high Gs. 23.ks2.20, 23.ks2.21 : Substitution increases the

emphasis on high Gs, which in the second-beat areas of segments 2–3 create suspensions over dyad F. 23.ks2.22–24: He points to distinguishing features in variation 23.ks2.22, such as its imitative leaps of a third in segments 2 and 3 that respond to one another. Variation 23.ks2.23 incorporates the initial segment of developing high-line variation 23.ks2.7; variation 23.ks2.24 incorporates high A substitutions for instruments with “extra key” R10. 23.ks2.25–27: After learning the main part, as I played on and on, I wanted to hear something different. That’s when I discovered those substitutes. They came, well, about ten or fifteen years after I started playing, because it takes that long to understand the music and acquire the necessary experience to be able to do those. Here is an example [23.ks2.25]. While playing, I started trying keys going the opposite way [reversing the order of the elements within discrete pitch pairs]. I was hearing something in my mind I wanted to play. I’d give that three cycles since it’s a complete variation in itself. Reflecting the flexibility of his mbira system, it can come before the basic part in your playing or it can follow it. In this instance, he re-creates in the context of kushaura (2) the variant figures taught him by Chivhanga for kushaura (1) in 23.ks1.13. 23.ks2.26: Creating variations through cumulative substitutions, he introduces new elements in third-beat areas and reinstates the basic pattern’s original figure in segment 4. That’s my invention. Two or three cycles for this one. I asked whether he might also reverse the last pitch pair’s elements as well for the sake of continuity. No, he responded. He wanted a shape in that position that contrasted with what had come before. That was the balance he sought in the variation’s design. 23.ks2.27: Here, again, he builds on the previous variation’s substitutions, developing the C-E-C combination at the ends of segments. That’s also me. Two or three cycles for this one. You can play it as is, applying that substitute to all segments, or you can apply it to any one or two of the segments you choose. 23.ks2.28: Pointing to his left-hand line substitution, an elaborate departure from the previous patterns, he quips: This is when I’m going berserk! [laughter] One or two cycles for this one is enough— then return to the basic— because we already have enough other options [above] for a given period of time. Nhemamusasa

45

23.ks2.29–31: Those are my own, those with rhythmic kicks [another expression for double noting, here embedded in three-pulse keystroke figures]. As you can tell, they just involve small substitutes within the basic part [kushaura (2)]. He commonly begins such variations in segment 2, then continues around the cycle. In contrast to the prior examples, he regarded 23.ks2.31 as a hybrid one. You can tell I’m mixing here [combining different right- and left-hand figures over the cycle]. His changes effectively altered the variation’s rhythmic feeling, generating excitement. That’s also what I’ll do when I’m going berserk in my playing. Pursuing additional possibilities, he alternates segments in which he plays combined-hand double-noting figures with those emphasizing kushaura (2)’s original alternate-pulse figures. You can give each variation [above] a reasonable time. Give it, say, three or four cycles because these are closely related. Usually, I want to go from one to another among closely related variations. I asked which of mbira music’s patterns typically signaled the identity of a part to him. It depends on the song. Speaking of “Nhemamusasa,” the most distinctive things are happening on the left-hand side [middle and lower voices] because more or less the same kinds of things are being done on the right-hand side [upper voice]. Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (3) (23.ks3.1 )

This is the regular pamusoro part which originally came from kushaura (1). But on this part, you’ll be playing the upper keys. So that’s “madunhurirwa” [variation]. I used to hear Chivhanga playing like that. He told me he learned it from the Nyandoro people. Depending on the situation— what’s happening during that time— you can stay on that pamusoro. You can go for five or six— even ten cycles or more— because it’s one of the parts that’s very stimulating when you’re playing “Nhemamusasa.” It’s an important part. 23.ks3.3: When the context allowed for it, he introduced right-hand simplified patterns into his performances. Combined with the left-hand pattern, it forms shifting three-pulse figures separated by rests. 23.ks3.5  illustrates a developing high line incorporating high E tenor leaps. 23.ks3.6: Midrange A and G substitutions, referencing the underlying dyads’ roots, add leaps of a fifth 46

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at the ends of segment figures. He also used these substitutions with his simplified-line pattern 23.ks3.3. Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (4) (23.ks4.1)

In segment 1 of the basic part, the prolongation of dyad C and anticipation of dyad A elides dyad E in the harmonic sequence. A note on our 1972 transcription summarizing Cosmas’s remarks: “This kushaura kwepamusoro is also called ‘kushaura kwechiKorekore’; the idea of the tremolo [segments 2 and 4] taken from general style of Korekore njari players, and, in particular, from their Nhemamusasa which emphasizes tremolos.” The njari characteristically comprised a greater number of keys than mbira dzavadzimu with duplicated pitches on opposite sides of the instrument that expanded its capacity for tremolo performance. I think it must have been Chivhanga who taught me this one because he used to sing, “Chiwhiriri changu mutamba” [words that go with the figures, beginning on the pickup to the tremolo component]. Chiwhiriri’s a yo-yo toy made of dried mutamba fruit which is used by children. Thomas Mapfumo imitates that singing on a version of “Nhemamusasa” on his recordings. He used this pamusoro for one of his “Nhemamusasa” versions. Mapfumo alternated texts with the “Chiwhiriri changu” passage, sometimes singing, “Pidigori wayenda.” That means “Pidigori has gone” [has died]. On the recording, the person’s name, Pidigori, fits a similar pattern interpreted by the guitars. I’ll play kushaura (4) for maybe ten cycles, giving it enough time. 23.ks4.2: He favors basic-line variations with the preponderance of right-hand pitches shifted a pulse later than above, and with pitch substitutions in segment 4. 23.ks4.3  illustrates substitution reinforcing E as the high point of the line’s scalar descent. 23.ks4.5 : Here, figure and segment substitution add a third high peak to the high-line variation, creating G suspensions over the harmony in the second- and third-beat areas of segments 2 and 3. 23.ks4.7–9: He points to the variations’ substitution of B chording in segment 1 of the first example (and E and B of subsequent examples), in effect reinstating dyad E in the standard sequence model. He re-

gards all such right-hand variations as madunhurirwa, but distinguished by degrees of transformation. Different sizes of madunhurirwa are like hills. You’ll see some are bigger than the others— different sizes and shapes, but they’re all called hills. Or, if we speak of mountains, one mountain may be bigger than another, but still part of the same range. Years later, Cosmas offered another simile. Madunhurirwa are like different kinds of fish in the Zambezi: different sizes and shapes, all flowing in the same direction. Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (5) (23.ks5.1 )

This part integrates right-hand double noting with spare left-hand alternate-pulse pitches, producing compound (3+1) keystroke figures. Cosmas described this as an advanced part because of its tricky rhythm and unique cross-hand fingering. This uses simpler notes, but it’s the basic pattern. I don’t play high lines with it. It’s complete on its own. I like playing it that way. As described later in the chapter, kushaura (5) also functions as a multipurpose part in his system. Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (6) (23.ks6.1 )

In what seemed like the final stage of our repertory project in 2005, I played parts for Cosmas from the transcriptions and he evaluated their accuracy. During a break between our proofing sessions, I noticed him playing quietly off to the side, intensely absorbed in Nhemamusasa. A new part had come to him, he explained. It was his latest invention, the product of his ongoing exploration of the piece’s possibilities. We incorporated it into our archive as kushaura (6). I was hearing certain things in my head, so I was trying to play them, to check them out. He played kushaura (6) again, then kushaura (1). Normally the latter is how I play the kushaura. Those other things [like kushaura (6)], they just come to you sometimes. You know, they come into your head whether you’re in bed or you’re asleep. It could be in a dream, or not a dream, but just hearing those sounds. Afterward, you try to recollect what you’ve heard and find it on your instrument. Do you feel it was something you heard for the first time or something you used to play and are now recalling? I don’t remember playing like that before. I was hearing

a certain sound that was leading me to those keys and I had to find them. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kushaura (1) and (2). Talking over a demonstration, he moved through a typical sequence, beginning with kushaura (1) (23. ks1.1). I’ll start with the regular part. I build up my speed and, when I want to build the higher lines, I switch to lefthand variations. He plays kushaura (2) (23.ks2.1). Now I’m going to build up the high lines. He plays a high-line variation 23.ks2.23 with three high peaks, before transitioning to 23.ks2.21 with four high peaks. Now I’m going down. He moves to a developing high-line variation 23.ks2.5. Then I come back to the regular one [23. ks1.1], giving it enough time of play, and I move on again. He switches to kushaura (4) variation 23.ks4.7. Next, I go to a high-line variation [23.ks4.5]. Now I go back to the regular kushaura [23.ks1.1]. After several cycles, he concludes his performance. You can also bring in the other pamusoro too. He demonstrates the kushaura (3) sequence: 23.ks3.1 to 23.ks3.4 to 23.ks3.3. Reflecting on the relative weight he assigns parts and variations: Starting with the low notes of the regular pattern [kushaura (1) (23.ks1.1)], I usually give it about five, six, maybe seven cycles. In fact, I feature it a lot, this regular one. Each time I move to another one I come back to it, feature it again, move out and back again. In one demonstration, he played kushaura (1) variation 23.ks1.2, transitioned to kushaura (3) pamusoro, and then to kushaura (4). I’ll play kushaura (4) for maybe ten cycles, giving it enough time, then come back to the regular one, kushaura (1). So, you would largely play kushaura (1), kushaura (3), and kushaura (4) in this order? Yes. In this “Nhemamusasa,” you can start by playing the basic kushaura [kushaura (1)] like I did. That’s the one I like to begin performances with. There’s no specific rule that you shouldn’t start with the third one [kushaura (3)], but that’s the way I do it myself. I like starting with the basic one and then eventually moving to other variations. Typically, I emphasize kushaura (1) and (2). Usually, I bring that pamusoro one [kushaura (4)] in during the middle of my performance of “Nhemamusasa” to give some difference, to make a different flavor. I’ll be wanting Nhemamusasa

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to make a change, forgetting for a while what I’ve just been listening to. Within individual parts, he followed his general system for right-hand patterns. You have to start with the basic pattern, which doesn’t include the high notes. There are four lower right-hand keys which you base your playing on, while also involving the left-hand side. I’ll go four or five cycles playing without the higher notes, then go to the high notes and play them for at least five or six cycles. I come back to the basic pattern, then play the developing high lines and the high notes. After that, I restrict myself to the developing high lines before I go back to the basic again. I give each one a chance to be heard. I think it’s most important to see that every pattern is given an equal chance. In some cases, he likes to engage figures with comparable shapes in conversation at different points in the cycle. Within kushaura (1), he emphasizes right-hand variations 23.ks1.5 and 23.ks1.6 at times— alternating their figures or mixing them in different combinations from segment to segment or from cycle to cycle. I like to mix the other tenor-leap ones as well [the kushaura (1) variations, 23.ks1.7–8] so that they answer one another— like I’ve heard some birds calling to each other. All these are interrelated, so I need to give them time, five or six cycles going through the process of mixing these elements. But it must be done tastefully. I have a system of what phrases respond to one another. Otherwise, it’ll sound clumsy or make a serious clash, and the audience won’t enjoy it. It’s nice to have variety because some people like it a lot. As a musician, you should be broad-minded. In a bira, we play requests for songs we don’t particularly enjoy. How much would you emphasize the tenor-leap patterns? I’d bring a little bit of it into my playing, coming to it occasionally, making sure they don’t overshadow the first— and most important— basic one [23.ks1.1]. Even Erick would only play them now and again. It was important for learners not to overemphasize them in performance. He reserved other right-hand practices for kushaura (2). After one demonstration, he explained: My main purpose in coming to kushaura (2) is that I want to include a lot of high lines. It’s important to give that part enough time, more or less equal to the regular part [kushaura (1), in which he restricts the range of right-hand figures], because you’ll be going through a lot of things. You can go 48

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to this one [plays kushaura (2) variation 23.ks2.26 with the high lines], then move to the tremolo part [kushaura (4)]. Similarly, after going through a succession of developing high lines (23.ks2.4–9), he said he enjoyed differentially mixing their figures: playing them in different combinations in discrete segments over consecutive cycles. Emphasizing different substitutes is like the situation of people dancing to mbira. If they fill up the dance space when they’re supposed to give each other ground, that’s not nice. It’s much more interesting when they give each other a chance. It’s like that with substitutes. I need to give some substitutes a chance, while giving others a breathing space to rest. He would also mix right-hand patterns with lefthand variations selectively. In a demonstration of kushaura (1), he played the succession: 23.ks1.13 to 23.ks1.19, then to 23.ks1.7. You build up as you go. Tell readers that they can also use the simplified right-hand pattern [23.ks1.4] with these left-hand substitutes. Describing his intensification of the music as a building up, he explained that he would typically increase the time he allotted to left-hand variations in relation to the number of new elements they contributed to a part. For example, he might play variations 23.ks1.9–11 introducing substitutions in segment 4 for two cycles; increase the number to three cycles for those introducing changes in each segment, as in 23.ks1.13–14; and increase the number further for variations with the most elaborate changes, 23.ks1.15 or 23.ks1.17. Regarding his treatment of left-hand variations with kushaura (2): You’ll be doing a cycle or more of those leftside substitutes [23.ks2.25–31] because, as you can tell, each of them has a different quality. Each gives you a very interesting change that changes the melody. So that’s why you need to give those time. Whereas on the right-hand side, you’ll often be doing more or less the same thing basically. At times, moving between parts with related variations can also be effective, for example, between kushaura (2) variation 23.ks2.25 above and kushaura (1) variation 23.ks1.13. In effect, the maneuver mixes the parts together within a larger scheme of part and variation succession. It gives a very good combination, you know. Particularly on this “Nhemamusasa,” these two go well together. The larger performance context influences his application of variations as well. Regarding his simplified-

line variations for kushaura (3): Usually, I bring in variations like these [23.ks3.3–4] when there’s no singing. Or, if there are singers, when they’re quiet. When there’s some space in the singing, that’s when I bring in things like this and they can be heard. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1) (23.kt1.1)

This was from Chivhanga. When as a youngster, Cosmas had first heard a recording of this part on a 1960s recording, it made a lasting impression on him, partly because of the player’s dramatic opening remarks. I remember him saying, “This song was being played by our forefathers during a bira when many people were acting as if possessed by spirits. The elders tested whether the afflicted medium’s possession was authentic by requiring them to drink the blood of a slaughtered animal.” On that recording, I didn’t hear the regular kutsinhira for “Nhemamusasa” being used [kutsinhira (5) below], or the high lines. I don’t play this part very much, but I do play it. It’s an elementary one, the first kutsinhira that’s taught. We all went through that. Luken used to play this as well. If you ask many young learners, they won’t know parts like this. Today, things are changing. They just learn from when they hear others play. They don’t have the tutelage that Chivhanga gave me. He used to insist on basics first. What’s your actual feeling about the character of the part? It’s too basic. It doesn’t have the kind of complexity I want. But for students learning to put two parts together, kushaura and kutsinhira, it’s important to start with this. Concerning kutsinhira (1)’s left-hand pattern, he drew attention to segment 4’s octave leap: midrange G to bass G. Chivhanga and many early recording artists emphasized going to that bass a lot. I start with that as the most basic pattern for many cycles, then move to the others. 23.kt1.4 : Substitution in the simplified line introduces a passing-tone B in segments 2–3, creating scalar figures; in segment 4, substitution emphasizes common-tone G. 23.kt1.13: In 1999, reviewing our 1972 transcriptions of this part, we discovered sketches of these bass substitutions, imitative of kushaura (1)’s bass contours.

23.kt1.14–16 illustrate substitutions of a single figure or pitch adding distinctiveness to cycle endings. 23.kt1.17: Two cycles of this is enough after playing the basic part. You can stay with this variation as is or you can also bring in other substitutes in the last segment [23. kt1.14–16], playing them a cycle each. They bring nice variety. 23.kt1.18: I can hear that this is a variation of the basic part. You can introduce it after that part if you like, playing it even six cycles. That’s fine. Feel free to stay with that. 23.kt1.19 illustrates a left-hand line substitution. Three or four cycles for that. 23.kt1.20 Here, he applies fourth-beat rest substitution to each segment. Two times for this variation. 23.kt1.21: Once in a while, you can bring it in for five or six cycles. Also, the situation will tell you how you’re enjoying it, and how people [in the audience] are enjoying it. 23.kt1.22: Four or five times for this one. 23.kt1.23 illustrates a right-hand line substitution combined with elaborate left-hand pitch insertion, as well as rest and pitch substitution. It gives a little taste of a completely different style for contrast. I learned this one from Luken. Four times is fine. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (2) (23.kt2.1 )

This song I learned from my cousin-brother, Justin Magaya, who is now late [deceased]. We used to play together. I don’t really remember who taught him that song. I spend a reasonable amount of time on it, not a short time. It’s important to give it maybe six to eight cycles. This is a very important basic part on its own, without adding a lot of other things. For kutsinhira (2), I don’t play the typical high lines. 23.kt2.3 presents a right-hand simplified line with spare offbeat pitches forming fifths and thirds with upper-midrange pitches. 23.kt2.4: Here, the addition of fourth-beat pitch insertions creates a mixture: a varied rhythmic scheme of onbeat and offbeat pitches increasing the music’s drive. 23.kt2.5–8: He typically restricts his developing high lines to these variations. Each gives some difference. That’s what makes the beauty, those differences. 23.kt2.9 –14: He limits these variations to left-hand rest and pitch substitution, the most elaborate eliminating the middle voice altogether (23.kt2.14). I just consider Nhemamusasa

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these changes to be substitutes, rather than a new part. He also played a variation of 23.kt2.14 in segment 1 with right-hand C-for-B substitution, and left-hand bass C repetition throughout the segment. The substitutions prolong dyad C in the sequence model, eliding dyad E. Having learned this pattern from other players as a youngster, he was subsequently reminded of it when playing with Luken, for whom it was a signature. (See also Kwari versions of Nhemamusasa kutsinhira [2], chap. 40, 40.23.kt2. Kw.1–2.) Bringing midrange variations in and out— mixing them in different combinations— Cosmas strived to make them talk to each other in different ways. Reviewing his diverse kutsinhira (2)’s variations, he advised: It’s best to start with the basic part, especially when you’re beginning. Once you’ve introduced your part in full, then you can decide how to mix different things in your performance, how to produce other things that you’re after. For example, halving the left-hand pattern [rest substitution in 23.kt2.14, dropping pitches on pickups]. My teachers used to say that people have a tendency to go for the easier things— the shortcuts— whereas to play the full parts, you have to cover a lot of keys. Some people go for substitutes to rest their fingers. There are many benefits like that, as compared to the full or original ones, but there’s more musical value to the original ones. Those are where everything starts. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3) (23.kt3.1  )

This is from Mondreck. It was also the way John Kunaka played one of his variations. I remember hearing that during the time we were doing research with him in 1971. This kutsinhira has the same right hand as kutsinhira (2) and kutsinhira (4), but I consider its character different enough because I’m hitting different keys on the left side. As you can hear, the impact of these keys is that they’re changing the melody. It has a lot of sway [swing, rhythmic drive]. 23.kt3.2: After he retaught me the basic-line version of kutsinhira (3), I revisited the question of whether he could use the same upper-voice patterns interchangeably among kutsinhira. Experimenting with right-hand options in response, he played the basic-line version of kutsinhira (3) and, almost immediately, kutsinhira (2)’s developing high-line pattern fell into his hands (23.kt2.7). He subsequently tried out a conventional high line (23.kt1.9) with both kutsinhira, and looked up with delight. 50

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You ended up with the same ones? Yes. You know, it shows how these are interrelated. The high-line patterns can be used for all the kutsinhira? Yes, he answered, meaning that this was true technically. At the same time, he preferred to differentiate his practices for kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (3), and kutsinhira (4), restricting himself to developing high-line patterns and avoiding cascading high lines that he used interchangeably with other kutsinhira parts. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (4) (23.kt4.1 )

This kutsinhira was one I produced very early, around 1961 or so. He came up with it while experimenting with pamusoro substitutions for kutsinhira (3) and kutsinhira (2) (for example, 23.kt2.13). He pointed out that the right hand of kutsinhira (4) also used the same melody as main kutsinhira (3). Of course, another way of thinking of this is that it [kutsinhira (4)] is just the pamusoro variation of kutsinhira (3), rather than an altogether different or independent part. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (5) (23.kt5.1)

Kutsinhira (5), which emphasizes lower-voice shuffle figures alternating upward and downward leaps to and from the same pitch, was one of his principal kutsinhira parts. Demonstrating his approach to the part, he reminded me as he began: The kutsinhira player’s main role is merely following the kushaura person since that person controls many things. 23.kt5.8 : In segment 1, pitch substitution increases repeated-pitch pairs in the upper voice and prolongs the dyad E area by a pulse. 23.kt5.10 : Right-hand pitch substitution embellishes 23.kt5.10’s line substitution containing three high peaks. 23.kt5.14 : This one I was taught by Chivhanga again. This is the first version I learned, the original way he taught me [including its distinctive scalar descent with bass double noting], although there are other substitutions that I do when playing this part. 23.kt5.15 : That’s my own invention. I started doing that instead of the double-noting basses I learned from Chivhanga [above]. Usually, two, three times is enough. It’s like when you have visitors, or when you’re a visitor. If

you overstay, people end up not wanting you. I employ the same system in my playing. 23.kt5.16–20: He also liked to focus changes on segment 4 of kutsinhira (5). To my ears, they appeared to have a “cadential” function. I asked whether such changes signaled the end of the cycle for him. His initial response: No. I don’t think in that way. I just think of playing something different there that I like. 23.kt5.21–22: Those are mine. They’re variations of the main one. In the second one, I apply the double noting to each phrase, going right through the four phrases, as opposed to the first variation where I mix the double noting with different things from the original kutsinhira (5) part. These are some of the important ones that should be noted. I’d play those for several cycles. I discovered those variations and Luken picked them up from me. Sometimes either of us would pick up things from the other without discussing it. We’d just start doing it if we found it interesting. 23.kt5.23–24: The parts with those basses, I used to play a lot in the late sixties or 1971. Afterward, I completely stopped playing them, but I was reminded last year [2005] when we were reviewing your old recordings and transcriptions for our research. Then I captured the parts and started doing them again. I liked that. That shows the importance of recording things. 23.kt5.25–26: Reviewing these variations, he demonstrated that the initial combined-hand 3:2 figure in segment 4 of 23.kt5.26 could also be repeated at the beginning of segment 1 of the subsequent cycle. 23.kt5.27–28: These accented octave G figures are signature patterns that he commonly uses for initiating kutsinhira (5). You can hear that these start with a punch. At times, he also introduced them during performances, temporarily breaking out of the established pattern: When I play that, then people listening will realize it’s Cosmas. 23.kt5.29: Here, too, he likes to come in with a punch, starting the part prior to segment 4 and taking a brief rest before launching the complete pattern. 23.kt5.30: This variation is another one of my signatures. I play it just for a time, once or twice, when I feel like it. Beginning as he did in 23.kt5.29, he subsequently created a hybrid variation by importing components of variations he uses with kutsinhira (2) and (11)— for example, G and C drones eliding dyad E and dyad A in segment 1.

In 2008, reviewing these variations reminded him of my earlier question concerning the significance of figures reserved for the last segment of the cycle. He elaborates his previous response: I have certain areas in which I can feel I want to start doing certain things. Sometimes it has to do with the physical area on the mbira I’m in at the time. Like when I come to the pamusoro L1 [G] key, I like to do certain things— combining it with certain basses like B1 [G] to B4 [D] or B5 [E]. Recalling yet another example, he played a few of his rhythmic “break” figures that leap from bass C to midrange G. That kind of thing energizes me. It makes me want to start that wherever I come to [those keys] in the cycle. It’s like a springboard to other things. He sometimes adopts such figures to initiate performances, sometimes temporarily to break their flow, as in 23.kt5.26–30. (In the context of Muzoriwa, he uses the word “springboard” to describe the function of his G double-noting figures, 22.ks1.36, segment 4.) Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (6) (23.kt6.1 )

Cosmas learned kutsinhira (6) while performing with Mhuri yekwaRwizi. This one and its variations are from Luken. They’re good for waking up the sleeping spirits. Although regarding it as one of Luken’s signature patterns, he also adopted it for his own performances. Kutsinhira (6) can be interpreted as a transformed version of his kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14, in part, produced by pitch substitution and metric shifting. The part’s distinctive three-pulse figures (with octave G double noting) at the beginning of segments are reminiscent of the “initiation figures” of his kutsinhira (5) punch variations 23.kt5.29–30 for calling the spirits. 23.kt6.2–4: Figure and pitch substitutions develop kutsinhira (6) while preserving its elaborate scalardescent bass pattern. This is Luken’s call. He’s really calling [the spirits] when he plays this. 23.kt6.5: Here, octave displacement in segments 2 and 3 dissolves the double-noting figures, creating a midrange scalar gesture, its offbeat pitches anticipating those of the bass by a pulse. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (7) (23.kt7.1 )

We reclaimed kutsinhira (7) from our 1972 transcription, its annotation paraphrasing Cosmas: “Idea for tremolo features and extra high notes comes from the Nhemamusasa

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Korekore people— their way of playing.” Kutsinhira (7) comprises a related version of kutsinhira (5) in a higher octave that requires a mbira with “extra” keys L7/A and R10/A. Although he played the part for many years, he eventually dropped it from his practices. His tastes were changing, he explained. Moreover, he had taken up an instrument that lacked the extra keys.

bines high lines with variations of this part, he tends to limit the former’s use. 23.kt8.9–12: On this part, I like to emphasize chording. I start with a few and build them up as I play the song. Also, I mix adding them and breaking them [alternating selective chording with right-hand linear figures]. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (9) (23.kt9.1  )

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (8) (23.kt8.1)

Kutsinhira (8) can be interpreted as a variation of kutsinhira (7). The former’s comparatively lower lefthand pattern is also composed of pairs of shuffle figures with alternating ascending and descending leaps, but contains a wider range of intervals. Justin used to play that in the 1960s. 23.kt8.2: Through pitch and rest substitution, Cosmas created a simplified pattern emphasizing lower right-hand As and Gs. 23.kt8.3: Here, he increases the rhythmic density of the simplified pattern by inserting pitches on fourth beats. Initially, he had taught me the simplified line as a component of “the basic part,” but a year later he revised its classification as given here. 23.kt8.4: I drew attention to segment 4’s left-hand shuffle figures comprising a downward octave leap and triadic ascent. In the sixties, after learning the basic part from Justin, I added something of my own to it that employs a different style there, giving a different melody [after finding that Kunaka also favored this as a signature at different pitch levels, he sometimes called it his “Kunaka figure”]. 23.kt8.5: Reflecting further on the figure above, he remarked: In my playing, I can respond to that. A line in the bass with a punch like that in it can lead you to a new variation. He illustrates this here by incorporating A substitutions in the second halves of segments 1–3, in effect creating a new set of call-and-response exchanges with the figures that precede them. This is an example of how you can play around with the keys, shifting, shuffling around— as long as you know what you’re after [the sonic image in your mind]. Like if you’re a dog chasing a rabbit, when the rabbit goes into the shrubs, the dog has to find its prey. He laughs. 23.kt8.6  combines the simplified pattern with two of the left-hand substitutions above. 23.kt8.7 , 23.kt8.8: Although he sometimes com52

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We included this kutsinhira in our collection after it appeared in Cosmas’s performance during our playing sessions. It had not come to mind during discussions or recording sessions explicitly documenting the parts that he “knew.” This, I learned from Erick Muchena. I was taught this part with the high notes. That was in the seventies. I don’t know who taught Erick that. It might have been John Kunaka because I also used to hear him playing the part. 23.kt9.3 : Here, he varies the contours of 3:2 figures by substituting dyad roots for fifths, creating leaps in contrary motion. 23.kt9.5 illustrates a distinctive right-hand line substitution comprising figures with leaps in the same direction or “ascending sawtooth” figures. In segment 1, the right-hand A over left-hand C (pickup to the third beat) references dyad A one beat earlier than in the piece’s sequence model. 23.kt9.6: Initially, he taught me the line substitution above with G on the pickup to the second beat. When reviewing segment 1, however, he explained that he typically emphasized A in that formation. As given here, G was a substitution. I do the G if I want to remain down, responding to the one before it [imitating the previous figure]. G can also be interpreted as prolonging the initial dyad C area or as inserting dyad C between the dyad E and dyad A. 23.kt9.8 illustrates a right-hand line substitution with three high peaks. 23.kt9.10: This variation, from our 1972 transcriptions, represents elaborate left-hand pitch substitution emphasizing midrange C as a common tone and harmonic addition. I decided to use that key [L3/C] as a springboard. That’s where the fire comes from, generating from that point and going to other keys— pushing the other keys. That’s a good one. 23.kt9.11–13: Also, you can mix that one with the

original version’s keys L1 and B7 [midrange G and A], bringing them in and out at different times as you go around the cycle. In segment 4 of 23.kt9.13, he quotes a kutsinhira (14) variation 23.kt14.5. 23.kt9.14–15: With the chording, I choose as I go along because I’m mixing different ways, different times through the cycles. Especially my choices for segments 2 and 3 [for example, on fourth beats, alternatively combining right-hand A or B with left-hand E]. I asked whether in segment 4 (pickup to the third beat), he could substitute the lower-octave midrange B (key R1) in the mixture, aligned with midrange C. No, that makes a discord. Pursuing this further, I played the combination’s interval of a second by itself. No, I wouldn’t do that, it’s a clash, he reiterated. However, close intervals were at times acceptable, even desirable, spicing his music, as he put it. This was another example of the many features of his music system that were situational.

Cosmas taught me this kutsinhira in 1972, but it had slipped from his repertory by 2000. That’s a nice one, he remarked when I re-created it from my early transcription. You should keep in our study. I learned that from Luken. Viewed in relation to other parts in his repertory, kutsinhira (10)’s left-hand pattern comprised a sequence of shuffle figures with upward leaps comparable to those of kutsinhira (9), but emphasizing wider intervals, for example, including octaves on the pickups to second and fourth beats.

especially in segment 2 (pickup to the third beat) where other kutsinhira incorporate left-hand F, following the change to dyad F. After trying out an F-for-E substitution in segment 2, he responded with humor: Sometimes I want to reach out for that seemingly lost child, saying, “I know you’re there, but wait!” Yes, I could add F once or twice in place of the second or third E in that segment. That’s OK, but I wouldn’t emphasize F too much. He regarded the E drone in the segment as a significant feature of the part and was not troubled by the absence of dyad F’s root. 23.kt11.2–3: These left-hand substitutions originated with Luken. He has his own way of transitioning to different mixtures, to segments that are different from mine. For example, Luken would extend his midrange G substitutions through segment 3 at times, mixing them with the basic pattern’s scalar descent there: walking down the bass manual from B4/D to B1/G. Cosmas was more conservative in his emphasis on G drone substitutions. Also, while Luken generally liked to concentrate variations on the right half of the bass manual, Cosmas liked to spread out over the keys [B6/F to B1/G], though remaining at the very bottom for less of the time. Are you referring to the positions of the keys on the bass manual or to their sounds? I mean both the keys and the sounds. They’re the same thing. 23.kt11.4–5: Demonstrating his chording with kutsinhira (11), he explained that he introduced substitutions when he wanted a pitch that’s higher or lower in the mixture.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (11) (23.kt11.1 )

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (12) (23.kt12.1  )

This variation comes from the other kutsinhira, kutsinhira (12) [further below], which I was shown by Chivhanga— and Chivhanga was shown by his brother called Chiwashira. This pattern [kutsinhira (11)] is played just for a short while within the process of playing “Nhemamusasa.” I just bring it in for a short space of time and leave it. As you can hear, there isn’t much happening on the right-hand side. Should it be restricted like that? Yes, so that the focus will be on the basses. I asked him about the part’s emphasis on bass E,

In kutsinhira (12)’s basic line, 3:2 figures largely composed of pitch repetition and step movement are answered by higher notes and a downward leap of a fifth. Figures with comparable contours respond to one another around the cycle, Cosmas points out. This kutsinhira, I was taught by Chivhanga, who told me he was taught by one of his elder brothers. I stay close to this one as we’ve written it because I haven’t had the time to go more deeply into it than the things I was initially taught. I didn’t have a chance to ask Chivhanga about other things that he did.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (10) (23.kt10.1 )

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Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (13) (23.kt13.1)

Kutsinhira (13)’s sequence of left-hand shuffle figures can be likened to those of kutsinhira (10), but with the elements of each figure reversed: kutsinhira (13) emphasizes downward leaps; kutsinhira 10, upward leaps. When I asked Cosmas about kutsinhira (13)’s distinctive octave D leap (pickup to segment 3), he replied that it was a minor variation that could easily be replaced by a downward D-A figure (see 23.kt13.4 below). Although he emphasized this part in his 1970s performances, it did not come to mind when he had taught me the repertory again in 1999. However, one of his son’s performances subsequently brought it back to mind. In 2002, he did not remember who initially taught him the part, but said he still played it now and then. 23.kt13.4 : A-for-D substitution produces the D-A figure, completing the left hand’s alternation of comparatively narrower intervals and octaves. 23.kt13.7 : Here, substitution increases responsive figures with midrange A in segments 1–3, while initiating an onbeat scalar-descent figure (A through F) across the boundaries of segments 1 and 2. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (14) (23.kt14.1 )

That kutsinhira is from Maridzambira [ John Kunaka]. That was a long time ago, in the 1970s— 1971 or 1972. The time you were researching how he made mbiras was when I had the opportunity of learning things from him. Now, when I play that part, I feel like I’m connecting my spirit to Kunaka’s spirit, I’m really moving, pounding those bass keys hard. They’re saying, “Kunaka, I’m coming to join you!” He laughs. This part also reminded Cosmas of his interaction with dancers, especially Simon’s father, Moses, who used to accompany us to the bira. When we played this part at ceremonies, he’d shout at us, “Furusi! Furusi!” [Shona English for “Full C!,” meaning “Play full blast!”] while leaping higher and higher— landing on his feet each time Cosmas struck the part’s deep basses. Soon everyone would be on the dance floor, stomping and leaping. It got to the point where whenever we played “Nhemamusasa,” Moses would call out, “Furusi! Furusi!” and we knew he wanted us to play that part. Do you emphasize kutsinhira (14)’s distinctive 54

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right-hand melody when you play the part, or can you also use the conventional high lines, the ones with scalar descents? To me, if you use the regular high lines, it’s forcing things, forcing something to happen where it’s not supposed to. That part [with the current right-hand pattern] goes well when someone is playing kushaura (1). 23.kt14.3: Some of the substitutions like this left-side one, I was taught by Erick Muchena. When we performed with Erick [in Mhuri yekwaRwizi], he played some of the things he saw Kunaka doing and he continued showing them to me. 23.kt14.4: That’s me. That was my invention. 23.kt14.5 imports one of his Kunaka signature figures into the first half of segment 4. 23.kt14.6 : If the Kunaka figure above catches his fancy during a performance, he can also develop it as illustrated here, creating still another kind of hybrid: “half-phrase Kunaka, half-phrase kutsinhira (14)” all the way around the cycle. (A distinctive path of invention in kutsinhira [1] converges on this pattern in 23.kt1.21.) 23.kt14.7: Sometimes he imported the third segment of kutsinhira (9), along with the Kunaka figure, into kutsinhira (14)— creating a fleeting hybrid before returning to 23.kt14.6. 23.kt14.9  illustrates substitutions replacing shallow bass pitches with C and B in the bass line, increasing the variation’s bass C emphasis in relation to the predominant bass G. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (15) (23.kt15.1 )

Reflecting on the genesis of kutsinhira (15) and its lefthand variations: What happened was I really enjoyed how the basses were going in kutsinhira (14), so I wondered what would happen if I took a different approach, minimizing that and staying more on top— on the pamusoro keys [experimenting with midrange pitch substitutions, first halves of segments]. That’s how I came up with that. I have an understanding of the strength of a part— the full part— that’s based on certain ways the keys’ arrangements sound. That’s what tells me that this is rich in itself— that it can stand on its own. 23.kt15.3–5: The sounds of these keys’ arrangements tell me that they’re incomplete in themselves. It’s like they have a half phrase that is different and need the rest of the

main part to make it a whole thing. That’s why I classify those as substitutes only. Revisiting these variations over the years, however, he sometimes heard their distinctive features as qualifying them for independent parts. That was another way to think of them. Some multilayered patterns represented borderline cases for classification. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (16) (23.kt16.1 )

Kutsinhira (16), a largely offbeat pamusoro part with tricky rhythms [and fingerings], came from Leonard. He learned it from people who performed at Nyandoro and Marondera. This pamusoro has a sorrowful feeling because in the bira, you’re begging, praying, asking for mercy: “Can’t you hear us? Can’t you see us suffering?” As a mbira player, you’re showing there’s a need for help. You’re expressing that feeling through your music. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (2), (5), and (9). I asked Cosmas how he allocated his kutsinhira options in performance. I should do each timeously since I’ll have a lot of things I want to put across in “Nhemamusasa.” But I shouldn’t be pushed into it. It would be better not to include all the variations, but to include those you can afford to do at a given time, rather than rushing through them. That would spoil the taste of the music. I usually need more than ten minutes to go through all the parts. So, if I was asked if I’d play each for five minutes, obviously, I’d have to be selective. I’d select different parts when I played the song different times. In some instances, the musical roles he assigned individual parts determined their positions in part successions. One candidate for beginning his kutsinhira performance was kutsinhira (2). Its [onbeat] basses are strong and steady— clear— and I really like its right-hand melody. He reminded me that on the Shona Mbira Music CD, he began his second Nhemamusasa instrumental version this way. Luken favored the part as a starter as well. Regarding endings, he sometimes adopted his brother’s practice: Leonard liked to end his performance with a pamusoro part [kutsinhira (16)] since he started with parts with heavy basses.

Cosmas also varied such strategies. In his first instrumental version on the Nonesuch recording above (also in his website performance discussed at the end of the chapter), he begins with kutsinhira (5), subsequently bringing in kutsinhira (2). Extending the sequence, he sometimes initially leads into kutsinhira (5) with kutsinhira (12). I use that as an introductory “Nhemamusasa” kutsinhira before going on to the other basic one, kutsinhira (5). I like that arrangement because you can go from the end of segment 1 of kutsinhira (12) to segment 2 of kutsinhira (5) [variation 23.kt5.14] with a punch— but adding a gap between them. He demonstrates this with an accented three-pulse figure starting on the pickup to the first beat (the same figure occurs in kutsinhira [6] [23.kt6.1]), then rests for a pulse before continuing kutsinhira (5) on the second beat. That makes a smooth transition. I’d play that one time through, then play the basic kutsinhira (5) [23.kt5.1]. In a related demonstration, he begins with kutsinhira (5) and, after several cycles, moves to left-hand variations 23.kt5.14–15. When playing any kutsinhira, you should play it a couple of cycles before varying it with the bass. To me, it’s important to give some time to certain variations as a transition. I gave the substitutes two cycles apiece because when you’re playing that kind of kutsinhira, you need to be involved in mixing different things. Concerning the variety of kutsinhira things, I have a system. I just don’t go from one to the other, but have a way of getting from one to another. Kutsinhira (5), for instance, is a good springboard. Since I know it’ll have a punch, moving out from there, it’s something that I think of as guiding the whole thing. I have two or three major kutsinhira that I express in a certain order— like kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (5), and kutsinhira (9)— but after that I can move into picking any of those varieties and playing them. First, I go through those three because they’re the backbone of “Nhemamusasa.” Having started with the important preferences, then I go into the world of other parts, playing some, then returning to the backbone parts or mixing them with other things. Alternatively, from the start, he could bear his model sequence above in mind, while taking detours to other parts along the way. Variations of the model included the sequence— kutsinhira (5), kutsinhira (9), kutsinhira (2), and kutsinhira (14)— either played in that order, or with a cycle of kutsinhira (5) inserted in between the subsequent parts. I come back to kutsinhira (5) because it’s Nhemamusasa

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central to the song. Even when doing improvisations, there are central elements of a song that need to be featured. Kutsinhira (5) is the main one that you should come back to even if you go to other variations. Because there are a lot of things done to “Nhemamusasa,” using that part as a transition also gives my playing partner a chance to get to know my moves. Also, giving leads or clues to the listener shows that it’s “Nhemamusasa” I’m playing, although I’m doing other variations as well. It doesn’t mean I’d apply the system I use for this piece to all the others. As I’ve said all along, things are situational. Systematic Review of Kutsinhira Practices

Systematically reviewing his Nhemamusasa options below, Cosmas sampled his strategies for individual kutsinhira, and shared a wider sample of part and variation successions that each kutsinhira called to mind, the building blocks of his performances. Kutsinhira (1): Focusing on the part’s right-hand patterns, he demonstrated simplified-line variation 23.kt1.2 for a couple of cycles, then switched to the basic line [23.kt1.1]. As you move into the middle highnote range [23.kt1.3–8], two cycles is enough. When you move to the high lines [23.kt1.9–12], play three or four cycles, then go back to the simplified part [23.kt1.2] to give it a chance again. It’s important to go full cycle, gradually building. Listen to Mude playing “Nhemamusasa” on our recordings. He’s playing a lot of the basic lower right-hand keys. So, you start with the lower right-hand keys, then go to the middle ones, then to the high lines. You only bring in the chords after a lot of other important things. When you do this, it’s just for embellishing, blending. Regarding his treatment of kutsinhira (1)’s left-hand variations: I start the most basic pattern [23.kt1.1] for many cycles, then move to the others [23.kt1.13–16], then bring in the basic for two or three cycles, then change it to any of the other left-hand substitutes. Throughout, I play it more the first way, but I can mix the segment 4 substitutes of the others into my performance in any order. Kutsinhira (2): This is a part I play during the time when I just want to cool things down. Then, from there, I go back to the basic [kutsinhira (5)] to put more fire into the performance, to add more firewood. In fact, kutsinhira (2)’s steady deep bass emphasis opened the door to a variety of courses. At times, he emphasized a favored rest-substitution variation 23.kt2.10 for the part’s en56

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tire performance; at other times, he adopted it as a temporary strategy to relax the physical demands on his left thumb. Taking another tack at the start of the performance, he sometimes entered with left-hand bass line alone, before phasing in the middle and upper voice. I use this system like a stepping-stone to get into some variations. Luken takes things in different directions as well, like how he sometimes drops all the pamusoro notes out [as in 23.kt2.14]. Kutsinhira (3): Cosmas also liked to move from kutsinhira (2) to kutsinhira (3), in effect preserving their common right-hand pattern, while highlighting the latter’s left-side keys, which offered a lot of sway. Exploring an extended sequence, he played kutsinhira (3), kutsinhira (5) with basic high lines, followed by left-hand variations 23.kt5.14–15. Continuing on, he played kutsinhira (9) with high lines including 23.kt9.8; kutsinhira (12) with high lines; kutsinhira (5) left-hand variation 23.kt5.14, then its basic part; closing with kutsinhira (4) with high lines including 23.kt4.3. On another occasion, he created the succession: kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (3) with high lines, kutsinhira (12), kutsinhira (5)’s basic part leading to left-hand variations 23.kt5.21–22, followed by kutsinhira (9)’s basic part and left-hand variation 23.kt9.11— finally, kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (4), and kutsinhira (3) righthand variation 23.kt3.3. Were he to take other liberties with the sequence, he would branch off after playing kutsinhira (5) and its variations [above]; adding kutsinhira (5) variations 23.kt5.14–15; and from there, go to kutsinhira (14) because there’s a continuation of basses. I really like to align those parts, so there isn’t a sudden drop. I want to continue the transition to those heavy basses. Kutsinhira (4) offers options introducing marked musical contrasts to sequences. After kutsinhira (2), playing the basses, I’d often go up on the mbira to the pamusoro, playing kutsinhira (4). [In relation to kutsinhira (2)], it can be heard that you’re substituting pamusoro keys for the basses. He plays kutsinhira (2) variation 23.kt2.2, kutsinhira (4) 23.kt4.1, kutsinhira (4) variation 23.kt4.3— announcing: That last one says I’m going off— then ends with kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14. Kutsinhira (5): I have a system that I use for this part. Re-creating a component of his routine above, he played kutsinhira (5)’s basic part, left-hand variations 23.kt5.14–15, and returned to the basic part. After that,

I go to the next variation. That’s my approach. I know variations that are very evocative— that have a punch— since I’m playing for the spirits. I choose to do certain things like those [23.kt5.14–15, segments 2–3], then go away from them, do a lot of different things, then come back to them again. They’re transitions to other variations because I’ll be going— drifting swiftly [down the bass manual], step by step— like a mutserendende [a slide]— till I get to where I want to be [the key on which he begins the next variation]. At the same time, variations 23.kt5.14–15 create distinctive aural effects, giving the impression of ending [in other contexts in his system, scalar descents or leaps to bass G occur at the end of cycles, rather than in segment 3]. That’s the image, but it’s not ending, so it’s challenging to people. People shouldn’t follow or interpret things in the same way all the time. It’s a wake-up call. Similarly, when turning to kutsinhira (5)’s “break” patterns 23.kt5.29, he likes to leave the audience with surprise and expectation— and still craving more when I return to kutsinhira (5). That’s when I’ll be doing my improvising, trying to bring different things together. I could do something for one or two cycles, then go on to other things because I’ll be gauging for myself whether it has the effect I want. Sometimes I may feel that one cycle is enough. Sometimes I feel that it needs a repetition and do it twice. An actual performance is really different from sitting and demonstrating and discussing because lots of things start coming to musicians as they play. The minute I start playing, different things come to the tips of my fingers, wanting to express themselves. That’s why sometimes there’s a clash of interest. They’ll be competing with one another. They all want to be heard. It’s like I have a buffer stock that stays on standby. Or like soldiers on high alert who can be called and summoned to duty at any time. As I play, I pick certain things and play them. Some I may not play, but now and then, keeping them in my buffer stock, only bringing them in when I feel there’s a need. Kutsinhira (8): When I play kutsinhira (8), I have usually come from kutsinhira (5). Backing up a bit in his demonstration, he starts with kutsinhira (2), moves to kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14 for a cycle, then to kutsinhira (8). After that, I’ll have to put in all that goes with that part, the substitutions. He plays kutsinhira (8) left-hand variations 23.kt8.4–5, then chording variation 23.kt8.9. Things like that. Usually, I restrict myself

by not using the high lines for this part. When I’m playing in this area, I give myself about five cycles. That’s enough. Kutsinhira (9): Starting his demonstration with a few cycles of kutsinhira (14), he follows with a cycle of kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14, then switches to kutsinhira (9). You see, in most cases, I come to that pamusoro part because I’ve been playing a lot of basses with the other parts for some time, and I really want to give the music a change. On another occasion, he starts kutsinhira (9) with the right-hand pattern alone, explaining: You can see my left hand is finding its position [over the keyboard], but not actually plucking the keys. That’s another technique when trying to come in with a part. Sometimes it’s difficult to come in with everything, so you can come in with just the right hand or the left hand. Also, when you’re playing at a ceremony and something like sweat gets into your eyes, disturbing you, you have no time to reach for your handkerchief. You’re too busy. You keep playing with one hand while, with your other hand, you rub your eyes with your shirt. Regarding his treatment of left-hand variations 23.kt9.9–12, especially keys L1 and B7 (midrange G and A): The way I approach playing some variations is like two people talking to each other. It’s not a good discussion when one keeps talking or interrupts without giving the other a chance to respond. So, I want to give a chance to one thing, then give a chance for the other to respond. Playing substitute A in one segment, then responding to it in another segment by playing the substitute A again, makes for one thing. Playing the variation without those substitutes makes for another thing. Each must be given its chance in my style or approach. Kutsinhira (11): I come to this one after exhausting some other important ones [kutsinhira (5)’s basic part and variation 23.kt5.14] and want to go back to the heavy basses again. It gives a different kind of rhythm and a change of melody that’s mixing different things I’ve been playing up to that point. It gives a good variety. After a few cycles, I leave it to go back to the basic part again [kutsinhira (5)] or to another. I just bring it in [kutsinhira (11)] for a short time. Kutsinhira (12): If you want to play this, you can do it as your introduction. You bring it in then because it’s a part that doesn’t need to be speeded up when you’re playing [that is, it is best suited to a performance beginning’s Nhemamusasa

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moderate tempo before the latter picks up]. So, I just play a little bit of that, maybe two cycles, then move into the main one [kutsinhira (5)]. When we’re beginning a performance, it’s something that puts you in a serious mood, serious about what you’ll be doing. Kutsinhira (13): He commonly alternates kutsinhira (13) with kutsinhira (8), playing each for several cycles. You should give this one a chance in your playing: six times. It’s important to give it enough time of play because it’s different. It gives a contrasting feeling. Kutsinhira (14): Usually after playing kutsinhira (5) and all the related parts— sometimes only a few cycles each— I play kutsinhira (14). He goes through the sequence: kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14, kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14. Then I go into that kutsinhira (14). After that, I go on: kutsinhira (11) briefly, kutsinhira (2) and, finally, kutsinhira (8). In a second performance, he begins with successive kutsinhira (14) variations 23.kt14.3 and 23.kt14.6, switches to kutsinhira (15) variation 23.kt15.3, and winds up with kutsinhira (14) variations 23.kt14.5 and 23.kt14.4— in the latter case, incorporating kutsinhira (15)’s right-hand variation 23.kt15.2. Among his practice’s fine points, Cosmas sometimes assigns the “transitional” role to a single figure or two. When setting up the change to kutsinhira (14) from kutsinhira (9) variation 23.kt9.12, he likes to incorporate his left-hand Kunaka signature figure and its response into segment 4 (23.kt9.13) before entering kutsinhira (14)’s cycle. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Versions Nhemamusasa: Solo Version (1) (23.sv1.1) (derived from kutsinhira [16])

Cosmas explains that he mostly uses the right-hand pattern from kutsinhira (16) in this solo version, but he changes the rhythms of some pamusoro pitches. The combined-hand pattern comprises elongated elevenpulse keystroke units that overlap segment boundaries. 23.sv1.6: In the second halves of segments, he introduces four-pulse right-hand figures that merge with those of the next segment, and left-hand rhythmically 58

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asymmetrical scalar figures. That’s the way I mix that kind of music, that’s how I brew it! I’m delaying certain left-hand keys— I call those my “lazy thumb” variations— and I’m speeding up certain keys [coming to them early]. Then, when they meet with the right-hand keys, it becomes a mixture of different things, a cocktail. I’m creating a new solution of things. I’m taking bits and pieces from different actions and putting them together. I want them to be able to work together. 23.sv1.7 : Here, further metric shifting reinstates octaves on pickups to segments, while producing fourpitch midrange alternate-pulse figures with scalar descents. Nhemamusasa: Solo Version (2) (23.sv2.1 ) (same left hand as kutsinhira [9])

This solo version transforms kutsinhira (9)’s developing high-line variation 23.kt9.2 through pitch insertion and substitution. In each segment, the initial embellished 3:2 figure is followed by a rhythmically dense compound (1+4) figure with wide intervals. I developed this when playing kutsinhira (9). Occasionally, I like to play those right-side things— placing them either at the end of each segment or at other places within the cycle. I limit that when playing with other people. To do more of it in that context becomes too much because it clashes with the keys that are being played by the kushaura part. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination dd; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, f, i–j, l–m, o–p, r–v, x–y, bb–dd). Interaction needs both players to have a good ear. The one who’ll be playing the kushaura will just be leading, and you— the kutsinhira player— are the mixer [interweaving kutsinhira patterns with those of the kushaura]. With “Nhemamusasa,” you should try to move through a lot of things. It needs that. Those decisions must be made right on the spot when you’re performing. You must know which parts and variations go together well.

A fundamental combination of his pairs kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (5) (combination e). That’s one of the most basic kushaura and kutsinhira. The most important thing to remember is that this kushaura (1)’s basic line shouldn’t be changed too much on the right-hand side. The simplified line is OK too, just no high lines. When kushaura (1) stays with the basic line, that restricts the kutsinhira to a similar pattern [a basic line] (combination a). Of course, there were exceptions. Erick Muchena coached him that kushaura (1)’s “tenor leap” variations combined especially well with comparable patterns found in Kunaka-type parts like kutsinhira (14) (combination h). The musicians who were playing in our group, Mhuri yekwaRwizi, knew that if the kushaura player who was playing kushaura (2) moved into kushaura (1) with the tenor leaps, then the kutsinhira player should switch to kutsinhira (14). He did that so that kutsinhira (14)’s basses could be heard without disturbance from the previous right hand [kushaura (2)’s high lines]. Also, because the right hand of kushaura (1) mixes nicely with the right hand of kutsinhira (14). So, to us, it was important for those two to be played together, the way we wanted it to sound. When the two correct parts were joined, it was like they were talking together— talking back and forth. That’s a good example of a conversation between those parts. Kutsinhira (13) also went together especially well with kushaura (1), as did kutsinhira (11) (combination f ). When I go to kutsinhira (11), it’s a deliberate move to the bottom to emphasize the basses. When I’m playing that part, I don’t like to mix high notes [the high cascading lines], and I don’t like to hear a lot of high notes in the kushaura part either. You could add the high tenor things [wide leaps] to kutsinhira (2) [23.kt2.7] or to kutsinhira (12) [23. kt12.1] and mix them with kushaura (1) [combination g]. Those variations from Erick are the kinds of things I’d play in a bira. You can’t get into certain things [variations] unless complementary kushaura and kutsinhira are being played and played well. With pamusoro kutsinhira like kutsinhira (4) [23.kt4.2] and kutsinhira (9) [23.kt9.2 and 23.kt9.5], Erick also wanted those high tenor leaps so that they interlocked with the kushaura (1) variations [23.ks1.5–8]. When he played the kushaura that way, I knew I should respond with the kutsinhira high notes that answered him. When you’re used to others like Erick [their styles and personal preferences], you automatically switch as soon as you hear them switch.

If you’re playing “Nhemamusasa” kushaura (1) and want to move to the high lines [cascading scalar patterns], you change to kushaura (2). If the other person is playing kutsinhira (5), he can continue playing the same on the left-hand side [the midrange and bass patterns], but he’ll switch to high lines in response. At different times, the kushaura and kutsinhira will be responding to one another. I play kushaura high lines that go along with most of the following parts I like. I give them two or more cycles so that Luken, or whoever is playing kutsinhira (5), has time to add his high lines, and to emphasize the basses and do all sorts of things in relation to what I’m doing in the kushaura area (combination j ). Reviewing his interaction with Luken in our 1972 recordings, he pointed out the moment when his friend departed from kutsinhira (2)’s right-hand basic line to developing high lines (comparable to 23.kt2.7–8), complementing Cosmas’s high lines. That was Luken’s way of playing higher lines with that kutsinhira and I was responding to him with the kushaura. That’s another good example of talking, he said. Complementarity commonly involved comparable kushaura and kutsinhira variations in middle or lower voices as well. Take the basic combination kushaura (1)–kutsinhira (1) (combination a). When the kushaura player changes to those As [kushaura (1) A-for-G substitutions on fourth beats, segments 1–3], I’d change to kutsinhira (1), which has the As. Or, when I moved from kutsinhira (2) with basses to kutsinhira (4) pamusoro, the one who was playing the kushaura would do the same thing, playing a pamusoro part like kushaura (3) that went along with that [combination p ]. I’d play kushaura (3) five or six times— even as many as ten— because the kutsinhira player needs time to follow suit. He may take time to complete what he was doing before I made the change, then join me with a complementary kutsinhira part. Usually, after you’ve been playing that pamusoro kutsinhira part [kutsinhira (4)], while the kushaura player continues with kushaura (3), you can extend your playing, moving to kutsinhira (3). It also goes very well like that [combination o ]. Similarly, a pamusoro part like kushaura (4) could be played with a part with a light bass emphasis like kutsinhira (8) (combination u ). Kutsinhira (9), too, could be played with kushaura (3) or kushaura (4) (combination r  and combination v ). That kutsinhira’s even for kushaura (1) because not a lot of things will be happening down in the bass. Nhemamusasa

59

Cosmas reminded me that although he favors certain combinations, his system was flexible. It doesn’t mean you’re restricted to one kushaura part for each kutsinhira part. Not only did he use kushaura (2) with kutsinhira (15), which comprised a mixture of midrange and spare bass pitches (combination n), but with kutsinhira (14) and its left-hand variations 23.kt14.3–7, which emphasized deep bass pitches. I like to repeat that kushaura (2) and its variations [23.ks2.25–31] to give lots of time for the melodies that it brings out. I can also use those variations with the basic kutsinhira (5) or the related one, kutsinhira (6) [combination k]. As I explained earlier on, you can use kutsinhira (5) with all those songs [kushaura parts]. Similarly, reviewing the bass lines of kutsinhira (11) and (13), he advised: You could play them with any of the kushaura parts of “Nhemamusasa.” They go together very well. His improvisational practices sometimes led him to treat certain kushaura and kutsinhira parts as multipurpose, creating unconventional mixtures and fluid exchanges with his playing partner (combination bb  through combination dd ). When playing kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (2), Cosmas could switch to kutsinhira (2) a pulse behind the kutsinhira player so that the two parts interlocked. After a few cycles, he might revert to kushaura (1) in its original position, or before doing so, move to kutsinhira (4) in the shifted position for a few cycles. During the unfolding events, the kutsinhira player had the option of following suit, temporarily changing to kutsinhira (4) to interlock with Cosmas’s shifted version of the “same” part. Cosmas’s challenge was shifting with such finesse that it masked the technique. It should be done in such a way that it doesn’t interfere with people who are dancing and singing. They shouldn’t notice that change. [The transition should be made that smoothly.] Kutsinhira (3)–kutsinhira (3) (combination cc ) comprised another such option, in which Cosmas temporarily switched to kutsinhira (3) in the kushaura position while his partner played the part in its kutsinhira position. I especially remember Mondreck when I hear this. I remember him being funny with that kutsinhira whenever we played it. He was watching me closely when playing, while jokingly posing a question to me, singing over and over: “Mhuno dziripapiko? Mhuno dziripapiko?” [Where’s the nose? Where’s the nose?— repeating a nonsense phrase that he heard in the parts’ 60

Chapter 23

resultant upper voice in each segment]. Whenever he started playing that part, he’d revert to those words. As above, mbira partners can incorporate into their aural arrangements the most successful features of remembered performances, adding comparatively fixed elements to their ongoing tradition of interplay. Cosmas recalls his routines with Luken as well. I have my way of bringing things in for variety. After playing that kushaura (2) variation [23.ks2.5], you’ll hear me doing the following things: he played right-hand variation (23. ks2.8) combined with left-hand variation 23.ks2.25. Then I’ll switch to the highest high lines [23.ks2.20], and after that, go back again [23.ks2.5]. And when I’m really fired up, I go to the other one [23.ks2.30]. That’s when you hear Luken fired up as well, playing kutsinhira, and when he starts hitting his accents, the good majimba, that will be fire! [He refers to the figures Luken emphasizes in segments 1, 2, and 4 of kutsinhira (6) variations 23.kt6.4–5.] Then we’ll be writing our signature together [combination k]. As we methodically played through potential combinations of his Nhemamusasa parts, it was a revelation for Cosmas that a greater number worked well together than he had recalled in our discussions outside of performance. Over years of playing, editing patterns and weeding out less successful material had left him with a sizable repertory of mutually compatible parts. At the same time, our ongoing reviews revealed that his tastes, like matters of music perception, were subject to variability and development. He favorably evaluated kushaura (5) with kutsinhira (10) (combination y ) in 2006— I like it that way for a change, it’s not all filled up with notes— but a year later, he found it lacking. There’s not enough of the interlocking that I want to hear, not the proper mixture of parts that I like. The interlocking is— I’m not sure what the right word in English is— but I’d say “faint.” At times during a performance, you might want that for a change— that effect of faint interlocking— but other times you want the clear, distinct combinations. Subsequently, he reconsidered kushaura (5)’s characteristics and, questioning its classification, asked me to play it with him in another combination (combination z). It does work as a kushaura with kutsinhira (16), he concluded. Contemplating other possibilities: It also works as a kushaura if combined with two or more other mbira— for example, in a cross-version arrangement with the third player performing Nhemamusasa yepasi

kushaura (1). When further trials joining kushaura (5) with individual kutsinhira parts failed to satisfy him, however, he questioned whether kushaura (5) should be a “kutsinhira” instead. It seems to work better as a following part [that is, shifted one pulse later than as represented here]. It’s richer that way than the previous combinations [involving kutsinhira (9) or kutsinhira (10)]. Kushaura (5) could be used (in the current beat position) as a kutsinhira with kushaura (4), for example— and with Nhemamusasa yepasi kushaura. In the end, short of reclassifying kushaura (5), he accepted its place in his system as a multipurpose part. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Of his multitude of options, Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with kutsinhira (2), (5), and (9), bringing in other parts for a change. In one of our duo’s practice sessions, he laid out a complete program for our rendition, coaching me through discussion and demonstration: Kushaura (1) is the major guiding part for this piece, he reiterated, playing a similar role to the main kushaura of Mukatiende. I still needed to work on steadying my performance— like walking on a tightrope— no matter which kutsinhira he played. Other wise, some of his kutsinhira changes would throw me off balance, just like the majimba patterns we had previously worked on. Like Mukatiende, Nhemamusasa offered many kutsinhira options. He also counseled that it would be best if, in response to his changes, I continued my kushaura for several cycles before switching to complement his moves. That gave a chance for successive kutsinhira to mix with my initial part and be appreciated before I introduced changes. My job was to begin the performance with kushaura (1) and to return to it after excursions to other parts, emphasizing kushaura (1) overall. Trying out his suggested program, I initiated kushaura (1) and, in response, he jumped into the performance with kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14 including high lines. (In the latter respect, he varied his theoretical arrangement in which the basic line preceded high lines.) Playing the variation for a few cycles (with punch, as he later described it, creating a driving force, which is important), he then switched

to the basic part. Meanwhile, he suggested that after I had given kushaura (1) enough time of play, I could respond to kutsinhira (5) by switching to kushaura (2). When I did, he initiated the following sequence: kutsinhira (11) for several cycles; kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14 one cycle for a transition; kutsinhira (2) for a time; kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.14 one cycle for transition; kutsinhira (9) pamusoro. With the latter, he advised me to switch to kushaura (3) pamusoro for a stretch or alternate it with multiple cycles of kushaura (2): moving around, playing a nice mixture of kushaura. While I pursued the latter, he continued his kutsinhira (9) performance, but before long incorporated his Kunaka transition figure into segment 4 of 23.kt9.13, setting up his move to kutsinhira (14). Of course, I wouldn’t do this the same way all the time, he interjected over his playing. I decide to change at different points in the cycle as I play. In succession, he played kutsinhira (14)’s basic part; variation 23.kt14.6 to break up the main part; returned to the basic part; then moved to kutsinhira (8). In response to the latter, I eventually changed with kushaura (4) pamusoro. Do this smoothly, he coached me, not to feel rushed. Take time and slot it in nicely, making a transition that feels natural. When I returned to kushaura (1), he completed his performance with a succession of kutsinhira (5) variations 23.kt5.14–15, followed by 23.kt5.21–22. Throughout the performance, he reminded me of the importance of interaction involving high lines or “low” high lines [developing high lines] within each of our combinations. With kushaura (2), he wanted me to play patterns incorporating pitches no higher than D or E, until I heard him going all the way to high G. Then I could add the full complement of right-hand pitches, creating comparable high-line peaks in my performance. As long as I was learning these basic routines, he would take responsibility for initiating changes in our interplay. But eventually, when you’ve mastered these things and are comfortable with them, we’ll be at the stage where either of us can initiate things and the other responds. Table 23.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Cross-version combinations including Nhemamusasa parts are presented in chap. 25, Nhemamusasa yepasi. Nhemamusasa

61

TABLE 23.1 Nhemamusasa

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl (begins seg 2, 2nd beat) (23.ks1.1) kt (5) w hl (begins seg 1) (23.kt5.8)

0:00

kt (5) w hl & LHvar (double-noting bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.14)

0:19

kt (5) w hl & LHvar (A drone/bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.15)

0:37

1:05

kt (5) w hl & LHvar (double-noting bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.14)

0:52

1:09

kt (11) w bl (23.kt11.1)

0:56

0:13 0:28

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (23.ks1.30)

0:32

0:49

ks (1) w bl (23.ks1.1)

0:50

0:53

ks (3) w bl (23.ks3.1)

1:18

ks (1) w bl (23.ks1.1)

1:25

ks (2) w bl (23.ks2.1)

kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.8)

1:12

1:34

ks (2) w hl (23.ks2.21)

kt (5) w sl/hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 23.kt5.5, 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.21)

1:21

kt (9) w bl/hl (23.kt9.1, 23.kt9.8)

1:29

kt (9) w dhl & RHvar (23.kt9.2)

1:39

kt (2) w bl (23.kt2.9)

2:02

1:42 1:47

ks (2) w dhl & RHvar (RH: 23.ks2.8, mix w subs, ends w hl: 23.ks2.21)

1:52 2:01

ks (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (LH: 23.ks2.1 trans to 23.ks2.25)

2:15

62

2:24

ks (2) w hl (RH: 23.ks2.21; LH: 23.ks2.1)

2:36

ks (2) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 23.ks2.5, mix w 23.ks2.6–8 & other subs; LH: 23.ks2.1 w rest subs)

Chapter 23

TABLE 23.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

2:44

ks (2) w bl & LHvar (LH: 23.ks2.27)

2:53

ks (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 23.ks2.21; LH: 23.ks2.27, ends w 23.ks2.25)

3:01

ks (4) w hl & RHvar (23.ks4.2, seg 2, trans to 23.ks4.5)

kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.8)

2:48

3:05

kt (5) w hl & LHvar (A & G double-noting mix) (23.kt5.8, mix w LH 23.kt5.21)

2:52

3:09

kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.8, 23.kt5.9)

2:56

3:25

kt (5) w hl & RH/LHvar (23.kt5.8) (improvised musical “save,” segs 2–3, leads to LH G-C drone part like 23.kt5.30)

3:12

3:38

kt (12) w bl (23.kt12.1)

3:25

kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.8)

3:49

kt (8) w sl/bl & RHvar (23.kt8.1–3)

3:58

4:32

kt (5) w hl & LHvar (double-noting bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.14)

4:19

4:44

kt (5) w hl & RH/LHvar (A & G doublenoting mix) (RH: 23.kt5.5 w rest subs to 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.21, mix w 23.kt5.1)

4:31

4:52

kt (14) w dhl & RHvar (23.kt14.2 w rest subs)

4:39

kt (14) w dhl & RH/LHvar (including “exploding” Kunaka figs) (RH: 23.kt14.2 w rest subs; LH: 23.kt14.1, mix w 23.kt14.6)

4:48

3:24

3:50

ks (4) w bl (23.ks4.3)

ks (4) w hl (23.ks4.5)

4:02 4:05

ks (4) w bl (23.ks4.3)

4:11 4:20

5:01

ks (1) w bl (23.ks1.1)

ks (3) w bl (23.ks3.1)

(continued) Nhemamusasa

63

TABLE 23.1 (continued)

Counter

Kutsinhira

Counter

5:13

kt (14) w dhl & RHvar (23.kt14.2 w rest subs)

5:00

5:25

kt (9) w dhl & RHvar (23.kt9.3, seg 4, to 23.kt9.2)

5:12

5:42

kt (5) w hl & RH/LHvar (double-noting bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.14)

5:29

5:59

kt (8) w sl/bl & RH/LHvar (23.kt8.1, mix w 23.kt8.2) (2-beat break before he initiates kt8, pickup to seg 4)

5:46

ends

5:54

5:36

6:07

Kushaura

ks (1) w bl (23.ks1.1)

ends

Reflections

0:51: After starting with that basic regular one, kushaura (1), and doing different things, I need to come back to that main one because it’s the lead. 2:43: When we noted a brief rest in the right-hand pattern of kushaura (2), he explained that he had wanted to change to a different pattern, but things became unsettled for a second. 2:57: Concerning the kushaura (2) left-hand variations he plays just before switching to kushaura (4): I’m mixing different things there, picking from all those variations. 3:30: He points out the brief rest in his kutsinhira (5) performance here. This shows there was a variation wanting to come into my hands, but then another one came at the same time. They were competing and I decided to go with the other one. We review the passage: I wanted to go into kutsinhira (9) again, but ended up going to kutsinhira (5). It’s like the Mudenda spirit wanting to come to my father, but then the mhepo spirit comes and is the more powerful one, so it pushes out the smaller one and usually succeeds. They’re like the shumba [lion] and jackals fighting over drinking at the water hole. Because troubles can arise within the music, you should be in a position to handle such unexpected things efficiently, and to resolve them as you play. That forced me into doing unplanned things. The unplanned things involved improvising a two64

Chapter 23

segment segue in which he introduces a break in segment 2 (briefly dropping his left-hand pitches), while playing a high-line pattern. The latter holds his place in the music while he prepares to introduce a bass line in segment 3 (a variation of 23.kt5.14’s figures). This leads him to a kutsinhira (5) variation (akin to 23.kt5.30, with its left-hand G and C drones) from which, at 3:39, he segues into kutsinhira (12). 5:30: Here, he transitions directly to kutsinhira (9). This time it happens nicely; it has been permitted to come into my fingers. 5:47: He points out the kutsinhira (5) high line with double-noting scalar bass variation 23.kt5.14. See how this kutsinhira (5)— all of it— is directing the whole song on the kutsinhira side? I always come back to it, then go out to do other things. 6:03: Here, after variation 23.kt5.14, Cosmas rests briefly on the pickup to segment 4, preparing his next musical move. A rest like that should always be musical, he cautions. It’s like it’s a variation. You have to be alert when you do this. Instantly pivoting to kutsinhira (8) on the pickup to the second beat, he repeats his right-hand G to initiate the new part’s simplified line. You can hear how my right hand is well lined up with the pamusoro G of kutsinhira (8) to start something new. This recording demonstrates how different variations can work together. They’re great. They’re like different relatives working together.

Nhemamusasa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

ks5

ks6

kt1

kt2

kt3

C ds 3

23.Nhemamusasa

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

Compilation 23. Nhemamusasa : Compilation

65

Nhemamusasa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

kt8

kt9

kt10

kt11

kt12

C ds 3

6

1

23.Nhemamusasa 66

23. Nhemamusasa : Compilation

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

Compilation

Nhemamusasa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt13

kt14

kt15

kt16

sv1

sv2

C ds 3

23.Nhemamusasa

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

Compilation 23. Nhemamusasa : Compilation

67

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (1) 23.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.ks1.1

Basic line

23.ks1.2

23.ks1.3

23.ks1.4

Simplified line

23.ks1.5

Developing high line

23.ks1.6

23.ks1.7 68

Right-hand line substitution

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

Right-hand high line

23.ks1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.ks1.9

23.ks1.10

23.ks1.11

23.ks1.12

23.ks1.13

23.ks1.14

23.ks1.15

23.Nhemamusasa

Kushaura (1)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (1)

69

23.ks1.16

23.ks1.17

Left- and right-hand variations

23.ks1.18

23.ks1.19

Right-hand line substitution

23.ks1.20

Right-hand accentuation variations

23.ks1.21

23.ks1.22

23.ks1.23

70

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

23.ks1.24

23.ks1.25

Left- and right-hand accentuation variations

23.ks1.26

23.ks1.27

23.ks1.28

23.ks1.29

23.ks1.30

23.Nhemamusasa

Kushaura (1)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (1)

71

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (2) 23.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.ks2.1

Basic line

23.ks2.2

23.ks2.3

23.ks2.4

Developing high line

23.ks2.5

23.ks2.6

23.ks2.7

72

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

23.ks2.8

23.ks2.9

Right-hand high-line variations

23.ks2.10

23.ks2.11

23.ks2.12

23.ks2.13

23.ks2.14

23.ks2.15

23.Nhemamusasa

Kushaura (2)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (2)

73

23.ks2.16

23.ks2.17

23.ks2.18

23.ks2.19

23.ks2.20

23.ks2.21

23.ks2.22

23.ks2.23

74

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

23.ks2.24

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.ks2.25

23.ks2.26

23.ks2.27

23.ks2.28

Left-hand line substitution

Left- and right-hand variations

23.ks2.29

23.ks2.30

23.ks2.31

23.Nhemamusasa

Kushaura (2)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (2)

75

Right-hand chording variation

23.ks2.32

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (3) 23.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.ks3.1

Basic line

23.ks3.2

23.ks3.3

Simplified line

23.ks3.4

23.ks3.5

Developing high line

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

23.ks3.6

76

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (3)

Kushaura (3)

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (4) 23.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.ks4.1

23.ks4.2

Shifted right-hand line with characteristic Magaya left- and right-hand substitutions

23.ks4.3

Right-hand high-line variations

23.ks4.4

characteristic Magaya left-hand substitution

23.ks4.5

23.ks4.6

Left- and right-hand variations

23.ks4.7

23.Nhemamusasa

Kushaura (4)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kushaura (4)

77

23.ks4.8

Shifted right-hand line with characteristic Magaya left-and right-hand substitutions

23.ks4.9

Right-hand chording variation

23.ks4.10

characteristic Magaya left-hand substitution

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (5) 23.ks5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

23.ks5.1

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (6) 23.ks6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

23.ks6.1

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1) 23.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt1.1 78

Basic line

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

23.kt1.2

Simplified line

23.kt1.3

Developing high line

23.kt1.4

23.kt1.5

23.kt1.6

23.kt1.7

23.kt1.8

Right-hand high-line variations

23.kt1.9

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (1)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (1)

79

23.kt1.10

23.kt1.11

23.kt1.12

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt1.13

23.kt1.14

23.kt1.15

23.kt1.16

23.kt1.17

80

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

23.kt1.18

23.kt1.19

Left-hand line substitution

23.kt1.20

Left- and right-hand variations

23.kt1.21

23.kt1.22

23.kt1.23

Right-hand line substitution

Right-hand chording variation

23.kt1.24

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (1)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (1)

81

Left-hand accentuation variations

23.kt1.25

23.kt1.26

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (2) 23.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt2.1

Basic line

23.kt2.2

23.kt2.3

Simplified line

23.kt2.4

23.kt2.5

82

Developing high line

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

23.kt2.6

23.kt2.7

Right-hand line substitution

23.kt2.8

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt2.9

23.kt2.10

23.kt2.11

23.kt2.12

23.kt2.13

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (2)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (2)

83

23.kt2.14

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3) 23.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt3.1

Basic line

23.kt3.2

Developing high line

23.kt3.3

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (4) 23.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

84

23.kt4.1

Basic line

23.kt4.2

Developing high line

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

23.kt4.3

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (5) 23.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt5.1

Basic line

23.kt5.2

23.kt5.3

23.kt5.4

23.kt5.5

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

23.kt5.6

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (5)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (5)

85

23.kt5.7

23.kt5.8

23.kt5.9

Right-hand line substitution

23.kt5.10

23.kt5.11

23.kt5.12

23.kt5.13

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt5.14

86

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (5)

Kutsinhira (5)

23.kt5.15

23.kt5.16

23.kt5.17

23.kt5.18

23.kt5.19

23.kt5.20

23.kt5.21

23.kt5.22

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (5)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (5)

87

23.kt5.23

23.kt5.24

Left- and right-hand variations

3:2

23.kt5.25

3:2

23.kt5.26

3:2

23.kt5.27

initiation figure

kutsinhira (5) begins

23.kt5.28

initiation figure

kutsinhira (5) begins

88

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (5)

Kutsinhira (5)

23.kt5.29

initiation figure

kutsinhira (5) begins

initiation figure

kutsinhira (5) begins

23.kt5.30

kutsinhira (5) resumes left- and right-hand line substitution

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (6) 23.kt6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

23.kt6.1

Left- and right-hand variations

23.kt6.2

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (6)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (6)

89

23.kt6.3

23.kt6.4

23.kt6.5

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (7) 23.kt7.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.kt7.1

Basic line

23.kt7.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

23.kt7.3

90

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (7)

Kutsinhira (7)

23.kt7.4

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (8) 23.kt8.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt8.1

Basic line

23.kt8.2

Simplified line

23.kt8.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt8.4

23.kt8.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

23.kt8.6

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (8)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (8)

91

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

23.kt8.7

23.kt8.8

Right-hand chording variations

23.kt8.9

23.kt8.10

23.kt8.11

23.kt8.12

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (9) 23.kt9.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt9.1

92

Basic line

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (9)

Kutsinhira (9)

23.kt9.2

Developing high line

23.kt9.3

23.kt9.4

23.kt9.5

Right-hand line substitution

23.kt9.6

Right-hand high-line variations

23.kt9.7

23.kt9.8

Right-hand line substitution

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (9)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (9)

93

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt9.9

23.kt9.10

23.kt9.11

23.kt9.12

23.kt9.13

Right-hand chording variations

23.kt9.14

23.kt9.15

94

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (9)

Kutsinhira (9)

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (10) 23.kt10.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.kt10.1

Basic line

23.kt10.2

Developing high line

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt10.3

23.kt10.4

Right-hand chording variations

23.kt10.5

23.kt10.6

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (10)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (10)

95

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (11) 23.kt11.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

23.kt11.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt11.2

23.kt11.3

Right-hand chording variations

23.kt11.4

23.kt11.5

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (12) 23.kt12.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

23.kt12.1

96

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (12)

Kutsinhira (12)

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (13) 23.kt13.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.kt13.1

23.kt13.2

Right-hand line substitution

Right-hand high line

23.kt13.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

23.kt13.4

23.kt13.5

23.kt13.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

23.kt13.7

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (13)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (13)

97

Right-hand chording variation

23.kt13.8

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (14) 23.kt14.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.kt14.1

Basic line

23.kt14.2

Developing high line

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt14.3

23.kt14.4

23.kt14.5

23.kt14.6

98

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (14)

Kutsinhira (14)

23.kt14.7

Left- and right-hand variations

23.kt14.8

23.kt14.9

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (15) 23.kt15.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.kt15.1

23.kt15.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

23.kt15.3

23.kt15.4

23.Nhemamusasa

Kutsinhira (15)

23. Nhemamusasa : Kutsinhira (15)

99

23.kt15.5

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (16) 23.kt16.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

23.kt16.1

Basic line

23.kt16.2

23.kt16.3

Simplified line

23.kt16.4

Developing high line

Nhemamusasa: Solo Version (1) 23.sv1.1 serving as model (derived from kutsinhira [16])

Right-hand basic line

23.sv1.1

23.sv1.2 100

Developing high line

23.Nhemamusasa

23. Nhemamusasa : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

Right-hand high line

23.sv1.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

23.sv1.4

Left- and right-hand variations

23.sv1.5

23.sv1.6

23.sv1.7

Nhemamusasa: Solo Version (2) 23.sv2.1 serving as model (same left hand as kutsinhira [9])

Right-hand basic line and variation

23.sv2.1

23.sv2.2

23.Nhemamusasa

Solo Version (2)

23. Nhemamusasa : Solo Version (2)

101

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks1.13—23.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 23.ks1.1—23.kt1.4

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks1.1—23.kt2.1

23.Nhemamusasa 102

23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks1.14—23.kt2.1

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks1.1—23.kt5.1

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks1.1—23.kt11.1

23.Nhemamusasa

Combinations 23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

103

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (12) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 23.ks1.5—23.kt12.1

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (14) with right-hand developing high lines 23.ks1.6—23.kt14.2

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and basic line 23.ks2.21—23.kt2.1

23.Nhemamusasa 104

23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines 23.ks2.21—23.kt5.10

k. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 23.ks2.30—23.kt6.4

l. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand high line and basic line 23.ks2.21—23.kt9.1

23.Nhemamusasa

Combinations 23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

105

m. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 23.ks2.1—23.kt11.1

n. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (15) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 23.ks2.7—23.kt15.3

o. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks3.1—23.kt3.1

23.Nhemamusasa 106

23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

Combinations

p. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks3.1—23.kt4.1

q. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks3.1—23.kt7.1

r. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks3.1—23.kt9.1

23.Nhemamusasa

Combinations 23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

107

s. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (13) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks3.1—23.kt13.4

t. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (14) with right-hand developing high line and basic line 23.ks3.5—23.kt14.9

u. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand high lines 23.ks4.5—23.kt8.7

23.Nhemamusasa 108

23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

Combinations

v. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand high line and basic line 23.ks4.5—23.kt9.1

w. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks4.8—23.kt11.3

x. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (13) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks4.3—23.kt13.4

23.Nhemamusasa

Combinations 23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

109

y. Kushaura (5)/Kutsinhira (10) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks5.1—23.kt10.1

z. Kushaura (5)/Kutsinhira (16) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks5.1—23.kt16.1

aa. Kushaura (6)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 23.ks6.1—23.kt5.1

23.Nhemamusasa 110

23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

Combinations

Multipurpose Parts Combined bb. Kutsinhira (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 23.kt2.1—23.kt2.1 shifted

cc. Kutsinhira (3)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 23.kt3.1—23.kt3.1 shifted

dd. Kutsinhira (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 23.kt4.1—23.kt4.1 shifted

23.Nhemamusasa

Combinations 23. Nhemamusasa : Combinations

111

24 Nhemamusasa yekutanga

This has the same meaning as the other “Nhemamusasa,” but yekutanga means “first,” or “original,” or “old one.” It’s just a different way of playing it. Cosmas remembers Hukurotwi Mude, Mhuri yekwaRwizi’s leader, consistently identifying this version as Nhemamusasa yekutanga, distinguishing it from a third called Nhemamusasa yepasi (see the following chapter). My notes indicate that the other ensemble members sometimes reversed the titles or used them interchangeably. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura (1) (24.ks1.1)

I still play this composition the same way as in 1972. Luken taught me the kushaura and kutsinhira parts. I have no idea who taught Luken. As far as I know from being with different musicians, there are not many variations for this song. Initially, I had transcribed kushaura (1)’s right-hand figures in segment 1 as C-C-A A-A-A— the Cs corresponding to dyad F in the harmonic sequence— followed by the subsequent dyads’ common-tone As. When reviewing this some years later, Cosmas said that the sound being produced by the right-hand keys is not responding to the left-hand keys the way I’d like. To me, it sounds like there’s something discordant there. His figure substitutions incorporated into the current part began 112

with common-tone As leading on the last beat to Ds representing the root of the underlying dyad. 24.ks1.4  and 24.ks1.5 respectively illustrate a high line with B chording, and a variation in which gesture substitution adds a second high peak and scalar descent to the pattern. These were my own inventions. 24.ks1.6–8: These are some of the substitutes that I added on the left side [of the mbira]. I feel that these changes are few enough not to make the variation an independent part. When I come to them in my playing, I’ll play them maybe two or three cycles. These are the only substitutes that I know. Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura (2) (24.ks2.1)

This part increasingly surfaced in his performance in 2007 after our review of our 1970s transcription of a related part played by Mondreck Muchena (chap. 40, 40.24.ks2.Muc). I used to hear Mondreck playing that part while I was playing kutsinhira, and I picked it up from him. That was in the early seventies. By that time, I could hear what he was doing, I didn’t need to see it [watch his fingers]. I could tell he was playing from the “duri” key [B7/A, segment 1’s emphasized common tone], so I figured it out on my own. 24.ks2.2 : Here, he adds B chording to the basic line. 24.ks2.4: I’m quite particular about certain arrangements and how I want them to sound. For example, in segments 3 and 4, he wanted to keep the second of the left hand’s shifting three-pulse keystroke figures the same so that they responded to one another. This held true for this variation’s figures with bass F substitutions, as for the basic part’s F-B-F figures. It’s like when a person is giving a statement, I want the statement to be completed. I don’t want to mix the two substitutes.

go back to the other kushaura (1), playing it longer since that’s the main one. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (1) (24.kt1.1)

24.kt1.1: Here, he made the comparable revisions to our transcription’s right-hand pattern as in kushaura (1), in segment 1, replacing C-C-A A-A-A with A-A-A A-D-D. 24.kt1.5: This high line like the others was my own invention. 24.kt1.7 : Video (a) portrays the transcription, reinstating midrange B in segment 2 and incorporating a second high-line gesture; video (b) adds a third-beat bass B for F substitution in segment 2. 24.kt1.8 : D substitution prolongs the previous D dyad by a pulse. 24.kt1.9 : In relation to the transcription, video (a) incorporates left-hand variation (pickup to segment 3) and high line 24.kt1.5; video (b), left-hand variation (segment 2, third beat) and high line 24.kt1.7. 24.kt1.10, 24.kt1.11 , and 24.kt1.12: In relation to transcription 24.kt1.11, video (a) adds high line 24. kt1.5; video (b), high line 24.kt1.7. 24.kt1.13 : Common-tone F substitution increases bass F’s presence in segment 2’s figures. These [and the variations above] are the few left-hand substitutes that I added to this part. Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (2) (24.kt2.1 ) (same left hand as kutsinhira [1])

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. Cosmas summarizes his general kushaura approach. I build up as I go: playing from the basic ones [right-hand keys], going to the middle ones, going to the extreme right ones, the high lines. After playing kushaura (1), I’ll go to kushaura (2). You can play that for three minutes, then

Initially, he classified this comparatively spare configuration as a kutsinhira (1) variation, but years later he changed his mind. It’s really an independent kutsinhira which has a different type of feeling. That’s because of the way the keys are played and the sound they bring. [The latter] is what tells me whether it’s close enough to the original one to be referred to as “Part A” or “Part B” of it, or whatever classification I may give it. In this case, the arNhemamusasa yekutanga

113

rangement brings out a sound that is completely different from its relative. Creating this, I applied the same principle that I did on the kutsinhira for “Chaminuka ndiMambo” [kutsinhira (2) variation 8.kt2.1]. In both cases, he devises a spare offbeat right-hand pattern composed of successive pitches on beat division 2. This kutsinhira uses the simplified right hand. I don’t really use high notes for that, and I want to keep it as it is. The reason is that parts are not all the same. Not all should have high lines. There should be some without them, and some with simplified lines. Also, because of its character, this part is complete enough that it doesn’t need the B chording. I like the lower right-hand notes with it. If I’m just beginning with that kutsinhira, I like to start with the right-hand A key [segment 4, fourth beat, division 2]. In his combined-hand arrangement, the right thumb initiates kutsinhira (2)’s recurring three-pulse keystroke pattern alternating a right-hand key and two left-hand keys. I’d use the term madunhurirwa for those kinds of right-hand variations, whether I’m playing the simplified pattern, or the basic, or the high patterns. The left hand is the same as kutsinhira (1), but with different righthand madunhurirwa. And, of course, there are left-hand madunhurirwa as well, like when we do different left-hand substitutes. Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (3) (24.kt3.1)

When we went over this transcribed part in 2005, Cosmas did not remember having played it before but was pleased to retrieve it. In this case, the initial right-hand Cs in the opening figure C-C-A A-D-D could stand as they were, he said. The way it’s lined up [with the left hand], the way it sounds on this part, is fine. I like it there, but not in kutsinhira (1). 24.kt3.7 : Pitch substitution increases the left hand’s midrange E emphasis, slightly prolonging the dyad E area. Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (4) (24.kt4.1)

This is a kutsinhira kwepamusoro emphasizing double noting that Cosmas learned from Luken in the 1970s. 114

Chapter 24

It sounded great the way Luken played it with his accents on the right side. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kutsinhira (1) continuously. He describes his strategy for one of his kutsinhira successions. Usually, to get into kutsinhira (2), I’ll begin with the regular kutsinhira [kutsinhira (1)], then switch over. In most cases I switch parts like that: starting with the one I used as the basis for creating another part or variation, before getting into the latter. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by his arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations d, g, i). All the kushaura go with all the kutsinhira here. What about when you combine the kushaura and kutsinhira (2), the one with the simplified right-hand line? I want it kept the same way, with the lower right-hand keys. I want to hear that part without high lines, interacting with kushaura with the regular basic lines [combination e], or even the high lines. Regarding the finer details of interaction, he drew attention to kushaura (1)’s left-hand bass F substitutions, segment 2, the second-beat area. If the kushaura plays these substitutes [left-hand variations 24.ks1.6 and 24.ks1.8] when you’re playing the kutsinhira (1) part, you could answer or respond with the substitute [left-hand variation 24.kt1.10] or develop it [left-hand variations 24.kt1.12–13 (combination b)]. If I responded with that or the other substitutes, I’d stay with them for four cycles. I asked about the rhythmic relationship between Nhemamusasa yekutanga’s kushaura and kutsinhira parts. Which did he hear as “leading” in this arrangement and which as “following”? Which was a step ahead and which was a step behind? Examining combination a, Cosmas found the issue to be less clear

cut than expected when we played it together. On the pickup to segment 1, midrange F appeared in the kutsinhira a pulse earlier than in the kushaura. The relationship was reversed on the pickup to the third beat, where the kushaura introduced bass D a pulse before the kutsinhira. “Leading” and “following” were relative concepts, potentially dependent on perceptual matters such as the melodic layer and the point in the music’s cycle that he adopted as the basis for comparison. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), bringing in the other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he often began with kushaura (1) with the simplified line (24.ks1.2 or 24.ks1.3), directing me to play the complementary kutsinhira (1) with the simplified line (24.kt1.2–4) (combination c). After several cycles, he switched to high lines and I followed him (combination d). I stayed with kutsinhira (1) for most of the performance. Meanwhile, once

we locked into a groove, I took a cue from his vocals, joining him as he phased in the low mahon’era riffing patterns. After several cycles, he left me to maintain the latter, while he added kudeketera’s poetic texts. Subsequently, as I continued kutsinhira (1) with high lines, he alternated successive cycles of kushaura (2) (combination h) and kushaura (1) with high lines. Eventually I followed his return to the simplified right-hand lines and we closed the performance as we had begun it. We were talking together, he later said with satisfaction. Table 24.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

1:36: He calls attention in kutsinhira (1) to the rests he substituted for the first pitch of the right hand’s 3:2 pattern. By doing that, it gives the music a different flavor; it sounds different melodically. This recording shows how even sticking with one kutsinhira part is still very entertaining and enjoyable— as long as it’s done well.

Nhemamusasa yekutanga

115

TABLE 24.1 Nhemamusasa

yekutanga

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (begins seg 1) (24.ks1.4, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

0:08

ks (1) w hl (24.ks1.4)

0:11 0:16

0:32

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (24.ks1.5)

0:40

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (24.ks1.5, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

1:04

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (24.ks1.5)

1:12

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (24.ks1.5, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

1:28

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (24.ks1.4, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

1:35

116

0:00

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (24.kt1.7)

0:12

kt (1) sl & RHvar (24.kt1.4, w seg 1 RH rest subs, 1st and 2nd beats, beat division 1)

1:24

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (24.kt1.7)

2:17

kt (1) sl & RHvar (24.kt1.4, w seg 1 RH rest subs, 1st and 2nd beats, beat division 1)

3:08

ends

3:39

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (24.ks1.4, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

3:19

3:50

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (begins softly, seg 3) (24.kt1.6)

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (24.ks1.5, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

2:28 3:12

Counter

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (24.ks1.5, mix w LH 24.ks1.6, seg 2)

0:23

2:24

Kutsinhira

ends

Chapter 24

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

D ds 3

5

1

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

Compilation 24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Compilation

117

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura (1) 24.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

24.ks1.1

Basic line

24.ks1.2

Simplified line

24.ks1.3

Right-hand high-line variations

24.ks1.4

24.ks1.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

24.ks1.6

24.ks1.7

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga 118

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

24.ks1.8

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura (2) 24.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

24.ks2.1

24.ks2.2

Right-hand high line

24.ks2.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

24.ks2.4

24.ks2.5

24.ks2.6

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga

Kushaura (2)

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kushaura (2)

119

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (1) 24.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

24.kt1.1

Basic line

24.kt1.2

Simplified line

24.kt1.3

24.kt1.4

Right-hand high-line variations

24.kt1.5

24.kt1.6

24.kt1.7

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga 120

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

24.kt1.8

24.kt1.9

24.kt1.10

24.kt1.11

24.kt1.12

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

24.kt1.13

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (2) 24.kt2.1 serving as model (same left hand as kutsinhira [1])

Right-hand simplified line

24.kt2.1

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga

Kutsinhira (2) 24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kutsinhira (2)

121

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (3) 24.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

24.kt3.1

Basic line

24.kt3.2

24.kt3.3

Simplified line

24.kt3.4

Right-hand high-line variations

24.kt3.5

24.kt3.6

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

24.kt3.7

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga 122

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (4) 24.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

24.kt4.1

Basic line

Right-hand accentuation variation

24.kt4.2

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga

Kutsinhira (4) 24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Kutsinhira (4)

123

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks1.1—24.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks1.6—24.kt1.12

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 24.ks1.2—24.kt1.2

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga 124

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 24.ks1.4—24.kt1.13

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks1.1—24.kt2.1

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks1.1—24.kt4.2

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga

Combinations 24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Combinations

125

g. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks2.2—24.kt1.8

h. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 24.ks2.3—24.kt1.6

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 24.ks2.2—24.kt3.7

24.Nhemamusasa yekutanga 126

24. Nhemamusasa yekutanga : Combinations

Combinations

25 Nhemamusasa yepasi

This has the same meaning as “Nhemamusasa,” but yepasi means “down” or “earth.” It’s another way of playing the song. It’s a song that you use when you’re praying. We’re praying and asking for something, or giving thanks. We should show respect to the Creator or God. “Nhemamusasa yepasi” has that importance. In 2002, Cosmas classified this piece’s components as kushaura parts, but he subsequently decided that their complexity warranted the classification of solo versions. (NB: Some musicians know this version of Nhemamusasa as Nhemamusasa yekutanga.) Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn solo version (1), later working on any of the remaining versions. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the solo version section, including its components’ use in “solo version–kutsinhira” arrangements.

Solo Versions Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (1) (25.sv1.1 )

For complex tunes like this “Nhemamusasa,” slower tempos are best. You can cover all the keys and play them evenly. People will leave out keys when playing the part fast. They can’t get them all in. The basic kushaura (1) and the right-hand substitutes are from Erick. He was doing a lot of things on this song. It’s one of the first ones I learned 127

from him, probably in the sixties. In this context, Cosmas thinks of the solo version’s high Es as belonging to the right hand’s basic line. 25.sv1.5 illustrates a high line with two peaks. 25.sv1.7 : This favored left-hand substitution of Cosmas’s marks the end of the cycle with a prominent bass G. The other left-hand embellishments [below] are mine, different substitutes of my own making. 25.sv1.8: Once I introduce a change like this variation, a new melody comes into play. I give it between one and two cycles before making another change. I don’t have to keep playing each substitute like this for four or five cycles. 25.sv1.11: I wanted to try something different from what I had been hearing in the past, so I turned the keys around, playing them in a different direction [reversing the first two pitches of left-hand shifting three-pulse figures, segments 1, 2, and 3]. It was also physical, wanting to see how it felt doing that, like crisscrossing on the left-hand side. We could even classify this as a different solo version if we wanted to, because there are so many things happening in all the phrases. 25.sv1.12–13: Those are my berserk ones. Things like this come to me when I’m really in the mood, really into it. They’re just variations of the basic version, not a separate one. 25.sv1.14 : Here, he combines a right-hand high line with his bass G substitution. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (2) (25.sv2.1 )

We should still classify this as an independent version. In relation to solo version (1)’s left-hand figures, this version is the upside-down one. It reverses the order [of the original figures’ second and third elements]. Instead of going from the bass to the pamusoro [low to high], it goes from the pamusoro to the bass [high to low]. This is a good example of how I took an idea like reversing the keys and went all the way through the structure with it. This was my own idea. I hadn’t heard anyone else do it at the time. That was around the late sixties or early seventies. As you can see with my ideas, I applied on this, the same thing I did on one of the “Bangizas,” the early one [he demonstrates Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (4) in relation to kutsinhira (1)]. Most of the substitutes are of my own making. As I gained experience— playing by myself and trying things out— I gained new creations. What I learned from other players were complete parts. 128

Chapter 25

25.sv2.3 : I also play a lot of left-hand substitutes like these that are connected to the main solo version (2), as you can hear. That pamusoro brings in double noting. I was shortening things, not playing all the notes in the original. For example, in the main part’s first left-hand pattern [keystroke figure L1/G, L3/C, B3/C], instead of going down to key B3 [bass C], I wanted to try something else. What if I stopped on key L3 [midrange C] and repeated it instead of going to the other key? He had initially classified 25.sv2.3 as an independent solo version, but it remained a borderline case for him. In the end, he reclassified it as a variation of solo version (2), just based on substitutes. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (3) (25.sv3.1)

This one’s me as well. My idea was to simplify things [in solo version (1)] by only alternating basses and righthand keys. I did that because my hands at times would be feeling tired. When it’s so heavy, you resort to lessening the number of keys you’re playing at the same time. Also, the hands are doing things [movements] that are much closer [together]. I’m not stretching them [refers to wide leaps between keys]. I just wanted my fingers to have a little relief, then I’d mobilize them later on. I consider this to be a separate solo version because I’m not going back up with my fingers [to the pamusoro keys]. And there’s a distinction: lots of different things with the phrasing. 25.sv3.2  illustrates a high line with three peaks. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (4) (25.sv4.1 )

When I started improvising this one, my idea was also to rest my fingers, but going upward [alternating lower and higher pitches] instead of downward as I did in the solo version (3). That’s how I came up with that. In 2005, reviewing his earlier classification of the part, he affirmed that it was an independent solo version. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (5) (25.sv5.1)

Cosmas taught me this part in 1994 as a kushaurakutsinhira mixture, largely for soloing. When we re-

viewed it in 2005, he had not played it for some time and struggled with its execution. I need to get it back into my fingers, he said. 25.sv5.5 : Midrange F substitution in segment 2 slightly prolongs the dyad F area; pitch insertion in segment 3 reinstates the basic version’s midrange D. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (6) (25.sv6.1 )

Reviewing this part in 2005, Cosmas reiterated that it could serve as a solo version in its current beat position. When initially teaching me the part in 1994, he had the impression that it functioned as the kutsinhira for the “regular” Nhemamusasa and for Nhemamusasa yepasi as well, especially pamusoro solo version (4). Over a couple of years of revisiting the part combinations, however, he found them unsuitable. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing solo version (1) continuously. Work on alternating different solo versions. On “Nhemamusasa yepasi,” I decided to bring a lot of different things into it, bringing them together and changing them more frequently than I do in other songs. That’s what gives the piece a different character. I mix things more often than for others, changing more frequently. When I introduce a change, I don’t have to repeat it over and over. Usually, I’ll first introduce solo version (1) as it is, going right around it for one or two cycles. After that, I start building up, doing lots of different things. It’s a powerful song, so the things that I’ll be doing are of a different nature than I’d use on other songs. Demonstrating one of his practices, he initiated solo version (1), but as he approached the third lefthand figure in each segment, he substituted the corresponding figure from solo version (2). Also, for solo version (2) through (4), I’ll just be giving each variation two or three cycles because there are so many different things I’ll want to do. That doesn’t require much time on any of those things. Amid the variety, he typically emphasized solo version (1), bringing in other versions for a change. Cosmas’s performance in the context of a Nhemamusasa yepasi–Nhemamusasa arrangement, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Combined Solo Version and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples “Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version and Nhemamusasa kutsinhira” combinations favored by Cosmas’s cross-version arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination l; web demonstrations : combinations a, c, g, i–l). In 2002, I asked what kutsinhira approach he favored to complement his solo versions. Typically, I use kutsinhira (12) as a starting kutsinhira for “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” Actually, that’s where I mostly feature that part, more so than the regular “Nhemamusasa.” I also like to add a third kutsinhira, or more. He demonstrates the sequence: kutsinhira (12), kutsinhira (5), kutsinhira (10), pamusoro kutsinhira (16). All four go with all the solo versions. I’d give more time to the pamusoro one, maybe ten cycles or two-thirds of the total time in relation to the others. Some of the solo versions are so complete, they don’t need a lot of support. They’re self-sufficient. So, I emphasize the lighter kutsinhira like the pamusoro, since they leave more room. The combinations of solo version (1) with kutsinhira (12) and with kutsinhira (16) were the ones that my father’s mhepo spirit liked especially. In 2003, he included a few additional partcombination options with those above. When following solo version (1), he liked to start with kutsinhira (12) (combination c ), then move to kutsinhira (5) (combination a ). He also incorporated kutsinhira (8) and kutsinhira (11) into his performances. Kutsinhira (16) was workable with solo version (1) as well, but it went especially well with solo version (2)’s left-hand variation 25.sv2.3 (combination f). In his most basic arrangements, he enjoys mixing solo versions with Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (5), (12), and (16) especially. Implementing Solo Version–Kutsinhira Arrangements

In our duo renditions, he directed me to play solo version (1) with variations, while he moved gradually through the sequence: kutsinhira (12), kutsinhira (5), kutsinhira (9), kutsinhira (5), kutsinhira (16). When transitioning to kutsinhira (16), he asked me to switch to solo version (4) to complement it (combination i ). Subsequently, he played kutsinhira (5) variations Nhemamusasa yepasi

129

23.kt5.21–22 and 23.kt5.14. When I changed back to solo version (1), he continued on with kutsinhira (14) (combination d), then added 23.kt14.6 before ending with kutsinhira (5). Because his kutsinhira devoted more time to the basses, he explained, I could alternate solo version (1) with lighter solo versions such as solo version (2), including its pamusoro variation 25.sv2.3. Similarly, when he emphasized heavy kutsinhira basses, I could alternate my part with solo version (3), its left hand comprising lighter basses (combination h). I asked about the remaining solo versions (5) and (6). I just use those for solo purposes because I don’t currently have people to play with who know how to complement those well. In our trio with Beauler Dyoko, Cosmas directed the following cross-version Nhemamusasa arrangement, allocating contrasting parts to each of us (in one configuration below: combination j ). 1st player (Beauler): Nhemamusasa kushaura (1) with basic line 2nd player (Paul): switching between Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version (1), Nhemamusasa kushaura (2), and Nhemamusasa kushaura (4) 3rd player (Cosmas): switching between Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (5) and the other kutsinhira parts with heavy basses

I raised the general issue of overlapping elements within such expanded combinations, especially uppervoice pitches falling “on the same level” (see also combination k and combination l). That’s why you need to know different right-hand variations, so each can do different things while playing on the same level. For example, one person can play kushaura (1), staying down on the right side [playing the basic line]. Another can play kushaura (2) with low notes [simplified line] or high lines. Another can play kushaura (3) with Erick’s tenor-leap high notes. Meanwhile, another can play “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” Altogether, they’re reinforcing the same area [here, meaning temporal positions], but creating a kushaura-

130

Chapter 25

kutsinhira balance overall, so one is not overshadowed or overwhelmed by lots of kutsinhira parts. Table 25.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. In this context, Cosmas plays various Nhemamusasa yepasi solo versions in the role of kushaura, combining them with kutsinhira parts from “regular” Nhemamusasa, and incorporating one of the latter’s solo versions into his kutsinhira performance as well. Reflections

The speed of a song like this shouldn’t be like the other songs. It should be slower— but still danceable. I like this tempo. At the tempo here, the music can be played for dancing. 1:32, 2:32, 3:00: In his kutsinhira performance, he transitions seamlessly between the distinctive patterns of kutsinhira (5), Nhemamusasa solo version (1), and kutsinhira (8). Cosmas chuckled at the moves, as he would intermittently during the track’s playback. When listening to my own performance, I was thinking, How was I doing this? How did that happen? How did I manage to do such things? Some were amazing to me; just unimaginable, he added with irony. When I was performing, I didn’t realize I was covering so much ground. The recording shows how kutsinhira parts from regular “Nhemamusasa” can fit on “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” I usually play “Nhemamusasa yepasi” by myself when the spirits are possessed and giving guidance. At such times, I play it in my calabash softly, even slower than this. Also, combining different things— taking something from both [Nhemamusasa] pieces and trying to mix them— can be very effective musically. When put together well, they can have an important effect on the spirits. It’s like trying out different mixtures of herbs when treating a disease to see what’s effective. Sometimes when I’m playing quietly and softly like that, it’s so sweet that another person can get possessed by it— crying out, going into trance— even while the possessed medium is giving advice. I’ve seen that happen quite a few times.

TABLE 25.1 Nhemamusasa

yepasi

Counter

Solo version

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

sv (1) w bl (begins seg 1, 4th beat) (25.sv1.1) Nhemamusasa kt (12) w bl (begins seg 4) (23.kt12.1)

0:00

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & RHvar (23.kt5.9)

0:19

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & LHvar (A & G double noting) (23.kt5.21)

0:46

1:07

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & LHvar (A drone/ bass scalar descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8–9; LH: 23.kt5.15)

0:53

1:14

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & LHvar (doublenoting bass descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8; LH: 23.kt5.14)

1:00

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.8)

1:07

1:28

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w sl & LHvar (G & A double noting) (RH: 23.kt5.5, mix w rest subs; LH: 23.kt5.21)

1:14

1:37

Nhemamusasa kt (5) basic w hl (23.kt5.8)

1:23

1:46

Nhemamusasa sv (1) w bl (23.kt16.1, seg 1, to 23.sv1.1)

1:32

2:07

Nhemamusasa sv (1) w dhl (23.sv1.2)

1:53

2:16

Nhemamusasa sv (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (23.sv1.3; LH: mix w 23.sv1.6)

2:02

2:34

Nhemamusasa sv (1) w dhl/bl & RHvar (23.sv1.2 to 23.sv1.1)

2:20

0:14 0:15

sv (1) w hl & RHvar (25.sv1.5, mix w RH 25.sv1.6 & subs)

0:33 0:42

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 25.sv1.6; LH: 25.sv1.11)

0:54

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (same as above, mixed w LH 25.sv1.15, seg 3)

1:00

1:03

1:21

1:44

sv (1) w hl (25.sv1.6)

sv (2) w bl & RHvar (25.sv2.1)

sv (4) w bl & RH/LHvar (25.sv4.1, mixing in RH pitch substitution; RH/ LH accentuation)

(continued)

Nhemamusasa yepasi

131

TABLE 25.1 (continued)

Counter

Solo version

Kutsinhira

Counter

2:36

sv (1) w hl (25.sv1.6)

2:42

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 25.sv1.6; LH: mixes 25.sv1.10 w 25.sv1.9, seg 1, 25.sv1.11; above, A-C-E & C-A-E figs span 3rd & 4th beat boundaries)

2:46

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & LHvar (A drone/ bass scalar descent; G & A double noting) (RH: 23.kt5.6–7; LH: 23.kt5.15, w 23.kt5.21, seg 4)

2:32

2:53

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl (23.kt5.9)

2:39

3:02

Nhemamusasa kt (5) w hl & LHvar (doublenoting bass descent) (RH: 23.kt5.8–9; LH: 23.kt5.14)

2:48

3:14

Nhemamusasa kt (8) w sl/bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 23.kt8.3, mix w 23.kt8.1; LH: 23.kt8.1, mix w 23.kt8.5, segs 1–3)

3:00

3:28

Nhemamusasa kt (8) w hl & RHvar (23.kt8.8, mix w RH 23.kt8.1)

3:14

Nhemamusasa kt (8) w sl (RH: 23.kt8.2)

3:32

ends

3:45

3:03

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 25.sv1.6; LH: 25.sv1.11, mix w 25.sv1.8, segs 1–2, 25.sv1.15, seg 3) (double-noting bass & other subs)

3:12

sv (1) w hl (25.sv1.6)

3:32

sv (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 25.sv1.6; LH: 25.sv1.11)

3:40

sv (1) w bl (25.sv1.1)

3:46

132

3:47

sv (1) w hl (25.sv1.6)

3:59

ends

Chapter 25

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Compilation of part models and harmonic model sv1

sv2

sv3

sv4

sv5

sv6

C ds 1

3

6

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Compilation

133

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (1) 25.sv1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

25.sv1.1

Basic line

25.sv1.2

25.sv1.3

25.sv1.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

25.sv1.5

25.sv1.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

25.sv1.7

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi 134

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

25.sv1.8

25.sv1.9

25.sv1.10

25.sv1.11

25.sv1.12

25.sv1.13

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

25.sv1.14

Left- and right-hand variation

25.sv1.15

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

Solo Version (1)

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Solo Version (1)

135

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (2) 25.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

25.sv2.1

Right-hand high line

25.sv2.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

25.sv2.3

Left-hand line substitution

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (3) 25.sv3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

25.sv3.1

Right-hand high line

25.sv3.2

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi 136

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Solo Version (3)

Solo Version (3)

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (4) 25.sv4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

25.sv4.1

Right-hand high line

25.sv4.2

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (5) 25.sv5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

25.sv5.1

25.sv5.2

Left-hand variations and right-hand basic line

25.sv5.3

25.sv5.4

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

Solo Version (5) 25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Solo Version (5)

137

25.sv5.5

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (6) 25.sv6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

138

25.sv6.1

Basic line

25.sv6.2

Developing high line

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Solo Version (6)

Solo Version (6)

Nhemamusasa yepasi Solo Version and Nhemamusasa Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines 25sv1.14—23.kt5.10

b. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 25.sv1.1—23.kt9.2

c. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (12) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv1.7—23.kt12.1

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

Combinations 25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Combinations

139

d. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (14) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv1.1—23.kt14.1

e. Solo Version (2)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv2.1—23.kt11.1

f. Solo Version (2)/Kutsinhira (16) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv2.3—23.kt16.1

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi 140

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Combinations

Combinations

g. Solo Version (3)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines 25.sv3.2—23.kt5.10

h. Solo Version (3)/Kutsinhira (14) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv3.1—23.kt14.1

i. Solo Version (4)/Kutsinhira (16) with right-hand basic lines 25.sv4.1—23.kt16.1

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

Combinations 25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Combinations

141

Three-Part Arrangements j. Solo Version (1)/Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand high lines and basic line 25.sv1.14—23.ks1.1—23.kt5.8

k. Solo Version (1)/Kutsinhira (8)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand high line, simplified line, and basic line 25.sv1.14—23.kt8.6 —23.kt11.1

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi 142

25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Combinations

Combinations

Four-Part Arrangement l. Solo Version (1)/Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand high lines and basic lines 25.sv1.14—23.ks1.1—23.kt5.8—23.kt9.1

25.Nhemamusasa yepasi

Combinations 25. Nhemamusasa yepasi : Combinations

143

26 Nhimutimu (1)

“Nhimutimu” means “Shortcut.” It’s a shortcut version of “Nyamaropa.” Kushaura (1), (2), and (3) were formed from “Nyamaropa.” Maybe the name “Nhimutimu” is also a shortcut because some call the song “Nhimutimu yaNyamaropa.” If you’re asked to play it, the full name tells people that it’s one of the “Nyamaropa” family things. In 2006, when I was playing “Nhimutimu (1)” [kushaura (4)] with Musekiwa, he told me that Chigamba [Tute Chigamba] also played it, but called the piece “Masangano.” The word “masangano” refers to organizations or associations like conferences or churches. It also implies the bringing together of different things. To me, “Nhimutimu” is a piece in which you can bring together things from different “Nyamaropa” songs. Many of the players, especially junior players, don’t really know “Nhimutimu (1),” or they play it differently. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kushaura (2) and kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (1) (26.ks1.1 )

A note on our 1972 transcription gives the title as “Nhimutimu yaNyamaropa (from Justin).” Yes, I learned this part from Justin Magaya. I have no idea who taught it to him. Because of its features, it’s a kushaura that has its own feel about it. Cosmas 144

advised me that its spare character— a combined-hand shuffle pattern with comparatively static onbeat bass line— was deceivingly simple, masking its challenges for performance. It has been extremely difficult for some students to maintain this part the way it should be maintained: with a steady beat. The part’s basic line includes B chording in the right hand. For this kushaura and the others, all the basic lines have B chording because when we play them without chording, they sound naked. 26.ks1.3  illustrates B chording with the simplified line. 26.ks1.6 : His basic high-line pattern includes a gesture with scalar descent from G filling in the octave. 26.ks1.7 : Here, he varies the high line with B chording, and in segments 2–3, with G-C chording referencing dyad C. 26.ks1.9 illustrates a chording variation, in which in segment 4 (pickup to fourth beat), the chording must be A with D [dyad D’s pitches], not G with D. He contrasted this with practices in which he can play either A-D or G-D at certain positions in the form (compares 26.ks1.9 to 26.ks1.10, segments 1 and 2, pickups to the first and second beats). I sometimes alternate the G or the A with the D because each produces a different kind of melody that’s good on “Nhimutimu.” I have no left-hand substitutes on this kushaura. Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (2) (26.ks2.1  )

I learned this part from either John Kunaka or Justin. Lefthand substitutes come into this one, kushaura (2). [From one standpoint, he regards kushaura (2) as a variation of kushaura (1), that is, transformed by first- and thirdbeat pitch substitution (largely octave displacement).] 26.ks2.3  illustrates B chording with the simplified line. 26.ks2.5  His basic high-line pattern includes a gesture with scalar descent from G filling in the octave. 26.ks2.6: Reviewing his recorded performance, he drew my attention to this variation, in which combinedhand pitch substitution reiterates segment 1’s initial figure, prolonging the dyad G area and eliding dyad B. It’s an important twist that influences the rest of the variation. You hear the part very differently with it and without it. 26.ks2.9: He plays these chording substitutions while improvising, transforming the previous pattern

into a high line. In segment 2, harmonic-addition A replaces the simultaneity of a fourth with a third. When I asked if he might play it again so I could double-check our transcription, he added: I can also respond to that by making the same change in segment 3 as well, continuing the idea [substituting A-C for G-C on the pickup to the third beat]. Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (3) (26.ks3.1 )

This was from Justin. I remember that Justin and I used to enjoy this part a lot in the seventies. From our 1972 transcription: “The left hand largely belongs to kushaura (2); the right hand, to kushaura (3).” I still do that. I can hear that Justin was mixing, just the way I’m playing it. It sounds like him when I play it. 26.ks3.2 : In segment 1, rest and pitch substitution produces an offbeat right-hand figure emphasizing Gs. He pointed out that in this context, he treats the figure as a fleeting substitution, whereas in kushaura (2) variation 26.ks2.6, he treats it as a more permanent feature. I can do that in segment 1, kushaura (3), before I take a different direction. Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (4) (26.ks4.1)

This was one of my early parts I learned from Chivhanga. It’s a multipurpose one that can be a kushaura or a kutsinhira. He taught me the basic line. 26.ks4.2: We reconstructed this variation from our 1972 transcription. This version of the part, which Justin taught me, I consider to be advanced because of the timing required [here, rhythmic variation, introduced on the second and fourth beats by rest substitution, truncates right-hand 3:2 figures and exposes left-hand shuffle figures]. It’s the part that’s liked very much by Bhurakwasha, a great spirit medium and mbira player who moved with my father, Joshua, and prophesied that my father would one day be possessed by a spirit. Bhurakwasha toured the area, helping people as a healer. 26.ks4.4, 26.ks4.5 : Cosmas, should these two examples and the one above be classified as variations of kushaura (4) since their upper voices have a very different character? You can tell that something has been removed from the original, but not everything. About half of that something has been taken away, but it’s still the same basic thing. I Nhimutimu (1)

145

wouldn’t think of that as independent. They’re different, but they belong to the same family as the rest of the kushaura. It’s like “Nhimutimu” is a tree with different branches, small branches, but they’re all linked to one big trunk. So, on these “Nhimutimu” kushaura we’re working on, it’s a matter of identifying each one, branch by branch. 26.ks4.6, 26.ks4.7  : My father liked this [26. ks4.6] very much when he heard it, and he asked Chivhanga, “Won’t you teach that to my son?” He demonstrated which he meant by singing [vocables with the melody]: “Dhe-te-ri-nge, dhe-te-ri-nge, dhe-te-ri-nge, dhe-te-ri-nge,” and so on. Bhurakwasha, whom Cosmas’s father used to hear at Nyandoro, played comparable things to these as well. 26.ks4.8, 26.ks4.9: The developing high lines above reminded Cosmas of this line substitution and variant characterized by D and E reiteration. I like to switch to those when my right thumb is tired [the lines’ higher nhetete pitches, played by the index finger, replace the earlier variations’ lower Gs, Bs (R1), and As played by the thumb]. 26.ks4.10: I added the high lines to the basic line I learned from Chivhanga. Here, he mixes a high-line gesture with segments 3–4’s developing high-line figures. The latter, which he tended to emphasize with kushaura (4), became his personal stamp on the piece (26.ks4.10–14). That’s me, he said after demonstrating the variations. 26.ks4.11 : In segments 1 and 2, pitch substitution increases G and D repetition, creating a slightly longer scalar descent and fleeting suspensions over dyad B and dyad C. 26.ks4.15–18 illustrate high lines that, among other changes, substitute alternative contours for his signature figures in the second half of the cycle. 26.ks4.20: In 2002, he identified this as one of Luken’s left-hand variations during a review of our 1972 recordings. I still play that as well. Reviewing the variation in 2005, he suggested cutting out the prominent bass B substitutions on the first beats of segments 1, 2, and 4. The Bs in those positions represent the third of the dyad G. Why do you feel that way? Since I’m now fine-tuning my music, I feel that that bass is not producing the real sound I like. What happens is I sometimes change my mind about what I like best over time. We’ve been doing this for a long time. After I’ve been 146

Chapter 26

listening to lots of things, I might feel I like something at that time. Or, when working under pressure, I might sometimes like something at that moment. But when I’m fresh, when I listen to that again, I just know it’s not the thing I want. What kind of pressure might throw off your judgment? It’s like, going through so many types of different music [our intensive sessions reviewing transcriptions and recordings], my concentration on one particular thing may not be there. Still, let’s keep it here as an example since many things are contextual. I still might use this part when responding to another player to complement what he’s playing in a certain situation in an ensemble. Also, I might use it when playing an instrument with gandanga tuning, rather than the typical “Nyamaropa” tuning. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kushaura (1) and (2), placing emphasis on kushaura (1). When I’m playing the kushaura role, I like to mix kushaura (1) through (3). He plays the sequence: kushaura (1), two cycles; kushaura (2), one cycle; kushaura (3) with chording, two cycles; kushaura (1) with chording, four cycles; kushaura (2) with highline chording, four cycles. On another occasion, he described his basic strategy over his demonstration. I’d start it this way: [plays kushaura (1)’s basic part (26. ks1.1); switches to his simplified line (26.ks1.2); then to high lines (26.ks1.6–8); finally, to kushaura (2)]. That’s how I’d move from the main one to the second one. From there, I go to kushaura (3), come back to kushaura (2), then to kushaura (1) again— playing for some time, eight cycles or more— then to kushaura (4), and back to kushaura (1). I like to go back to the original part to let people know what piece I’m playing. That’s how I approach “Nhimutimu (1).” That’s how I’d play it. How would you treat the right-hand lines while moving through a succession of kushaura like that? As you move into each kushaura part, you play each [right-hand pattern] right though [the cycle]. He demonstrates kushaura (1) with the simplified line before going to high lines. As you can hear, it gives a different blend to it. I give more time to kushaura (1) simplified line and the higher right-hand variations. The

high lines are the most important to bring more time to. I’ll give them maybe ten times going that way, then I come to the other ones, giving them about three or four times each. I keep going back to the first one. Usually, I prefer going at it the way I demonstrated [he proceeds through the right-hand sequence—basic line, simplified line, and high line—then plays through them in reverse]. Subsequently, he demonstrates the sequence: kushaura (2), kushaura (4), and kushaura (3). Cosmas, since kushaura (4) has numerous high lines with subtle variations in our collection, can you use them with the other kushaura too? My concern is that sometimes, if I’m not clear about this, people will try to play the same patterns that apply to this one— kushaura (4)— and apply them on kushaura (2) or the others. These are not interchangeable high lines. We should stick to the ones we’ve given for kushaura (1) through kushaura (3). He added that this was especially true for the latter [26.ks3.1–2], in which the right hand largely doubles left-hand pitches in octaves. What you’re hearing there is what I intended. That’s the effect I wanted in that context, and if you start mixing in other high notes, you would lose that melody. Definitely, you’ll lose it. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (1) (26.kt1.1 )

board movements. See, I’m moving from different angles or different directions [on the bass manual] when I make those choices. Like in this variation, I’m sometimes moving upward on the keyboard [from key B1/G to key B4/D] and staying there [segment 4]. Other times [the basic part], I’m moving in the other direction, coming downward at the end [key B4/D to key B2/B]. 26.kt1.13 : Rest substitution eliminates segment 3’s initial midrange E on the first beat, producing an alternating right- and left-hand keystroke succession. 26.kt1.14–18: In 2001, we re-created these distinctive combined-hand variations (segment 1) from our 1972 transcription. Its annotation: “good majimba, sound kicking-off part.” These are from Justin and Erick. I do it in many different forms too. Even today, it’s still part of my playing. After decades developing his own system, he no longer regarded the figures as “majimba,” simply as very nice variations— and so artistic, how Erick used to do it! Although we had transcribed the patterns from his kushaura (4) performance in 1972, Cosmas explained that more typically he used them with kutsinhira. He reflected further on segment 1’s texturally dense formations (rapid G triadic leaps, octave F substitutions, and scalar descents). Only Erick could do this so fast with that pamusoro F included. I used to like it when we played together. I heard him do it and tried to imitate it on my own. He never taught me that directly. Those variations create a break in the music, then you carry on— going back to normal.

(similar to Nyamaropa kutsinhira [2])

From my demonstration of our 1972 transcription in 2001, Cosmas picked this part up instantly. I used to play that part a long time ago. I’d forgotten it temporarily. Sometimes a thing just stops coming to your mind. Originally, this came from Tern [ Justin’s nickname], but I added the high lines. Tern was good at basses, but he needed help with high notes. 26.kt1.5  and 26.kt1.6 respectively illustrate B chording with the simplified line and with a high line. 26.kt1.8: I asked about his use of right-hand A with different left-hand options at the end of the cycle. (In this variation, A with D represents the underlying dyad; in the basic part, A with B creates an adjacentdyad mixture.) Rather than commenting on the pitch combinations, Cosmas contrasted their respective key-

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (2) (26.kt2.1 )

This was my invention. It’s a mixture of “Mahororo” [similar figures appear in the latter’s kutsinhira (7) and (8)] and “Nyamaropa” [similar figures appear in the latter’s kutsinhira (2) through (4)]. Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (3) (26.kt3.1 )

26.kt3.1–2: Comparing Cosmas’s choices in segment 2 (second-beat areas), I asked about his alternative options combining left-hand E with right-hand C or D. The former represented dyad C; the latter, a pitch mixture of dyad G and dyad C. He replied that in the basicline version he liked the initial C lined up with the E. In descending high line 26.kt3.2, however, his preference Nhimutimu (1)

147

was to play three consecutive Ds— the last one aligned with bass E— before completing the segment with the right-hand figure C-C-B. Exploring other possibilities, he tried substituting C for the last D in segment 2. The C wouldn’t be wrong, he concluded, but the D substitute is my preference there. Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (4) (26.kt4.1)

time, it emphasizes dyad B, eliminating the basic part’s adjacent-dyad mixture. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1) and (3). Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

(same as kushaura [4] shifted one pulse later)

This is also from Chivhanga. 26.kt4.2: The parts are good for teaching timing [they are rhythmically challenging]. 26.kt4.5 : Chording added to reduced simplifiedline variation. 26.kt4.6  illustrates Cosmas’s characteristic developing high line, in which ascending sawtooth figures are answered by figures with leaps in contrary motion. 26.kt4.8 : Here, he mixes a conventional high-line gesture in the first half of the cycle with developing high-line figures in the second half. 26.kt4.9 : In segments 1 and 2, pitch substitution increases G and D repetition, producing fleeting suspensions in relation to dyad B and dyad C. Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (5) (26.kt5.1)

In 2002, when I re-created our 1972 transcription of a part described as a “kushaura with basses,” Cosmas immediately identified the part as Luken’s. It reminded him of the part given here, which Cosmas played as a kutsinhira. I used to play that in the old days, but don’t usually these days. I haven’t been playing that part a lot. Also, it’s good for soloing. Luken plays another version in which there’s a certain key he likes to emphasize on the left side. This version creates an adjacent-dyad mixture at the end of the cycle. I want to use the higher Bs [R4] on the basic line here only, rather than using the chording. It gives a different feeling that way. 26.kt5.2 : Gleaned from his recording performance, segment 4’s right-hand B-for-A substitution creates a variant figure that continues the previous figures’ scheme of pitch repetition and step movement (second halves of segments 2 and 3). At the same 148

Chapter 26

Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination n; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, f, h–j, l–n). In our sessions, he reiterated the importance of playing kushaura (1) through (4), and the stimulation it provided. It helps to keep the richness of the song by moving gradually to different things— specific different things. In my system for Nhimutimu (1), those are segments [parts] of the same tune, but you’ve got to rotate them, go through them systematically. When the kushaura person does that, it makes it more interesting for me to add the kutsinhira parts. When kushaura (1) through kushaura (3) were being played, Cosmas typically emphasized kutsinhira (1). When the kushaura player switched to kushaura (4), he switched to kutsinhira (4) (combination i  through combination l ). The main reason we like bringing this one in is that it sounds great in the same form that I play “Kuzanga”: the kutsinhira playing the same thing one step behind. With “Nhimutimu (1),” when you’re playing another kutsinhira and the kushaura starts playing kushaura (4), you have to go to kutsinhira (4). And if you’re playing the kushaura [kushaura (4)], as soon as you hear changes in the right side of the kutsinhira, you’ll play those too. He demonstrated kushaura (4) again. This was one of the very important parts during the early days. Wherever Chivhanga and I played, we moved to this part. This was in the sixties before I joined Mhuri yekwaRwizi. It was like a signature part for our playing [specifically with righthand variations 26.ks4.6–7]. One would be playing that right-hand variation [26.ks4.7 (combination i )], then move away from those lines to rest-substitution parts [rests

in second- and fourth-beat areas (combination j )] or to lower rest-substitution parts [26.ks4.4 (combination k)]. People would like it, and some spirit mediums liked it very much. Later in his career, he and Mondreck worked out similar routines, and within Mhuri yekwaRwizi, he, Justin, and Luken developed three-player arrangements of the piece. In one, the first player alternated between Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (1) and kushaura (4); the second player alternated Nhimutimu (1) kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (4); and the third played Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (2) (combination m  and combination n ). Sometimes they incorporated parts from other “Nyamaropa family” pieces. One cross-composition arrangement comprised Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (1), Nhimutimu (1) kutsinhira (1), and Nyamaropa kushaura (1). (For the place of Nhimutimu [1] in crosscomposition arrangements, see also chap. 29, Nyamaropa, combination p  and combination q .) Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

In 2002, Cosmas gave his preferences as follows: when playing in the kushaura “chair,” he emphasized kushaura (1) and kushaura (2); in the kutsinhira “chair,” kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (4) variation 26.kt4.6. He and his playing partners typically moved back and forth between such options. That’s how we did it. Otherwise, we’d get bored— staying on the one thing. In 2008, he added that although he and his associates emphasized the parts above, they brought in the other parts for a change. In our duo renditions that year, he proposed a more elaborate kushaura succession to me that provided the ground for his kutsinhira performance: kushaura (1) for two or three cycles; kushaura (2) for two or three cycles; kushaura (3) for two or three cycles. Subsequently, for kushaura (4): basic part for two or three cycles; developing high-line variation 26.ks4.7 followed by the right-hand rest-substitution variation 26.ks4.2 for four or five cycles— because each needs enough time. Next, return to kushaura (1) for two or three cycles to complete the shape— then feel free to do whatever varieties you want to. On one occasion when I initiated the succession above, Cosmas entered the performance with kutsin-

hira (1) (26.kt1.1), reminding me that it was the main one for all the kushaura. At the point at which I switched to kushaura (4)’s developing high-line variation (26. ks4.7), he switched to the equivalent kutsinhira (4) variation (26.kt4.6), one step behind. Afterward, I changed to kushaura (4)’s right-hand rest-substitution variation (26.ks4.2), and he followed suit for two or three cycles with 26.kt4.2, then returned to kutsinhira (1). At times, he embellished the latter with Erick’s virtuoso figures in segment 1 (variations 26.kt1.14–18), heightening the music’s cross-rhythmic tension. Such was Erick’s practice, he recounted, throwing those things in now and again when the music was really moving. Meanwhile, I remained on kushaura (4)’s right-hand rest-substitution variation for two or three cycles. Once he had settled into kutsinhira (1), I returned to kushaura (1), but shortly after, he surprised me by switching to my kushaura part shifted one step behind: emphasizing it for two or three cycles as a “kutsinhira” before returning to kutsinhira (1) again. Table 26.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

The rhythm of this song, “Nhimutimu (1),” needs to be maintained or it doesn’t sound good. On this recording, it sounds great. One challenge, especially for the kutsinhira, is to stay completely focused on “Nhimutimu”— or you can easily slip into “Mahororo” kutsinhira and other things. These need to be kept distinct, unless you’re deliberately mixing. Also, the transitions between different kutsinhira need to be done timeously because that can be problematic on “Nhimutimu” if they are not done well. 1:50: Here, as periodically over the performance, he plays kushaura (2) variation (26.ks2.6) in segment 1. When writing about this recording, it would be good to explain to readers that we are just pinpointing certain things that took place. Other things went on in the note-tonote expression that we aren’t discussing [his subtle mixing of elements around the basic framework of parts throughout]. We should encourage listeners and musicians to find these on their own, using the recording as a source of new substitutes and variations. These things are at the performers’ discretion, and are never exactly the same from performance to performance. Nhimutimu (1)

149

TABLE 26.1 Nhimutimu

(1)

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks (1) w sl (begins seg 4) (26.ks1.3)

0:11 0:26

0:00

kt (1) w hl/ch & RHvar (26.kt1.6–7)

0:43

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, seg 2, 1st beat)

1:08

kt (1) w hl/ch & RHvar (26.kt1.6–7)

1:17

ks (2) w dhl/ch & RHvar (26.ks2.4, mix w RH 26.ks2.6, seg 1)

1:28 1:37

ks (1) w dhl/ch & RH var (26.ks1.4)

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, segs 2–4)

1:26

1:45

ks (2) w dhl/ch & RHvar (26.ks2.4, mix w RH 26.ks2.6, seg 1)

kt (1) w hl/bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.11)

1:34

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.8, seg 4)

1:43

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.18, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1)

2:00

2:19

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, seg 2, 1st beat)

2:08

2:26

kt (4) w dhl & RH/LHvar (26.kt4.6, seg 4, to 26.kt1.15)

2:15

kt (4) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 26.kt4.8; LH: 26.kt4.11)

2:25

kt (4) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 26.kt4.8; LH: 26.kt4.11, mix w 26.kt4.6, seg 4, to 26.kt4.1)

2:34

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, seg 2, 1st beat)

3:08

1:54 2:08

ks (1) w dhl/ch & RHvar (26.ks1.4, mix w 26.ks1.3)

2:11 2:17

2:36

ks (4) w dhl (26.ks4.7)

ks (4) w hl & RHvar (26.ks4.11–12)

2:45

3:17

ks (1) w sl (26.ks1.3)

3:19

150

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 1) (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, seg 2, 1st beat)

ks (3) w bl (26.ks3.2)

1:19 1:21

Counter

ks (2) w sl (26.ks2.3)

0:54 0:57

Kutsinhira

Chapter 26

TABLE 26.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

3:26

ks (2) w sl/dhl/ch & RHvar (26.ks2.6, mix w RH 26.ks2.4)

3:28

kt (1) w bl/ch & LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.18, seg 4)

3:17

3:37

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.3, mix w 26.kt1.15, seg 1, & 26.kt1.18, seg 2, 1st beat, & seg 4)

3:26

3:45

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (26.kt1.12)

3:34

ends

3:39

3:50

ends

Nhimutimu (1)

151

Nhimutimu (1): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

G ds 1

3

6

1

26.Nhimutimu (1) 152

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Compilation

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (1) 26.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

26.ks1.1

Basic line

26.ks1.2

Simplified line

26.ks1.3

26.ks1.4

Developing high line

26.ks1.5

Right-hand high-line variations

26.ks1.6

26.ks1.7

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kushaura (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (1)

153

26.ks1.8

Right-hand chording variations

26.ks1.9

26.ks1.10

26.ks1.11

26.ks1.12

Right-hand line substitution

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (2) 26.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

154

26.ks2.1

Basic line

26.ks2.2

Simplified line

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

26.ks2.3

26.ks2.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

26.ks2.5

Left- and right-hand variation

26.ks2.6

Right-hand chording variations

26.ks2.7

26.ks2.8

26.ks2.9

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kushaura (2)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (2)

155

26.ks2.10

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (3) 26.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

26.ks3.1

26.ks3.2

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (4) 26.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

26.ks4.1

Basic line

26.ks4.2

26.ks4.3

Simplified line

26.ks4.4 156

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (4)

Kushaura (4)

26.ks4.5

26.ks4.6

Developing high line

26.ks4.7

26.ks4.8

Right-hand line substitution

26.ks4.9

Right-hand high-line variations

26.ks4.10

26.ks4.11

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kushaura (4)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (4)

157

26.ks4.12

26.ks4.13

26.ks4.14

26.ks4.15

26.ks4.16

26.ks4.17

26.ks4.18 158

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kushaura (4)

Kushaura (4)

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

26.ks4.19

26.ks4.20

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (1) 26.kt1.1 serving as model (similar to Nyamaropa kutsinhira [2])

Right-hand basic line and variations

26.kt1.1

Basic line

26.kt1.2

26.kt1.3

26.kt1.4

Simplified line

26.kt1.5

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

159

Right-hand high-line variations

26.kt1.6

26.kt1.7

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

26.kt1.8

26.kt1.9

26.kt1.10

26.kt1.11

26.kt1.12

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

26.kt1.13

160

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Left- and right-hand variations

26.kt1.14

26.kt1.15

26.kt1.16

26.kt1.17

26.kt1.18

Right-hand chording variation

26.kt1.19

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (2) 26.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

26.kt2.1

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kutsinhira (2)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (2)

161

Right-hand high-line variations

26.kt2.2

26.kt2.3

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

26.kt2.4

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (3) 26.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

26.kt3.1

Right-hand high line

26.kt3.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

26.kt3.3

162

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (4) 26.kt4.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [4] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

26.kt4.1

Basic line

26.kt4.2

26.kt4.3

Simplified line

26.kt4.4

26.kt4.5

26.kt4.6

Developing high line

26.kt4.7

Right-hand line substitution

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kutsinhira (4)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (4)

163

Right-hand high-line variations

26.kt4.8

26.kt4.9

26.kt4.10

Left- and right-hand variation

26.kt4.11

Nhimutimu (1): Kutsinhira (5) 26.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

26.kt5.1

Basic line

26.kt5.2

26.kt5.3

164

26.Nhimutimu (1)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (5)

Kutsinhira (5)

26.kt5.4

Developing high line

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Kutsinhira (5)

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Kutsinhira (5)

165

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 26.ks1.1—26.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 26.ks1.3—26.kt1.5

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 26.ks1.7—26.kt1.13

26.Nhimutimu (1) 166

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 26.ks1.7—26.kt2.3

e. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 26.ks2.5—26.kt1.7

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 26.ks2.1—26.kt3.1

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Combinations 26. Nhimutimu (1) : Combinations

167

g. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 26.ks3.1—26.kt1.1

h. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 26.ks3.1—26.kt5.2

i. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand developing high lines 26.ks4.7—26.kt4.6

26.Nhimutimu (1) 168

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Combinations

Combinations

j. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand simplified lines 26.ks4.5—26.kt4.5

k. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand simplified lines 26.ks4.4—26.kt4.4

l. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 26.ks4.11—26.kt4.8

26.Nhimutimu (1)

Combinations 26. Nhimutimu (1) : Combinations

169

Three-Part Arrangements m. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1)/Kushaura (2) with right-hand high lines and simplified line 26.ks1.7—26.kt1.13—26.ks2.3

n. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4)/Kushaura (2) with right-hand developing high line, simplified line, and high line 26.ks4.7—26.kt4.5—26.ks2.5

26.Nhimutimu (1) 170

26. Nhimutimu (1) : Combinations

Combinations

27 Nhimutimu (2)

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the solo version. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the solo version section, including the version’s use of “solo version–kutsinhira” arrangements.

Solo Version Nhimutimu (2): Solo Version (27.sv.1)

That’s the “Nhimutimu” I used to play— the one I learned from Chivhanga. It’s amazing to me how many similarities there are with Kunaka’s solo performance, the one I later wanted to learn from the Soul of Mbira CD. Reviewing our 1972 transcription in 2002: I used to play that long ago, but I’m no longer playing it. I asked about the solo version’s distinctive left-hand scalar-descent figure in segment 3. We like that, he said. For comparative purposes, he played his Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (5) signature variation 23.kt5.15, calling my attention to a comparable onbeat bass figure a fifth lower, also positioned in segment 3 of the form. 27.sv.5  illustrates B chording with the simplified line and a rest substitution in segment 3. 27.sv.13: Left-hand pitch substitution in segment 1 sets up a pattern of oscillation between midrange G and shallow basses, while prolonging the dyad G area and eliding dyad B. I really like emphasizing the L1[G] key on this one. The same with Kunaka, I still can hear him doing that too. He’d keep coming back to it. In seg171

ment 4, third-beat A substitution introduces a fleeting adjacent-dyad mixture before the cycle return. 27.sv.14  combines a high line with left-hand figures incorporating the G substitution in segment 1 above. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously. Although Cosmas typically features this piece when performing alone, he can either confine himself to the solo version or alternate it with Mandarindari kushaura (2). Combined Solo Version and Kushaura Parts

This section samples cross-composition combinations “Nhimutimu (2) solo version and Mandarindari kushaura (2)” favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and

172

Chapter 27

illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination f; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, f). “Mandarindari” kushaura (2) [rotated] works best as a kutsinhira for “Nhimutimu (2).” (In combinations a–f, arrows show 19.ks2.2’s cycle beginning in the Mandarindari context.) A note on our 1972 transcription clarified that Nhimutimu (2) was “not a Nyamaropa variation,” but rather “a separate song from Nhimutimu (1).” Nevertheless, in part-combination successions, Nhimutimu (2) could be introduced after Nhimutimu (1) kushaura, in which case “the following player must change to Mandarindari kutsinhira.” See chap. 18, Mahororo, for a discussion of alternative cross-composition arrangements involving Mandarindari (combination r  and combination s ) and Nhimutimu (2) (combination t).

Nhimutimu (2): Compilation of part model and harmonic model sv

G ds 1

3

27.Nhimutimu (2)

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

6

1

3

5

Compilation 27. Nhimutimu (2) : Compilation

173

Nhimutimu (2): Solo Version 27.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

27.sv.1

Basic line

27.sv.2

27.sv.3

27.sv.4

Simplified line

27.sv.5

27.sv.6

Developing high line

27.sv.7

174

27.Nhimutimu (2)

27. Nhimutimu (2) : Solo Version

Solo Version

Right-hand high-line variations

27.sv.8

27.sv.9

27.sv.10

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

27.sv.11

27.sv.12

27.sv.13

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

27.sv.14

Right-hand chording variation

27.sv.15

27.Nhimutimu (2)

Solo Version

27. Nhimutimu (2) : Solo Version

175

Nhimutimu (2): Solo Version and Mandarindari Kushaura Parts Combined a. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand basic lines 27.sv.1—19.ks2.1 rotated

b. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 27.sv.5—19.ks2.2 rotated

c. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand simplified lines 27.sv.5—19.ks2.15 rotated

27.Nhimutimu (2) 176

27. Nhimutimu (2) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand developing high lines 27.sv.6—19.ks2.6 rotated

e. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand high lines 27.sv.9—19.ks2.11 rotated

f. Solo Version/Kushaura (2) with right-hand high lines 27.sv.14—19.ks2.16 rotated

27.Nhimutimu (2)

Combinations 27. Nhimutimu (2) : Combinations

177

28 Nyamamusango

This means “Meat in the Forest.” It’s a hunting song. In Cosmas’s version, the underlying harmony repeats segment 1’s 1–3–5 movement in segment 2, and, as is characteristic of the piece, includes dyad insertions in segments 3–4. Common tones and incomplete dyad tones in the multilayered melodies contribute heightened harmonic ambiguity.

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Nyamamusango: Kushaura (1) (28.ks1.1)

I learned this song from Justin Magaya. In 2002, we re-created variations 28.ks1.3–20 from our 1972 transcription and recordings. 28.ks1.3 : In segment 3, G substitution within the basic-line figure references the dyad root, setting up the same figure in segment 4. 28.ks1.6–7: I used to hear Mude leaving out some right-hand notes on “Nyamamusango” when he played it. I really used to enjoy it when he did this. 28.ks1.9 : In segment 4 of the high-line variation, G substitution sustains 178

the dyad root at the lowest point in the descending gesture, relaxing tension before the cycle’s repetition. 28.ks1.17: In segments 1–2, midrange F insertion referencing dyad roots creates distinctive thirds with right-hand pitches, reinforcing F dyad areas. These are ones that I added to the original kushaura I learned from Justin. 28.ks1.19  : In the 1970s Cosmas had taught me to play midrange E on the pickups to fourth beats in segments 1–2, but I periodically heard him substituting Fs for Es in performance. This can be interpreted as prolonging the initial dyad F area and eliding dyad A, or as inserting dyad F after dyad A’s incomplete representation. In 2005, when I reminded him of the options, he explained: The challenge is how to bring all these different characteristics together and mix them. There are some that don’t agree with one another [substitutions in one hand that clash with pitches in the other]. There are some that do agree. So, it’s a question of being selective. It’s just like on a soccer team, we have the first grade or team, then second grade. For the basic part, I prefer the F, but in these contexts, there’s nothing wrong with those substitutes. They’re fine. I like either key there— F or E. In a pass through our archive in 2008, however, he reconsidered his position, concluding that the midrange F-to-E movement in segments 1–2 should be included in the basic part. He viewed the Fs that replaced the Es as the substitutions. 28.ks1.20: I called attention to the left-hand Ffor-D substitutions, segments 3–4. My versions and Luken’s were very similar, but that’s more from Luken, his style. I learned that from him. When initially I asked about left-hand midrange variations, he responded that I just have some variations with the pamusoro, but they’re very limited. As he revisited the issue over the years and gained additional experience, however, his playing yielded an increasing collection, sampled below. 28.ks1.21–23: The pamusoro double-noting ones are mine. 28.ks1.25–26: These variations also emphasize double noting, and in segments 1–2, shallow bass figures beginning a scalar descent. That pamusoro was Mondreck. In different cycles, I can add the double noting to one segment or another, or to each. Also, that pamusoro substitute is OK [midrange E-for-F substitution, pickups to fourth beats, segments 1–2]. It’s fine for this one. This is Mondreck’s again. Justin taught it to me as well.

Should we consider these as representing a different kushaura part? No, I’d just explain that they’re variations. 28.ks1.27  : Pitch substitution in segments 1–2 can be interpreted as prolonging the initial dyad F area and eliding dyad A, or as inserting dyad F after dyad A’s incomplete representation. In segment 3, substitution extends the bass line’s scalar descent. 28.ks1.28: Because of the timing or rhythm of the bass notes mixed with double noting [second half of the cycle], I consider this an advanced variation. 28.ks1.29 , 28.ks1.30: As in the latter example, on the fourth beat of segment 2, the right hand can substitute B for A. Heard apart from bass E, it gives a nod to the conventional 1–3–6 movement found in other musicians’ treatments of segment 2. Heard in relation to bass E, it hints at dyad E for dyad A substitution in relation to the sequence model. Nyamamusango: Kushaura (2) (28.ks2.1)

Again, this pamusoro was Mondreck’s. During a 2002 pass through our evolving archive, Cosmas initially thought of this as a variation of the main kushaura, but he later came to regard the whole thing [as a] pamusoro— the four segments are doing pamusoro things that are different from kushaura (1). I recommend calling this a different part. In 2005 he reaffirmed his decision. I’d consider this to be an independent kushaura kwepamusoro. In contrast, he pointed to kushaura (1) 28.ks1.31 as an example of a hybrid variation. 28.ks2.3 : Right-hand D substitution in segments 3–4 creates upward leaps of a fifth from the preceding G (pickup to third beat), in the first instance initiating a longer descent across segment boundaries, and in the second instance creating a distinctive end-of-cycle figure. Nyamamusango: Kushaura (3) (28.ks3.1 )

Kushaura (3)’s textural design— an alternate-pulse octave succession— is reminiscent of Karigamombe’s and Nyuchi’s kushaura. In reviewing the 1972 transcription in 1999, Cosmas remembered the part as having initially come from Erick Muchena. In 2002 he added: I learned that from both Luken and Erick. I used to play something related, but didn’t keep it up. That’s the Nyamamusango

179

pamusoro part of “Nyamamusango.” There are not many variations on this part, just little substitutes for notes here and there. 28.ks3.2: Considering his high-line variation, he pointed out octave F-for-E substitutions on the fourth beats of segments 1–2: harmonic additions in relation to his version’s dyad sequence. Alternatively, they can be interpreted as dyad F insertions or weak anticipations of dyad D. That way of playing is correct, too. 28.ks3.3–4: I asked about the technique of combined-hand rest and pitch substitution here. These are subtle variations in hitting the keys. I’m always changing when I play, hitting keys together, hitting keys separately, leaving some out. My fingers are so used to doing that, they change all the time. Pointing to the right hand’s D-to-C movement over the midrange D substitution (segment 2, second beat): Those are the things which I like that I was talking about: when I walk down the keys that way [step movement on the nhetete manual, while repeating the left-hand key]. That mixture produces a certain mixture— a certain solution of things. Nyamamusango: Kushaura (4) (28.ks4.1 )

In 1999 we re-created this part from our 1970s transcription and recordings. I haven’t done that kushaura recently. It just dropped out of my playing. I don’t remember the source. After playing the part, he suggested that in segment 3, the bass E (pickup to second beat) could also be replaced by F substitution, which, in effect, slightly prolongs dyad D. This was another example of the interchangeability of the notes (E and F) in this piece. I asked whether he would use the substitution in the same rhythmic position in segment 4 (where F would be a harmonic addition). After trying this, he rejected it. 28.ks4.2 and 28.ks4.5: In 2002, after reviewing his 1972 recordings, he relearned these substitutions and experimented by alternating them with others. The former had slipped from his memory, he said. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. He demonstrated 28.ks1.1 while commenting: As 180

Chapter 28

you can see, the style of this part as you start it is to come in with the lower high notes from the beginning [Ds in this instance] because that’s the nature of the part. When I asked about its variations, he intermittently introduced right-hand double noting in his playing, as well as lefthand rest substitutions. Subsequently, he moved to kushaura (2), explaining: I like to mix different things like this when I play, spicing my playing, not doing the same things over and over. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (1) (28.kt1.1) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

This was from Chivhanga. 28.kt1.10  : Left-hand F-for-E substitution in segments 1–2 can be interpreted as prolonging the initial dyad F area and eliding the subsequent A dyad, or as inserting dyad F after dyad A’s incomplete representation. 28.kt1.11: Bass D substitution anticipates and extends segment 4’s scalar descent. 28.kt1.12: I learned this from both Justin and Mondreck. Cosmas taught me 28.kt1.12 as the basic part for kutsinhira (1) in the 1970s, but in 2002 he reclassified it as a variation. I think of these two [28.kt1.1 and 28.kt1.12] as being related in a substitute way. But if it would create confusion for students because of the other things that are happening, we could also give it its own name as an independent part. The consistent way that he had altered the first two segments qualified it as a hybrid part, he said. There were different ways of thinking about variations and parts’ relationships. 28.kt1.13: As I was taught, we normally used the same kushaura (1) as a kutsinhira (1), but I improvised, substituting some of the keys and playing some things my own way. He points to the changes in segments 3–4. Those patterns are my creations. When I play those basses, that’s me. You can hear that I like using those substitutes. They’re from “Nhimutimu (1)” [chap. 26, Nhimutimu (1), kutsinhira (5) (26.kt5.1)] and I wanted to plant them in “Nyamamusango.” 28.kt1.15  : Here, he incorporates previous left-

hand pitch substitutions (28.kt1.10–11) into a high line. 28.kt1.19 : Left-hand substitution reinstates B in the basic part’s lower voice, increasing the pitch’s presence in the second half of the cycle as a focal point or “pivot” within the bass line’s falling and rising motion.

because it has certain changes carried through every section. 28.kt3.4 : Pitch substitution creates responsive right-hand figures emphasizing dyad roots in the second half of segments 3 and 4, strengthening the movements of dyad G to dyad B. Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (4) (28.kt4.1)

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (2) (28.kt2.1)

In 2005 Cosmas thought of this part as a variation of kutsinhira (1), but in 2006 he reclassified it as separate, because so many things are different compared to the first one. You know, what happened was, I was not very much satisfied with the normal kutsinhira part [kutsinhira (1)], so I really wanted something more. That’s when I decided to come up with something very challenging for me where I’d be doing different things at the same time, left and right hands. 28.kt2.6–9: These are my variations again, including the bass G double noting. You can hear it’s my style, my invention. There’s great intensity of competition between right and left. The left side will be doing something different and the right side will be wanting to continue the way it knows, since it should be the lead. The bass variations [segments 3–4] should be classified in such a way that it doesn’t cause confusion, since they are involved with many different things. This was another instance, he offered, that we could give some of these independent names if I felt it would be helpful for learners. For example, 28.kt2.7–9 could be considered hybrid parts like kutsinhira (2) itself, but with distinctive features concentrated in the second half of the cycle. 28.kt2.12 : Pitch substitution and rest substitution reconfigure the right-hand pattern (increasing C repetition in segments 1–2). Meanwhile, the left hand prolongs the dyad F area in segment 1, eliding dyad A. In segments 3–4, it emphasizes bass G double noting and “ghosts” midrange D. Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (3) (28.kt3.1)

In 2001, I initially learned this part from Cosmas to as a variation of kutsinhira (1) mixing bass and pamusoro double-noting figures, but several years later, he reclassified it as a distinctive kutsinhira. This is my composition again. I think of this as different from the other variations

(same as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

28.kt4.2 : Cosmas demonstrates a high line with the basic left-hand part. 28.kt4.4: Here, substitution of bass-for-midrange pitches creates a spare, offbeat lower voice incorporating midrange Gs in the second half of the cycle. Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (5) (28.kt5.1 )

This is my part again. Cosmas initially separated this part from the others because of its different keys’ movement and character, but he continued to muse over its classification. A lingering issue was its relationship to kutsinhira (3)’s left-hand pattern, which had served as its model: I was taking out some of the double noting and bass notes, and leaving other things. Because I’m just pulling certain things out, putting in different gaps while other things remain the same, I can consider it just a variation for kutsinhira (3). In 2005 he decided that its distinctive features outweighed consideration of its genesis. It’s an independent kutsinhira kwepamusoro. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kutsinhira (1) continuously. You were saying that ideas for variations come to you when performing a piece for long stretches of time. Yes, because in my type of playing— if the time is limited— I will not have exhausted all the ideas that I already know and need to play. Picking up his mbira, he demonstrated various substitutions for transforming successive parts and, in some cycles, mixed parts’ components. For example, he incorporated figures from kutsinhira (1) left-hand variation 28.kt1.14 into segments 3–4 of kutsinhira (2), Nyamamusango

181

alternating them with the latter’s double-noting bass substitutions (variation 28.kt2.6–8), as well as various left-hand rest substitutions. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements, and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations a–e). In 2006, his Nyamamusango practices emphasized kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and its left-hand variation 28.kt1.12, but a few years later he expanded the arrangement, emphasizing kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) through kutsinhira (3), while bringing in the other parts for a change. Together, we examined kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) (combination a  and combination b ). When the kushaura player changes to kushaura (1), the kutsinhira player can switch to the same thing one step behind too: kutsinhira (1). It becomes so rich. The way it’s treated, “Nyamamusango” is like “Kuzanga.” A song like this one—and “Chipindura” again—have their own flavors. They’re all structured in a way that you should feel free to use the kushaura part as a kutsinhira at times. In his system, large-scale changes in the kushaura commonly invited comparable changes in the kutsinhira. When the kushaura player goes to pamusoro kushaura (2), then the kutsinhira player would do the same thing. Going to either kutsinhira (3), kutsinhira (4), or kutsinhira (5) would be a response to the double noting of the pamusoro kushaura (2) part [combination e  and combination f]. Alternatively, there were times in which one player served as an anchor for the other’s performance. While the kutsinhira player plays different things like kutsinhira (2), the kushaura player stays much the same [combination c ]. It’s like the way the “Nhemamusasa” kutsinhira change while the basic “Nhemamusasa” kushaura (1) stays the same. Suppose you hear the kushaura player adding a few double-noting pamusoro figures like in kushaura (1)’s left-hand variation (28.ks1.22). Then I’d respond accordingly in the kutsinhira pamusoro. 182

Chapter 28

He turned to a comparable feature of interplay involving shallow bass substitutions in segments 1–2 of kushaura (1) variation 28.ks1.29 : This can be played with the kutsinhira playing the same thing a step behind [combination b]. And when you hear the kushaura person playing those substitutes, the kutsinhira part should also switch to that, just like you’d do again on “Kuzanga” so that those basses that line up can be heard. It had been Mondreck’s idea that he and Cosmas perform the variation together in this arrangement, he recalled. Once they set it in motion, Mondreck seized upon the linguistic associations of its resultant figures, vigorously singing the nonsense line: Mhuno dziripapiko? [Where’s the nose?]— as he did in one of their Nhemamusasa routines. Cosmas remembered Mondreck’s antics fondly: Each time when we were playing, he’d come to that gesture jokingly, and be smiling, staring at me. Did he fit those words in many tunes? Only on two songs, “Nyamamusango” and “Nhemamusasa.” With “Nhemamusasa,” he did it all around the cycle, but in “Nyamamusango,” he did it in a particular place in the structure [segments 1 and 2]. We’d just look at each other and smile and laugh as we played, enjoying our performance. (See also chap. 23, Nhemamusasa [combination cc]; Art of Mbira, chap. 11, exs. 11.5a–b.) Ultimately, Cosmas decided that all the different kushaura can be used with the main kutsinhira; the pamusoro version of kutsinhira [kutsinhira (5)] can be used with any of the basic kushaura (for the latter, combination d  and combination h). The possibilities for subtle mixtures of kushaura and kutsinhira were openended. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1), bringing other parts in for a change. Table 28.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

This recording is another good example of how two parts can be put together nicely and share a balance of playing. The music that’s produced sounds good.

TABLE 28.1 Nyamamusango

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (begins seg 1, 1st beat, beat division 2) (RH: 28.ks1.5; LH: 28.ks1.5, mix w 28.ks1.19, segs 1–2)

0:12

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (seg 3, 1st beat, beat division 2) (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18)

0:00

0:24

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.11)

0:12

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18)

0:21

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.15)

0:54

1:14

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18)

1:02

1:22

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18 mix w 28.kt1.1, segs 1–2)

1:10

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18)

1:22

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18, mix w 28.kt2.1, segs 3–4)

1:56

0:25

ks (1) w hl (28.ks1.11)

0:32

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (28.ks1.5)

0:33 0:41

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.17)

0:56

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (begins w G double-noting fig) (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.30, mix w 28.ks1.22, seg 4)

1:06 1:13

1:31

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.19)

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.30)

1:34 2:02

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (G double-noting fig) (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.30, mix w 28.ks1.22, seg 4)

2:08

2:21

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (G double-noting fig) (28.kt1.5, mix w LH 28.ks1.22, segs 3–4) (continued) Nyamamusango

183

TABLE 28.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

(inserts G triple-noting fig in 28.kt2.1, seg 4)

2:23

3:02

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.11)

2:50

3:10

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.kt1.18, mix w 28.kt2.1, segs 3–4)

2:58

kt (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.1, mix w 28.kt1.7, segs 3–4; LH: 28.kt1.15)

3:06

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 28.kt1.7; LH: 28.ks1.18, mix w 28.ks1.16, segs 3–4)

3:34

ends

3:48

2:35 2:37

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (G double-noting fig) (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.30, mix w 28.ks1.22, segs 3–4)

3:18

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (28.kt1.5; LH: 28.kt1.5, mix w 28.kt1.27, seg 1; 28.kt1.22, seg 4)

3:43

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (G double-noting fig) (RH: 28.ks1.11; LH: 28.ks1.30, mix w 28.ks1.22, segs 3–4)

3:46

4:00

184

ends

Chapter 28

Nyamamusango: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

D alt ds 1

3

28.Nyamamusango

5

1

3

5

1

2

4

6

7

2

4

6

Compilation 28. Nyamamusango : Compilation

185

Nyamamusango: Kushaura (1) 28.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

28.ks1.1

Basic line

28.ks1.2

28.ks1.3

28.ks1.4

28.ks1.5

28.ks1.6

Simplified line

28.ks1.7

28.Nyamamusango 186

28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

Right-hand high-line variations

28.ks1.8

28.ks1.9

28.ks1.10

28.ks1.11

28.ks1.12

28.ks1.13

28.ks1.14

28.ks1.15

28.Nyamamusango

Kushaura (1) 28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (1)

187

28.ks1.16

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

28.ks1.17

28.ks1.18

28.ks1.19

28.ks1.20

28.ks1.21

28.ks1.22

28.ks1.23

188

28.Nyamamusango

28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

28.ks1.24

28.ks1.25

28.ks1.26

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

28.ks1.27

28.ks1.28

Left-hand line substitution

Left- and right-hand variations

28.ks1.29

28.ks1.30

28.Nyamamusango

Kushaura (1)

28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (1)

189

28.ks1.31

Left-hand line substitution

Nyamamusango: Kushaura (2) 28.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

28.ks2.1

Right-hand high-line variations

28.ks2.2

28.ks2.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

28.ks2.4

Nyamamusango: Kushaura (3) 28.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

28.ks3.1

190

28.Nyamamusango

28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (3)

Kushaura (3)

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

28.ks3.2

28.ks3.3

28.ks3.4

Nyamamusango: Kushaura (4) 28.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

28.ks4.1

28.ks4.2

Right-hand high-line variations

28.ks4.3

28.ks4.4

28.Nyamamusango

Kushaura (4) 28. Nyamamusango : Kushaura (4)

191

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

28.ks4.5

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (1) 28.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

28.kt1.1

Basic line

28.kt1.2

28.kt1.3

28.kt1.4

Simplified line

28.kt1.5

Right-hand high-line variations

28.kt1.6

28.Nyamamusango 192

28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

28.kt1.7

28.kt1.8

28.kt1.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

28.kt1.10

28.kt1.11

28.kt1.12

28.kt1.13

28.kt1.14

28.Nyamamusango

Kutsinhira (1)

28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (1)

193

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

28.kt1.15

Left- and right-hand variations

28.kt1.16

28.kt1.17

28.kt1.18

28.kt1.19

Right-hand chording variation

28.kt1.20

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (2) 28.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

28.kt2.1

28.Nyamamusango 194

28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

28.kt2.2

28.kt2.3

Right-hand high line

28.kt2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

28.kt2.5

28.kt2.6

28.kt2.7

28.kt2.8

28.kt2.9

28.Nyamamusango

Kutsinhira (2)

28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (2)

195

28.kt2.10

28.kt2.11

Left- and right-hand variation

28.kt2.12

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (3) 28.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

28.kt3.1

28.kt3.2

Right-hand high-line variations

28.kt3.3

28.kt3.4

196

28.Nyamamusango

28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (4) 28.kt4.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

28.kt4.1

Right-hand high line

28.kt4.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

28.kt4.3

28.kt4.4

Nyamamusango: Kutsinhira (5) 28.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

28.kt5.1

28.kt5.2

28.Nyamamusango

Kutsinhira (5) 28. Nyamamusango : Kutsinhira (5)

197

Nyamamusango: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 28.ks1.19—28.kt1.10

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 28.ks1.29—28.kt1.19

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and basic line 28.ks1.27—28.kt2.12

28.Nyamamusango 198

28. Nyamamusango : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 28.ks1.3—28.kt5.1

e. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 28.ks2.3—28.kt3.4

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 28.ks2.1—28.kt4.1

28.Nyamamusango

Combinations 28. Nyamamusango : Combinations

199

g. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic line and high line 28.ks3.1—28.kt3.3

h. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 28.ks3.1—28.kt5.1

i. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 28.ks4.4—28.kt3.3

28.Nyamamusango 200

28. Nyamamusango : Combinations

Combinations

29 Nyamaropa

“Nyamaropa” means “Meat with blood.” It refers to the connection with hunting, and to the slaughtering of a ceremonial beast [cow] at a ceremony to provide meat for the guests. It’s a song played early in the morning around 6 a.m., when some of the new spirits [mediums possessed for the first time] are asked to drink the blood of a dedicated bull [one bearing the name of a deceased family member, for example] to test whether they are authentic. We used to hear that if the spirit mediums were fakes, they could die from this. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Nyamaropa: Kushaura (1) (29.ks1.1)

This was the first kushaura I learned. I learned it a very long time ago, back in the sixties, from my first teacher, Chivhanga. This main kushaura, emphasizing the basses, is the most important one. According to his system, the kushaura’s basic part required B chording; the part sounded a bit naked without it. It’s nice chording, but the same chording wouldn’t be applicable for all songs. In my different arrangements, there are also instances where only individual keys should be played, as opposed to chording. 201

Over the years, Cosmas taught me the right-hand basic line with slight changes in segment 2’s scalar descent from D to B, before settling on D-D C-C B-B for the basic-part model and relegating the others to subordinate variations. The latter included D-D-D C-B-B, D-D-C C-C-B, and the first variation below, each with different relationships to the harmonic sequence. 29.ks1.3  illustrates a basic-line variation increasing D repetition in segment 2, creating an adjacentdyad mixture of pitches from dyad G and dyad C. 29.ks1.4  illustrates a simplified line restricted to Gs, Bs, and As. 29.ks1.5 adds B chording to the simplified line. 29.ks1.6–8: Chivhanga taught me the basic high lines. 29.ks1.7  : Figure substitution in segment 3 adds a second high peak and scalar descent to variation, while rest substitution removes B chording. 29.ks1.9: I learned this left-hand substitute from listening to the radio a long time ago. 29.ks1.10–11: These with the left-hand substitutes are all from Chivhanga. A lot of the other additions were my own inventions. 29.ks1.12: In 2002, he reviewed our 1972 transcription notes, which describe 29.ks1.12 as a “special part.” I still play it this way, but I can’t remember the source. The issues with my composition of parts are the same as for other musicians. When you used to ask Mude and Simon Mashoko these questions, remember what they used to say? They’d say, “These things just come to me when I’m performing.” It’s the same for me. When I’m playing mbira, certain things come to me and I feel I should respond to them. 29.ks1.13: When he reviewed variation 29.ks1.12 two years later, he reiterated that it was a good one. I like that mixture. Playing through the transcription, he varied it further in segment 3, initially replacing midrange Cs with bass C substitutions. This reminded him of comparable figures that he used to mix with them, leading him to re-create 29.ks1.13 for our collection. Now I’m carrying the repeated bass note idea over the whole cycle. You can hear that in my old recordings. 29.ks1.14–15: These are mixtures of things from the other variations [above]. They’re part of my own inventions, my way of playing. I used to hear a lot of music from other musicians whom I didn’t know at bira. I couldn’t get a chance to study from them in those contexts, so later, by myself, I tried to recollect— to bring to life— what I was 202

Chapter 29

hearing. It took days sitting by myself outside, trying out different things. This one [29.ks1.15], I used to do, but I don’t anymore. I just stopped because when you have so many things to play, you tend to forget or just bypass some. 29.ks1.16: We reconstructed this from our 1972 transcription. I generally resort to pamusoro substitutes like these [segments 2–3] when I become tired out from playing all the basses. Sometimes my left thumb would get involved in a lot of [bass] keys for a given time, so I needed to give it a little bit of a rest. By not involving so many of them in my playing [substituting pamusoro pitches or shallow rather than deep basses], I came up with inventions like this. I still play many of them. Examining the variation more closely revealed subtle changes in his practices. Of the D-for-G substitutions (segments 1, 2, 4): I still play that sometimes. Of the A-for-E substitution in segment 3: I don’t do that anymore. The subsequent G-for-C substitution was more familiar. I still do that. 29.ks1.17 : Pamusoro substitutions increase the upper-middle voice’s rhythmic density and pitch repetition, while creating a sparer bass line. 29.ks1.18 : Here, conversely, bass-for-midrange pitch substitution creates a sparer middle voice and, in the lower voice, animated bass figures with pitch repetition. 29.ks1.19  combines a high line with a comparable left-hand variation to 29.ks1.17. 29.ks1.20–32: The chording variations were my own inventions. Reviewing 1972’s transcribed patterns (29. ks1.26–30): This shows how I can create different chording mixtures. I called attention to his alternative pairing of right-hand A or G with D in the dyad G area of these variations at the beginning of segment 4. He said that G, G-D, A-D worked as options, but rejected harmonicaddition A by itself. In 2009, his feelings were the same. It shows that A needs the help of the other, it’s like you’re diluting it with the D. But not [playing] A alone. I wouldn’t do that there. I didn’t want to hear Mude yelling, “That’s rubbish!” Also, G and C can’t be used here— as it can in segments 2–3 in relation to dyad C. In the latter areas, however, he sometimes carried over chording substitutions from the preceding dyad G area, the A-D with left-hand Cs creating adjacent-dyad mixtures. In fact, in relation to left-hand pitches representing dyad C, he variously combined right-hand A with C or D— or

I invented this a long time ago. It’s only that sometimes I don’t play certain things I know. I just keep them and play them when I feel like it. 29.ks3.4 : In segment 1 (pickup to the third beat), left-hand substitution re-creates the segment’s initial figure. The substitution can be variously interpreted as prolonging dyad G and eliding dyad B, or as inserting dyad G between dyad B and dyad E, producing a melodic-harmonic rocking motion. 29.ks3.5  combines a high line with the left-hand variation above.

from the other kushaura to be classified as an independent part. How did other musicians regard Mude’s part? He was heavily criticized for playing this way. It’s the one that Maridzambira didn’t like. Even Chivhanga didn’t like that style. A lot of people criticized it, the way the mbira [here, meaning keys] are played together. Did people consider that a majimba style? No, it’s not like majimba, which is deliberately playful. This one isn’t intended that way. Teachers like the Chivhanga people came from Nyandoro. A lot of players who came from there played for the big spirits who knew about mbira. That style was not within their system. Probably Mude came up with that because he was somebody who dreamed playing mbira [he learned from the music he heard in dreams], and was trying out different things in his playing. But this part was unfamiliar to most of the seasoned musicians I came across. They were critical of it. Can this kushaura be mixed with other Nyamaropa kushaura, though, switching to it for a change? With your experience, you’d have seen me or Luken do that if we had done so. We didn’t like that kind of style within our playing environment. It was not sounding the way we thought was best. But Mude would play this with you sometimes? Yes, you remember there’s the recording with him [The Soul of Mbira CD], in which I was playing kutsinhira. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear him playing some of those things. In 2002, reviewing a 1970s recording I had made of Cosmas, he looked up with surprise when, in fact, kushaura (4) appeared amid the flow of his own ideas. That time, I was trying to mix it with the others. It makes me remember John Kunaka, as I said earlier. I can still see him saying indignantly, “Why are you doing that? That’s not good mbira!” Cosmas laughs. 29.ks4.2 : Substitution increases G tremolos in segments 2 and 4, while decreasing them in segments 1 and 3.

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (4) (29.ks4.1)

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (5) (29.ks5.1)

This is a “Nyamaropa” that Mude was using a long time ago when I first joined Mhuri yekwaRwizi to play with him. He felt that Mude’s way of playing Nyamaropa here [with its G tremolo emphasis] was different enough

In 2001, I played this part for Cosmas, which I had transcribed from Luken’s 1972 demonstration: I used to play this, but I don’t anymore, not very often. Mostly, I’ll play it when it comes to me during a performance and

right-hand G with C— producing intervals of thirds or fourths. Nyamaropa: Kushaura (2) (29.ks2.1 )

In 1999 we re-created this from our 1972 transcription designated by Cosmas as a “special part.” Comparing segment 3 of a few kushaura, he said he favored different right- and left-hand pitch combinations in each. In kushaura (1), the opening right-hand figure A-A-A spans left-hand A and E: representing dyad A for the duration. In kushaura (2) and kushaura (3), the right hand opens with A-A-G, the figure’s first and last pitch coinciding with left-hand E and C or G, respectively. In the latter cases, the pitches anticipate the dyad C two pulses before kushaura (1) does. It depends on the context, which one of those approaches you take. I asked whether, within segments, he ever deliberately delayed or accelerated his movement through the pitch sequence of the right-hand melody in relation to the left or vice versa. Yes, I am conscious of those changes. I’ll be wanting to blend the sounds between those different keys, those different formations. Arriving early or a bit late at some points; at other points, catching up with the way they typically come together. Nyamaropa: Kushaura (3) (29.ks3.1)

Nyamaropa

203

I feel like lightening up my playing. This also comes from Chivhanga. He played a kushaura like that. 29.ks5.4  illustrates a chording variation. Nyamaropa: Kushaura (6) (29.ks6.1)

From our 1972 transcription, we re-created this part described as a “solo part.” Considering it in light of his practices in 2002, Cosmas revised its classification: No, it’s really my own invention for playing in ensemble. In 2005, we listened to my early recording of the part’s demonstration. From its first segment, Cosmas re-created the entire part as I had transcribed it. This is from the old days. It reminds me of what I used to do. I don’t play it anymore, but I still use a version of “Mahororo” similar to this [chap. 18, Mahororo, solo version (1) (18.sv1.1)]. I invented this “Nyamaropa” from the “Mahororo” solo part, adapting it. Among the parts’ differences, he emphasized right-hand shuffle figures with upward leaps in the Nyamaropa adaptation, shuffle patterns with downward leaps in the Mahororo part. 29.ks6.2 : Rest substitution removes B chording from the basic line, creating a sparer middle voice. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. He wanted the chording included in the basic-part model so that learners could get used to practicing it. At the same time, he suggested that students initially learn the basic line with R1/B alone. My first choice with “Karigamombe,” “Mahororo,” and “Nyamaropa” is to hear R1 because, as a player, the B chording only comes later. It takes time to gain control over the requisite coordination between right thumb and index finger, he advised. It’s important that each key is heard because their sounds should be blended when you do the chording. In a short demonstration, Cosmas started with kushaura (1)’s basic-line variation and, after a few cycles, added left-hand substitutions. Subsequently, he alternated between simplified right-hand lines and high lines, in his last cycle, returning to the former before stopping. From there, I would go up again. In another demonstration, after opening with kushaura (1) (29.ks1.1), he brought in left-hand variation 29.ks1.16; a cycle later changed to left-hand vari204

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ation 29.ks1.9; and played a closing cycle of kushaura (3). I can spend about one-third of my time on kushaura (3) because I keep on bringing it in, taking it out, and bringing it into my playing. About three cycles each time I play it. I use it as a substitute part for kushaura (1), going to and fro. Highlighting another form of variation, he gave a demonstration of Nyamaropa kushaura (1) in which he placed hard accents on the first- and third-beat pitches (midrange Ds and Es), then observed: Accents can also be introduced to bring out new things. The volume, however, should be increased on certain notes over the whole part, not up and down [that is, producing a distinctive pattern of accentuation, not changing erratically]. I noticed that he sometimes changed the parameters for kushaura variations, for example, concentrating chording in a certain section of the cycle, while withholding it from the others. Yes, it’s part of the discipline. I’ll sometimes choose to play different ways in segment 3, but keep certain things the same in segment 4. Why is that? It’s a way of controlling what I’m doing, making sure everything is in order. In 2008, when we reviewed his earlier remarks, I asked if he might elaborate on “keeping things in order.” It’s a way of hearing different voices— different levels of sounds— in the structure of what I’m doing. After trying different ways, I found that making changes in a certain segment or segments was the most interesting thing to me. Once you choose a section of the form, how long do you create variations there? Usually, after going through four or five times on my main one [kushaura (1)’s basic part], I have the flexibility to move on to other things [he refers to left-hand variations 29.ks1.9–16]. In my system, I enjoy repeating each two or three times one way, then another way— so people can really hear what I’m doing. If I play a new thing only once, people won’t notice what’s going on exactly. I enjoy mixing, like a chameleon that keeps on changing colors. The music’s so interesting that people don’t get bored listening. All these things give richness to one song. That’s why Mude used to play a song like “Nyamaropa” the whole night! When I’m in the flow of the music, I want it to be the way currents flow in the river or ocean. It’s hard to describe, but I enjoy experiencing different waves, seeing different

waves, sometimes very powerful, sometimes less powerful, always changing, but changing systematically. It’s like when Mude was singing, he couldn’t keep on just singing the same huro, with high lines going down, but he’d sing the low mahon’era with phrases going up. Also, some currents are light, but others are powerful when they come. They’ll sweep everything away. I feel the same about playing for spirits, to attract them. Some of my variations, like currents, should be strong enough to possess people. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1) (29.kt1.1)

This part is a very old kutsinhira part for “Nyamaropa.” It’s the first [kutsinhira] I was taught by Chivhanga. Cosmas demonstrated a few of the part’s left-hand shuffle figures: left-to-right leaps on the bass manual. I also used to hear a lot of that happening on the radio, so I imitated that kind of thing on my own. Having treated the part variably with respect to B chording over the years, he decided to include it as an integral component of the basic line for our study’s purposes. Really, I have my first preference for this, but when I play, I do so many things, it’s not just a matter of chording or not chording. There are some things I want to return to. After I bring the basic lines with no chording into my playing, I move for a short period to ones that have some chording. I often start with the B chording when I first come in with the kutsinhira because I want to come in with a lot of punch! In reviewing one of our 1999 demonstration recordings, I noted that he had shifted the part a pulse earlier in relation to our transcription so that its basses fell on the beat. He explained that his approach depended on the performance context: I shift the phrasing with the beat when I’m playing alone, but I’ll be one step behind the kushaura when playing with someone else. 29.kt1.2 : Substitution in segment 2 adds a simplified figure emphasizing common-tone G to the basic line. 29.kt1.3 illustrates a simplified line comprising Gs, Bs, and As. 29.kt1.5  : This high line includes two high

peaks, and in segment 1, a G suspension over dyad B’s pitches. Chivhanga taught me these high notes. 29.kt1.8: In segment 1, pitch substitution and metric shifting create a compound (1+3) bass figure, its Bs reinforcing the right-hand 3:2 figure in octaves (third and fourth beats). In reviewing Luken’s related kutsinhira variation on a recording, he remarked that in segment 3, his friend liked to repeat the initial A-E shuffle figure as a substitution for the second-beat G-C figure. That was good to Luken, but I didn’t care for it myself. 29.kt1.9: In 2001, we re-created this from our 1972 transcription. Cosmas also liked to mix its left-hand substitutions in segments 2–3 with those of segment 1 of the previous variation. I still do that when I’m playing seriously. I enjoy doing something different. These substitutes change the melody. Good substitutes, as Beauler says, are like adding butter and jam to bread. 29.kt1.12–13: These were my own variations— some of the things I’d add to the main part, either separately or combined. These were based on my listening to Bandambira’s playing. Here [29.kt1.13], I’ve combined the things I made up [segments 1 and 4] and fused it with Chivhanga’s things [segments 2–3]. We can give that a separate name or keep it as part of kutsinhira (1). I’d spend about four or five cycles on that. 29.kt1.14 : In segment 3, left-hand substitution reinstates the basic part’s figures among those of the previous variation. He drew my attention to sequential Gs in segments 1–2, and the pitch’s repetition in the second half of the cycle. This variation gets me into it, but there are too many L1s [Gs] for me to play this for very long. 29.kt1.17: This is my invention. 29.kt1.18: Those basses are me, mostly. I’d use that for a short transition to other things. As with the variation above, he restricts the right hand to the lower keys R1– R3, emphasizing Gs and As in relation to the animated left-hand figures. Higher right-hand pitches would compete with and overshadow the latter, whereas the lower ones complemented them. Those two variations could also be given separate names, considered separate versions. 29.kt1.19 : Rest and pitch substitution create alternating right- and left-hand keystroke components, and in the bass, compound (1+2) figures starting on beat division 2. 29.kt1.20–21: I added a lot of the chording myself. Nyamaropa

205

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (2) (29.kt2.1) (same as Mahororo kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse later)

We re-created this part from our 1972 transcription in 2002. I had transcribed the pattern’s last three righthand pitches as Bs in relation to dyad D, but he suggested that As could also serve as substitutions there. Reviewing the part again in 2005, his feelings were stronger. Bs were not appropriate there. His preferences were for B-A-A, which delays arrival at dyad D by a pulse, or A-A-A as given below. 29.kt2.2: Right-hand A substitution in segment 4 references dyad D on the third beat. 29.kt2.4 : Left-hand substitution completes the bass line’s pattern of offbeat Gs in segments’ first-beat areas. 29.kt2.6: That’s an early Chivhanga part, Cosmas said, drawing attention to its left-hand pitch and rest substitution in segment 1. 29.kt2.9 : Pitch substitution, pitch insertion, and rest substitution reconfigure midrange and bass lines. Changes include bass G in segment 2, and bass B in segment 4, which, together with right-hand A, represents a dyad B and dyad D pitch mixture. 29.kt2.10–11: Cosmas had initially classified these variations as majimba in 1972, but in 2002 his perspective had changed. They were not majimba as such; simply examples of mixing different elements. 29.kt2.12: We re-created this from our 1972 transcription, given as “IIC Nyamaropa style.” Luken’s the one who mostly liked to do this, he explained in 2002. That’s not for me, but I enjoyed it when he did it, because I was playing kushaura at the time. 29.kt2.13–14: Here again, I’m mixing different things (refers to the effects of rest and pitch substitution, as well as metric shifting). Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (3) (29.kt3.1)

In one performance, after Cosmas played through a series of kutsinhira (1) variations that included rest substitutions, he closed with the “part” currently presented as kutsinhira (3). It comprised a fusion of figures from different sources. Some of them I learned from Chivhanga, like this one with the left-hand rest sub206

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stitutes [refers to absent midrange Gs and As on the first beats of segments]. But I can hear that it’s partly Chivhanga’s and partly mine. It’s Chivhanga, first half [of segment 1]; then myself, second half [of segment 1]; then Chivhanga first half, then myself, and so on, all around the cycle. Although he had initially viewed the pattern as a variation of kutsinhira (1), he decided that each segment’s effective changes justified its upgrade. This should be a separate part because it’s unique in itself. Considering the part in relation to kutsinhira (1) raised an earlier issue about his emphasis on midrange Gs. In the current part, I saved them for the section, segments 1 and 2, where they went together with the basses [forming shuffle figures with downward leaps]. In kutsinhira (1) variation 29.kt1.16, however, he had elaborated their use in changing pitch configurations over the cycle. It’s a little bit like modeling, he said. Modeling? Yes, modeling. It’s like somebody who does sculpting. He knows what he wants to produce, so the way he carves is how he’s going to produce that. You have an imaginary something in your mind— like an image of something. Then you try to make it the way you want it to look, like the image in your mind. It’s the same with mbira music. 29.kt3.4–5: With my left-hand substitutes added here, the part becomes more my own. 29.kt3.6 : This is from Chivhanga. Reviewing this pattern, he suggested classifying it either as an elaboration of kutsinhira (3) or as an independent part. We can give this a different kutsinhira name because its characteristics are carried through the cycle. As you can hear, it gives you something very complete. 29.kt3.7 incorporates segment 1 of kutsinhira (1) 29.kt1.8, emphasizing a compound (1+3) bass figure, its Bs reinforcing the right-hand 3:2 figure in octaves (third and fourth beats). It’s good to show that here, out of the context of kutsinhira (1), so people can practice these things separately as well as in different mixtures— learning to play them from different angles, or approaches. Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (4) (29.kt4.1) (same as Mahororo kutsinhira [8] shifted one pulse later)

This is a mixture of “Mahororo” and “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira. The part combines Mahororo kutsinhira (2) bass line, segments 1 and 4, with that of Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1), segments 2–3. 29.kt4.2 : Rest substitution removes B chording from the basic line. Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (5) (29.kt5.1) (majimba part; variation of Mahororo kutsinhira [9] shifted one pulse later)

This is a “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira mixture. Cosmas pointed to the first half of segment 1, which bears kutsinhira (4)’s influence, and to segment 4, which incorporates figures from kutsinhira (1). 29.kt5.3 : Substitution elaborates bass E and tremolo G in majimba figures, generating cross-rhythmic activity and harmonic ambiguity. Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (6) (29.kt6.1 ) (majimba part; same as Mahororo kutsinhira [10])

This is a really serious part from Luken. Kutsinhira (6)’s melodic pattern, doubled in octaves, is rooted in a recurring twelve-beat rhythm comprising a distinctive succession of rhythmic components. At the end of the cycle, he sometimes substitutes Gs for As over adjacent-pulse bass Ds, anticipating dyad G of the next cycle. Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (7) (29.kt7.1) (majimba part; variation of Mahororo kutsinhira [11] shifted one pulse later)

Listening to Cosmas’s performances, I noticed that he periodically continued his right-hand succession of Gs in segment 2 into the first beat of segment 3, creating the adjacent-dyad mixture: G over midrange A. I rotate such things in my performance to give the part a different feel. 29.kt7.2 : Rest substitution, pitch substitution, and metric shifting create an elaborate majimba with changing melodic-rhythmic figures from segment to segment.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating kutsinhira (1) and (2). What is your system for moving among the kutsinhira (1) left-hand variations? You should feel free to move around, picking them, mixing them as you play. Give each one enough time of play— four or five cycles. Within longer part and variation successions, he liked to use left-hand variation (29.kt1.14), with its onbeat midrange G emphasis, as a short transition to animated variations (29.kt1.16–17)— and to kutsinhira (3). Beginning a demonstration of kutsinhira (3), he announced: I’d also spend about four or five cycles on that. After several cycles, he switched, importing left-hand variations from kutsinhira (1) (29.kt1.16–18), then switched back to 29.kt1.14. Turning to its right-hand simplified line, he varied its three-pitch groupings, for example, at one time playing the segments’ initial figures like G-G-G (segment 2) and A-A-G (segment 3), and another time putting in gaps: G-G-X and A-A-X. Afterward, he explained that he could also shift the rhythmic relationships between kutsinhira (1)’s right-hand and left-hand pitches as he does in kutsinhira (2) variations (29.kt2.10–14). Or, in the context of kutsinhira (3), he could introduce his combined-hand punch figures in segments 2 and 3 (accented shuffle figures leaping from bass E to midrange Gs, the latter reinforced by the right hand in octaves)— increasing or decreasing their number at will (29.kt3.4–5). Cosmas also created novel combinations of ideas from parts associated with different compositions with the same harmonic structure. In his 2002 review of his recorded Nyamaropa 1972 performance, he noted that the recording mixes sections of the kutsinhira for “Nyamaropa” and “Mahororo.” This brings back old memories of when I used to play with Tern [ Justin]. I didn’t remember I was doing these things— how creative I was— in those days. It tells me that I used to mix certain things that I don’t do often now. We also discovered a 1972 transcription that combined segments 2 and 3 of Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1) variation 29.kt1.9 with segments 1 and 4 of Mahororo kutsinhira (4) variation 29.kt4.1. That’s Luken’s playing there, but I also still play that way. It’s like the taped example we listened to from that period. Also enlivening his Nyamaropa performances were Nyamaropa

207

majimba parts, kutsinhira (5) through kutsinhira (7). Cosmas identified various episodes of mixing majimba, the joking ones during his 1972 recordings, and, smiling mischievously, recalled their reception. Mr. Mude, my father, and others who knew mbira disapproved of me and Luken playing those things. In the face of such disapproval, the discerning young players had their own preferences concerning majimba. Of one of Luken’s joking styles, Cosmas observed: Actually, it’s a serious part, but I’d only do it for a while. It’s not like the tremolo majimba. He turned to majimba variation 29.kt5.3: It takes great practice and control to play those styles well and effectively. You don’t start a song by playing majimba. You come into it after playing other things. In fact, it’s part of expressing enjoyment of the music when you start moving into those majimba— that’s amusement. Things like majimba require a fast-enough speed. If you do it when you’re playing slowly, they don’t really come out well; they don’t sound nice. But when you’re a bit faster, they do. For that reason, he typically reserved majimba until the music was well underway. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. He incorporates parts from Mahororo and Karigamombe into his performance. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination q; web demonstrations : combinations a–h, k, m–q). Reviewing the parts, he said that his emphasis was on kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) (combination a  and combination b ). The left-hand substitutes for kutsinhira (1) [for example, 29.kt1.13–18] work very well for all the kushaura for “Nyamaropa.” So does kutsinhira (3) (combination h ). Cosmas also learned as a youngster that he could potentially combine parts associated with different “Nyamaropa family songs.” When I first learned kutsinhira (1), Chivhanga showed me that I could use it on “Karigamombe” as well. In fact, when I was a very new student, and was taught how to play the kutsinhira role, he had me mixing “Nyamaropa” kushaura and “Mahororo” 208

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kushaura (combination n ). That prepared my ears for the more advanced, complex things to come. When revisiting the early “Nyamaropa family” transcriptions, it was apparent that some parts had presented special challenges for classification. Multiple times, their respective titles, Nyamaropa or Mahororo, had been crossed out and reversed. With hindsight in 2002, Cosmas explained that such parts were, in fact, multipurpose. He also reminded me that in the 1970s, he and Luken were both still developing their styles and learning the larger mbira system themselves, figuring out what went with what. That may account for some of their equivocation in my early annotations, he offered. Over his career, he created expanded arrangements for three or more players involving parts from different Nyamaropa family pieces (combination o  through combination q ). For your own information, we have “Nyamaropa,” “Mahororo,” and “Karigamombe” that can be played together [combination o ]. If we do that, we’ll start from the same level [here, meaning the merging parts’ left-hand patterns begin on the pickup to segment 1]. “Nyamaropa” will be on the same line with “Karigamombe” [their right-hand patterns are aligned] so the [right-hand] interlocking will be accomplished by “Mahororo.” You can also add “Nhimutimu” [Nhimutimu (2) solo version or Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (1)] to this arrangement [combination q ]. “Mahororo” will still be doing the interlocking, and “Nhimutimu (1)” will follow on “Nyamaropa.” Nhimutimu’s left-hand shuffle figures fall on the same pulses as those of Nyamaropa, but interlock with those of Mahororo. Meanwhile, Nhimutimu’s spare offbeat right-hand pattern alternately interlocks with Nyamaropa and Mahororo’s right-hand patterns. Together, the parts produce thick composite pitch stacks in the middle register and “lower” upper voice. A distinctive combination involving Nhimutimu (1) kushaura and kutsinhira produces a composite bass line with pitches on every pulse (combination p ). So, once interlocking is accomplished by any two parts, you can add others to the mix? Yes. [As above], when we play “Karigamombe” and “Nyamaropa” kushaura together [their right-hand patterns coinciding, as in combination q ], they are interchangeable with the interlocking with “Mahororo.” So,

in some arrangements, when “Mahororo” joins “Karigamombe,” the one playing “Karigamombe” can change to “Nyamaropa” and the interlocking is still there. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in the other parts for a change. In 1971, he did not feel that I was ready for crosscomposition arrangements because I was a beginner. One exception was the “Nyamaropa kushaura and Mahororo kushaura” mentioned earlier, in which the parts achieved interlocking in their original beat positions. When I relearned the repertory with him in 1998–1999, he elaborated the principles that enabled exchanges among a wider range of “Nyamaropa family” parts. For example, using the appropriate Mahororo kutsinhira parts with Nyamaropa kushaura typically required shifting the kutsinhira a pulse later with respect to their normal beat position, in effect converting onbeat bass lines to offbeat bass lines. You have to shift into a [rhythmic] position that goes with what you want to achieve. You’re forced to twist the way you’ve usually been following. That’s part of the artistry. In the 1960s, he recalled, his family ensemble, Mhuri yekwaMagaya, experimented with such combinations in its cross-composition arrangement entitled Nhimura. A decade later, he dictated a note for my Nyamaropa kutsinhira (2) transcription indicating that the part also worked as a Mahororo kutsinhira if played “on [the] same level as Mahororo kushaura,” in this instance meaning that the Nyamaropa kutsinhira needed to be shifted a pulse earlier. Nyamaropa kutsinhira (6) was one of the few multipurpose parts that retained its original beat position when combined with other pieces’ kushaura (combination e; see also chap. 18, Mahororo, combination m, in which the part appears as Mahororo kutsinhira [10]). Cosmas’s duo arrangements introduced me to another cross-composition arrangement. While I emphasized Nyamaropa kushaura (1), he entered with Nyamaropa kutsinhira (1), later switching to Karigamombe kutsinhira (3) (combination m), then to Nyamaropa kutsinhira (3), and back to kutsinhira (1). Meanwhile,

he suggested I should vary kushaura (1)’s right-hand patterns through developing high lines, high lines, and chording. He would respond in kind to my changes in his kutsinhira part. He periodically shared stories with me about the mutual sensitivity and attentiveness that successful interplay required within musicians’ prearranged and improvised schemes. In Mhuri yekwaRwizi, if Erick changed to high lines and he or Luken continued with the basic line, Erick would plead, “Shamwari [Friend]. Please, why are you not responding to me?” Of course, in the larger ensembles, there’s no absolute rule for this. You could have three or four players adding different right-hand patterns or staying in the same basic area— all playing right-hand basic lines. In the absence of direct feedback, the group members assessed the effects of their choices on their playing partners. On one occasion in which we reviewed a recorded 1970s Nyamaropa performance, I asked about irregular rhythmic figures that appeared in a brief kushaura-kutsinhira episode. To my ears, the music seemed temporarily unsettled. Yes. I was trying to fit Mude’s part [kushaura (4)] in there, but unsuccessfully. I can hear on the tape how, when I changed to Mude’s part, it really pushed Luken. He was thrown by it at first. I saw that and left Mude’s part after one cycle. Overall, Cosmas looked back on the group’s rapport with nostalgia. I played with others who did a lot of creative things, and that would inspire me. When I played intensely with people like Luken for a long time, things would come back to me. We’d do lots of variations together. Some that he’d do would require me to respond, reminding me of things I had forgotten or bypassed. But now I play more with others who only know a few parts for songs. That inhibits my creativity. If you’re an experienced player and play with inexperienced players, your playing will go down. That’s why you need to play with great musicians. Table 29.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

The variations in this performance are little things I’m improvising on the left side [of the mbira] and, also, on the right— so they need to meet somewhere to compromise. Nyamaropa

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TABLE 29.1 Nyamaropa

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w sl (begins seg 4) (29.ks1.5)

0:13

ks (1) w bl/ch & RHvar (29.ks1.3 alternating w 29.ks1.1)

0:16

kt (1) w bl/ch (begins seg 3, 1st beat, beat division 3) (29.kt1.1)

0:00

0:21

kt (1) w bl/ch & LHvar (29.kt1.1, mix w LH 29.kt1.8 & 29.kt1.15)

0:05

kt (1) w hl (29.kt1.5)

0:22

kt (1) w bl/ch & LHvar (29.kt1.1, mix w LH 29.kt1.8 & 29.kt1.15)

0:49

kt (1) w bl/ch (29.kt1.1)

1:04

kt (1) w hl (29.kt1.5)

1:15

0:29

ks (1) w bl & RHvar (29.ks1.7)

0:38 1:02

ks (1) w sl (29.ks1.5)

1:05

ks (3) w sl & LHvar (29.ks3.2; LH mix w 29.ks3.3, seg 4)

1:16

ks (3) w bl/ch & LHvar (29.ks3.4)

1:20 1:22

ks (3) w hl & RHvar (29.ks3.5)

1:31 1:41

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (29.ks1.7)

1:58

ks (1) w sl & LHvar (29.ks1.5, LH: 29.ks1.5 mix w 29.ks1.11, seg 3)

kt (1) w sl & LHvar (29.kt1.3, mix w LH 29.kt1.8, seg 1; 29.kt1.15)

1:42

2:16

ks (1) w sl (29.ks1.5)

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (29.kt1.5)

2:00

kt (1) w dhl/ch & LHvar (29.kt1.4, mix w LH 29.kt1.15; LH 29.kt1.8)

2:09

2:25 2:27

ks (1) w bl & LHvar (29.ks1.1) LH: 29.ks1.1 mix w 29.ks1.11, seg 3

2:43

ks (1) w hl (29.ks1.7)

kt (1) w hl (29.kt1.5)

2:27

3:00

ks (1) w sl (29.ks1.5)

kt (1) w bl/ch & LHvar (29.kt1.1, mix w LH 29.kt1.8 & 29.kt1.15)

2:44

Karigamombe kt (3) w dhl & RH/LHvar (16.kt3.3, mix w RH subs; LH: 16.kt3.9–10 & rest subs)

2:52

3:08

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TABLE 29.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

3:11

ks (3) w sl (29.ks3.2)

3:18

Kutsinhira

Counter

Karigamombe kt (3) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.kt3.4 & subs; LH: 16.kt3.3, mix w 16.kt3.10)

3:02

3:27

ks (1) w bl (29.ks1.7)

Karigamombe kt (3) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.kt3.10 & subs; LH: 16.kt3.3, mix w 16.kt3.10)

3:11

3:36

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (29.ks1.7)

Karigamombe kt (3) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 16.kt3.10 & subs; LH: 16.kt3.3, mix w 16.kt3.10)

3:20

3:44

ks (1) w sl (29.ks1.5)

3:48

ks (1) w sl & LHvar (29.ks1.5, mix w LH 29.ks1.11, seg 3) Nyamaropa kt (1) w bl/ch (29.kt1.1)

3:36

ends

3:48

3:52 4:03

ends

4:04

While I play, my attention is on both. What I’m trying to say is that they’re working as a team. He paused and added: Such things are hard to express in language. That’s why I express myself, my ideas, through the music. 1:58: Concerning kushaura (1), segment 3 of lefthand variation 29.ks1.11. I can bring that segment into most of the kushaura if I want to. Concerning kutsinhira (1) (18.kt1.3) and his lefthand liberties. When playing this, I go to mixing, bringing in different things. Here’s where the mix is too much! [very much!]. I bring in things like “Mahororo” kutsinhira (7) [18.kt7.1, shifted] in segment 1, and “Mahororo kutsinhira (8)” [18.kt8.1, shifted] in segment 4. The kutsinhira I’m using can be applied on “Mahororo,” “Karigamombe,” and “Nhimutimu.” 2:35: Cosmas points out the little majimba there—

an emphatic compound (1+3) bass figure, its Bs reinforcing the right-hand 3:2 figure in octaves (third and fourth beats; see variation 29.kt1.8, segment 1). When you hear that, it’s driven by excitement. It’s like when you’re feeding your kids: when they have enough and are happy, you see them start doing all sorts of other things. 3:10: I’m putting “Karigamombe” kutsinhira (3) in there [16.kt3.1]. This makes me think of a Shona proverb, “Hukama hwakasimbiswa nekudya” [Family relations are strengthened when you share food together]. That came to my mind because of how the “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira part gets into the “Karigamombe” kutsinhira, while “Nyamaropa” is still the kushaura. So, it’s like the two songs are meeting at “Nyamaropa” kushaura— that’s the host— to share some food!

Nyamaropa

211

Nyamaropa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

ks4

ks5

ks6

kt1

kt2

G ds 1

3

6

29.Nyamaropa 212

29. Nyamaropa : Compilation

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Nyamaropa: Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

G ds 1

3

29.Nyamaropa

6

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 29. Nyamaropa : Compilation

213

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (1) 29.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

29.ks1.1

Basic line

29.ks1.2

29.ks1.3

29.ks1.4

Simplified line

29.ks1.5

Right-hand high-line variations

29.ks1.6

29.ks1.7

29.Nyamaropa 214

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

29.ks1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

29.ks1.9

29.ks1.10

29.ks1.11

29.ks1.12

29.ks1.13

29.ks1.14

29.ks1.15

29.Nyamaropa

Kushaura (1) 29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (1)

215

29.ks1.16

Left-hand variations with right-hand simplified line

29.ks1.17

29.ks1.18

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

29.ks1.19

Right-hand chording variations

29.ks1.20

29.ks1.21

29.ks1.22

Right-hand line substitution

29.ks1.23 216

29.Nyamaropa

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

29.ks1.24

29.ks1.25

29.ks1.26

29.ks1.27

29.ks1.28

29.ks1.29

29.ks1.30

Right-hand line substitution

29.ks1.31

29.Nyamaropa

Kushaura (1)

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (1)

217

29.ks1.32

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (2) 29.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

29.ks2.1

Right-hand high line

29.ks2.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

29.ks2.3

Right-hand chording variation

29.ks2.4

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (3) 29.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

29.ks3.1

218

Basic line

29.Nyamaropa

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (3)

Kushaura (3)

29.ks3.2

Simplified line

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

29.ks3.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

29.ks3.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

29.ks3.5

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (4) 29.ks4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

29.ks4.1

Left- and right-hand variations

29.ks4.2

29.ks4.3

29.Nyamaropa

Kushaura (4)

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (4)

219

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (5) 29.ks5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

29.ks5.1

Right-hand high line

29.ks5.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

29.ks5.3

Right-hand chording variation

29.ks5.4

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (6) 29.ks6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

29.ks6.1

29.ks6.2

29.Nyamaropa 220

29. Nyamaropa : Kushaura (6)

Kushaura (6)

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1) 29.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

29.kt1.1

Basic line

29.kt1.2

29.kt1.3

Simplified line

29.kt1.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

29.kt1.5

29.kt1.6

29.kt1.7

29.Nyamaropa

Kutsinhira (1) 29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (1)

221

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

29.kt1.8

29.kt1.9

29.kt1.10

29.kt1.11

29.kt1.12

Left-hand variations with right-hand simplified line

29.kt1.13

29.kt1.14

29.kt1.15

29.Nyamaropa 222

29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

29.kt1.16

29.kt1.17

29.kt1.18

Left- and right-hand variation

29.kt1.19

Right-hand chording variations

29.kt1.20

29.kt1.21

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (2) 29.kt2.1 serving as model (same as Mahororo kutsinhira [2] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

29.kt2.1

Basic line

29.Nyamaropa

Kutsinhira (2)

29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (2)

223

29.kt2.2

29.kt2.3

Developing high line

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

29.kt2.4

29.kt2.5

29.kt2.6

29.kt2.7

29.kt2.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

29.kt2.9

224

29.Nyamaropa

29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

Left- and right-hand variations

29.kt2.10

29.kt2.11

29.kt2.12

29.kt2.13

29.kt2.14

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (3) 29.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

29.kt3.1

Right-hand high line

29.kt3.2

29.Nyamaropa

Kutsinhira (3) 29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (3)

225

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

29.kt3.3

Left- and right-hand variations

29.kt3.4

29.kt3.5

29.kt3.6

29.kt3.7

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (4) 29.kt4.1 serving as model (same as Mahororo kutsinhira [8] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

29.kt4.1

29.kt4.2

29.Nyamaropa 226

29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Right-hand high line

29.kt4.3

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (5) (majimba part) 29.kt5.1 serving as model (variation of Mahororo kutsinhira [9] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

L R L R L

29.kt5.1

Left- and right-hand variations

L R L R L

L R L R L

L R L R L

L R L R L R L R L R L

L R L R L

29.kt5.2

29.kt5.3

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (6) (majimba part) 29.kt6.1 serving as model (same as Mahororo kutsinhira [10])

Right-hand basic line

29.kt6.1

Left- and right-hand variations

29.kt6.2

29.Nyamaropa

Kutsinhira (6) 29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (6)

227

29.kt6.3

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (7) (majimba part) 29.kt7.1 serving as model (variation of Mahororo kutsinhira [11] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

29.kt7.1

Left- and right-hand variations

29.kt7.2

29.kt7.3

228

shifted figure

29.Nyamaropa

29. Nyamaropa : Kutsinhira (7)

Kutsinhira (7)

Nyamaropa: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 29.ks1.4—29.kt1.2

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 29.ks1.7—29.kt1.5

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and developing high line 29.ks1.7—29.kt2.9

29.Nyamaropa

Combinations 29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

229

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (5) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks1.3—29.kt5.3

L R L R L

L R L R L R L R L R L

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (6) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks1.3—29.kt6.1

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (7) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks1.3—29.kt7.2

29.Nyamaropa 230

29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks2.1—29.kt2.4

h. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand simplified line and basic line 29.ks3.4—29.kt3.6

i. Kushaura (4)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks4.1—29.kt4.1

29.Nyamaropa

Combinations 29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

231

j. Kushaura (5)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and basic line 29.ks5.2—29.kt2.2

k. Kushaura (6)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 29.ks6.2—29.kt1.2

l. Kushaura (6)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and simplified line 29.ks6.1—29.kt1.16

29.Nyamaropa 232

29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

Combinations

Cross-Composition Combinations m. Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)/Karigamombe Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 29.ks1.7—16.kt3.4

n. Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)/Mahororo Kushaura (1) with right-hand high lines 29.ks1.7—18.ks1.11

29.Nyamaropa

Combinations 29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

233

Three-Part Arrangements o. Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)/Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Karigamombe Kushaura with right-hand high lines and simplified line 29.ks1.7—18.ks1.11—16.ks.2

p. Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)/Nhimutimu (1) Kushaura (1)/Nhimutimu (1) Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 29.ks1.7—26.ks1.7—26.kt1.13

29.Nyamaropa 234

29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

Combinations

Four-Part Arrangement q. Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)/Mahororo Kushaura (1)/Karigamombe Kushaura/Nhimutimu (1) Kushaura (1) with right-hand high lines and simplified lines 29.ks1.7—18.ks1.11—16.ks.2—26.ks1.3

29.Nyamaropa

Combinations 29. Nyamaropa : Combinations

235

30 Nyamaropa Chipembere

I heard people calling this song “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” It’s one of the “Nyamaropa” family songs. Nyamaropa means “meat with blood.” Chipembere means “black rhinoceros.” I wasn’t told what the names specifically mean when used together. “Nyamaropa Chipembere” is a very rich song. It has everything in itself. In most cases, I play it solo. It’s like “Bangiza (5)” kushaura, the big one, or “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” The same applies to “Mahororo” solo version (1). It’s an especially sweet song, “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn solo version (1), later working on solo version (8) and, finally, any of the remaining versions. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the solo version section, including its components’ use in “solo version–kutsinhira” arrangements. Solo Versions

I was taught this by different people. I’m sure Erick and Mondreck assisted me in learning the less complicated things. Then, when you and I went with Luken to Bandambira, I got more of the solo thing, which I later developed. I really liked a lot of what was happening in his playing of this piece, but I couldn’t pick it all up from his performance. Bandambira didn’t have the patience to break things down for us. He’d say, “Just pick it up from what I’m doing.” Luken and I had to crack our heads to learn it from him. When I’m playing it solo, I’m playing different kushaura or kutsinhira things— mixing a lot. Among the piece’s characteristic keystroke and melodic-rhythmic figures are 236

the left hand’s compound (3+1) figures introduced on beat division 2. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (1) (30.sv1.1)

Our 1972 transcription notes described this version’s multilayered patterns as “kushaura” and identified the piece as “Nhimutimu (from Nyamaropa) from Cosmas/Erick”— reflecting the overlapping repertory of Nyamaropa family pieces and their changing place in Cosmas’s system. In 2002 Cosmas reported: I still play the basic solo version (1) and these variations. 30.sv1.2 : Right-hand pitch substitution changes the scheme of pitch repetition in segments 3–4, anticipating dyad C and dyad D areas, respectively. 30.sv1.12: Pointing to his elaboration of the bass line and midrange variations, he observed: This also is clearly different from the others and has a separate identity. 30.sv1.17: He introduces left-hand L7/G substitutions in segment 1, then responds to the subsequent compound (3+1) figure including L1/G by creating comparable figures in segments 2–3. 30.sv1.18: Substitution produces tremolo G in segment 1, which, as in the variation above, prolongs dyad G and contracts subsequent dyad B. 30.sv1.21–22: These were also from Erick and Mondreck. I’d pick up their substitutes for the left hand. In those days, I was thinking of what I had seen Bandambira playing, and the way the Muchenas were playing, and the way Maridzambira was playing, and the way a lot of different Gondo parts were. I had also seen other musicians doing those kinds of things. That’s when I began including more basses in my playing. As I kept working on this “Nyamaropa Chipembere,” I developed them. I was trying to work out something that was complex. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (2) (30.sv2.1)

Cosmas traced the left-to-right movement on his instrument that produced the part’s opening left-hand figure (segment 1 and the first beat of segment 2). It’s like taking a walk down the pamusoro keys. Mostly I learned solo version (2) from Bandambira, but the tremolo was not from Bandambira, but from Mondreck and Erick.

So that’s when I came up with that part. It’s a distinctive kind of variation. A lot of this [demonstrates segment 1’s tremolo figures] can be confusing to play. Let’s give it an independent name. 30.sv2.3: Revisiting the variation in 2008, he traced the descending high-line keystroke pattern (segments 1–3) on his mbira. This one is like taking a walk through the nhetete keys. I’ll have covered them all. 30.sv2.5  and 30.sv2.6  illustrate left-hand substitutions in the second half of the cycle, developing a succession of offbeat compound (3+1) figures. 30.sv2.7: He points to his instrument’s keys that produce the E substitutions in segments 2–3. You can see something is different there. 30.sv2.8: Noting his rest and pitch substitutions, which dissolved the compound (3+1) figures above and shifted midrange A onto the beat, he initially suggested that what happens in the middle half of it, segments 2 and 3, is different enough to give it a different character. Later, he decided its changes represented a borderline case; its reclassification was unnecessary. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (3) (30.sv3.1)

This is Erick’s. It’s different and should have its own name. 30.sv3.4: Cosmas reminisced about the variation’s origin: I was getting things from different musicians— the way I heard one playing, the way I heard another one playing— and I tried to fuse that. Would you take a couple of segments from someone and a couple from someone else and combine them? Yes, that’s what I was doing there. In this case, segment 1 represented Erick, who liked to emphasize bass Gs, and segment 2, Mondreck, who emphasized bass Cs there. Mondreck would be singing and playing lighter basses, and Erick would be playing those heavy basses. I had that in my imagination as I was working toward the substitutes. I really wanted to do this because they both played in a way I liked so much. I always think of them when I’m playing these parts. Sensitive to the effects of subtle substitutions on the bass line, he was tempted to classify this as an independent part as well, but concluded that the limited scope of the change did not warrant it. 30.sv3.5 : Here, he incorporates Mondreck’s leftNyamaropa Chipembere

237

hand substitutions, while thickening the upper voice with chording that expands dyad C areas. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (4) (30.sv4.1)

Cosmas’s version emphasizes offbeat compound (3+1) bass figures. 30.sv4.2 : Right-hand substitution in segments 2–3 alters the scheme of pitch repetition, prolonging dyad C areas and contracting dyad E areas. 30.sv4.6: At the end of segment 1, he sometimes “ghosted” the second of the bass Es intentionally, playing faintly in order to highlight the first one. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (5) (30.sv5.1 )

In 2002 we reviewed this part, initially transcribed in 1972. This is my creation, he reported. After struggling with the part’s performance initially, I remarked on the challenges presented by its spare features and offbeat phrasing. He said that he had been inspired to compose it by Chivhanga’s Nhimutimu version with right-hand gaps [Nhimutimu (1) kushaura (4) variations 26.ks4.2 and 26.ks4.4–5]. Cosmas’s father had enjoyed it a great deal too, and praised the part whenever he heard it in his son and Chivhanga’s performances together. Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (6) (30.sv6.1)

We re-created solo version (6) from our 1972 transcription. Representing a distinctive change in character, the version is based on left-hand five-pulse keystroke figures, rather than the characteristic offbeat compound (3+1) keystroke figures. I want it to be identified as a different part. Cosmas did not typically emphasize high lines when playing parts like solo version (6) that were heavy on basses. I occasionally use a bit of high notes, but I don’t want them to distract from the shape and the force of the bass notes. 30.sv6.4: In relation to the basic part, left-hand pitch substitution replaces L6/G pitches in segment 3, dissolving tremolo G. 238

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30.sv6.6 : Substitution here generally increases upper-midrange pitches, while, in segment 3, it introduces bass pitches that respond to the prior segments’ bass figures, adding uniformity to the bass line. 30.sv6.7  combines a simplified line with left-hand pitch substitutions. 30.sv6.9 : Here, pitch substitution in segment 2 anticipates dyad C. In segment 3, responding to the initial pair of shuffle figures (A-C, A-E), it re-creates Cosmas’s compound (2+1) figure with punch (bass C to midrange G, answered by onbeat bass E). Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (7) (30.sv7.1 )

We reclaimed this part after it appeared in his performance at a recording session in 2004. It’s like solo version (6), but leaves out some things [reduces the latter’s five-keystroke figures to the piece’s characteristic compound (3+1) keystroke figures]. 30.sv7.2  illustrates a high line with two peaks and scalar descents. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing solo version (1) continuously. Work on alternating different solo versions. He primarily reserved the piece for solo performance. Taking advantage of the liberties it invited, he could mix the versions in performance, not only alternating them over successive cycles, but creating unique fusions of their components. Demonstrating the possibilities, he began with segment 3 of the basic part of solo version (6), and after a few cycles, incorporated the high line from solo version (1) variation 30.sv1.6. This is how I’ll start and build up on the right-hand side. Then I can change into other variations. He transitioned to solo version (1) left-hand variation 30.sv1.17 with its high line and insistent left-hand G substitutions, then returned to the main solo version (6) before proceeding to its left-hand variation 30.sv6.10 and others. As you’ve heard, most of them have very appealing segments. In another demonstration, he played the basic solo version (1), which emphasizes light basses; shortly after, he switched to tremolo variation 30.sv1.17. That gives you more energy to play. Subsequently, he transitioned

to solo version (6), emphasizing heavier basses and repeating it for several cycles before returning to solo version (1) for a cycle. After playing a lot of high lines with the other parts, I want to give a chance to those basses with this part. They make a good contrast, bringing different melodic things to the music. Finally, he created a new variation by linking segments 1–2 of solo version (2) with segment 3 of solo version (6) and segment 4 of solo version (3). You should feel free to bring in any one of those. It doesn’t matter which comes first on “Nyamaropa Chipembere,” although usually I use that high-note variation as a wake-up call, starting with something very lively [for example, 30.sv1.17, initiated by high G/R9 and lower-octave G/L7 alternation]. It gets in with a punch. Or, I’ll start with the tremolo part, solo version (2), to wake people up, then go into any of those parts. I can just mix them and they’re fine. He also took subtler liberties with his patterns. At one point when playing left-hand variation 30.sv1.12, he incorporated simplified figures A-A-G G-G-B into the basic line (segment 3), later replacing them with A-A-A G-G-B. Small differences like that really change the taste or feel of the thing. Yes, it really influences the whole part. Another time, he began by combining solo version (2)’s left-hand pattern 30.sv2.7 with 30.sv2.6’s dual-peak high line, subsequently replacing the latter with 30.sv2.7’s single-peak variation. After I developed the first high-line variation— playing it from high G down to low A on the right side— I wanted to substitute the low Gs the next time [segment 3, third-beat area] and emphasize that for a few cycles, so I could hear a difference. Those were some of my experiments with that idea. Going on to repeat the single-peak line, he nuanced its lefthand patterns with unique mixtures of figures from variations 30.sv2.6 through 30.sv2.9. You can see that I was hooking these up. That was what I was trying to do. I wanted it to have a different power, a strong punch. Over the course of performance, he balanced spontaneous excursions with those that he had routinized. There are some sections in my playing that are interdependent, so I need to do it a certain way to set up what I’m doing. It’s all part of the arrangement. A case in point is one of his successions for solo version (1)’s variations. It begins with the movement from segment 4 in variation 30.sv1.21 where there’s three pamusoro Ds in a row to variation 30.sv1.22, in which he plants a single bass D substitute in segment 4 to set up the tremolo section

that follows in segment 1 of the next variation I play [30. sv1.17 or 30.sv1.18]. You can do all these things in solo playing. Commonly Cosmas emphasizes versions (1) and (7) in his solo performances, while bringing in the other parts for a change. Combined Solo Version and Kushaura Parts

Cosmas also includes Nyamaropa Chipembere in crosscomposition arrangements. In the early days, he discovered that he could play the piece with other Nyamaropa family songs, for example, Mahororo, Nyamaropa, Karigamombe, and Nhimutimu. In fact, in 1972, he and his brothers in the ensemble Mhuri yekwaMagaya recorded “Nyamaropa Chipembere” as part of the arrangement they called “Nhimura.” Additionally, in Mhuri yekwaRwizi, “Nyamaropa Chipembere” was one of those songs I used to play a lot with Justin Magaya and Mondreck and Erick. Primarily, they combined the piece’s components with Mahororo kushaura (1) (see chap. 18, Mahororo, combination u  through combination x ). When I’m playing it with other players, I restrict myself to certain things [selective Nyamaropa Chipembere variations]. If you play “Mahororo” [kushaura (1)] against them, the interlocking or the alternating of the keys is so great. It’s so intense that it goes very well with that. Examining a note on our 1972 transcription indicating that Nyamaropa Chipembere could be “followed by Mahororo” as a kutsinhira, he corrected the impression, saying that Nyamaropa Chipembere was typically assigned the kutsinhira role in duo arrangements. There could be situations in which Mahororo kushaura served as a kutsinhira, however, for example, those involving three or more mbira in which each one does different things. Local naming practices did not always distinguish each player’s role in the cross-composition arrangements of large ensembles. In our duo renditions, he advised me that most of the solo versions of Nyamaropa Chipembere worked as kutsinhira with Mahororo kushaura. Solo versions (1)–(4) were close choices. When we tried out solo version (1) with Mahororo kushaura (1)’s basic part (18.ks1.1), however, the combination produced spare resultant bass figures. Usually when you’re playing “Mahororo” with “Nyamaropa Chipembere,” you need to employ those types of “Mahororo” the way I play Nyamaropa Chipembere

239

them— you know, those with heavy basses [variations 18.ks1.18–20]— so they’ll match the action of “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” At one point while we tested the possibilities, solo version (3)’s mixture with a Mahororo solo version (1) variation called up fond memories (chap. 18, Mahororo, combination v). At ceremonies, Mai Muchena’s spirit would come in a minute when we played that. Mondreck loved to sing with that combination. He loved to sing on “Mahororo,” and he sang great. I think of him when I play this now. Solo version (5) could also be mixed with Mahororo. Our trial jogged another memory of the version’s genesis. While inspired by spare Nhimutimu variations and early experiences playing with Chivhanga, Cosmas’s primary motivation for composing solo version (5) was to produce a complementary part to Mondreck’s and Erick’s in their three-part arrangement. Considering the combination involving solo version (6): That heavy one can work as well [chap. 18, Mahororo, combination x ]— even though he mostly

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Chapter 30

thought of it as for soloing. Solo version (7), too, would work with Mahororo. After an especially successful performance in which we had emphasized his favored combinations, Cosmas looked up from his mbira with delight. Their mesh of each in succession had produced a playful ambiguity, he intimated, testing the prowess of mbira connoisseurs. I really enjoyed that. When we play like that, that’s when people will be challenged, saying, “Is this ‘Mahororo’ or ‘Nyamaropa’ that we’re hearing?” In contrast, he deemed another prospect for part combinations in our archive— a version he had learned from Luken (chap. 40, 40.30.sv3.Kw)— to be just for soloing. I have a system in my playing: which part should go with what. The features of Luken’s version were too different from other Nyamaropa Chipembere parts to accommodate smooth transitions between them or recommend their mixture in cross-composition combinations. It’s like if you’re driving a car, you can’t just go from 60 to 20 miles per hour. You can’t do that. I’d play it separately, not mixing it with the other solo versions.

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Compilation of part models and harmonic model sv1

sv2

sv3

sv4

sv5

sv6

sv7

G ds 1

3

6

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation 30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Compilation

241

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (1) 30.sv1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

30.sv1.1

Basic line

30.sv1.2

30.sv1.3

Simplified line

30.sv1.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

30.sv1.5

30.sv1.6

30.sv1.7

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere 242

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

30.sv1.8

30.sv1.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

30.sv1.10

30.sv1.11

30.sv1.12

30.sv1.13

30.sv1.14

30.sv1.15

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

Solo Version (1)

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (1)

243

30.sv1.16

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

30.sv1.17

Left- and right-hand variations

30.sv1.18

30.sv1.19

30.sv1.20

30.sv1.21

30.sv1.22

Right-hand chording variations

30.sv1.23

244

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (1)

Solo Version (1)

30.sv1.24

30.sv1.25

Right-hand line substitution

30.sv1.26

30.sv1.27

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (2) 30.sv2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

30.sv2.1

Basic line

30.sv2.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

30.sv2.3

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

Solo Version (2)

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (2)

245

30.sv2.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

30.sv2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

30.sv2.6

30.sv2.7

30.sv2.8

30.sv2.9

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (3) 30.sv3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

30.sv3.1

246

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (3)

Solo Version (3)

30.sv3.2

Right-hand high line

30.sv3.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

30.sv3.4

Left- and right-hand variation

30.sv3.5

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (4) 30.sv4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

30.sv4.1

30.sv4.2

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

Solo Version (4)

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (4)

247

Right-hand high line

30.sv4.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

30.sv4.4

30.sv4.5

30.sv4.6

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (5) 30.sv5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

30.sv5.1

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

30.sv5.2

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere 248

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (5)

Solo Version (5)

Left- and right-hand variations

30.sv5.3

30.sv5.4

30.sv5.5

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (6) 30.sv6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

30.sv6.1

Basic line

30.sv6.2

Developing high line

30.sv6.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand developing high line

30.sv6.4

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

Solo Version (6) 30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (6)

249

30.sv6.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

30.sv6.6

Left- and right-hand variations

30.sv6.7

30.sv6.8

30.sv6.9

30.sv6.10

30.sv6.11

Right-hand chording variation

30.sv6.12

250

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (6)

Solo Version (6)

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (7) 30.sv7.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

30.sv7.1

Right-hand high line

30.sv7.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

30.sv7.3

30.Nyamaropa Chipembere

Solo Version (7) 30. Nyamaropa Chipembere : Solo Version (7)

251

31 Nyamaropa yepasi

This is another way of playing “Nyamaropa.” Literally, “yepasi” means the earth. In 1972 Cosmas called the piece Nyamaropa yekutanga, as he sometimes does today. “Yekutanga” refers to the first one. To me, “yekutanga” and “yepasi” have the same general meaning when used with mbira songs. It’s a sweet song and a powerful song when it’s played well— one of the most powerful for bringing the spirits. The piece is on the Shona Mbira Music CD. Remember, in the seventies, we used to see lots of people possessed when that song was played. This reminds me of when Erick, Justin, and I used to play at mapira at Magaya village. Mudenda, the spirit who possessed my father, Joshua, would come and say, “Vakomana [Boys], would you please play that song of mine? I now need some powers [for his work of advising, healing, and prophesying].” This was when the musicians were still sitting on the mbira bench. As they started up “Nyamaropa yepasi,” Mudenda would address the women, “Vakaranga [women], please do as you always do,” and they would stand and dance. After they’d stopped and sat down, Mudenda’s special attendant, my mother [Matilda], would bring out the bowl with the hot embers for the medium. Mudenda would address them then, beginning by putting the embers in his mouth to impress them with his powers. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

252

Kushaura Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (1) (31.ks1.1)

I learned this from Justin Magaya around 1966 or 1967. I can’t remember who taught Justin, but he’s the one who taught me the kushaura as well as the kutsinhira. We’re of the same generation; Justin was younger than me by some months. Did he learn in your area? No, Justin is somebody who used to go up and down, sometimes going and playing in Marondera, sometimes going and living in Murehwa and different parts of the country. So, in fact, he had the opportunity of learning many things from different people. Since he was a close relative of mine and we were playing together, he’d teach me as well when we met. Cosmas reminded me that with certain pieces like Nyamaropa yepasi he was used to starting from any point. For our project, he felt that the beginning given in the current transcription would be easiest for learners. Personally, however, he felt equally comfortable starting with segment 4 (see arrow), segment 1 (fourth beat, beat division 1), or segment 2 (second beat, beat division 3). 31.ks1.2: He pointed out the unusually spare simplified line, which together with left-hand pitches produced shuffle keystroke figures in the first halves of segments. 31.ks1.3–4: As above, the whole structure of these variations [spare patterns including metric shifting, pitch insertion, and pitch repetition] have a sorrowful feeling. I’ll want them to sound sorrowful. Selectively accenting certain keys in kushaura (1) could produce perceptual variations with similar affect, he added. 31.ks1.6–9: All these substitutes are from Justin. 31.ks1.6 : Within the developing high line, A and B substitutions introduce fifths in dyad D and dyad E areas, respectively. 31.ks1.7 mixes 31.ks1.5’s right-hand E substitution in with the variation above. 31.ks1.10: When I go to the high lines, as I do here, I bring in the left-hand substitute Fs for segment 2. This increases the left hand’s octave succession, producing a pronounced scalar descent in the bass that overlaps the boundaries between segments 1 and 2. 31.ks1.11 : A-for-D substitution in segment 4 cre-

ates a melodic turn that responds to segment 1’s figures and sets up their return in the next cycle. 31.ks1.14: Like his L7/G substitutions, which produce short tremolos, a lot of the left-hand pamusoro variations [below] are mine. Since these changes are on a small portion of the whole cycle, I consider them pamusoro variations rather than new parts. 31.ks1.16–18: Cosmas, in this group of variations, you specifically direct changes to segments 1 and 4, substituting pamusoro for bass pitches. Yes, it’s a case of two phrases from Justin [segments 2 and 3] combined with two phrases of mine. This one [31.ks1.18] is also an example of where the standard right-hand melody [the basic line] didn’t really fit with my pamusoro [increased shuffle figures], so I fit a new melody to what I was doing. [This is reminiscent of his left-hand substitution with high lines in 31.ks1.10; also, his reflections in chap. 29, Nyamaropa, about his improvisations on the left and right side of the mbira need[ing] to meet somewhere to compromise.] He added: You can even treat that variation [31.ks1.18] as separate from the others because a lot is happening up and down with my left hand [shuffle figures with alternating upward and downward leaps]. For these kinds of advanced variations, students need to gain more experience or master more of the technical aspects. One reason I haven’t taught people such things before is that it takes a long time to get them across. 31.ks1.19–22: When we add chording to the high lines, it makes a blend that was missing in the other variations. It’s like, without it, the high lines sounded naked. Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (2) (31.ks2.1)

In 2002 we re-created this part from our 1972 transcription. This also came from Justin. I don’t forget it. Each time we played this song, he’d like to do this one. He really liked this part a lot. I heard him playing it, but I didn’t have time to study it with him completely. I ended up just finishing it myself, but the way I originally heard it sounding was from him. 31.ks2.3 : Figure substitution replaces spare, onbeat right-hand pitches and high Es in the developing high line above (segment 3), creating a longer succession of alternate-pulse figures overlapping segments 2 and 3. 31.ks2.4: Performing the basic part during one of Nyamaropa yepasi

253

our sessions reminded him of this variation, in which F substitutions introduce distinctive figures in the bass line. Those were my bass substitutes. Small variations should be tasteful changes, he advised. Too much can ruin the music. It shouldn’t be overdone. Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (3) (31.ks3.1)

Cosmas remembered this part and its variations during his demonstration of kushaura (2). I can’t remember very well who taught me this part because at the time Justin showed me “Nyamaropa yepasi,” I was also learning from other people like Bandambira and Erick Muchena. One of them was playing that and showed me. What makes this a different kushaura is that the whole arrangement of the phrases is completely different from the first one. Beyond its bass line, he points to the part’s distinctive emphasis on tremolo G, segments 1–3, found elsewhere only as substitutions in 31.ks1.14. Segment 1’s G tremolo anticipates dyad G by a beat. In segment 2 (pickup to the second beat), the left hand’s octave E substitution anticipates dyad E by a beat. 31.ks3.2: Any of these substitutes would be fine. These small changes aren’t the difference between the basic line and another type of line. There’s room for change within the basic line, but I don’t use the chording with it. That gives a different flavor. In my playing, I normally come to that after playing the basic line. 31.ks3.8  : In the context of the high line, lefthand octave displacement increases the midrange pattern’s rhythmic density, creating midrange compound (1+2) figures, while decreasing the bass line’s density. 31.ks3.9: Recalling this variation when performing kushaura (2), Cosmas initially classified it as kushaura (3)’s main part. He revised his thinking during a review of his repertory in 2005, suggesting that we classify the current 31.ks3.1 as the main part and 31.ks3.9 as its pamusoro variation. 31.ks3.10  : Substitution thickens the variation’s texture with octave reinforcement, including B chording, while shortening tremolo G in segment 1. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. Demonstrating his general kushaura approach, 254

Chapter 31

Cosmas began with kushaura (1). I’ll start in the following manner without the high lines, then include the middle right-hand ones [here, developing high lines]. Next, I increase my speed as I go along and go higher [switching to high lines]. As I play, I’ll add up some variations on the left-hand side, then I’ll add something else [left- and right-hand variation 31.ks1.18]. So those are the things I’ll be involved in when I’m playing “Nyamaropa yepasi.” On another occasion, he demonstrated his mixing of developing high lines and high lines by playing through the sequence 31.ks1.5, 31.ks1.10, and 31.ks1.18— repeating each variation for several cycles. Toward the end, I thought I heard left-hand variations enter his demonstration as well. Yes, I play them all in one performance, but I take it step by step. I’ll start with the [right-hand] basic-line one, then go for about six or seven cycles before I include [left-hand] changes. Once you start implementing those changes, you may go to a different one after two cycles each. Usually, I’ll play the first kushaura [kushaura (1)] around eight cycles, then move into those small variations I do there, then I move into the second one— kushaura (2)— play it for about four cycles. I move into kushaura (3) later. If I spend six cycles on the first ones, I’ll spend about half that number on this one. After that, I’ll move away from it and bring in certain earlier things again, just mixing them. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Nyamaropa yepasi: Kutsinhira (1) (31.kt1.1)

Joshua’s spirit, Mudenda, liked this song very much. He’d come [possess Joshua] when we played it. When we discussed the right-hand pitches that Cosmas considered to be basic to this part, he played the figures given in our transcription, including D and E. These were pitches that he typically classified as belonging to the developing high line or high line in the context of other pieces. No option in between the basic line and high line had come to mind. I did not want to force a change in that basic line. Using those right-hand extensions, E and D are just part of the backbone. Kutsinhira (1)’s figures slightly prolong the initial dyad of segments. Considered apart from the kushaura, common-tone D’s repetition in segment 1 creates har-

monic ambiguity: whether, for example, prolonging dyad D and eliding dyad G, or representing the fifth of the latter. 31.kt1.7–10 : These variations on the left side [of the mbira] were also from Justin. You can use these substitutes with the basic part [separately] or you can mix them with one another. Justin used to go to an area called Gora in the eastern part, about twenty kilometers from our place in Mhondoro. That’s where his sister was married and they were just a few kilometers, maybe a kilometer, from Bandambira. So, Tern [ Justin’s nickname] used to play with Gwengwe and Bandambira’s other children as well. In 2003, reviewing our 1972 transcriptions and recording of Justin’s performance, he observed: There’s nothing new on the recording. I still play it this way as well. I typically add accents to substitutes like those bass Fs and the Bs [variations above] whenever I go to them. 31.kt1.12  : Midrange F substitution introduces the dyad’s root. 31.kt1.13 : In effect, chording incorporating harmonic-addition A (segments 1–3, fourth-beat areas) may suggest dyad D for dyad G substitution; chording incorporating harmonic-addition G (segment 4), dyad C for dyad F substitution. Nyamaropa yepasi: Kutsinhira (2) (31.kt2.1)

I learned this one when we were working on research about our late friend Mondreck Muchena at Amai Muchena’s village in 1999. That day, we happened to be with the brother of Amai Muchena, Boniface, with whom I used to play together with Mondreck some years back. Late that night, after the day’s work, we were in the “Red Elephant” truck driving back home from Amai Muchena’s when Boniface took out his mbira and began playing. He’s the one who showed me that kutsinhira, coming back from Murehwa. It shows that learning doesn’t end. 31.kt2.10, 31.kt2.11 , 31.kt2.12: Those changes on the left side [of the mbira] are my own variations. Variation 31.kt2.11 illustrates substitutions of dyad fifths for thirds. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kutsinhira (1) continuously. I’d play the main kutsinhira— kutsinhira (1)—

for around ten cycles, then move to the other variations. I’d bring kutsinhira (2) in after I’ve exhausted my first kutsinhira— and all the variations that go with that. Then I’d come to kutsinhira (2). I’d spend a few rounds, four to five— say, half of the rounds I did with kutsinhira (1)— then move on to substitutes within this one [kutsinhira (2)]. Those are minor substitutes according to me. Maybe one cycle is enough for them. Then I go back to the main kutsinhira— kutsinhira (1). After one session, he said that each of his substitutions, such as 31.kt1.7–10, added another ingredient to kutsinhira (1). They need punch— accents— when I play them. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, e, g, i). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1), bringing in the other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he asked me to play kushaura (1), advising: It’s the main one, so give it the greatest amount of time. Even if you move to kushaura (2) and (3), keep coming back to the first one. In performances, when I began the kushaura succession, he typically entered with kutsinhira (1), stretching out its performance and working its variations before transitioning to kutsinhira (2). Over the rendition, just as he had suggested, he continually returned to kutsinhira (1), then struck out again. Although his theoretical position was that all his kushaura “went with” his kutsinhira, his practices were more selective at times— and subject to change. In 2002 and 2003, for example, he focused on kushaura (1)–kutsinhira (2) in performances. When I queried this, he reiterated that the combinations he had previously described were acceptable— that is, there was nothing technically wrong with them— but the pairing above represented his preference at the time. Table 31.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and Nyamaropa yepasi

255

TABLE 31.1 Nyamaropa

yepasi

Counter

Kushaura

0:00

ks (1) w dhl & RHvar (begins seg 2) (31.ks1.7)

0:11

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (31.ks1.11)

0:15

0:31

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 4, 3rd beat, beat division 2) (RH: 31.kt1.5; LH: 31.kt1.8)

0:00

kt (1) w hl & RHvar (31.kt1.5)

0:31

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 31.kt1.5; LH: 31.kt1.8)

0:56

kt (1) w bl/ch & RH/LHvar (RH: 31.kt1.1–2; LH: 31.kt1.8)

2:42

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (midrange subs & pitch inserts) (RH: 31.ks1.12; mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.18, segs 4 & 1)

1:11 1:13

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (31.ks1.11)

1:33

ks (2) w dhl & RHvar (31.ks2.2)

1:48

ks (1)/(2) w hl (31.ks1.11, mix w LH 31.ks2.2)

1:57

ks (1) w hl (31.ks1.11–12)

2:18

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (midrange subs & pitch inserts) (RH: 31.ks1.12, mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.18, segs 4 & 1)

2:26

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (midrange subs & rest subs) (RH: 31.ks1.11; mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.16, segs 4 & 1)

2:37

ks (1) w hl & RHvar (31.ks1.11)

2:44

ks (2) w dhl/ch & RHvar (31.ks2.2)

2:57

256

Counter

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (midrange subs & rest subs) (RH: 31.ks1.11; mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.16, segs 4 & 1)

0:46 0:57

Kutsinhira

Chapter 31

TABLE 31.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

3:23

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (midrange subs & rest subs) (RH: 31.ks1.11; mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.16)

3:25 3:37

ks (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (midrange subs & pitch inserts) (RH: 31.ks1.11; mix w RH/LH 31.ks1.18)

3:49

ks (3) w bl/dhl & RHvar (31.ks3.1, mix w 31.ks3.4)

3:59

ends

4:00

kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

This performance shows my choice to be consistent in playing kutsinhira (1), wanting to hear that for a long time. This is sounding quite good, the way the parts are working together. When I do the changes among kushaura variations and between kushaura (1) and (2), it’s quite smooth as well. It’s great. Those transitions can be especially tricky

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt (1) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 31.kt1.5; LH: 31.kt1.8)

3:10

ends

3:45

also, moving to and fro. When you’re about to move to one or the other, you just need to imagine yourself crossing a narrow bridge. You need to be aware so you avoid falling into the water— so you don’t slip off from the right rhythm or melody. You can relax after crossing the bridge. When I asked about his recurring use of pamusoro variations to diversify kushaura (1)— dropping his bass figures in segments 4 and 1 (0:31 and 0:54, for example), and at the end of the performance (3:36) when setting up kushaura (3)— he replied: That’s just my style.

Nyamaropa yepasi

257

Nyamaropa yepasi: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

ks3

kt1

kt2

B ds 1

3

6

1

31.Nyamaropa yepasi 258

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Compilation

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

Compilation

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (1) 31.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

31.ks1.1

Basic line

31.ks1.2

Simplified line

31.ks1.3

31.ks1.4

31.ks1.5

Developing high line

31.ks1.6

31.ks1.7

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Kushaura (1) 31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kushaura (1)

259

31.ks1.8

31.ks1.9

Right-hand high-line variations

31.ks1.10

characteristic Magaya left-hand substitution with high line

31.ks1.11

31.ks1.12

31.ks1.13

Left- and right-hand variations

31.ks1.14

31.ks1.15

260

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

31.ks1.16

31.ks1.17

31.ks1.18

Right-hand chording variations

31.ks1.19

31.ks1.20

31.ks1.21

31.ks1.22

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Kushaura (1)

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kushaura (1)

261

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (2) 31.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

31.ks2.1

Basic line

31.ks2.2

Developing high line

31.ks2.3

Left- and right-hand variation

31.ks2.4

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura (3) 31.ks3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

31.ks3.1

Basic line

31.ks3.2

31.Nyamaropa yepasi 262

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kushaura (3)

Kushaura (3)

31.ks3.3

Developing high line

31.ks3.4

31.ks3.5

Right-hand line substitution

Right-hand high-line variations

31.ks3.6

31.ks3.7

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

31.ks3.8

Left- and right-hand variations

31.ks3.9

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Kushaura (3)

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kushaura (3)

263

31.ks3.10

31.ks3.11

Right-hand line substitution

Right-hand chording variation

31.ks3.12

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kutsinhira (1) 31.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

31.kt1.1

Basic line

31.kt1.2

31.kt1.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

31.kt1.4

264

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

31.kt1.5

31.kt1.6

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

31.kt1.7

31.kt1.8

31.kt1.9

31.kt1.10

31.kt1.11

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

31.kt1.12

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Kutsinhira (1)

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kutsinhira (1)

265

Right-hand chording variations

31.kt1.13

31.kt1.14

31.kt1.15

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kutsinhira (2) 31.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

31.kt2.1

Basic line

31.kt2.2

Simplified line

31.kt2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

31.kt2.4

31.Nyamaropa yepasi 266

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

31.kt2.5

31.kt2.6

31.kt2.7

31.kt2.8

31.kt2.9

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

31.kt2.10

Left-hand variation with right-hand developing high line

31.kt2.11

Left- and right-hand variation

31.kt2.12

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Kutsinhira (2)

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Kutsinhira (2)

267

Nyamaropa yepasi: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 31.ks1.1—31.kt1.1

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and developing high line 31.ks1.6—31.kt1.10

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 31.ks1.11—31.kt1.12

31.Nyamaropa yepasi 268

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high lines 31.ks1.5—31.kt2.12

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high lines 31.ks1.6—31.kt2.11

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 31.ks2.1—31.kt1.1

31.Nyamaropa yepasi

Combinations 31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Combinations

269

g. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high lines 31.ks2.3—31.kt2.11

h. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 31.ks3.6—31.kt1.4

i. Kushaura (3)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and developing high line 31.ks3.8—31.kt2.11

31.Nyamaropa yepasi 270

31. Nyamaropa yepasi : Combinations

Combinations

32 Nyuchi

“Nyuchi” are bees. The song’s meaning has to do with people working together, exhorting one another to be supportive as a team— like worker bees in a hive. In 1999 we discovered a kushaura part for Nyuchi among our 1972 transcriptions. It had been dictated to me by Luken, who ascribed it to John Kunaka. By 1999, the piece had dropped out of Cosmas’s repertory, but our study piqued his curiosity. He recalled being introduced to the piece at Bandambira’s village and surmised that Bandambira and Kunaka played comparable versions. Their styles bore the influence of a “school” of mbira performance associated with ceremonies for a renowned woman medium in Nyandoro called “Ambuya” (Grandmother). I never played “Nyuchi” very much. I only had an interest in learning it from Bandambira because I liked how he played it. After relearning the part from our transcription and a 1970s Kunaka recording I copied for him, Cosmas asked his son, Muda, if he would learn the kutsinhira from other musicians for him. When we collated Nyuchi parts for our archive in 2001, he said that he didn’t have many parts for this song except those I’ve demonstrated. In the old days, I only had the chance to learn those and later discontinued playing them. “Nyuchi” is not a song that I play so often. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and the kutsinhira, later working on the solo version. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

271

Kushaura Nyuchi: Kushaura (32.ks.1)

That’s Bandambira’s style, the one I play. It’s a song that’s played with hands hitting the keys together on the left-hand side and the right-hand side of the mbira [in octaves]. That’s its structure. Initially, I transcribed the piece as beginning with octave B in segment 1, five pulses later than the starting point of the current version. In 2005, Cosmas recalled: Originally, I started in the place we’d given because I thought it would be easier for students to begin with that. But, actually, I like to start with the high octave Gs. To represent his practice, the “note and metric grid” for our Nyuchi transcriptions is rotated a pulse forward in relation to other pieces’ transcriptions. 32.ks.2 : When I add the octave F [segment 2], those are substitutes. They represent harmonic additions in relation to dyad E. 32.ks.3: Cosmas initially taught me this variation, which begins the cycle with octave F, as the “main” or basic part, but ultimately felt that it did not come with the punch I want. When you’re turning the corner in that part of the melody, that octave G helps you when it’s in there. Subsequently, he replaced the former with octave G for the basic part, treating octave F as a substitution.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously.

Kutsinhira Nyuchi: Kutsinhira (32.kt.1)

I was taught the kutsinhira part by Muda. I had asked him to learn from other people when I had no time to go myself. I didn’t ask him the name of the people who taught him. 32.kt.3 : Substitution elaborates the left hand’s pattern of oscillation between bass B and higher bass pitches in the first half of the cycle, and between bass G and higher bass pitches in the second half. 272

Chapter 32

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously.

Solo Version Nyuchi: Solo Version (32.sv.1)

Muda also taught this to me after learning it from other people. It’s a solo part that’s performed on its own. Compared with kushaura (1), the solo version has a lot of right-hand and left-hand alternating keys. The solo version’s right-hand pattern is shifted a pulse later to interlock with its alternate-pulse left-hand pattern, which largely conforms to the kushaura’s combinedhand pattern. In 2001 Cosmas thought of the current solo version as a “second kushaura,” which was the way it was initially described to him. After experimenting with part combinations, he reclassified it as a “second kutsinhira” because of its right-hand pattern’s interlocking relationship to that of the kushaura. (This aspect was analogous to the relationship between Karigamombe kushaura and kutsinhira [1], he said.) In 2008, however, his latest experiences as a performer and his observations of others’ practices led him to conclude that it was largely played for solo purposes. 32.sv.2 , 32.sv.3: These are my left-side and right-side substitutes. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously, alternating complete cycles of the basic line with those including the high line, and gradually incorporating additional right-hand and left-hand variations. Combined Kushaura, Kutsinhira, and Solo Version Parts

This section samples the kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo version combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination e; web demonstrations : combinations b–c, e).

His arrangements made full use of his repertory’s limited Nyuchi parts. For group playing, the kushaura player should play the first part and the kutsinhira player can alternate the other two parts. Or, musicians being three can play them all together. This means that you can use the first kushaura and mix it with the solo version as another type of kutsinhira. Because of its nature, [it provides] the interlocking keys. And the third player can play the kutsinhira part [combination e ]. Still, without the third player playing that part, you can play those first two parts and people will enjoy it. In one combination involving the kushaura and

solo version, he drew my attention to the mixture of octave Gs and Fs on the pickup to the cycle, beat divisions 2 and 3 (combination d). When we combine those notes and they come out clearly from the whole thing, you can hear they’re really biting. Yes, you can hear the punch now— a sting, he says with appreciation. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo version given here.

Nyuchi

273

Nyuchi: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

sv

G alt ds 1

3

32.Nyuchi 274

32. Nyuchi : Compilation

6

1

4

6

2

4

5

7

3

5

Compilation

Nyuchi: Kushaura 32.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

32.ks.1

Left- and right-hand variations

32.ks.2

32.ks.3

Nyuchi: Kutsinhira 32.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

32.kt.1

Right-hand high line

32.kt.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

32.kt.3

32.Nyuchi

Kutsinhira 32. Nyuchi : Kutsinhira

275

32.kt.4

32.kt.5

32.kt.6

32.kt.7

Nyuchi: Solo Version 32.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

32.sv.1

Left- and right-hand variations

32.sv.2

32.sv.3

276

32.Nyuchi

32. Nyuchi : Solo Version

Solo Version

Nyuchi: Kushaura, Kutsinhira, and Solo Version Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 32.ks.2—32.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 32.ks.2—32.kt.3

c. Kushaura/Solo Version with right-hand basic lines 32.ks.2—32.sv.2

32.Nyuchi

Combinations 32. Nyuchi : Combinations

277

d. Kushaura/Solo Version with right-hand basic lines 32.ks.3—32.sv.2

Three-Part Arrangement e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira/Solo Version with right-hand basic lines 32.ks.2—32.kt.3—32.sv.2

32.Nyuchi 278

32. Nyuchi : Combinations

Combinations

33 Shumba

Literally, this means “lion.” In Shona culture, the lion is associated with protecting people. For example, the mhondoro guardian spirits can take the form of lions. Where I grew up in Mondoro, I heard stories of my great-grandfather Mugadza holding bira ceremonies before I was born, during a time in which the area was infested with lions. My grandfather Sekuru Magaya told me that after Mugadza passed on, his spirit possessed my aunt Magadelena. At the ceremonies, when she became possessed, Magadelena/Mugadza would tell people in the ritual hut, “I have come and I have got my shumba. If you want to see me [meaning the lion who carried the spirit], go outside the hut.” When they did, they found a lion sleeping there. It was Mugadza’s way of showing, “I am your guardian spirit.” I was taught “Shumba” by Chivhanga. This is one of my early songs, one of the first songs I learned. The little substitutes, of course, are things that I created: two or three keys here and there. “Shumba” doesn’t have many variations as compared to other songs. It’s more or less like “Kuzanga” and “Chipindura.” Usually, songs that use the very same first part a step behind as kutsinhira don’t have many additions [largescale changes, especially]. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2) and (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

279

Kushaura Shumba: Kushaura (1) (33.ks1.1 )

In 1999 we re-created the part from our 1972 transcription: That’s correct. I’m still playing it like that. In this kushaura, the B chording through this cycle is part of the backbone. In his system for Shumba, the right hand typically rests on the third and fourth beats of segment 4, unless it is engaged in playing high lines. Along with segment 1’s A-over-B mixture, the absence of dyad A’s root (segment 4) increases harmonic ambiguity. 33.ks1.2–3: For a change, he periodically extends the upper-voice pattern in segment 4 with commontone C pitch insertion. 33.ks1.8  : His high lines routinely carry alternate-pulse patterns around the cycle. 33.ks1.9 : Substitution in segment 2 increases bass Bs, responding to the preceding segment’s bass figure. 33.ks1.15: Here, left-hand substitution creates an octave F drone across the boundary between segments 1 and 2, building the expectation for change before his compound (1+2) bass figure with its octave leap to bass G. These are also my substitutes. 33.ks1.17 : In this variation, the double noting on certain keys is my own. I asked about his occasional substitution of R4/B for R3/A over midrange A in segment 3. To complement left-hand A with right-hand A was his first preference, he said; right-hand B was his second preference. The B is not a discord here, he added. 33.ks1.18–19: On this “Shumba,” I use chording on the basic keys on the right-hand side, R1–R5. I don’t use it on the higher keys. Shumba: Kushaura (2) (33.ks2.1)

This part is made up of different substitutes [than kushaura (1)]. In the first segment, the F-G combination on the left and right sides [of the mbira] is an example of the creative clashes that can happen in my music. 33.ks2.2  illustrates the addition of B chording to the basic line. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. I’d start kushaura (1), add a little of the middle high 280

Chapter 33

lines [developing high lines], and move to the higher right-hand side. The basic kushaura stays much the same. Considering his practice of left-hand double noting in 33.ks1.17: I can divide its application as I play, adding it to one phrase [segment] or another, or applying it to each phrase all the way through the cycle— just at will. These are the kinds of things I added to what I had already learned from Chivhanga. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Shumba: Kutsinhira (1) (33.kt1.1 ) (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

33.kt1.2  : Here, as generally when playing high lines, he carries his alternate-pulse pattern through the cycle, filling gaps he typically leaves in the last two beats of the basic line. 33.kt1.3 : Left-hand substitution in segment 2 increases bass Bs, imitating the preceding segment’s bass figure. Shumba: Kutsinhira (2) (33.kt2.1 )

This was also from Chivhanga. I asked about his choice to represent the current part as kutsinhira (2), rather than subsume it under kutsinhira (1) as a variation. It’s because there are a few changes in some of the phrases. How those phrases sound to me are different enough to make that an independent part. Also, in the basic part here, I usually want the B chording for segments 1 and 2 only, whereas in kutsinhira (1), I use it through segment 3. 33.kt2.2–4: As illustrated here, his “rules” above represented preferences and tendencies. He took liberties with his chording practices and, in the contexts of some patterns, dropped them altogether to thin out the texture. 33.kt2.8: Substitution lengthens the initial highline gesture, while shortening the second and reducing its high G emphasis. 33.kt2.9 : Left-hand substitution in segment 3 creates a compound (1+2) bass figure with repeated Es

and a leap to G, responding to segment 1’s comparable figure. 33.kt2.10–11: The first variation shows the types of substitutes I’d play for one cycle before going to the next variation [33.kt2.11]. We gleaned the latter from Cosmas’s 1999 recording. I can also mix these kinds of substitutes in the bass. 33.kt2.12  : Substitution in segment 1 references kutsinhira (1). In segments 3–4, it emphasizes bass E in successive compound (1+2) figures, and at the beginning of segment 4, it increases harmonic ambiguity by withholding the root of dyad C. 33.kt2.13 : Substitution references kutsinhira (1) in segment 1. In segments 3–4, it creates a responsive series of left-hand compound (1+2) figures, and between the last two, it inserts a distinctive combinedhand G-F shuffle figure. Shumba: Kutsinhira (3) (33.kt3.1)

This is my own composition, with all the lively bass substitutes for “Shumba” kutsinhira. In editing the transcription for 33.kt3.1 in 2007, he suggested adding midrange B to the basic part in segment 1, reintroducing the chording we had removed the previous year. That’s because I hear the gap it created when we took it out. There was no balancing. Bringing in that lower note creates a balance. It’s like every key resonates in its own way, but when you hit the two together, they resonate yet another way, each controlling the other. As in kushaura (1) variation 33.ks1.17, I asked about substituting right-hand B for the A aligned with its lower octave in segment 3 (pickup to the fourth beat). In this context as well, he preferred A; B remained his second choice. It’s like answering questions. The A is so direct; the second preference, the B, is indirect, like going around the issue [“indirect” meaning, perhaps, producing an adjacent-dyad pitch mixture before moving to octave A, which represented the underlying dyad’s root]. 33.kt3.4  illustrates pitch substitution transforming the basic part’s double-noting figure into an octave leap to bass G in segment 1; subsequently creating a spare E drone in the middle voice; and in segment 4, concentrating Gs in the second-beat area. This and all these substitutes in this section are my inventions.

33.kt3.5: This one is a mixture— and a borderline case for classification. Initially in 2006, he had considered it an independent part in relation to kutsinhira (3). It’s a branch off the other, but since half is new, that’s enough to consider it a new one. A year later, however, he noted a greater number of similarities in the second halves of their cycles and reclassified 33.kt3.5 as a variation. 33.kt3.9: This is another example of mixing. He had taken segment 1 from kutsinhira (2); segments 2 and 4 from kutsinhira (3); and in segment 3, expanded the double-noting idea of kutsinhira (3) variation 33.kt3.8. Shumba: Kutsinhira (4) (33.kt4.1) (same as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

This is my composition. If you look at this one, there are changes that give it a character of its own. Referring to segment 1’s simultaneity of a second (midrange G and F), he said: I like that effect. In this context, it’s OK. 33.kt4.7 : Substitution in segments 3–4 creates a responsive succession of bass compound (1+2) figures, which he can incorporate into the previous two kutsinhira as well. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), kutsinhira (2), and kutsinhira (3). My approach to kutsinhira (1) would be the same as others. As I play, I add the high lines, doing a lot of mixing. Then I move into doing other things. He gives as examples his movements between kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (3), and kutsinhira (4) as well as kutsinhira (3) left-hand variation 33.kt3.5. I mix them together to form a strong following [kutsinhira performance] to “Shumba.” There are many parts. I give the basic one I started with [kutsinhira (2)] more time of play— eight times. Then, I give the other ones four times. How would you treat substitution within the different parts? With “Shumba,” I play most of my substitutes in the kutsinhira. On the left side of the mbira is where the mixing of different substitutes comes in. Shumba

281

When you do the mixing, do you repeat the same variations many times? Usually, the type of mixing depends on the part that I’m playing. In this one, I want to give each substitute a chance, so maybe one cycle for a certain substitute, or a second time, then I go to the next. He commonly used 33.kt2.10 as a prelude to variation 33.kt2.11, which he continued exploring from cycle to cycle. In one demonstration, he initiated 33.kt2.10, then in segment 4, he completed the cycle by switching to the basic part (33.kt2.1), before creating a mixture of left-hand figures. I play those bass substitutes differently, adding and dropping them out as I go. Meanwhile, he nuanced the right-hand pattern by adding midrange B to produce B chording in segment 1 at times, while at other times withdrawing the pitch. In a demonstration of kutsinhira (3), he took relish in his double-noting G substitutions, applying hard accents to them. People really enjoyed that part because it’s like I’m putting more firewood into the fire to keep it going. How could you tell that they enjoyed it? I could tell by the way they reacted to that, by their dancing and singing. Some, if they were seated, would start standing up to dance. Would they change their style of dancing? Yes, some, if they had been dancing softly, started dancing much more energetically. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

scriptions: combination a through combination i; web demonstrations : combinations a, d–f, i). Reviewing the possibilities, he says that all the kushaura work with the kutsinhira. He emphasizes kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) through kutsinhira (3). I like to use those, for instance, kutsinhira (1) where you play the same thing as kushaura (1), but a step behind. To me, they’re acting like tappets in a car engine. When one is playing the same part ahead and you’re behind and things are going really smoothly, it makes the same kind of sound: “tih-tih tih-tih tih-tih” like the tappets of the car. As I play, I develop from being a step behind the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) to moving into the other kutsinhira. In our re-creation of these combinations, he pointed out that the respective parts’ L4/F and R2/G commonly coincide on the pickup to segment 2 (combination a  and combination c, for example). It’s another example of one note controlling the other. When I hit them at the same time, there’s that clash in the sound they produce. But then they also produce a balance, you see? Neither note will overpower the other one. There isn’t more of one than the other. He added that kutsinhira (3)’s double-noting Gs and As invited comparable responses from the kushaura, and in any case— creating distinctive resultant figures (combination f  and combination g).

Solo Version

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) with kutsinhira (1), (2), and (3), bringing in the other parts for a change. In our duo renditions, he asked me to play kushaura (1) with the right hand’s “Chipindura”-like things [chap. 12, Chipindura, 12.ks.4’s figures, segments 3 and 4] found in Shumba 33.ks1.6, spanning the fourth beat of segment 2 and first beat of segment 4 (combination b). Meanwhile, he entered the performance with kutsinhira (1). After two or three cycles, he switched to kutsinhira (2), developing it for most of the performance, going out to do some other things and coming back to that one. “Other things” included kutsinhira (2) left-hand substitutions, as well as excursions to kutsinhira (3) and kutsinhira (4). Those are closely related to kutsinhira (2), so each time I do them once or twice, one or

Shumba: Solo Version (33.sv.1) (same as kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse earlier)

33.sv.5  illustrates left-hand pitch substitution transforming the basic part’s double-noting figure into an octave leap to bass G in segment 1; subsequently creating a spare E drone in the middle voice; and concentrating Gs in segment 4’s second-beat area. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (tran282

Chapter 33

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

two cycles. After an especially successful performance, he commented on the importance of a steady tempo: Because you were maintaining the kushaura well in time for long stretches, I was able to try my singing. Table 33.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

This recording is good. I like how the parts are really working together. With any song where you have to be a step behind, you have to make sure the gaps between the parts are even. It reminds me of what I’ve come across with my students when things are not working. It’s like a carburetor that has points that need to be adjusted evenly. If you don’t adjust them, you’ll experience jerks when you drive. But when the carburetor is well balanced, you can travel smoothly. As we listened to the recording, I expressed admira-

tion for the fluid mixtures he had created (for example, 1:35 forward in the kushaura performance; 3:00 to 3:55 in the kutsinhira performance). You know, we have a Shona proverb, “You can never see what’s in your own eye.” I’m just doing it, playing. He turned my attention to the ritual settings that motivated his creativity. Mind you, this is a “Shumba” song. When you play in a bira, you expect the shumba to be outside and to come to the veranda [that is, a lion that has been carrying the spirit of a person]. Inside, you’ll see people shaking, shivering, acting differently from what you expect [expressing signs of possession]. That’s the moment I’m waiting for. I hit the basses hard to keep the energy going because the sekuru [grandfather; here, meaning spirit] has come. The spirit goes from the shumba outside to the medium to be possessed— so you have to play lots of different things to keep the spirit energized. The spirit has come now. That’s what the people and the junior spirits/mediums have been waiting for.

Shumba

283

TABLE 33.1 Shumba

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 1) (33.ks1.1, mix w LH 33.ks1.10; 33.ks1.11, seg 2) kt (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 1) (RH: 33.kt2.1; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt1.1)

0:00

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.8, mix w 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt1.1, segs 2–3)

0:10

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt2.12, seg 3)

0:38

1:13

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt1.1, segs 2–3)

0:56

1:17

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt2.12, seg 3)

1:00

1:25

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt1.1, segs 2–3)

1:08

kt (3) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt3.4–5; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt3.1, seg 4; 33.kt3.5, segs 2–3)

1:13

kt (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.1; LH: 33.kt2.1, mix w 33.kt2.9, seg 3)

1:34

kt (2) w hl (RH: 33.kt2.7)

1:48

0:17 0:19

ks (1) w hl (RH: 33.ks1.7)

0:27

0:48

ks (1) w hl (RH: 33.ks1.8)

0:55

1:01

1:26

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (33.ks1.7, mix w LH 33.ks1.11)

ks (1) w bl (RH: 33.ks1.1)

1:30

1:33

ks (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (G double noting, segs 1–2 & 4) (RH: 33.ks1.1; LH: 33.ks1.11, mix w 33.ks1.12 & 33.ks1.14)

1:51

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.8; LH: 33.ks1.1, mix w 33.ks1.10)

2:05

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.7)

2:09

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.8)

284

2:00

Chapter 33

TABLE 33.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt2.7; LH: 33.kt2.7, mix w 33.kt3.4, seg 2)

1:53

kt (2) w hl & RH/LHvar (33.kt2.7)

2:00

kt (3) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt3.1; LH: 33.kt3.5, mix w 33.kt3.4)

2:13

kt (1)/kt (2)/kt (4) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt1.1; LH: 33.kt1.1, mix w 33.kt2.1, seg 2; 33.kt4.6, seg 3)

2:34

3:06

kt (2) w hl (33.kt2.8)

2:49

3:10

kt (4)/kt (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (33.kt4.3, mix w LH 33.kt2.1, segs 1 & 4)

2:53

kt (4) w hl & RHvar (33.kt4.5)

3:07

kt (4) w bl & RH/LHvar (33.kt4.3, mix w LH 33.kt2.1, segs 1 & 4, 33.kt4.6, seg 3)

3:10

3:43

kt (1)/kt (2)/kt (4) w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 33.kt1.1; LH: 33.kt1.1, mix w 33.kt4.6, seg 3; 33.kt1.1, seg 4)

3:26

3:51

kt (3)/kt (2) w bl/hl & LHvar (33.kt3.1, seg 1, mix w LH 33.kt1.1, 33.kt2.8)

3:34

ends

3:45

2:10

2:13

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.7)

2:17

ks (1) w hl (RH: 33.ks1.6)

2:20

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.8; LH: 33.ks1.1, mix w 33.ks1.11)

2:26

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 33.ks1.8)

2:30

ks (1) w bl & RHvar (RH: 33.ks1.1)

2:51

2:58

ks (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (G double noting, seg 4) (RH: 33.ks1.1; LH: 33.ks1.11, mix w 33.ks1.12)

3:01

ks (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (33.ks2.1, mix w LH 33.ks1.12, segs 3–4; 33.ks1.16, segs 1–2)

3:24

ks (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (33.ks2.1 w LH G double noting, seg 4)

3:27

3:38

ks (1) w bl & RH/LHvar (33.ks1.1, mix w LH 33.ks1.11–12)

3:52

ks (1) w hl & LHvar (33.ks1.8; LH: 33.ks1.11)

4:00

ends

4:02

Shumba

285

Shumba: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

sv

G alt ds 3

5

1

33.Shumba 286

33. Shumba : Compilation

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

2

Compilation

Shumba: Kushaura (1) 33.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

33.ks1.1

Basic line

33.ks1.2

33.ks1.3

33.ks1.4

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

33.ks1.5

33.ks1.6

33.ks1.7

33.Shumba

Kushaura (1)

33. Shumba : Kushaura (1)

287

33.ks1.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

33.ks1.9

33.ks1.10

33.ks1.11

33.ks1.12

33.ks1.13

33.ks1.14

33.ks1.15

288

33.Shumba

33. Shumba : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

33.ks1.16

Left- and right-hand variation

33.ks1.17

Right-hand chording variations

33.ks1.18

33.ks1.19

Shumba: Kushaura (2) 33.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

33.ks2.1

Basic line

33.ks2.2

33.ks2.3

33.Shumba

Simplified line

Kushaura (2)

33. Shumba : Kushaura (2)

289

Right-hand high line

33.ks2.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

33.ks2.5

33.ks2.6

Left- and right-hand variations

33.ks2.7

33.ks2.8

Shumba: Kutsinhira (1) 33.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [1] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line

33.kt1.1

Right-hand high line

33.kt1.2

290

33.Shumba

33. Shumba : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

33.kt1.3

Shumba: Kutsinhira (2) 33.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

33.kt2.1

Basic line

33.kt2.2

33.kt2.3

33.kt2.4

33.kt2.5

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

33.kt2.6

33.Shumba

Kutsinhira (2)

33. Shumba : Kutsinhira (2)

291

33.kt2.7

33.kt2.8

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

33.kt2.9

33.kt2.10

33.kt2.11

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

33.kt2.12

Left- and right-hand variation

33.kt2.13

Right-hand chording variations

33.kt2.15

292

33.Shumba

33. Shumba : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

33.kt2.16

Shumba: Kutsinhira (3) 33.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

33.kt3.1

Basic line

33.kt3.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

33.kt3.3

Left- and right-hand variations

33.kt3.4

33.kt3.5

33.kt3.6

33.Shumba

Kutsinhira (3)

33. Shumba : Kutsinhira (3)

293

33.kt3.7

33.kt3.8

33.kt3.9

Shumba: Kutsinhira (4) 33.kt4.1 serving as model (same as kushaura [2] shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variations

33.kt4.1

Basic line

33.kt4.2

33.kt4.3

33.kt4.4 294

33.Shumba

Simplified line

33. Shumba : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Right-hand high line

33.kt4.5

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

33.kt4.6

Left- and right-hand variation

33.kt4.7

Shumba: Solo Version 33.sv.1 serving as model (same as kutsinhira [3] shifted one pulse earlier)

Right-hand basic line

33.sv.1

Right-hand high line

33.sv.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

33.sv.3

33.sv.4

33.Shumba

Solo Version

33. Shumba : Solo Version

295

Left- and right-hand variation

33.sv.5

296

33.Shumba

33. Shumba : Solo Version

Solo Version

Shumba: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks1.9—33.kt1.3

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 33.ks1.6—33.kt1.2

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks1.2—33.kt2.11

33.Shumba

Combinations 33. Shumba : Combinations

297

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 33.ks1.8—33.kt2.12

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks1.9—33.kt3.4

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks1.17—33.kt3.4

33.Shumba 298

33. Shumba : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 33.ks1.7—33.kt3.3

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks1.15—33.kt4.1

i. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 33.ks2.2—33.kt4.7

33.Shumba

Combinations 33. Shumba : Combinations

299

34 Shumba yaNgwasha

Shumba means lion; yaNgwasha means “for Ngwasha.” Ngwasha was a Shona chief a long time back who liked that song and would request that it be played. Then people started calling it “Shumba yaNgwasha.” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira (1), later working on kutsinhira (2). Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Shumba yaNgwasha: Kushaura (34.ks.1 )

I learned this song from Ernest Chivhanga. I have memories of Chivhanga with “Shumba” because it was also one of my very early songs. The high Ds and Es are just part of the backbone of the basic part. I don’t have a simplified line for this one. The basic part begins with combined-hand shuffle keystroke figures that lead to a distinctive five-pulse figure with tremolo G in segment 2, and subsequently a conventional right-hand 3:2 pattern and ongoing left-hand shuffle pattern. There isn’t very much in the way of substitutes or variations that I have for this piece. I do make small changes. I’d spend about two cycles on each. 34.ks.2 : In contrast to his basic line’s varied components above, the transcription here illustrates a high-line variation comprising a continuous alternate300

pulse pattern. In the video, Cosmas mixes the two patterns, incorporating a chunk of 34.ks.1 (segment 1 and its contiguous figures in segments 2 and 4) into the variation. 34.ks.3 illustrates the high line’s incorporation of three-pulse figures with double noting. I mainly use the double noting for solo playing, but I do it a little with the kushaura too. All the kushaura variations including this one, that Chivhanga used to do. 34.ks.4 : Here, Cosmas nuances the kushaura with a midrange C “ghost” note. 34.ks.5: In 2001, a review of our 1972 transcription revealed midrange E-for-C substitution in segment 4, the second-beat area. That’s mine. It’s what I’m still doing. I’m pleased with that. 34.ks.6–9: The first variation illustrates left-hand substitutions elaborating the lower voice’s alternating pattern bass pitches and midrange Gs. In the latter three variations, he imports kutsinhira-type bass figures shifted to the kushaura beat position. 34.ks.11 : Pitch substitution introduces harmonicaddition D in relation to dyad A. At the end of the cycle, rest substitution eliminates the fifth of dyad B, producing a five-pulse “wrap-around” figure that is identical to the figure beginning in the fourth-beat area of segment 1. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Shumba yaNgwasha: Kutsinhira (1) (34.kt1.1 ) (same as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Chivhanga only taught me to play the first part [kushaura] one step behind for a kutsinhira. Whenever I was playing together with my first teacher, we used to mix the two. 34.kt1.2  nuances kutsinhira (1) with a midrange C “ghost” note in segment 4.

34.kt1.3 : In contrast to his basic line’s varied components, this high-line variation comprises a continuous alternate-pulse pattern. 34.kt1.5 : Pitch substitution introduces harmonicaddition D in relation to dyad A; rest substitution eliminates the fifth of dyad B, producing a five-pulse “wraparound” figure that is identical to the figure beginning in the fourth-beat area of segment 1. Shumba yaNgwasha: Kutsinhira (2) (34.kt2.1)

That was my creation. I started experimenting and devised my own system, adding more basses to kutsinhira (1) to give a little bit of a difference. In relation to kutsinhira (1), the new part emphasizes octave-transposed bass figures in the first part of the cycle, and in the second, a sequence of compound (1+2) bass figures with pitch repetition. This kutsinhira is an example of emphasizing the basses and the lower right-hand “high notes” [for example, minimizing the use of high F and G]. I don’t have many high lines for this part. I don’t want to add more because that will disturb the listeners’ attention, which I want to be on the basses. 34.kt2.5 : Rest substitution eliminates uppervoice D in segment 2, increasing tremolo G’s exposure; in segment 4, pitch substitution introduces harmonicaddition D in relation to dyad C. 34.kt2.6 , 34.kt2.7–8: Chivhanga taught me how to come to these basses when being a step behind the kushaura. Cosmas demonstrates his creation of 34.kt2.6 by replacing midrange Gs in the previous variation with bass Gs that create drone effects. I applied that here and then added other things of my own. In video (a)’s illustration of 34.kt2.6, Cosmas mixes in 34.kt2.2’s right-hand variation (segment 1 and contiguous figures in segments 2 and 4), and left-hand rest substitution (segment 4); in video (b), he incorporates a right- and left-hand chunk of 34.kt1.1’s pamusoro part (segment 1 and its contiguous figures in segments 2 and 4). 34.kt2.9, 34.kt2.10 : These are also my inventions. He reflects on the rest in segment 2 of variation 34.kt2.9, which he can also add to the previous variations. I sometimes put that gap in there when I’m getting ready to make the transition to the bass G substitutes that follow [segments 3–4]. Shumba yaNgwasha

301

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Practice playing kutsinhira (1) continuously. I play my few substitutes for the kutsinhira for two cycles each, then go back to the basic line since there isn’t much to be done. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura with kutsinhira (1) and (2). Table 34.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination e; web demonstrations : combinations a, d–e). Here, he emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira (2) with variations.

302

Chapter 34

This recording sounds great. This is a good example of mixing different things from the kushaura and kutsinhira [importing kushaura components into the kutsinhira as substitutions, and vice versa]. 1:06: Here, he incorporates elements from the solo version into his kushaura performance.

TABLE 34.1 Shumba

yaNgwasha

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w bl & LHvar (begins seg 1) (34.ks.6, mix w LH 34.ks.5)

0:13

kt (1) w bl (begins seg 3, 1st beat, beat division 1) (34.kt1.1)

0:00

0:17

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3, mix w 34.kt1.1, segs 2–4)

0:04

0:34

kt (1) w bl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3; LH: 34.kt1.4)

0:21

0:43

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.11)

0:30

0:47

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.7)

0:34

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.6)

0:41

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

0:58

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3; LH: 34.kt1.4)

1:08

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

1:21

1:47

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.6)

1:34

1:51

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

1:38

2:00

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3; LH: 34.kt1.4)

1:47

0:51

ks w bl (34.ks.1)

0:54

ks w hl & RHvar (RH: 34.ks.2, seg 2, mix w 34.ks.4)

1:04

ks w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.ks.3 w rest subs on first pitch of embedded G double-noting figs, segs 3–4; LH: 34.ks.3, mix w 34.ks.8, seg 2; bass figs enter in seg 2)

1:11 1:21

ks w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.ks.3 var above, segs 3–4; LH: 34.ks.8, bass figs w wide leaps emphasized)

1:34 1:43

ks w bl & RH/LHvar (34.ks.9, mix w RH 34.ks.11, seg 1; 34.ks.3 var above, segs 3–4)

2:04

ks w bl (34.ks.1)

kt (2)/(1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.3)

1:51

2:11

ks w hl (34.ks.2)

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3; LH: 34.kt1.4)

1:58 (continued) Shumba yaNgwasha

303

TABLE 34.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

2:17

ks w hl (RH: 34.ks.4; LH: 34.ks.6)

kt (1) w RH/LHvar (34.kt1.4, segs 1–2) (navigates shaky transition, drops hl while playing bass F drone)

2:04

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3, mix w 34.kt1.5; LH: 34.kt1.4)

2:07

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.7)

2:13

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

2:34

kt (1) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt1.3, mix w 34.kt1.5, seg 1; LH: 34.kt1.4)

2:39

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

2:43

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 34.kt2.3; LH: 34.kt2.7)

2:51

kt (2) w hl (34.kt2.3)

3:17

3:47

kt (1) w bl (34.kt1.1, mix w 34.kt1.11, seg 1)

3:34

3:54

kt (2) w hl (RH: 34.kt2.3)

3:41

ends

3:50

2:20 2:26

ks w hl (34.ks.2)

2:47 2:52

ks w bl & RH/LHvar (RH: 34.ks.8, mix w 34.ks.11, seg 1; LH: 34.ks.1, mix w 34.ks.9)

2:56 3:00

ks w hl (RH: 34.ks.2; LH: 34.ks.1, mix w 34.ks.9)

3:04 3:26

ks w bl (34.ks.1)

3:30

ks w bl & LHvar (34.ks.6)

3:43

ks w bl & LHvar (RH: 34.ks.3 w rest subs on first pitch of embedded G double-noting figs, segs 3–4; LH: 34.ks.1, mix w 34.ks.9)

4:02

ends

4:03

304

Chapter 34

Shumba yaNgwasha: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt1

kt2

B ds 3

5

1

34.Shumba yaNgwasha

3

6

1

4

6

2

4

7

2

1

Compilation 34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Compilation

305

Shumba yaNgwasha: Kushaura 34.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

34.ks.1

Right-hand high-line variations

34.ks.2

34.ks.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

34.ks.4

34.ks.5

34.ks.6

34.ks.7

34.Shumba yaNgwasha 306

34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Kushaura

Kushaura

34.ks.8

34.ks.9

34.ks.10

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

34.ks.11

Shumba yaNgwasha: Kutsinhira (1) 34.kt1.1 serving as model (same as kushaura shifted one pulse later)

Right-hand basic line and variation

34.kt1.1

34.kt1.2

Right-hand high line

34.kt1.3

34.Shumba yaNgwasha

Kutsinhira (1)

34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Kutsinhira (1)

307

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

34.kt1.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

34.kt1.5

Shumba yaNgwasha: Kutsinhira (2) 34.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

34.kt2.1

34.kt2.2

Right-hand high line

34.kt2.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

34.kt2.4

Left- and right-hand variations

34.kt2.5

34.Shumba yaNgwasha 308

34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Kutsinhira (2)

Kutsinhira (2)

34.kt2.6

34.kt2.7

34.kt2.8

34.kt2.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand high line

34.kt2.10

34.kt2.11

Left-hand accentuation variations

34.kt2.12

34.kt2.13

34.Shumba yaNgwasha

Kutsinhira (2)

34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Kutsinhira (2)

309

Shumba yaNgwasha: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 34.ks.4—34.kt1.2

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 34.ks.1—34.kt2.1

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and basic line 34.ks.2—34.kt2.6

34.Shumba yaNgwasha 310

34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 34.ks.4—34.kt2.5

e. Kushaura/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 34.ks.11—34.kt2.10

34.Shumba yaNgwasha

Combinations 34. Shumba yaNgwasha : Combinations

311

35 Taireva (1)

The title of “Taireva” means “We told you so.” When people are doing something that’s not liked by others, those blaming will say, “We told you before not to do that or you’ll get into trouble.” Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (2), later working on kushaura (2) and kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (3) and, finally, any of the remaining parts. Given the large number of kutsinhira parts associated with Taireva (1), he also suggests a more detailed course of study: 1. kutsinhira (2), or kutsinhira (1) below if kutsinhira (2) is too demanding technically 2. kutsinhira (3) 3. kutsinhira (1) 4. kutsinhira (6) left-hand variation 35.kt6.6 5. kutsinhira (4) 6. kutsinhira (7) 7. kutsinhira (8) 8. kutsinhira (10)

Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

312

Kushaura Taireva (1): Kushaura (1) (35.ks1.1  )

In 2002 we re-created kushaura (1) from our 1972 transcription. This basic “Taireva,” I was taught by Chivhanga, my early teacher. I still play it this way. 35.ks1.2–3: He recalled these rest substitutions while briefly demonstrating the basic part, and stopped to teach them to me. Reviewing his right-hand figures in 35.ks1.2, segment 1: I sometimes approach things differently like this [or he selectively drops the right-hand pitch on the pickup to different segments]. In 35.ks1.3, he applied rest substitution to B chording. I’m glad these came back to me. This exercise reminds me of many things I used to do. 35.ks1.5: From our 1972 transcription of a simplified line. This is one I learned from Luken. He liked this part. I also still play it this way. 35.ks1.6  illustrates a high-line variation largely doubling the middle voice in octaves. 35.ks1.7–9: As in these variations, he commonly uses right-hand G-for-A or B-for-A substitutions, replacing harmonic-addition A with a dyad tone. I asked whether ease of fingering prompted his choice of R3/A as a springboard to the highest pitches rather than from R2/G or R4/B. No, it’s just the sound that I’m after. Pointing out the right hand’s doubling of pamusoro pitches in octaves in 35.ks1.9 (and the technique’s general use in Taireva [1] kushaura), he compared its texture with that of other compositions’ parts that typically combine right-hand alternate-pulse patterns with contrasting left-hand patterns. There isn’t much more to be done with this kushaura (1) with high notes. It’s complete in itself. In 2006 he reviewed the variation’s 1972 transcription. I still play it this way. Reflecting on the basic parts and principal variations in our early collection that inspired his inventions over the intervening years, he says: It’s amazing to me how I’ve continued to do the same thing after all these years. It all seems about 90 to 98 percent the same. Taireva (1): Kushaura (2) (35.ks2.1  )

This second “Taireva” comes from the original one. This part is the very same thing as kushaura (1), but it differs in how you apply your fingers to the keys. As I kept on playing

by myself, I improvised the technique of changing part of it by playing a little bit of a step ahead [shifting kushaura (1)’s pitches on pickups to the third and fourth beats a pulse earlier]. This was my own idea. I used to hear that kind of thing being played by different musicians at times. It sounded to me a little bit different and more complicated than the original one I was taught by Chivhanga. That was in the sixties, 1966 or 1968. But at the time I couldn’t figure out what they were doing to bring out the sound that differed from the original. I was in search of that when I came up with the new version. I did it my own way, but it had some similarities to theirs. A lot of people liked the sound, and some musicians wanted to learn how to do it from me. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kushaura (1) continuously. In the role of kushaura player, he switches back and forth between kushaura (1) and kushaura (2). In one demonstration, he moves through the following sequence of variations: 35.ks1.6, three cycles; 35.ks1.9, three cycles; reverts to 35.ks1.6; closes with 35.ks1.5. For these variations, you don’t have to do any one for a long time. These are things you do for a little while, then go back to the original. Similarly, in his treatment of 35.ks1.2: I sometimes want to keep that gap open [skipping the initial G in the pickup position]; sometimes want to fill it just for a short while, then open it up again. Usually, I give kushaura (2) equal time to the first one. If I play for ten minutes, I give five to the first, five to the second. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (1) (35.kt1.1 )

This one has a different flavor. In 2005, listening to my re-creation of the part from our 1972 transcription: I still play it that way. If I’m playing with Luken or other seasoned players, you’ll still hear me do that. I can’t remember exactly who taught me this. It may have been Erick or Kunaka because it’s close to the pamusoro [midrange] solo part we’re calling “Taireva (2),” which I learned from them. Taireva (1)

313

35.kt1.3  illustrates B chording with the simplified line. 35.kt1.7  samples a high line with two high peaks and scalar descents, the initial gesture’s high Gs creating a brief suspension over dyad B in segment 1. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (2) (35.kt2.1 )

I learned this kutsinhira from my late brother, Justin Magaya. He was taught by John Gondo. How about the high lines and the chording? The high lines, I also learned from Justin, but the chordings were my own improvisations. 35.kt2.3  illustrates B chording with the simplified line. 35.kt2.4: In 2006 we played through this high line from our 1972 transcription. I must give the high-note variations each a chance. Pointing out that his descending gestures included few leaps, he explained: Stepwise is best. If I play with Luken today or any other seasoned players, you’ll still hear me play that part. 35.kt2.5  : Substitution eliminates B chording and, in segment 3, fills the narrow leap in the previous variation’s scalar descent. 35.kt2.6: I don’t know if this was Justin’s or Gondo’s, but it was Justin who taught me those kinds of bass substitutes. He used to do all of those. 35.kt2.7: These substitutes were my own creation. I still remember when I discovered them. I started playing like that when I was living in Bulawayo in the seventies. 35.kt2.9 : Substitution adds B chording, while its emphasis on midrange G creates drone effects— prolonging dyad G and eliding dyad B. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (3) (35.kt3.1)

If I’m not mistaken, that was from Kunaka. I can’t remember exactly who for sure, but I learned it from either Erick or Kunaka [who taught Erick]. You can hear that the basic line is quite full without the B chording on the right side. 35.kt3.2 : Here, he introduces B chording as a variation. 35.kt3.3 : Cosmas demonstrates a high line for kutsinhira (3) with one high peak and descending pairs of repeated pitches. 35.kt3.5 : These left-hand substitutes are my creations as well. I still remember; this would have been 314

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around 1974 or 1975 when I was playing with Justin Magaya, Luken Kwari, Erick, Mondreck, and Mude, et cetera. 35.kt3.6 , 35.kt3.7, and 35.kt3.8 : I added my own basses here to the part. Regarding his introduction of double-noting descent figures in 35.kt3.6 (segments 1–2): Here’s where I walk down [on the bass manual and in the bass melody]. In segments 3–4, he develops figures creating midrange D and bass F drones. Sometimes I stay in one place for a while [keys L2 and B6]: simplifying, rather than covering, all the keys. 35.kt3.9: Here, he reverts to the basic left-hand pattern, but in segments 3–4, he plays variant midrange figures with D and bass F drones. Again, you can hear I’m staying in the same place. I still do that different ways. 35.kt3.10–11: Most of these variations, I’ll just give one round because there are so many things I do there that I want to accommodate them all. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (4) (35.kt4.1 )

I must have learned this from Erick. When I move to kutsinhira (4), it’s because I intend to emphasize the lower keys. In the basic part here, it’s important to keep the single B, rather than adding the chording. Without it, its sound has a different flavor. 35.kt4.3: Still, he periodically introduces B chording as a variation. 35.kt4.4: Are there many left-hand substitutions for this part? Right now, the ones in this variation are the only ones I concentrate on mostly. Maybe other things will come to me after playing for a stretch, but this is what I remember right now. 35.kt4.5 : Substitution in the left hand emphasizes the dyad C area, while in the right hand, it adds a passing tone to the scalar descent. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (5) (35.kt5.1)

Kutsinhira (5) is like a transition part. While emphasizing the lower right-hand notes, his practice specifies playing midrange F and E softly in segment 1. The part formalizes his use of midrange G drones (segment 2) and midrange D and bass F drones (second half of cycle), which appear as variations in parts like kutsinhira (3). 35.kt5.3 : Substitution in segment 3 extends the

bass pattern of ascending thirds through which he approaches drone figures in segment 4. 35.kt5.6: In segments 1 and 2, I’m mixing my lefthand substitutes. NB: In relation to the beat positions of the previous kutsinhira, Cosmas shifts kutsinhira (6) through kutsinhira (10) below one pulse earlier, that is, one pulse to the left in our transcriptions. Shifts make the music beautiful. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (6) (35.kt6.1)

This is a kutsinhira kwepamusoro. That’s from Erick. It’s a complex one. Reviewing our 1972 transcription in 2005: I still play it that way. 35.kt6.4 : When I initially played this variation’s transcription to test its accuracy, Cosmas was unsure about it, perhaps because I began the cycle on the midrange D pickup, rather than G, as indicated in the basic part. Sometimes I choose a certain point in a song to act as a springboard, he explained. I create a kind of springboard to get into the position I want to start a song. Do you mean a springboard, musically, or a physical position on your instrument? Musically, in the ear, but of course I want help doing it physically as well. Subsequently, when I started on the beat, the transcription sounded correct to him. If you start at the other angle, to me, what I’ll be hearing is a shift of the position from what I know. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (7) (35.kt7.1)

Cosmas recalled kutsinhira (7) during a demonstration of kutsinhira (2), and we added it to our growing collection. This part is also mine, from the sixties. 35.kt7.3 : Substitution removes B chording in segment 2, and fills the leap in the previous variation’s scalar descent with a passing-tone A. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (8) (35.kt8.1)

I invented this while working with kutsinhira (4). I was missing something in that part and I was trying out different things. I wanted some mixture.

Toward such ends, while retaining kutsinhira (4)’s lower voice in the same beat position, he shifted its upper and middle voices a pulse earlier. Subsequently, through pitch insertion (largely midrange Ds) and substitution, he transformed kutsinhira (4)’s spare 3:4 midrange drone pattern into an alternate-pulse drone pattern. I consider this to be a different kutsinhira rather than just a variation on kutsinhira (4). It has a different flavor, and the way the keys are arranged, it’s just an independent thing. 35.kt8.2 : Substitution adds B chording to the basic line. 35.kt8.4: Reviewing high-line possibilities, he said that he could play either the dual-peak option given here or the option with the single high peak illustrated by kutsinhira (7)’s variation (35.kt7.4). The latter’s descending gesture emphasizing pairs of repeated pitches enabled him to rest his index finger a bit, he added, sparing him high G reiteration (plucking R9, the farthest key on the nhetete manual from the center of the instrument). Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (9) (35.kt9.1)

In 2002, during a session in which we were trying out different kushaura-kutsinhira combinations, he suddenly improvised this part, stopped, and laughed with pleasure. This just came to my mind. I never played it before. You can hear what I do when I’m seriously into it! Cosmas, you suggest classifying this as an independent Taireva (1) kutsinhira part, but there are comparable Bangiza bass patterns emphasizing double noting and triple noting that you classify as variations. Should our classifications be consistent from piece to piece, or do you view these patterns differently in the context of different songs? I think of these songs as different contexts. Because each has different characteristics, I use different approaches, song by song. I think of them in separate terms. What unique features of songs influence your treatments? It’s the melody— the melody I hear from the song. To me, that’s what counts a lot. It’s what I think of when I work on new parts, and when I approve or disapprove of them. Running his finger over the discrete upper and lower voices in our kutsinhira (9) transcription, he Taireva (1)

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added with amusement: I like this arrangement, with the distance between the right- and left-hand patterns. It’s like the father and the child talking. I have basic parts like this without chording which are very full, and others which need chording to achieve that. 35.kt9.3: Again, this is father and the child talking. 35.kt9.4 : With respect to the dyad sequence model, E-for-D substitution prolongs the dyad E area, slightly contracting the dyad G area. 35.kt9.5 : Rest substitution breaks up the shifting three-pulse bass figures in segments 3–4. 35.kt9.6–7: With these, I’m experimenting with putting phrases from different variations together in different ways. He commonly takes this approach after having played complete cycles of the basic part’s shifting threepulse figures for a stretch. Concerning 35.kt9.7: Typically, when repeating the right-hand melody, I leave bass F out [in segment 1, E-for-F substitution anticipates dyad E, eliding dyad B]. 35.kt9.8: This midrange G/bass D drone variation prolongs dyad G and elides dyad B and dyad E. This was something that he had worked out and polished up for performances long ago, he surmised, but it had gradually slipped from his memory. This shows that I’m taking this variation and bringing it back into my system. Cosmas tended to regard such substitutions as improvisations that, after years of dormancy, had reappeared in his performances. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (10) (35.kt10.1)

The note in our 1972 transcription reads “for Tern [ Justin]. Can be mixed with others.” I could have gotten that from Justin, but I don’t remember exactly who taught me. It might have been Erick or Kunaka because that’s their style as well. Cosmas, this distinctive Taireva part is in some ways reminiscent of Nyamaropa kushaura (1), though shifted a pulse later (I refer to its right-hand 3:2 figures and with left-hand shuffle figures with upward leaps). It’s a bit hard to maintain the beat with that part when playing it with “Taireva” kushaura. It needs your full attention to keep with that style. It also helps if you have somebody to play with who’s a seasoned player. 35.kt10.2  illustrates a simplified line with B chording. 316

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35.kt10.3: In addition to this option, high-line variations comprising a single scalar descent from high G also work with kutsinhira (10). Once again, the issue is just how much time you spend on one or the other. I’d emphasize staying up higher here, but technically, the other fits. 35.kt10.4 : Pitch substitution and metric shifting create a variant bass figure, while “ghosting” in segment 2 nuances the middle voice. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (11) (35.kt11.1 )

This is my own composition. If I’m not mistaken, I created this in the early seventies. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (12) (35.kt12.1 )

I heard “Karigamombe” [kushaura (1)] in that part and wanted to see if its style would fit [that is, imagined a Taireva part based on Karigamombe’s texture]. That was my experiment, many years ago. I don’t remember when exactly. I’d play that for just a minute, or just a couple of cycles. Of course, as you know, it really depends on the situation. We don’t keep track like that when we play. We only limit the length of a song [here, meaning part] for recording purposes or for teaching purposes. That’s why it’s hard to talk in these terms. It’s just to give an example for students. Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (13) (35.kt13.1) (majimba part; same left hand as kutsinhira [2])

In this majimba part, Cosmas applies his crossthumbing drone technique to key L1/G. Our 1972 transcription annotation describes the part’s use “for joking.” These are majimba-style things, which shouldn’t follow the normal way. That’s part of the fun of it. These are nice majimba. We enjoy them as we play them. 35.kt13.5 : Substitution imports kutsinhira (2) figures into segments 3–4. 35.kt13.6 : Substitution reinstates most of kutsinhira (2)’s patterns, but for midrange G drone substitutions in the first half of the cycle.

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kutsinhira (1), kutsinhira (2), and kutsinhira (3). Cosmas elaborates his general kutsinhira approach and gives suggestions to students: For beginners, I’d suggest the lighter pamusoro kutsinhira (1). People make choices according to their abilities. That’s another reason I say our music is situational. The basic kutsinhira I’d use is kutsinhira (2). When you’re performing the kutsinhira role, you need to start with something with a punch like this. Then I go out to different variations, giving each a cycle, and go back to the original again, moving to and fro. In short demonstrations of his liberties with the design, he began with kutsinhira (2)’s basic part, then over successive cycles imported individual segments from three variations, 35.kt2.6–8, mixing them in different combinations. Taking another approach, he played variation 35.kt2.7 for a cycle; in the next cycle, he imported kutsinhira (2)’s left-hand bass figures 35.kt2.1 into segments 1 and 4; and in a closing cycle, he returned to variation 35.kt2.7. In a third demonstration, he alternated a few cycles of the basic part (35. kt2.1) and a few cycles of left-hand variations 35.kt2.7 and 35.kt2.8, while periodically, in the right hand, substituting the entire simplified line (variation 35.kt2.2), or mixing in basic-line figures in segment 4. Within his larger kutsinhira succession, he commonly moved to kutsinhira (3) after working with kutsinhira (2)— both parts characterized by heavy basses. Those are the ones I’d feature mostly. After those, to give some variety, I can go around to kutsinhira (1) pamusoro and feature that one as well. I need to give a little bit of a twist there, bringing in the upper keys, since there have already been a lot of basses going on. Varying this plan on different occasions, he demonstrated the sequence: kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (1) pamusoro, kutsinhira (6) pamusoro, kutsinhira (3). Alternatively: kutsinhira (3), kutsinhira (1) pamusoro, kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (6) pamusoro. He can also expand such designs with the movements kutsinhira (1) pamusoro to kutsinhira (7) (with its demanding left-hand shifting three-pulse figures); or kutsinhira (6) pamusoro to kutsinhira (7). At times, he practiced switching between kutsinhira (3) with its comparatively heavier bass action and

kutsinhira (4), which emphasizes spare 3:4 figures in the middle and lower voices. I normally give two rounds, two cycles to kutsinhira (4). The effect is just to give a difference from the last kutsinhira [kutsinhira (3)] where there were a lot of basses playing up and down. I want to give a little bit of a rest to those things and concentrate on fewer basses here. Beyond the roles of kutsinhira (2) and kutsinhira (3) in kicking off kutsinhira performances or as featured parts, they serve as brief transitions or bridges to other kutsinhira in his system. You can hear in my playing that at times I’m forced to go back to the main kutsinhira (2) or kutsinhira (3) [also kutsinhira (7)], using them as springboards to the pamusoro kutsinhira. They make good connections between things— making them sound connected and providing a better way for me to move to the next step— more so than my going directly from part to part. I’ll be better armed because of that. Parts like kutsinhira (2) also help signal [to my playing partner] that I want to shift to something else. My playing is kept together by a current— a strong current— pushing, going forward. That helps people enjoy the music. He also regards kutsinhira (5), a comparatively light part with a 3:4 shallow bass pattern, as effective for making smooth connections between parts such as kutsinhira (2), kutsinhira (3), and kutsinhira (4). A case in point, he reminds me, is the performance of “Taireva (Version II)” on the Shona Mbira Music CD, in which kutsinhira (5) has a prominent place amid his improvised part succession sketched out below. Meanwhile, Luken Kwari emphasizes kutsinhira (6) in the role of a kushaura part, alternating it with Taireva (1) kushaura (1) and kushaura (2). As shown in table 35.1, Cosmas enters at 0:06. (The instrumental part of the original recording [right channel] is presented for analytical purposes on our website.) It has a great shape, Cosmas said, reviewing the sequence. Although his strategy typically involves juxtaposing material with contrasting musical features and moods, there are times in which he sequences parts with similar or related features to ensure gradual musical development— an equally valued aesthetic in the mbira tradition. Kutsinhira (4) and kutsinhira (8) share a common bass line, for instance. After one performance, he explained: As you can hear, kutsinhira (8) Taireva (1)

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TABLE 35.1 Taireva

(1) Kutsinhira Performance

Counter

Kutsinhira

Counter

Kutsinhira

0:06

kutsinhira (5) w bl (35.kt5.1)

3:45

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

0:16

kutsinhira (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

4:29

kutsinhira (11) w bl (35.kt11.1)

0:47

kutsinhira (5) w hl (RH: 35.kt4.3; LH: 35.kt5.1)

4:57

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

0:55

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.4)

5:04

kutsinhira (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

1:26

kutsinhira (5) w bl & LHvar (35.kt5.6, segs 1–2)

6:01

kutsinhira (5) w hl (RH: 35.kt4.3; LH: 35.kt5.1)

1:30

kutsinhira (3) w bl & LHvar (35.kt3.1, mix w LH 35.kt3.7, seg 1; 35.kt3.10, seg 4; 35.kt3.11, seg 2)

6:08

kutsinhira (5) w hl & LHvar (RH: 35.kt4.3; LH: 35.kt5.1, mix w rest subs)

6:30

1:49

kutsinhira (3) w bl & LHvar (35.kt3.1, mix w LH 35.kt3.8, segs 1–2; 35.kt3.9, segs 3–4)

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

6:44

kutsinhira (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

1:54

kutsinhira (5) w LHvar (35.kt5.6)

7:12

2:00

kutsinhira (5) w bl (35.kt5.1)

kutsinhira (2) w hl & LHvar (35.kt2.5, mix w LH 35.kt3.6)

7:19

2:19

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

7:40

2:26

kutsinhira (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

kutsinhira (2) w bl (35.kt2.1)

7:55

3:29

kutsinhira (5) w hl (RH: 35.kt4.3; LH: 35.kt5.1)

kutsinhira (2) w hl (35.kt2.5)

8:01

kutsinhira (5) w hl, briefly, slows with tag (RH: 35.kt4.3; LH: 35.kt5.1)

and the preceding one, kutsinhira (4), are interrelated. I can go from one to the next or mix them. I also like to mix kutsinhira (9) with sections from kutsinhira (4), the one with alternating right and left hands. After playing the latter for a while, I can come back into kutsinhira (9)’s basses [shifting three-pulse figures with embedded double noting] either at segment 3 or 4, depending on the sound I want to generate. I play around with that area, shifting positions, taking a shorter or longer time with that before I go back to kutsinhira (4). His aural arrangements sometimes plotted out fine details within the larger scheme of a kutsinhira performance. Concerning his treatment of kutsinhira (9)’s left-hand variation (35.kt9.7): I play the first two bass Es very softly the last time I play this variation, when I’m 318

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transitioning to the next variation [35.kt9.8]. When it came to a part like kutsinhira (4) with strong 3:4 bass motion: I don’t add high lines to the right side at first because I want these basses on the left to be felt, to be heard, to give them a chance. At the same time, within mbira music’s improvisation-based system, he treated his arrangements’ guidelines flexibly. According to how I’m feeling, I can go through the kutsinhira and apply certain variations in any order that I feel is right— depending on what is happening at the time. Similarly, although he commonly alternates cycles of kutsinhira (4) and kutsinhira (8), he reserves the freedom to insert something else in between them, like playing the pamusoro kutsinhira or any other kutsinhira before carrying on.

He made equally spontaneous decisions concerning the nuancing of parts and variations’ upper voices. Although his system did not specify right-hand simplified lines for kutsinhira (4), kutsinhira (7), and kutsinhira (8), he can create them on the spot by substituting R2/Gs for R4/Cs in segment 2 of the respective basicline patterns. Regarding other right-hand practices for kutsinhira (4) and kutsinhira (9): At a later stage in a performance, I bring chording back in my playing again for a change. You can do the basic part with the chording [B chording], or with a single finger, R4, leaving out the chording to give a different feeling. It gives variety. Of course, whenever you’re playing and feel like adding the chording, just bring it in because it’s also for enjoyment. Cosmas, sometimes you play kutsinhira (3) with the high line with one high peak and descending pairs of repeated pitches (35.kt3.3 ); other times, with the high line with two high peaks and repeated high Gs (35.kt2.4). When I start playing the high lines, I’d spend more time with the pattern that stays up there [repeated high Gs]. Then, when I want to come down to the basic part again, I come down through that descending high line [with one high peak] that’s steadily going down, reducing the high notes, because I can’t keep on playing the high Gs for five minutes. No, I need to take some things out, put in other things. The high lines for one kutsinhira don’t have to be used for every other kutsinhira— even though many may share the same ones. They can use them, but don’t have to. All the while, various performance contingencies shape his sequencing of patterns: When your index finger gets tired playing those high notes up there, you want to play fewer of them in the variations and rest your finger for a while. The same thing with chording. Chording can tire your fingers quickly because a lot is happening at the same time [and you change to linear patterns]. Sometimes it’s a matter of physically resting when you play. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Solo Version Taireva (1): Solo Version (35.sv.1)

This version, re-created from our 1972 transcription in 1999, was Cosmas’s own invention. A note he dictated to me for my initial transcription read: “This is

kushaura and kutsinhira mixed together. People won’t enjoy it as much if you just play the kushaura part by itself. If you want them to dance, you must play both parts mixed together. I can go into it from the first part, the kushaura part. When I’m playing alone, I fill gaps in the first part with the basses.” Reflecting on these practices years later, he added: Because of my isolation for so many years in Bulawayo and other places in the later seventies and eighties [during the country’s escalating war of independence], playing alone made me creative. Because I had nobody to play kushaura or kutsinhira with, I had to work on [developing] my solo playing. That’s how I came into putting a lot of different things in my work. The purpose of it was to make my music rich. I also just enjoyed playing keys different ways. It’s the way you apply your fingers to the keys that changes almost everything: the rhythm and everything changes [here, he refers to reconfiguring key/pitch sequences as well as subtly varying the latter through accentuation]. I asked specifically about adding basses to the kushaura part. That’s mostly recommended for solo playing. In Cosmas’s process of perfecting his solo style for Taireva (1), Justin also played an invaluable role: I worked out part of this solo version with him. When we were visiting together, practicing, Justin once said, “No, there’s something else I hear other people doing, something on the basses.” And I said, “What is it?” Then he was trying to imitate that and I started trying to create it as well. We worked together, helping each other toward that goal. Then we started complementing those basses [suggesting other basses and mixing them with higher notes]. We really liked them, especially when you play them alone as an individual. Do you recall specific patterns that each of you contributed? No, it was more like “Listen to this. What do you think about this? What do you think about that?” If I heard a discord, I’d say, “No, that one isn’t right. Try it again.” Or he’d say the same thing, “This isn’t right. It doesn’t sound right.” That’s how we were working on it. He was contributing, I was contributing, and together we ended up playing something new. Examining the part’s right-hand features, he said: The high D and E in the right hand, I consider to be part of the basic pattern. It’s just part of how it is. I don’t have a more basic version. He added that he liked B chording Taireva (1)

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as part of the basic line. After initially including it in segment 2, where B appears once, just passing, he reconsidered and removed it. The remaining version, as given above, was perfect as is. Because there’s such alternating between the right and left hands on the solo version, I don’t incorporate [additional] chording with this, or play the higher high notes. I just restrict myself to the basic alternating pattern. 35.sv.4 : Rest substitution on the pickups to segments 2 and 3 eliminates midrange Gs, breaking up the left-hand five-keystroke figures overlapping segment boundaries. 35.sv.7: In 2002, when we re-created this variation from our 1972 transcription, I asked about the bass F substitutions in segments 3–4, which responded to segment 1’s figures, echoing the version’s midrange F successions and creating drone effects. Examining segment 1 critically, he said that the bass Fs were unusual in his treatment of the solo version. On their own [in that position], they don’t sound good. It’s like an unfinished speech. But when you go further, it’s good because it responds to others [F reiterations in the second half of the cycle]. 35.sv.8: He draws attention in segment 4 to the octave D substitutions that contribute an additional drone, the pitches by turns serving as harmonic additions and common tones in relation to the form. That’s when I’m going berserk! [He laughs.] Yes, it’s surprising how berserk I’ll be. Justin liked to use those with the basic kushaura. I think he learned it from other people, but I’m not sure about the source. Those things [repeating the left-hand keys/pitches in relation to the changing righthand pattern] were interesting to me— and to Luken. We played them now and again for a change. In the end, we decided that they weren’t the best. We all chose what we wanted from different people according to our taste. 35.sv.9–11: Also re-created from our 1972 transcriptions, these substitutions reminded him of the kinds of things he learned from Justin. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously. In variations 35.sv.4  and 35.sv.6–7, he points to intermittent rest substitutions that, at the ends of segments, remove midrange G or A from his left-hand five320

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keystroke figures, producing stretches of offbeat bass figures (beat division 2), unembellished with lowermidrange pitches. I like to mix those when I play, adding some of those keys at times and taking them away at times. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination r; web demonstrations : combinations a, c, e, g, i–l, n–r). Generally, all the kutsinhira parts go with kushaura (1) and (2). The “Karigamombe”-type kutsinhira (12) part goes with kushaura (1), which is the only one we’ve tried it with and found that it fit [combination i ]. Part of the playing process is how the parts are mixed together. That’s where the beauty of the music lies— what goes best with what. Cosmas’s familiarity with the abilities and styles of his associates in each playing situation also influences his decisions about part and variation combinations. Concerning the majimba patterns in kutsinhira (13): I like to do that when playing with people like Luken since he knows what I’m doing. He’ll also do them correctly. He knows when to do them and when not to. Do you ever use your solo version in a group context? I use that for solo playing mostly, although it can be used sometimes for regular playing. At times, when I feel in need of hearing more basses, I enjoy mixing this solo version with other parts that are being played. I wouldn’t use it with just any kutsinhira part; it might add confusion to some parts. That’s why I don’t play a lot of it if others are playing. I’d just use it when somebody is playing a contrasting part like a pamusoro kutsinhira part [combination q ]. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Like Mukatiende, Taireva uses a basic arrangement in which the kutsinhira player explores wide-ranging options in relation to one or two repeating kushaura parts and their variations. Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with kutsinhira (1), (2), and (3), bringing in other parts for a change.

In our duo rendition, when I alternated the kushaura parts, he encouraged me to allot each several cycles, allowing him to emphasize and develop any kutsinhira he elected to play. As I became more familiar with his style, he requested that I remain on whichever kushaura I introduced until he completed his normal kutsinhira succession, distinctively intertwining it with my part. When playing kushaura himself, he periodically brought the solo version into his performance when I played pamusoro kutsinhira: adding bass lines fills out the combination’s texture. Playing through one of his suggested arrangements together, I alternated kushaura (1) and (2) while he performed the following kutsinhira sequence, intermittently offering guidance and explanation: kt (1) (combination a ) kt (3) moving between the basic part and its double-noting bass variations (35.kt3.6–8) several times (combination c  and combination m) kt (2) (combination b and combination l ) kt (6) (combination e ). While I stay on this, you can move back and forth between kushaura (1) and (2) for two or three cycles each. kt (2) When you hear me go to kutsinhira (2) now, you can change to kutsinhira (6), taking this over, but staying in the kushaura position so interlocking takes place [combination r ]. When I hear you settling into kutsinhira (6), I’ll change again. kt (3) Then I’ll add double-noting basses or whatever [variation] comes to me because there’s flexibility within a performance. I play whatever comes. kt (1) Cosmas switches to kutsinhira (1) pamusoro again, while I continue with kutsinhira (6). It’s important to mix those two pamusoro ones together. That’s why it’s important for you to stay on one thing at a time, so I can do other things. Then you can tell, “Oh, my kutsinhira guy has settled, done all those things. Now I can go on to something else, initiating, and then he’ll follow.” kt (2) Then I go back to kutsinhira (2). That one is directing everything: I use it as a springboard. I remember that when I learned that part as a kid, audiences would say with admiration, “Listen to all those basses coming out of his deze. Ari kubika

mabesi [He is really cooking those basses].” When you hear this, you can go back to kushaura (1) or (2).

After that, when we’ve covered those things, we can finish our performance or go on to any of the other things. On further reflection: These exchanges can only happen when you’ve been playing with someone for a long time and can understand one another. Then you find both players really enjoying themselves in each area, kushaura and kutsinhira. Because things are flexible, as long as you know what you’re doing. We use the same principle for moving around with “Taireva” kushaura as with “Mukatiende” kushaura. For each performance, we’re only picking some kushaura and kutsinhira [from all the possible parts]. You must choose and work with those, guided by the basic ones [above], not throwing in everything you know. In this performance, I was just repeating those four kutsinhira. Table 35.2 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition. Reflections

0:41: At the juncture of kutsinhira (2) and kutsinhira (1), Cosmas continues to develop the right-hand high lines, while seamlessly switching to kutsinhira (1)’s lefthand variations. 1:35: I can hear that kutsinhira (2) is firing the music, like putting on more firewood. I use this to-and-fro— going away to the other kutsinhira parts and returning— because it’s the backbone of the whole thing there. It’s interacting nicely with the other kutsinhira— like dancers sharing the dancing platform. 1:39: With the appearance of his solo version: When playing with someone at your own level, really seasoned players, you can incorporate these kinds of parts into kushaura playing. But you don’t usually risk it with other players unless you know them— otherwise they’ll become confused. 2:20: Here, when playing kutsinhira (6), I quickly shifted to another idea— kutsinhira (7)— the idea just came to me. You can hear that I mix kutsinhira (6) in briefly for less than one cycle [2:24]. Noting his bass accents with his shift to kutsinhira (7), he lights up: That’s where you’ll see dancers jumping up, dancing like mad people! Taireva (1)

321

TABLE 35.2 Taireva

(1)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks (2) w bl & RHvar (begins seg 1) (35.ks2.1 w RH high E inserts, segs 1–2; mix w 35.ks2.2, seg 2, and ch)

0:08

kt (2) w bl (begins seg 1) (35.kt2.1)

0:00

0:23

kt (2) w hl & RHvar (35.kt2.4, mix w RH 35.kt2.5)

0:15

0:38

kt (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

0:30

1:01

kt (3) w hl & LHvar (leaping figs, double-noting bass descent figs) (RH: 35.kt3.3; LH: 35.kt3.3 mix w 35.kt3.7 & 35.kt3.5)

0:53

1:32

kt (2) w hl/ch & RH/LHvar (35.kt2.1, mix w LH 35.kt2.7, seg 4)

1:24

kt (11) w dhl & RHvar (RH: 35.kt11.1, mix w RH high E-for-B sub, seg 1; D-for-G sub, seg 2)

1:31

kt (11) w hl & RHvar (35.kt11.2)

1:39

2:10

kt (2) w dhl & RH/LHvar (RH: 35.kt2.6, mix w high E-for-B sub, seg 1; D-for-G sub, seg 2; LH: 35.kt2.6, mix w 35.kt2.7)

2:02

2:17

kt (6) w bl & RH/LHvar (35.kt6.1, mix w B chording, seg 1; bass C for midrange G sub, seg 2, 2nd beat)

2:09

2:22

kt (7) w bl & RHvar/ch (35.kt7.1)

2:14

kt (7) w hl & RH/LHvar (35.kt7.4)

2:17

kt (2) w hl & LHvar (RH: 35.kt2.5; LH: 35.kt2.6)

2:47

0:46

ks (1)/(2) w hl & RHvar (bl & octave figs) (35.ks2.1, mix w RH 35.ks2.2, seg 2, & 35.ks1.7, segs 2–3)

1:36

sv w LHvar (35.sv.7)

1:39

sv w RH/LHvar (35.sv.9, seg 3, mix w 35.sv.7)

1:47 1:55

sv w LHvar (35.sv.11, mix w LH 35.sv.7, segs 3–4)

2:25

sv w LHvar (35.sv.11)

2:32

sv w LHvar (35.sv.5)

2:48

sv w LHvar (35.sv.11, seg 1, mix w LH 35.sv.7, segs 3–4)

2:55

322

Chapter 35

TABLE 35.2 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

3:03

sv w LHvar (35.sv.11)

kt (2) w RH/LHvar (majimba) (RH: 35.kt2.5; LH: 35.kt2.6, mix w 35.kt2.7 & L1/G cross-thumbing subs, segs 1 & 3, like 35.kt13.4)

2:55

3:10

ks (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (G tremolo fig) (35.ks2.1, mix w 35.ks2.2)

3:14

ks (1) w bl w RHvar (35.ks1.1, mix w RH 35.ks1.4)

3:18

kt (2) w RH/LHvar (majimba) (L1/G cross-thumbing subs, like 35.kt13.6, segs 1–2)

3:10

3:26

kt (1) w hl (35.kt1.7)

3:18

kt (3) w bl & LHvar (double-noting bass descent figs) (35.kt3.7)

3:34

ends

3:57

3:37

ks (2) w bl (35.ks2.1)

3:42

3:47

ks (2) w bl & RH/LHvar (G tremolo fig) (35.ks2.1, w RH high E inserts, segs 1–2; mix w 35.ks2.2, seg 2, and ch)

4:04

ends

4:05

2:58: Concluding kutsinhira (7), he pauses for a fraction of a second to set up for his next part, then launches into kutsinhira (2) again. 3:06: Then the majimba come. It shows now that it’s really moving, things are really happening. The music’s in the groove. Its distinctive qualities remind him that al-

though his Taireva and Mukatiende arrangements share commonalities, the relationship between their kushaura and kutsinhira— the way they talk to one another— differ. 3:44: He observes with pleasure that he introduced and concluded kutsinhira (3) with left-hand doublenoting variations. It ends just like it started.

Taireva (1)

323

Taireva (1): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

kt4

kt5

kt6

kt7

B ds 6

1

4

35.Taireva (1) 324

35. Taireva (1) : Compilation

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

Compilation

Taireva (1): Compilation of part models and harmonic model kt8

kt9

kt10

kt11

kt12

kt13

sv

B ds 6

1

35.Taireva (1)

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

Compilation 35. Taireva (1) : Compilation

325

Taireva (1): Kushaura (1) 35.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.ks1.1

Basic line

35.ks1.2

35.ks1.3

35.ks1.4

35.ks1.5

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

35.ks1.6

35.ks1.7

326

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kushaura (1)

Kushaura (1)

35.ks1.8

35.ks1.9

Left-hand variations with right-hand simplified lines

35.ks1.10

35.ks1.11

Taireva (1): Kushaura (2) 35.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.ks2.1

35.ks2.2

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (1) 35.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.kt1.1

Basic line

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

327

35.kt1.2

Simplified line

35.kt1.3

35.kt1.4

Developing high line

35.kt1.5

35.kt1.6

Right-hand high line

35.kt1.7

Right-hand chording variation

35.kt1.8 328

35.Taireva (1) 35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (2) 35.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.kt2.1

Basic line

35.kt2.2

Simplified line

35.kt2.3

Right-hand high-line variations

35.kt2.4

35.kt2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

35.kt2.6

35.kt2.7

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (2)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (2)

329

35.kt2.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

35.kt2.9

Right-hand chording variations

35.kt2.10

35.kt2.11

35.kt2.12

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (3) 35.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.kt3.1

35.kt3.2 330

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

Right-hand high-line variations

35.kt3.3

35.kt3.4

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

35.kt3.5

35.kt3.6

35.kt3.7

35.kt3.8

35.kt3.9

35.kt3.10

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (3)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (3)

331

35.kt3.11

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (4) 35.kt4.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.kt4.1

35.kt4.2

Right-hand high line

35.kt4.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

35.kt4.4

Left- and right-hand variation

35.kt4.5 332

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (4)

Kutsinhira (4)

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (5) 35.kt5.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.kt5.1

35.kt5.2

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

35.kt5.3

35.kt5.4

35.kt5.5

35.kt5.6

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (6) 35.kt6.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

35.kt6.1

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (6)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (6)

333

Right-hand high-line variations

35.kt6.2

35.kt6.3

35.kt6.4

35.kt6.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

35.kt6.6

35.kt6.7

35.kt6.8

Right-hand chording variations

35.kt6.9

334

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (6)

Kutsinhira (6)

35.kt6.10

35.kt6.11

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (7) 35.kt7.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.kt7.1

35.kt7.2

35.kt7.3

Right-hand high-line variations

35.kt7.4

35.kt7.5

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (7)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (7)

335

Right-hand chording variation

35.kt7.6

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (8) 35.kt8.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.kt8.1

35.kt8.2

35.kt8.3

Right-hand high line

35.kt8.4

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

35.kt8.5

336

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (8)

Kutsinhira (8)

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (9) 35.kt9.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.kt9.1

35.kt9.2

Right-hand high line

35.kt9.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

35.kt9.4

35.kt9.5

35.kt9.6

35.kt9.7

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (9)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (9)

337

Left- and right-hand variation

35.kt9.8

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (10) 35.kt10.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

35.kt10.1

Basic line

35.kt10.2

Simplified line

Right-hand high line

35.kt10.3

Left-hand variation with right-hand simplified line

35.kt10.4

Right-hand chording variation

35.kt10.5

338

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (10)

Kutsinhira (10)

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (11) 35.kt11.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

35.kt11.1

Right-hand high line

35.kt11.2

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

35.kt11.3

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (12) 35.kt12.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line

35.kt12.1

Right-hand high line

35.kt12.2

35.Taireva (1)

Kutsinhira (12)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (12)

339

Taireva (1): Kutsinhira (13) (majimba part) 35.kt13.1 serving as model (same left hand as kutsinhira [2])

Right-hand basic line

R L R L R L R L R L R L etc.

35.kt13.1

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

35.kt13.2

35.kt13.3

Left- and right-hand variations

35.kt13.4

35.kt13.5

35.kt13.6 340

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Kutsinhira (13)

Kutsinhira (13)

Taireva (1): Solo Version 35.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

35.sv.1

35.sv.2

35.sv.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic lines

35.sv.4

35.sv.5

35.sv.6

35.sv.7

35.Taireva (1)

Solo Version

35. Taireva (1) : Solo Version

341

35.sv.8

35.sv.9

35.sv.10

35.sv.11

Left-hand accentuation variations

35.sv.12

35.sv.13

342

35.Taireva (1)

35. Taireva (1) : Solo Version

Solo Version

Taireva (1): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic line and simplified line 35.ks1.1—35.kt1.3

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt2.1

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic line and high line 35.ks1.1—35.kt3.3

35.Taireva (1)

Combinations 35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

343

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt4.1

e. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand high lines 35.ks1.6—35.kt6.4

f. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (7) with right-hand basic line, and developing high line with chording 35.ks1.1—35.kt7.6

35.Taireva (1) 344

35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

Combinations

g. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (8) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt8.2

h. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (10) with right-hand high lines 35.ks1.6—35.kt10.3

i. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (12) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt12.1

35.Taireva (1)

Combinations 35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

345

j. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (13) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt13.5

k. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (13) (majimba part) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks1.1—35.kt13.6

l. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic line and high line 35.ks2.1—35.kt2.5

35.Taireva (1) 346

35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

Combinations

m. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks2.1—35.kt3.8

n. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (5) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks2.1—35.kt5.3

o. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (9) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks2.1—35.kt9.5

35.Taireva (1)

Combinations 35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

347

p. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (11) with right-hand basic lines 35.ks2.1—35.kt11.1

q. Solo version/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand basic line and high line 35.sv.4—35.kt6.4

Multipurpose Parts Combined r. Kutsinhira (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand high lines 35.kt2.5—35.kt6.4

35.Taireva (1) 348

35. Taireva (1) : Combinations

Combinations

36 Taireva (2)

“Taireva (2)” is a different “Taireva,” complete by itself, and stands on its own. It was used as an independent song a long time ago. Since its style is complex, it’s played very slowly. That also distinguishes it from the other “Tairevas” like “Taireva (1),” which are played with speed. It’s similar to the “Bangizas.” We have a lot of “Bangizas,” and each gives a different flavor. We really like that. This “Taireva,” I clearly learned from Erick. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the solo version. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the solo version section, including the version’s use in “solo version–kutsinhira” arrangements.

Solo Version Taireva (2): Solo Version (36.sv.1)

36.sv.3 : Right-hand pitch substitution elaborates tremolo G and adds B chording, slightly prolonging dyad G areas. Segment-4 As suggest dyad D for F substitution in relation to the sequence model. 36.sv.6  illustrates a high line with two G peaks and scalar descents. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the solo version continuously. 349

Combined Solo Version and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the solo version and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s cross-version arrangements, and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination h; web demonstrations : combinations b–e, g–h). When reconstructing former practices for his versions of Taireva over the course of our study, he tested and revised his classification of their components and his practices. Initially he classified Taireva (2) solo version as a “kushaura” that paired with the current Taireva (1) kutsinhira (6). Later determining that kutsinhira (6) served as a following part for Taireva (1) kushaura in his system, he treated Taireva (2) strictly as a solo version for a period. I’d play this one separately from the other “Tairevas.” I can’t mix it [as a kutsinhira] with other “Taireva” kushaura because it has got its own taste. Over time, he gradually rediscovered the solo version’s versatility, for example, that he could use “Taireva (2)” solo version as a kushaura for “Taireva (1)” kutsinhira (3) [primarily], but also bring in “Taireva (1)” kutsinhira (1). On the Soul of Mbira CD [track 2, entitled Taireva], you’ll find the mixture of “Taireva (2)” used as a kushaura with those kutsinhira. Mondreck is playing the kushaura for “Taireva (2)” while Erick plays the kutsinhira (3) part. Since this is the song that I also used to play a lot with the late Mondreck and Erick, I know these combinations. As we experimented further, he expanded his arrangements a bit. Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2) also worked well with Taireva (2) solo version as the kushaura because there’s interlocking there. Still, I’d emphasize kutsinhira (3) in this situation. There are times when we’re supposed to play that kind of part. Usually, I switch to that other one with the basses [kutsinhira (2)] and go back and forth between them. Those two are enough for this piece. A few years later, when we reassessed Taireva (2) solo version’s kushaura role, he reiterated his prefer-

350

Chapter 36

ences for Taireva (1) counterparts: kutsinhira (3), (1), and (2) (combination a through combination e ). Kutsinhira (1) or kutsinhira (3) can be introduced in any order, but I’d give them more time of play than kutsinhira (2). Eventually, he included kutsinhira (4) as well (combination f), but drew the line there. After trying out Taireva (1) kutsinhira (8), for example: It wouldn’t fit because there’s no interlocking [here, meaning righthand interlocking]. Cosmas also favored a few three-part arrangements. One emphasized Taireva (2) solo version with Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2) and kutsinhira (3) (combination g ). That way your music would be very rich. It sounds great. You’re also giving the upper part enough: there’s enough being done by “Taireva (2),” the lead [consequently, the kutsinhira basses do not create an imbalance]. Now and again, within expanded cross-version arrangements for Taireva (2), he even found ways to include Taireva (1) kutsinhira (6). Usually, I add that when three people are playing, but it also works for two. We tested the latter possibilities, initially pairing Taireva (2) solo version with Taireva (1) kutsinhira (6), and subsequently pairing the latter with kutsinhira (2). Yes, as you’ve seen, it sounds great. We like the melody of that. In three-player arrangements, all the parts above worked well together (combination h ). Finally, while reiterating that he primarily regarded Taireva (2) solo version as an independent song from the other “Taireva,” Cosmas’s explorations led him to an unanticipated arrangement in which Taireva (2) solo version served not as a kushaura, but a kutsinhira after all. If the tempo was reasonable, it could serve as a kutsinhira for the main “Taireva”— Taireva (1) kushaura (1) and (2). Implementing Solo Version–Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the solo version and Taireva (1) kutsinhira (1), (2), and (3), while bringing in other parts for a change.

Taireva (2): Compilation of part model and harmonic model sv

B ds 6

36.Taireva (2)

1

4

6

2

4

6

1

3

5

1

3

Compilation 36. Taireva (2) : Compilation

351

Taireva (2): Solo Version 36.sv.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

36.sv.1

Basic line

36.sv.2

Simplified line

36.sv.3

36.sv.4

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

36.sv.5

36.sv.6

36.sv.7

352

36.Taireva (2)

36. Taireva (2) : Solo Version

Solo Version

36.sv.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

36.sv.9

Right-hand chording variations

36.sv.10

36.sv.11

36.Taireva (2)

Solo Version

36. Taireva (2) : Solo Version

353

Taireva (2) Solo Version and Taireva (1) Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 36.sv.1—35.kt1.1

b. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand simplified lines 36.sv.3—35.kt1.3

c. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high line and simplified line 36.sv.6—35.kt2.9

36.Taireva (2) 354

36. Taireva (2) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand simplified line and high line 36.sv.3—35.kt3.3

e. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand high lines 36.sv.6—35.kt3.3

f. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (4) with right-hand high lines 36.sv.5—35.kt4.3

36.Taireva (2)

Combinations 36. Taireva (2) : Combinations

355

Three-Part Arrangements g. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand simplified lines and high line 36.sv.3—35.kt2.3—35.kt3.3

h. Solo Version/Kutsinhira (2)/Kutsinhira (6) with right-hand simplified lines and high line 36.sv.3—35.kt2.3—35.kt6.4

36.Taireva (2) 356

36. Taireva (2) : Combinations

Combinations

37 Taireva (3)

The style of this “Taireva” is different from the other “Tairevas.” That’s why you play it separately. Some of the kushaura and the kutsinhira parts given here came from my son, Muda, who showed me those in the late nineties. Muda learned it from Courage Njenge. Taireva (3) is based on an altered version of the standard sequence. In segment 1, dyad G’s prolongation extends into segment 2 (having elided dyads B/1 and E/4 of the 1–4–6 dyad group). In segment 3, dyad D’s prolongation extends into segment 4 (having elided dyad F/5 of the 1–3–5 dyad group). Overall, in segment 1, Taireva (3)’s parts emphasize G and D drones. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1), later working on kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (2) and, finally, kutsinhira (3). Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Taireva (3): Kushaura (1) (37.ks1.1)

This has a different melody as compared to the others. For the pamusoro part’s elaborate G tremolo and emphasis on upper-midrange pitches, it had a special place in Cosmas’s early repertory. 37.ks1.1: This is the part that Stella Chiweshe uses in her version of the song which she named “Kasawa.” Kasawa is a small fish bone. 357

37.ks1.2  mixes Cs with midrange F (segment 4), invoking dyad F in the standard sequence, which is largely elided by dyad D in this version of the piece. 37.ks1.3  adds B chording to the basic line, and in segment 4 replaces Cs in the previous variation with As, conforming to this version’s prolonged dyad D. 37.ks1.7 : Gesture substitution adds a second high peak and scalar descent; in segment 4, pitch substitution creates a leap and short scalar descent from the C substitutions (like 37.ks1.2 , the variation references dyad F in the standard sequence).

37.kt1.11 : Rest substitution lightens the comparatively static middle voice, while pitch substitution emphasizes dyad G’s fifth and dyad C’s root. 37.kt1.12  reinstates the basic part’s configuration of Gs and Ds in the first half of the cycle through pitch substitution, while in the second half, rest substitution increases the exposure of a series of compound (1+2) bass figures initiated by Ds. 37.kt1.13 : Pitch substitution in segment 1 contributes a midrange G drone to those in upper and lower voices; strengthens dyad C’s presence in segment 2; and elaborates the midrange D drone in segments 3–4.

Taireva (3): Kushaura (2) (37.ks2.1)

In 2001 we reconstructed this kushaura from our 1972 transcription. As in kushaura (1), its prolongation of dyad G through the beginning of segment 2 elides dyad B and dyad E in the standard sequence. 37.ks2.9 : Midrange C substitution strengthens dyad C’s single appearance in the sequence. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice alternating cycles of kushaura (1) and (2). When playing kushaura, I don’t have that many things that I do right now, just the parts I showed you and a few substitutes. The kushaura stays pretty much the same.

Kutsinhira Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (1) (37.kt1.1)

This is the most basic kutsinhira. In 2002, when Cosmas demonstrated his use of developing high lines with the kushaura parts, I assumed that he used the same right-hand figures for the kutsinhira and included it in our transcriptions. Reviewing our collection in 2007, he corrected me. Sometimes I use that developing high line starting on D there [37.kt1.4] with the kushaura, but not on the kutsinhira. Because of the song’s style, how it’s structured, that difference is important. That’s how I enjoy it. Some years later, however, he modified his position. It was fine to include the variation, but he tended to emphasize others. 37.kt1.8  strengthens dyad C’s single appearance in the sequence through pitch substitution. 358

Chapter 37

Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (2) (37.kt2.1)

This is the second kutsinhira that I use for this “Taireva.” Do you have pamusoro variations for this part? I don’t use many pamusoro variations on this. I haven’t spent much time working on Taireva (3). 37.kt2.6 : Rest substitution removes midrange Cs representing the underlying dyad’s root. 37.kt2.9 : Here, pitch substitution extends the midrange G drone, while rest substitution weakens dyad E’s presence in segment 2, setting up the subsequent entrance of the midrange D drone and ascending bass figure. Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (3) (37.kt3.1 )

This kutsinhira kwepasi eliminates the middle voice; its heavy basses comprise shifting three-pulse keystroke figures with embedded double and triple noting. 37.kt3.5: As you can hear from the beginning section, that’s a hybrid part with different left-hand substitutes. 37.kt3.6: I asked about the liberties he had taken in the lower voice in segments 1–2, which substitute a scalar descent for D and G drones in the previous variation. Within Taireva (3)’s nuanced form, the new pitch configurations with F, E, and D invoke dyad B, dyad E, and dyad G, giving a nod to the standard sequence’s 1–4–6 succession. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing kutsinhira (1) continuously. Demonstrating kutsinhira (1) basic part: Then I

add some high lines. On this one, you know, I combine the chords [right-hand B chording] and the high lines. This is how I play it. He reminded me that he used developing high lines with the kutsinhira parts as well, but to a lesser degree than his other options. I’d give kutsinhira (1) and (2) equal time. I’ll go for about ten cycles playing the first one, then ten for the second. As for the place of kutsinhira (3) in his system: That’s what I do when I’m going wild, going berserk. Usually, I’ll do this as a transition back to the basic kutsinhira (3) or to the hybrid variation [37.kt3.5]. That’s a good majimba. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination j; web demonstrations : combinations a–c, f–j). Reviewing the possibilities, he says he emphasizes kushaura (1) and kutsinhira (1) in his performances. Reflecting on his figure substitution in kutsinhira (3)’s variation (37.kt3.6), which increases segment 1’s textural density: That majimba goes well with the kushaura [combination d]. Additionally, he suggested crossversion arrangements including parts from Taireva (1) and Taireva (3)— an exception to his general practice of treating the latter separately from other versions. “Taireva (3)” kutsinhira (1) goes well when three or more are playing within the ensemble. Three-part arrangements (combination g  and combination h ) included Taireva (3) kushaura (1) and Taireva (1) kushaura (1), with a third player switching back and forth between Taireva (3) kutsinhira (1) and Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2). He generally

appreciated the effects created by distinctive combinations, some of which required parts’ metric shifting and other departures from the norms of two-player interaction. Regarding combination g, he noted that Taireva (3) kushaura (1) and Taireva (3) kutsinhira (1) are on the same level [here, meaning that the lefthand pitches of both parts begin on the same beat, but their right-hand pitches interlock]. In combination h, Taireva (3) kushaura (1) and Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2) are on the same level [here, meaning that right-hand and left-hand pitches coincide throughout], but their right-hand patterns are complementary because, for the most part, they occupy different pitch levels. Taireva (1) kushaura mediates between them, contributing to thickened resultant stacks of notes and clusters including intervals of seconds. A four-part arrangement comprised Taireva (3) kushaura (1), Taireva (3) kutsinhira (1), Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2), and Taireva (1) kushaura (1) (combination i ). A five-part arrangement: Taireva (1) kushaura (1), Taireva (3) kushaura (1), Taireva (3) kutsinhira (1), Taireva (1) kutsinhira (2), and Taireva (1) kutsinhira (3) (combination j ). I tried all these variations in different forms with other people, then came up with my own approach— the combinations I like. That’s what we’re representing in this method: what I think is the best way. Of course, others can try other combinations for themselves. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes kushaura (1) and (2) with kutsinhira (1) and (2), bringing in kutsinhira (3) for a change.

Taireva (3)

359

Taireva (3): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks1

ks2

kt1

kt2

kt3

B ds 6

37.Taireva (3) 360

37. Taireva (3) : Compilation

2

4

6

1

3

1

3

Compilation

Taireva (3): Kushaura (1) 37.ks1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

37.ks1.1

Basic line

37.ks1.2

37.ks1.3

37.ks1.4

Simplified line

37.ks1.5

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

37.ks1.6

37.ks1.7

37.Taireva (3)

Kushaura (1)

37. Taireva (3) : Kushaura (1)

361

Right-hand chording variation

37.ks1.8

Taireva (3): Kushaura (2) 37.ks2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

37.ks2.1

Basic line

37.ks2.2

Simplified line

37.ks2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

37.ks2.4

37.ks2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

37.ks2.6 362

37.Taireva (3)

37. Taireva (3) : Kushaura (2)

Kushaura (2)

37.ks2.7

37.ks2.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

37.ks2.9

Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (1) 37.kt1.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

37.kt1.1

Basic line

37.kt1.2

Simplified line

37.kt1.3

37.kt1.4

Developing high line

37.Taireva (3)

Kutsinhira (1)

37. Taireva (3) : Kutsinhira (1)

363

Right-hand high-line variations

37.kt1.5

37.kt1.6

37.kt1.7

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

37.kt1.8

37.kt1.9

37.kt1.10

Left-hand variations with right-hand high lines

37.kt1.11

37.kt1.12

364

37.Taireva (3)

37. Taireva (3) : Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (1)

Left- and right-hand variation

37.kt1.13

Right-hand chording variations

37.kt1.14

37.kt1.15

Right-hand line substitution

Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (2) 37.kt2.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

37.kt2.1

Basic line

37.kt2.2

Simplified line

37.kt2.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high-line variations

37.kt2.4

37.Taireva (3)

Kutsinhira (2)

37. Taireva (3) : Kutsinhira (2)

365

37.kt2.5

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

37.kt2.6

37.kt2.7

37.kt2.8

Left-hand variation with right-hand high line

37.kt2.9

Taireva (3): Kutsinhira (3) 37.kt3.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

37.kt3.1

Basic line

37.kt3.2 366

37.Taireva (3)

37. Taireva (3) : Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

37.kt3.3

Developing high line

Right-hand high line

37.kt3.4

Left- and right-hand variations

37.kt3.5

37.kt3.6

37.Taireva (3)

Kutsinhira (3)

37. Taireva (3) : Kutsinhira (3)

367

Taireva (3): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand basic lines 37.ks1.2—37.kt1.8

b. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1) with right-hand high lines 37.ks1.7—37.kt1.12

c. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 37.ks1.3—37.kt3.1

37.Taireva (3) 368

37. Taireva (3) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines 37.ks1.3—37.kt3.6

e. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand developing high lines 37.ks2.3—37.kt2.3

f. Kushaura (2)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand high lines 37.ks2.9—37.kt2.9

37.Taireva (3)

Combinations 37. Taireva (3) : Combinations

369

Three-Part Cross-Version Arrangements g. Taireva (3) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1)/Taireva (1) Kushaura (1) with right-hand basic lines and high line 37.ks1.2—37.kt1.12—35.ks1.1

h. Taireva (3) Kushaura (1)/Taireva (1) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines and high line 37.ks1.2—35.ks1.1—35.kt2.5

37.Taireva (3) 370

37. Taireva (3) : Combinations

Combinations

Four-Part Cross-Version Arrangement i. Taireva (3) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1)/Taireva (1) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2) with right-hand basic lines and high lines 37.ks1.2—37.kt1.12—35.ks1.1—35.kt2.5

37.Taireva (3)

Combinations 37. Taireva (3) : Combinations

371

Five-Part Cross-Version Arrangement j. Taireva (3) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (1)/Taireva (1) Kushaura (1)/Kutsinhira (2)/Kutsinhira (3) with right-hand basic lines and high lines 37.ks1.2—37.kt1.12—35.ks1.1—35.kt2.5—35.kt3.3

37.Taireva (3) 372

37. Taireva (3) : Combinations

Combinations

38 Taireva (4)

Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and the kutsinhira. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Taireva (4): Kushaura (38.ks.1)

In 2001, we reconstructed this piece from our 1972 transcription, at that time entitled “Taireva yekutanga.” I learned this in the early sixties, but don’t remember who taught me. I used to play it, but don’t anymore. Beauler uses this traditional part as the backup for her song “Kusuwamusha.” This song is different from the other “Tairevas” and gives difficult challenges technically [unusual keystroke movements]. The part’s spare basic line— a mixture of offbeat and onbeat pitches— combines with the left-hand pattern to produce a sequence of combined-hand shuffle figures including octave doubling. 38.ks.2 : Substitution increases B chording in segment 4, prolonging dyad E and eliding dyad A. 38.ks.3: Elaborate pitch insertion transforms the right-hand pattern into Cosmas’s alternative “basic line” comprising 3:2 figures. 38.ks.4 : Here, B chording thickens the basic line. 38.ks.7  illustrates a high line that doubles the left-hand shuffle pattern in octaves. 38.ks.8 : Line substitution contributes a 3:2 pattern in which figures with 373

leaps in contrary motion alternate with figures with wide downward leaps and pitch repetition or step motion. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. You should try this with and without bass B substitutes [38.ks.9]. That gives a different melody each time.

Kutsinhira Taireva (4): Kutsinhira (38.kt.1 )

After Cosmas relearned Taireva (4)’s kushaura from our 1970s transcription, he experimented with possibilities for a kutsinhira (which we had not recorded) and asked other musicians about their approaches. In the end, he settled on the kutsinhira presented here. It’s one that a student of mine in Canada, Teddy Wright, taught me. He’d learned it from someone else in Zimbabwe. The kutsinhira embodies sparer harmonic movement than the kushaura, in segments 1, 2, and 3 anticipating the kushaura’s third dyad and eliding the middle dyad. 38.kt.2  adds B chording to the basic line. 38.kt.4  illustrates a high line emphasizing 3:2 figures with pitch repetition. 38.kt.5 : Right-hand substitutions E and D create

374

Chapter 38

scalar descents. The substitutions, respectively referencing dyad A and dyad B in the sequence, produce fleeting adjacent-dyad mixtures with the left-hand pitches. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination d; web demonstrations : combinations a–d). NB: In segment 2, the kutsinhira’s harmonic independence from the kushaura produces a convergence that can be interpreted as dyad D and dyad C mixture. Combination a: When I asked about the resultant second, A/G, in the upper voice of segment 2, he replied, I just like it. That’s how the two are combined. Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira given here.

Taireva (4): Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

C alt ds 4

38.Taireva (4)

6 2

4

7

2+1

3

5 1

3

6

1

Compilation 38. Taireva (4) : Compilation

375

Taireva (4): Kushaura 38.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

38.ks.1

Basic line

38.ks.2

38.ks.3

38.ks.4

38.ks.5

Simplified line

38.ks.6

Right-hand high-line variations

38.ks.7

376

38.Taireva (4)

38. Taireva (4) : Kushaura

Kushaura

38.ks.8

Right-hand line substitution

Left-hand variation with right-hand basic line

38.ks.9

Taireva (4): Kutsinhira 38.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

38.kt.1

Basic line

38.kt.2

38.kt.3

Simplified line

Right-hand high-line variations

38.kt.4

38.kt.5

38.Taireva (4)

Kutsinhira

38. Taireva (4) : Kutsinhira

377

Taireva (4): Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 38.ks.2—38.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 38.ks.4—38.kt.2

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand high lines 38.ks.7—38.kt.5

38.Taireva (4) 378

38. Taireva (4) : Combinations

Combinations

d. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand high lines 38.ks.8—38.kt.4

38.Taireva (4)

Combinations 38. Taireva (4) : Combinations

379

39 Tondobayana

This means “We’re going [into battle] to spear one other.” It’s like “Bayawabaya.” It’s the mbira version of a ngondo [war] song. When singing this—for instance, during the liberation struggle—the men boast to their enemies that we are going to fight and defeat you. Learning Program

Cosmas recommends that students learn the kushaura and kutsinhira. Preparatory exercises and performance guidelines are provided at the end of the kushaura and kutsinhira sections.

Kushaura Tondobayana: Kushaura (39.ks.1)

I learned this very early. It must have been Chivhanga who taught me. When I learned “Tondobayana,” I could hear the basses saying “Ton-do ba-ya-na” [segments 2 and 4, from the pickup to the second beat] in their responses to the high notes. That’s where I got the idea that the keys are talking to one another when I play. The keys are imitating the voices. Our 1972 transcription notes indicated that the piece was “usually played with drums.” When we reviewed the transcription in 2001, he reported: That’s the same as I play it today. I have no simplification of the right hand [pattern] for this song. Cosmas, you taught this piece to me in 1972, but not in 1999 when I relearned the repertory from you. 380

It just didn’t occur to me in 1999. We usually don’t play as much of this tune in the spirit world [that is, at ceremonies for the ancestors] as we would the “Mahororos,” “Nyamaropas,” and “Karigamombes.” It’s a song that’s not so much in demand. To this day, I only play it occasionally. 39.ks.11 : Initially I interpreted this variation as the “basic part” in Cosmas’s system, but he later corrected me. It is not the actual kushaura part. It’s a variation that shows my deliberate mixing of kushaura and kutsinhira. In segment 2, he replaces the kushaura’s bass F double-noting figure with the kutsinhira’s bass G-F figure. I usually like to keep these separate. Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kushaura continuously. Elaborating on his incorporation of the kutsinhira’s G-F figure above: That should be confined to the kutsinhira or to mixing in the context of the kushaura. There are liberties you can take, but you need to control those. You can’t take liberties all the time. Usually, I demonstrate that by the way I play. First you start with regulars, the basic kushaura, then you begin to bring in all the other things. Cosmas’s kushaura performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter.

Kutsinhira

Preparatory Performance Schemes and Applications

Practice playing the kutsinhira continuously. Cosmas’s kutsinhira performance, available on the website, is outlined at the end of this chapter. Combined Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts

This section samples the kushaura and kutsinhira combinations favored by Cosmas’s arrangements and illustrates the parts’ interlocking rhythmic positions (transcriptions: combination a through combination c; web demonstration : combination b). Speaking of his distinctive mixture of the kushaura and kutsinhira in segment 2, he says: When I bring them together, it’s richer. Here, the resultant interval of a second in the bass, F-G, resolves into an E, the root of the underlying dyad (combination a and combination c). Implementing Kushaura-Kutsinhira Arrangements

Cosmas typically emphasizes the kushaura and kutsinhira given here. Table 39.1 depicts successive parts, variations, and kushaura-kutsinhira interplay comprising Cosmas’s website multitrack rendition.

Tondobayana: Kutsinhira (39.kt.1)

Reflections

This part largely comprises a shifted version of the kushaura, a step behind, but with distinctive right- and left-hand substitutions. 39.kt.6 quotes the kushaura, highlighting the parts’ exchanges in performance. 39.kt.7, 9–10: These variations illustrate combined processes of pitch substitution, metric shifting, and pitch insertion animating the kutsinhira. 39.kt.11 : Pitch substitution subtly references the kushaura in segment 1; rest substitution restores the basic kutsinhira’s left-hand figure in segment 2. In segment 4, the combined processes add dramatic leaps to harmonic-addition G and remove E double noting from the upper and lower voices.

0:15 and 0:20: Concerning the right- and left-hand variations of the basic kutsinhira part, it switches you a step [pulse] behind the kushaura when I do that “kaka-ta.” He refers to three-pitch alternate-pulse keystroke figures beginning on the fourth beats of segments 2 and 4; see transcription 39.kt.8, for example; also combination b. In segment 2, the combined-hand figure comprises high E, bass E, high A; in segment 4, it is transposed a scale degree lower. I’m also using those keys [pitches] as a stepping-stone to smoothly continue behind the kushaura with the next figures coming up. 1:45: You can hear that I switched into the kushaura while playing the kutsinhira here [here and further on: refers to left-hand C-for-G substitutions in segTondobayana

381

TABLE 39.1 Tondobayana

Counter

Kushaura

Kutsinhira

Counter

0:00

ks w bl (begins seg 1) (39.ks.1) kt w bl & RH/LHvar (begins seg 1) (39.kt.8)

0:00

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8, mix w 39.kt.6, segs 1–2)

1:24

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8)

1:45

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (B7/A triple-noting fig) (39.kt.9)

1:57

2:18

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (B7/A triple-noting fig) (39.kt.10)

2:08

2:26

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8)

2:16

2:36

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8, mix w 39.kt.6, segs 1–2)

2:26

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8)

2:37

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8, mix w 39.kt.6, segs 1–2)

2:57

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (39.kt.8)

3:18

0:10 0:47

ks w bl (39.ks.1, mix w 39.ks.3, seg 3)

0:52

ks w bl & RHvar (39.ks.1, mix w RH high E inserts, seg 2, 4th beat)

1:12

ks w hl & RHvar (RH: 39.ks.8, mix w RH rest subs, pickups segs 1 & 3)

1:24

ks w hl (39.ks.7)

1:34

ks w hl (39.ks.8)

1:55 2:05

ks w hl & RH/LHvar (39.ks.7, mix w RH rest subs, pickups to segs 1 & 3)

2:07 2:15

382

ks w hl & RHvar (39.ks.8, mix w RH rest subs, pickups segs 1 & 3)

2:47

ks w bl & RH/LHvar (39.ks.6, mix w RH rest subs, pickups segs 1 & 3)

2:57

ks w bl (39.ks.1)

3:07

ks w bl & RHvar (39.ks.3, mix w RH rest subs, pickups segs 1 & 3)

3:18

ks w bl (39.ks.1)

3:28

ks w bl & RHvar (39.ks.6, mix w RH rest subs, pickups segs 1 & 3)

Chapter 39

TABLE 39.1 (continued)

Counter

Kushaura

3:39

ks w bl (39.ks.1)

3:49

ks w bl & RHvar (39.ks.5, mix w RH rest sub, pickup seg 1)

3:52 3:54

Kutsinhira

Counter

kt w bl & RH/LHvar (B7/A triple-noting fig) (39.kt.9)

3:42

ends

3:45

ends

3:55

ment 1, re-creating the kushaura part’s octave C leaps (39.kt.5–6)]. 2:19: He looks up with delight. I knew that was coming, that majimba in the kutsinhira. He refers to segment 2 where he inserts a combined-hand octave A into the pattern, producing a triple-noting octave A figure (39. kt.9): You need to play fast to keep up with the tempo when you do that. It’s like a jump you’re making to fit into the arrangement. You’re forced to do something unusual at that juncture. This triple noting in both hands is an example of a little majimba. I add things like those when I’m looking for another kind of interlocking. Because of the nature of the song, it needs constructive changes to produce the interlocking I enjoy while playing. That’s why I’m changing, adjusting, playing around with my keys.

This was also true for his kushaura performance, which included subtle changes to the right-hand pattern throughout: adding substitutions that doubled the left-hand pattern in octaves, removing them, varying the high line’s contour, and so on. It shows how unplanned things just start coming to you when you perform. You’re learning my tricks of the game, he said to me— then added with a smile, well, some of them. 2:26: In the kutsinhira, I switched to the kushaura here [introduces downward octave C leaps (39.kt.6, segments 1–2)]. 2:57: Again, in the kutsinhira, I’m switching to the kushaura [introduces octave C leaps as above]. 3:19: Now I’m back to the kushaura once again [introduces octave C leaps].

Tondobayana

383

Tondobayana: Compilation of part models and harmonic model ks

kt

C-B drop-step sequence ds 1

39.Tondobayana 384

39. Tondobayana : Compilation

6

4

3 ↓:1 [3

6

4

3]

Compilation

Tondobayana: Kushaura 39.ks.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variations

39.ks.1

39.ks.2

39.ks.3

39.ks.4

39.ks.5

39.ks.6

Right-hand high-line variations

39.ks.7

39.Tondobayana

Kushaura 39. Tondobayana : Kushaura

385

39.ks.8

39.ks.9

39.ks.10

Left- and right-hand variations

39.ks.11

quotation of kutsinhira

39.ks.12

Tondobayana: Kutsinhira 39.kt.1 serving as model

Right-hand basic line and variation

39.kt.1

39.kt.2

386

39.Tondobayana

39. Tondobayana : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Right-hand high line

39.kt.3

Left-hand variations with right-hand basic line

39.kt.4

39.kt.5

39.kt.6

quotation of kushaura

Left- and right-hand variations

39.kt.7

39.kt.8

39.kt.9

39.kt.10

39.Tondobayana

Kutsinhira 39. Tondobayana : Kutsinhira

387

39.kt.11

388

39.Tondobayana

39. Tondobayana : Kutsinhira

Kutsinhira

Tondobayana: Kushaura and Kutsinhira Parts Combined a. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 39.ks.1—39.kt.1

b. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand basic lines 39.ks.11—39.kt.11

c. Kushaura/Kutsinhira with right-hand high lines 39.ks.8—39.kt.3

39.Tondobayana

Combinations 39. Tondobayana : Combinations

389

40 A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments A return trip to Zimbabwe in 1994 enabled me to expand my research with Cosmas and his associates over the years, deepening its perspective on the mbira community’s creative practices. During a few months in which Cosmas was occupied with his growing family and his job in the dairy industry, I took lessons with experts of a younger generation whose work is sampled in this chapter: principally, Musekiwa Chingodza; also, Donald Kadumba, Lovett Paradzai, and William Rusere. Additionally, Chris Mhlanga, Leonard Magaya, and Thomas Zifa, grandson of Simon Mashoko, contributed repertory. The chapter also includes additional examples from 1972 by Luken Kwari (Pasipamire), John Kunaka, Mondreck and Erick Muchena, and Ephat Mujuru. In our lessons in 1994, musicians taught me their versions of pieces that lay at the core of mbira huru’s repertory, including those in its Bangiza, Nhemamusasa, and Nyamaropa families. Subsequently, in the new millennium, Cosmas and I met several times during his visits to the States to consider the material together. As a general procedure in our sessions, I played each transcription without identifying it and asked his interpretation of it. Item by item, he pointed out what was familiar in relation to his own vocabulary and the community’s general conventions— and what he regarded as different or “new.” At the same time, he envisaged the use to which he would put the multilayered patterns in his system. For my part, I was interested in how Cosmas’s responses to the material might illuminate interrelated matters of musical perception, aesthetics, and criticism implicated in the repertory’s circulation— and its transformation. If new material appealed to him, for example, would he integrate it directly into his system or modify it for compatibility with his own repertory? My limited sessions with the other musicians had not allowed for the contextualization of material that had been possible in my association with Cosmas. 390

Although they kindly demonstrated parts for me until I could imitate or notate them, time did not always permit me to pin down a part’s relationship to the beat or to identify the counterparts they favored with it. Even if I formed impressions of these things, I was not always able to arrange a follow-up session to verify them. When I mentioned this to Cosmas, he nodded knowingly. He had also found himself in this position when learning from others, he assured me. Moreover, he faced comparable challenges when assessing and complementing others’ ideas in performance, especially when playing with musicians whose styles were unfamiliar to him. In a sense, as sampled below, our sessions assessing and experimenting with other players’ repertory comprised slowed-down, start-and-stop versions of processes that routinely engaged him as an improviser. Through our work here, I would like to show what it’s like when I meet another musician and play for the first time. You pick things up from the other person’s playing; figure out a way of relating what you know to what someone else knows. In fact, as soon as you pick up your mbira, you have to think fast about how you can come in. You quickly dig into your archive and find a kushaura or a kutsinhira for that tune which goes along with what the other person is doing. When you find several musicians [on the mbira bench], you also just join in playing with them. When they start doing something, you’re so alert that immediately lots of things start coming to you of how to respond to what they’re doing. I asked if he might elaborate the considerations raised by the material I shared with him, like Chris Mhlanga’s, for instance. In that case, I’m imagining that I’m with Mhlanga and that we’re playing together. Mhlanga starts playing the kushaura and I come in with the kutsinhira— that’s the normal way. So, if you play something for me that you learned from Chris that sounds like a kushaura, I think of how I would follow it. Or, if you play something of Chris’s that sounds like a kutsinhira, I think of what kushaura I would play with it. In our multiple passes through the repertory between 2002 and 2006, he typically responded by classifying other players’ material in relation to individual compositions in his repertory and deciding the role he would assign the material in his own mbira system. His decisions about part combinations grew out of

preliminary or secondary trials with various kushaurakutsinhira pairs that he suggested we test together. In some instances, he revised his ideas about the materials’ classification or use in his evolving practices before settling on the views represented in this chapter. Along the way, we discussed our method’s challenges and potential liabilities. Respectful of his associates, he wanted readers to know that we were ultimately representing his interpretations of my interpretations of the repertory that my teachers had taught me. He also brought up various contingencies during our intensive sessions that, as in the performance situation itself, had bearing on his appraisals: how fresh his ears and powers of concentration were at the time, his changing tastes over the years, and so on. Moreover, without hearing and watching another musician perform, it was sometimes difficult for him to definitively gauge how the person positioned patterns in relation to the beat. Once Cosmas had assessed other artists’ repertory to his satisfaction, I shared their respective characterizations of it with him. Instructively, his interpretation of another player’s pattern sometimes reversed its kushaura or kutsinhira role as I had been taught it, or slated it for use with a different piece or version of the piece than the one with which my teacher had associated it. We subjected some of the parts to light editing when Cosmas felt that errors had arisen somewhere in the line of transmission, whether in my hearing or transcription or the parts’ initial demonstration. When demonstrating, going very slowly, you can go to the wrong key. Also, when you’re performing, you can make mistakes as you play, especially if you’re going fast. You can miss a key; it’s natural. His ears were the final arbiters in our editorial process. Concerned about the limitations of memory when comparing his repertory to that of others in our sessions, he advised that he could do no more than honestly share his impressions with me. I may say I don’t play a version or a substitute, but I may not always remember every way I do things— especially out of context like this. Also, when I play with others, I may pick up things from Sidney without realizing it and later play it as part of my own archive. Or, Cosmas might have learned “Sidney’s part” just by playing alongside Ephat Mujuru because Ephat was the relative of Sidney’s (his sekuru [uncle]) who had initially taught Sidney to play. Things A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

391

get passed around. With humor, he added that he was worried that if he stated categorically that he did not know a certain pattern, he might one day be confronted by a puzzled student who had learned it from him. Another factor shaping his interpretation of parts, especially in kushaura-kutsinhira relationships, was my ability to absorb and perform new material exactingly. If my performance was weak, it could compromise his evaluation of parts’ complementarity. Our review of the combinations over several years, during which I increased my facility with the repertory, helped compensate for my initial performances’ variability. Our concern with accuracy notwithstanding, we take responsibility for inadvertent errors or misinterpretations of our associates’ repertory. Below, examples and commentaries are organized alphabetically by composition title. Within subsections for kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo versions, each set of transcriptions begins with Cosmas’s closest part to repertory taught to me by other players. Its label gives its compositional identity and musical role within his system, and refers to Cosmas by his surname, for example, “Bangiza (5): Kushaura: Magaya basic version presented for comparison.” NB: Transcription identifiers for Cosmas’s versions adopt the previous chapters’ format; those for other artists’ versions append the format with the number 40 and abbreviations of artists’ surnames. For the purposes of comparison, we focus on the repertory’s left-hand patterns, which largely establish a part or variation’s identity in his system. At the same time, within kushaura or kutsinhira sets, some left-hand patterns combine with distinctive right-hand patterns that, in Cosmas’s estimation, qualify the selections for classification as “solo versions.” Repertory with left-hand patterns differing substantially from his material appears in the “additional” kushaura, kutsinhira, and solo version subsections (abbr. “aks, akt, or asv” in transcription identifiers). In cases in which other players associated their material with a different composition or musical role than Cosmas, we give their system’s classification in parentheses. In one instance, “Chingodza version (taught as kutsinhira)” appears in Cosmas’s system under the Bangiza section as “Bangiza (3): Solo Version.” In another instance, “Mhlanga version (taught as Nyamaropa kutsinhira)” appears in Cosmas’s system under the Mahororo section as “Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1).” 392

Chapter 40

In cases in which other players taught their versions as beginning at a different point in the cycle than Cosmas’s, we rotate the players’ versions for alignment, while indicating their original starting points with an arrow and a bracket above the staff. Following Cosmas’s basic version in each transcription set, examples’ brackets and circles highlight differing left-hand midrange and bass features from staff to staff. I withhold graphic annotation from successive parts that share the same left-hand pattern, and typically withhold them from right-hand patterns as well. Unique features of the latter’s upper voices are easily identified in transcriptions. As implied above, Cosmas’s basic versions have a different purpose in this chapter than in previous chapters where they represent models for variations. Periodic exceptions include transcription sets with closely related parts or variations by the same artist that suggest transformational processes. In the commentaries that follow, my teachers’ remarks during lessons typically appear in quotations; my perspectives in roman type; Cosmas’s responses, in italics. Throughout our comparative study, other artists’ versions of repertory highlighted the expansiveness of the mbira system and at times served as a catalyst for Cosmas’s retrieval of his own material. Listening to what someone else plays reminds me of other things I do that didn’t come to mind when I was teaching you the repertory. In my storeroom, there are so many more things as well. In relation to such deep knowledge, our research merely samples the personal archives of players and that of the larger community.

Bangiza (1): Kushaura (2) Muchena version (40.1.ks2.Muc)

In 1994, I learned this version of Mondreck’s from Keith Goddard, then associated with the Zimbabwe College of Music. Mondreck told him that he had picked it up by listening to a performance by the American Chris Berry, who, in turn, had learned it from a Zimbabwean player from Nyandoro. Mondreck added that his brother Erick, too, had the ability to learn simply by listening to other players’ performances and recreating their patterns with his mbira. 2003: I know that one, Cosmas affirms.

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (3) Muchena version (40.1.kt3.Muc)

When Mondreck taught this to me, he also ascribed it to a Chris Berry performance. Beyond this version, Mondreck referred to “the other Bangizas,” including “the third one, the hard one” that he heard someone playing in Murehwa at his wife’s home. The latter refers to the multipurpose part characterized by left-hand shifting three-pulse figures (see chap. 1, Bangiza [1], kutsinhira [8]). He added that in performance, “the high notes change depending on what you hear in the other player’s part. Kunaka used to tell me to play the highest nhetete when he played the lower ones and vice versa. Also, when you need to rest, play the pamusoro [that is, emphasizing the upper-midrange keys and dropping the bass keys].” 2003: I know that part too. Paradzai version (40.1.kt3.Pa)

This kutsinhira emphasizes octave Bs in segments 2 and 3 (second-beat areas), referencing dyad B over a beat earlier than Cosmas’s and Muchena’s versions. 2003: That’s very close to what I play. In most cases, this is a kutsinhira. It’s fine as it is to line up with “Bangiza (1)” kushaura (1).

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (5) Maratu pamusoro versions (40.1.kt5.Ma.1–2)

2002: Interesting substitutes. I do this one slightly differently. 2003: Cosmas’s revelation, having recently reviewed his larger repertory. Just amazing, it’s like the one that came to me in my dream [chap. 2, Bangiza (2), 2.kt2.1], but I hear some differences in the pamusoro. As we tried out Maratu’s and other artists’ versions of the pamusoro part given in this section, we found that they worked as kutsinhira for Bangiza (1) kushaura, and could serve as kushaura accompanied by Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1). 2006: In this group of parts, they’re all things extracted from “Bangiza (5)” kushaura. It’s the same thing, but pamusoro extractions. Maratu’s can also be used as a

“Bangiza (5)” kushaura. Luken and I use this as well, of course, since we both have played with Maratu. Chingodza version (40.1.kt5.Ch.1)

2002: This is very similar to something I know on “Chipembere” [for example, Cosmas’s midrange figures C-F-A and D-F-A in Chipembere kushaura (3), 11.ks3.1, segment 1]. It’s a nice one. I’d probably use it as a kutsinhira. We tried it with Cosmas’s Bangiza (1) kushaura (1) and it fit perfectly. When we played it with Bangiza (5) kushaura, however, we found that the right-hand pitches were on the same level. As I repeated Chingodza’s part, he searched for a better combination, eventually settling on Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1), with interlocking right-hand pitches one step behind. That was the best option for combination with Chingodza’s part when treating the latter as a kushaura, he decided. 2003: Hearing Chingodza’s version a year later reminded him that, in fact, he had played the same one earlier in his career. It was only that it had not occurred to him when he taught me Bangiza (1) in 1999. When we experimented with its role in different settings, he confirmed that it belonged to Bangiza (1) as a kutsinhira. However, when I played Chingodza’s version one pulse later than currently given (in the beat position that I had initially indicated in my transcription) and Cosmas joined me with Bangiza (1) kushaura, our right-hand patterns fell on the same level. He advised me: This is where taste comes in. Some musicians will force a part like this and not hear the problems, and the audience will say, “This isn’t good. It’s not entertaining.” 2005: Two years later, after he had familiarized himself with Chingodza’s version and its applications in his own system, our trials confirmed his responses to the combinations we had explored in 2002 above. These are the first matches that occur to me, but with more time to experiment, I can explore other combinations. Chingodza’s version was multipurpose, he concluded, serving as kushaura or kutsinhira in different contexts. Chingodza version (40.1.kt5.Ch.2)

2002: Cosmas associated this part with Bangiza (1). He added that he played versions of it that we had not recorded. Some of the latter came to Cosmas during A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

393

a subsequent demonstration, but I inadvertently interrupted his train of thought when I signaled my interest in learning them. They went out of my head, he said afterward, thinly masking his disappointment. 2003: This part is from Chingodza, like my earlier part [40.1.kt5.Ch.1], but with double noting [here, embedded in compound (3+1) figures and linked compound (3+1) figures]. 2005: It could be a kushaura, like Chingodza’s earlier version. If treated as an intense kushaura, that would fit with the “Bangiza (5)” kushaura used as a kutsinhira on the same level [here, meaning that the parts’ respective lefthand starting pitches (midrange C) coincide on the same beat division]. It can serve as a kushaura or as a solo part. 2006: No change here over what I said before.

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (7) Muchena version (40.1.kt7.Muc.1)

2003: This is a good one of Mondreck’s. I don’t play it that way myself. Kwari versions (40.1.kt7.Kw.1–2)

2002: I can hear these are Luken’s versions of my part. 2003: Cosmas explained that Luken had learned this heavy-bass kutsinhira (40.1.kt7.Kw.1) from him. It was the part that, in the heat of their performances, inspired Luken and Mude to call out “Ipapo!” to Cosmas, encouraging him to repeat it. Luken sometimes added changes at the ends of segments through metric shifting, creating his signature three-pulse figures (40.1.kt7. Kw.2). When Luken taught me the part, he explained that whenever he added high lines, he shifted the pitches back to their original positions at segment endings, “changing the bass rhythm” to conform to the main pattern. He liked to play the high line’s continuous 3:2 keystroke figures with the left hand’s largely constant shuffle keystroke patterns. After Cosmas and I tried out Kwari’s version (40.1.kt7. Kw.2) with Bangiza (1) kushaura (1) (chap. 1, Bangiza [1], 1.ks1.1), he concluded: It doesn’t have enough interlocking for two mbira, but it’s OK for ensemble use for three or more mbira. After another trial, he added: If shifted [one pulse earlier], it goes with “Bangiza (5)” kushaura. 394

Chapter 40

Bangiza (1): Solo Version (2) Chingodza version (40.1.sv2.Ch)

2003: We edited this notated version lightly. Cosmas had also played a version of this part in the past (Magaya basic version above). It’s like when I heard Chingodza’s part, that reminded me of other things I do in a slightly different way, but you can hear that they’re essentially the same idea. I think of it as a pamusoro of “Bangiza (5)” kushaura, leaving out the basses. This is also an example of how, with an extra key L7 on the left side, you can substitute tremolo As [for the end-of-segment figures]. But without the key [as on his current instrument], I don’t worry about it because I can substitute triple-noting As with key R3 like Musekiwa does. I don’t usually play this part today. After relearning this part, Cosmas experimented with it, periodically incorporating bass substitutions that signified his style (for example, shifting three-pulse figures). Some musicians were playing this pamusoro as a kushaura part to “Bangiza (1)” if they didn’t know the basic kushaura (1). Noting Chingodza’s classification of his pamusoro version as a kushaura, he acknowledged that other experts treated it differently as well. Luken would sometimes play this kind of part, mixing it with others like Bangiza (1) kushaura (1), while Cosmas played kutsinhira.

Bangiza (2): Kushaura Rusere versions (40.2.ks.Ru.1–4)

Rusere: “I learned this while playing with Innocent Phiat, just teaching each other while playing. I first met him at school. We fear each other!” (He laughs.) The Rusere versions, comparable to Cosmas’s basic Bangiza (2) kushaura, can be played with the pamusoro kutsinhira that Cosmas uses (see chap. 2, Bangiza [2], 2.kt1.1).

Rusere version (40.2.ks.Ru.3)

Rusere explained that he had created this part by dropping some of the pamusoro pitches in the previous variation to create a rhythmic variation.

Rusere version (40.2.ks.Ru.4)

Chingodza version (40.2.ks.Ch.3)

Rusere: “I just learned this from performing with Innocent around 1987–90. We played together when we met at ceremonies. We had no spare time for rehearsals.” Cosmas did not use this part, but it was comparable to others he used to play with Luken in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Once he stopped playing it, it slipped from his memory. Because of his background, however, he immediately picked it up from my demonstration. I can also hear that this is like the kushaura part of “Taireva (4),” which Beauler based her composition “Kusuwamusha” on. This Rusere version is something that I think we’ve seen before. You should check the other papers to relate it to that. It’s “Bangiza,” but related to another that we worked on. You’ll hear the similarities when you find the other. Pursuing his hunch, we discovered that the left-hand pattern of Rusere’s part was almost identical to the lefthand pattern of Cosmas’s Bangiza (1) kushaura (3) part (chap. 1, Bangiza [1], 1.ks3.1). At the same time, Rusere’s part emphasized the combined-hand shuffle pattern associated with Bangiza (2). This goes with Magaya Bangiza (2) kutsinhira (1).

Cosmas pointed to Chingodza’s various substitutions involving tremolo and triple-noting Gs and As. Were Cosmas to play Bangiza (5) kushaura as a kutsinhira to follow Chingodza, those are the kinds of substitutions that would lead him to respond with kutsinhira substitutions— for example, bass double-noting and triple-noting figures— to complement the kushaura. This goes with Magaya Bangiza (2) kutsinhira (1). Chingodza’s version also worked with Magaya Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8) on the same level [shifting kutsinhira (8) a pulse later than given in the transcription so that the parts’ respective left-hand Cs aligned on the first beat].

Chingodza versions (40.2.ks.Ch.1–4)

Over the course of these variations, Chingodza creates changes in the right or left hand, and in both. Chingodza version (40.2.ks.Ch.1)

Chingodza explained that on the third beats of segments 1 and 2, he reinforced R3/As with lower-octave L7/As “for physical comfort.” I don’t play this, Cosmas says, but I think it’s a good one. Years ago, I heard it and it stayed in my memory. Maybe Luken played it. I like it. 2003: This is Chingodza’s own version of Bangiza (2). Initially, Cosmas had recommended that the part be combined with Bangiza (3) or Bangiza (4). It can also be added when more than two are playing— or a big orchestra. 2006: After further trials, he changed his mind about the combination of Chingodza’s part with Bangiza (4), but approved the others above.

Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (1) Rusere version (40.2.kt1.Ru)

Rusere: “I learned this version just from hearing many players when I was young, around 1979. Since you are a musician, you hear it and put it in your mind. Later, you get your mbira and try to play it.” 2002: This pamusoro from Rusere shows that you can create something new in the music by leaving notes out of a part. 2003: There’s less happening in his right hand. It’s important to show this one as an example of something different. Through our experimentation, Cosmas discovered that Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (3) combined well with Rusere’s part if shifted a pulse later than currently given in my transcription (chap. 5, Bangiza [5], variation 5.kt3.1), so that the bass F and midrange C aligned on the first beat. 2006: He confirmed the alignment above, adding: This is for three players, one kushaura and two kutsinhira. Or, it can be for two players with switching parts: the kushaura player switches between the kushaura and one kutsinhira, while the other player plays the second kutsinhira part in a different [beat] position. It’s like our big arrangements for “Taireva” and “Mukatiende.” He also reminded me: “Bangiza (2)” kutsinhira (1) is a multipurpose part that can be a kushaura or a kutsinhira in different contexts. A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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Maratu version (40.2.kt1.Ma)

2002: This is from Bangiza (5) kushaura, but shifted, Cosmas says. It’s a pamusoro one. To find a suitable combination, he tried the part with Bangiza (5) kushaura, but abandoned it. Later, he settled on Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1) as the kutsinhira to Maratu’s kushaura, but with the kutsinhira shifted one pulse later so the bass F aligned with pamusoro F in the Maratu part on the first beat. 2006: He added that, as in the Rusere example above, this part was effective in a two-part arrangement, with one player switching between the kushaura and a kutsinhira part, or in a three-part arrangement with one kushaura and two kutsinhira. Mhlanga version (40.2.kt1.Mh)

2002: I can hear it’s like the other part with Chingodza. When it’s a good one like this, you can tell it’s “Bangiza.” The parts are very closely related even when played by different musicians. 2003: It’s close to my kutsinhira version, “Bangiza (2).” There’s a slight difference here between Mhlanga’s part and the related parts I play. Other people can place that as a kushaura, but in my system, it’s a kutsinhira as well. You can use it both ways. If used as a kushaura, he would pair it with Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (5), shifted one pulse later so bass F and midrange C coincide on the first beat. 2006: Cosmas confirmed the alignment above.

Bangiza (2): Solo Versions Rusere versions (40.2.sv.Ru.1–4)

Rusere recalled the background to the main part and his variations: “I modified this one while playing with my friend Phiat. Sometimes your fingers get tired when you’re trying to keep going by all means. I just use this part to rest. This song can go on for one or two hours while you’re playing.” Do you think of it as a kushaura? “It depends on how the beat is coming. It can be a mixture, used as one or the other.” 2002: Cosmas said that these versions sounded 396

Chapter 40

like a simplification of the kushaura to him. As we tried out various combinations with Rusere’s parts, Cosmas reflected on the earlier version of Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (6) that he had taught me in 1994. That kutsinhira would work with Rusere’s versions. 2006: When we reviewed the combination involving Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (6), however, he found it wanting. According to his taste, there was not enough interlocking between the patterns. Rusere version (40.2.sv.Ru.2)

2002: Cosmas suggested a revision of my initial transcription’s right-hand pattern that ended with C double noting. The high C leaves too much space around it. It sounds too isolated. Initially, he suggested R2/G double noting in its place, but when we tried it out, he was still dissatisfied with it in the context of the larger pattern. Something’s not responding well in that section at the climax. He substituted G for the second C, creating a downward leap C-G in response to the previous D-A figures at segment endings. That now gives it a nice flow, beautiful— nice part. I would usually save this kind of part for solo playing. Rusere version (40.2.sv.Ru.4)

Cosmas initially suggested this as a Bangiza (3) kushaura before reclassifying it as a Bangiza (2) solo version, which he felt was more appropriate. That’s a good part. I also play that. 2002: You can see a similar version earlier for someone else, very close to it. 2003: Rusere’s version also reminded him of his own kushaura part with Bangiza (3), which emphasized right-hand double noting embedded in threepulse figures (chap. 3, Bangiza [3], variation 3.ks3.1).

Bangiza (3): Kushaura (1) Chingodza version (40.3.ks1.Ch)

This is very close to my kushaura version. Cosmas would combine the part with his own “regular” Bangiza (3) kutsinhira (1).

Bangiza (3): Kushaura (3) Paradzai version (40.3.ks3.Pa)

With respect to my initial transcription, he suggested shifting the Paradzai part a pulse later, as given here. 2002: That’s a good one for “Bangiza (3)” kushaura. 2003: I can hear that’s “Bangiza (3)” in Paradzai’s style. 2006: It goes with “Bangiza (3)” kutsinhira (1), also kutsinhira (2).

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (1) Kwari version (40.3.kt1.Kw)

Kwari explained to me: “This is the tricky one, easier for the right side than the left side.” Cosmas commented that the left-hand G-for-A substitution in segment 3 (pickup to the second beat) was fine. You can also use that with those earlier kushaura. Considering Kwari’s and others’ versions below: Those are nice substitutes, the bass B for the A at the very end of segment 4.

same as I play, but in the first one [40.3.kt1.Ru.1], I can see a subtle variation in segment 1. These can go with the tremolo kushaura [Magaya Bangiza (3) kushaura (2)]. Chingodza versions (40.3.kt1.Ch.1–2)

I also play these.

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (2) Chingodza version (40.3.kt2.Ch)

This is like my “Bangiza (3)” kutsinhira (2). You could use it that way as a kutsinhira or as a solo version because of the right hand, which is what I usually do in such cases. You can combine it with “Bangiza (3)” kushaura (1), but there isn’t as much interlocking as I like on the righthand side. In my system, it works best for three or more mbira.

Bangiza (3): Additional Kutsinhira Chingodza version (40.3.akt.Ch)

Kadumba version (40.3.kt1.Ka)

Kadumba explained: “This is a mixture of what my uncle showed me and what I later learned from Musekiwa [Chingodza].” This part is typically regarded as a kutsinhira. Cosmas added, however, that in his own multipurpose-part arrangement, the part could function as a kushaura together with kutsinhira (2). We won’t label it as kushaura here, because without more information, it’s hard to know what Kadumba really meant. Rusere versions (40.3.kt1.Ru.1–2)

Rusere: “In 1979, during the [independence] war, I learned this from my brother and first teacher, Severno Ndoro, who uses a different surname from me. He just taught me Karigamombe, then Nyamaropa. I learned the rest by listening to him performing.” Yes, I remember hearing these. You can mix all these versions that different people do— they’re fine. This is the

That’s from Musekiwa. Although Cosmas does not play this part, he remembered Luken and other musicians with whom he performed using something like it. This part also just gives a different version of the kutsinhira (2) that I play. It also reminded him of one of his approaches to Chipembere (chap. 11, Chipembere, kushaura [2], 11.kt2.1; reference to its alternate-pulse bass line). Rusere version (40.3.akt.Ru.1)

Rusere: “This was also my own modification around 1988 when I was playing with my friend, Phiat Bonde, at a bira. Many phrases were just coming to me. Songs [here, meaning parts] are composed by someone, but you may change the beat and the keys and the phrases. This one is a kutsinhira, but it depends on the player. “Sometimes you can play two kutsinhira parts, but one is kushaura and one is kutsinhira [that is, in relation to their beat placement, they can take on different roles]. Also, you can combine kushaura together— one A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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up, one down [for example, a kushaura with left-hand shuffle figures emphasizing upward leaps and another with left-hand shuffle figures emphasizing downward leaps]. Some players object to that.” 2002: You can hear it’s his version of the kutsinhira (2) I play, which is close to that. It sounds like there are things Rusere’s leaving out, like some of the higher [lefthand] notes. Once I had a better grasp of Rusere’s version, Cosmas and I played it together and discovered it worked as a kutsinhira with Bangiza (3) kushaura. Reviewing the variation, he said that if he were to treat Rusere’s version as a kushaura, he would follow it with Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1), shifting the latter one pulse later so that it interlocked. I’m not saying Rusere’s version is a good one or a bad one, but if I’m asked to perform with it, that’s what I’d use to complement it. Usually, in a performance, those basses [that is, two parts with heavy basses] are brought in for a short period of time. They bring in something for a change and add variety to what you’ve been playing. 2003: He easily picked up Rusere’s version from my demonstration this time, then played a variation of it. I don’t play the part myself, but I could jump in like this since I could hear its relationship to other kutsinhira. Comparing Chingodza’s and Rusere’s respective kutsinhira versions above, he pointed out that each appeared to be derived from kutsinhira (2), but had its own character. Each is consistent in its rhythmic character. While both comprised alternate-pulse patterns, Chingodza’s, perceived from the first beat of the cycle, emphasized three-pitch figures with leaps in contrary motion; Rusere’s emphasized oscillating pairs of lower and higher pitches. Both parts combine with Magaya Bangiza (3) kushaura (1) or, if shifted one pulse earlier, with Magaya Bangiza (3) kutsinhira (1). Rusere version (40.3.akt.Ru.2)

2003: That’s another good one to use, different from what I use. I hear the relationship to the pamusoro things we’ve seen earlier, but William just plays the basses here. Cosmas’s interpretation was that Rusere had patterned the version’s bass line on the general contours of the midrange shuffle figures of Bangiza (1) and Bangiza 398

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(2) kushaura. The figures in the first halves of segments here (appearing in variation 40.3.akt.Ru.3 as well) were also reminiscent of Cosmas’s Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (5), but at a higher pitch level. Reevaluating the combination of Rusere’s version with Bangiza (3) kushaura, suggested earlier (40.3.akt. Ru.1), he said that he did not regard the right-hand interlocking as complete. The kutsinhira would be most effective in arrangements for three or more mbira. Rusere version (40.3.akt.Ru.4)

Rusere: “The speed of the hosho man can cause this kind of variation [that is, requiring the mbira player to create a simplified combined-hand pattern, less rhythmically dense than the main pattern]. When you’re playing, you can judge what your thumbs can do. Also, how you play this may be different from what I’m teaching you, influenced by the mixture of two players’ keys [that is, by the need to complement another musician]. When fitting my part together with others, I will listen to the other player, listening for good ‘clashes’ between them— and dangerous rhythm! [He laughs.] So, I won’t just play a part as written.” 2002: Cosmas weighs in. In my system I would have given it the name of a different independent kutsinhira. Obviously, those belong to another kind of kutsinhira. 2003: Being unfamiliar with the variation, Cosmas said he would need to hear it well played with counterparts to evaluate its effectiveness. It vaguely reminded him of something he had heard in a Nyamaropa kutsinhira. I’ve grasped the concept and I could get it if I worked on it. It’s something different. William’s saying “Ta-ta-ta Ta-ta-ta” [that is, a combined-hand three-pulse keystroke figures] instead of saying “Ta-ta Ta-ta” [that is, the left-hand shuffle keystroke figures reinforced by the right hand in earlier variations]. So that’s what he’s doing on his keys now, bringing a different sound altogether . . . lovely, a nice one. It’s a question of spacing or not spacing some of the keys. I can hear how those basses are lining up and that they’d line up well with the same kushaura we used before, “Bangiza (5)” kushaura. What’s clear is that you can also use it with “Bangiza (3)” kushaura: “Magaya Bangiza (3) kushaura (1)” especially. In other cross-version arrangements, Rusere’s ver-

sions can be combined with Bangiza (1) kutsinhira (8), rotated for alignment with the beginning of the former’s cycle. (See Bangiza [1] kutsinhira [8] in chap. 3, Bangiza [3], combination o.) 2006: The alignment position [above] is correct.

Bangiza (4): Kushaura Paradzai version (40.4.ks.Pa.1)

This is a good one for “Bangiza (4)” kushaura. Chingodza version (40.4.ks.Ch)

I was also shown this by Chingodza, who played it for me while I watched so I could get it. I really like this version. Nice example. Mhlanga version (40.4.ks.Mh)

I recognized this as Chris’s right away from having played with him and heard him. The part is in the same family as “Bangiza (4)” kushaura. 2003: I do this one my own way. (See Magaya Bangiza [4] above, which he derived from Chingodza’s part [40.4.ks.Ch].) These versions all go with Magaya “Bangiza (4)” kutsinhira (1).

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (3) Kadumba versions (40.4.kt3.Ka.1–3)

“Part composition is relational,” Kadumba explained. “I invented this part while playing with a recording of Bangiza, then I worked it out and fixed it in memory for teaching. Hearing new parts and playing them is no problem for me. But remembering and fixing parts is another issue,” he added, laughing. “What I’ve taught you is just basic.” 2002: These are all nice substitutes. The left hand is similar to my kutsinhira (3), but the right-hand pattern basically changes— all would work as kutsinhira. It’s just like using either lime or lemon in your drink. He observed that in relation to his own version of kutsinhira (3), Kadumba’s had substituted some left-hand pitches and

entire right-hand lines (replacing alternate-pulse figures with a succession of shuffle figures or five-pulse figures with triple noting, respectively). Do the busier right-hand patterns create a problem for their use as kutsinhira in this case? No, they don’t. When we initially tried out Kadumba’s variations (shifted a pulse earlier than currently given) with the kushaura, however, Cosmas rejected it, saying that he typically used parts like Kadumba’s kutsinhira for solo playing. Testing the combinations on another occasion, we played them with kutsinhira shifted to the current beat position in the transcriptions. Hearing them in a different light, he concluded: Yes, you can use them for a kutsinhira one step behind. Yes, it works very well. Kadumba changed the right hand in an interesting way, and all of those work. He added: I myself don’t play those right-hand patterns with this part. 2003: This is a kutsinhira for “Bangiza (4)” kushaura. Mhlanga versions (40.4.kt3.Mh.1–2)

Chris initially said that he knew that his kutsinhira worked with all the Bangiza kushaura, but then recalled a kushaura of Maratu’s that proved the exception. Chris had rejected the combination because the rhythm of the two parts was too similar, “in the same line”— his expression for “on the same level.” 2002: This is from Chris. I can hear it’s for Bangiza (4). This one reminds me of my part and another heavybass part that I used to play. Also, he pointed out, Mhlanga’s right-hand pattern was the same as his own. These work very well as a kutsinhira to basic “Bangiza (4)” kushaura.

Bangiza (4): Additional Kutsinhira Mhlanga version (40.4.akt.Mh)

Mhlanga: “It’s too tiring to play this one for a long time, so I just play it for variety.” Then he switched to the initial kutsinhira (3) version he had taught me (above). “That one I can play for a longer time.” 2002: This is Chris’s style, another kutsinhira. I can hear it’s for “Bangiza (4).” Listening to my performance of Mhlanga’s version, A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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he noted: Now we’re back to that Rusere again [referring to Mhlanga’s development of the left-hand shuffle figures with which Rusere began each segment of Bangiza (3), 40.3.akt.Ru.2]. Cosmas suggested we move Mhlanga’s version one pulse earlier than I had initially learned it, which, as presented here, conforms to his own system. Then there would be interlocking with the right-hand kushaura, even though there is [rhythmic] overlap with the kushaura left hand. 2006: Mhlanga’s kutsinhira goes with Magaya Bangiza (4) kushaura (1). The right hands interlock, so it’s fine. Of course, this is just an example of what is possible. People should really experiment beyond the examples we give in this chapter.

Bangiza (5): Kushaura Maratu version (40.5.ks.Ma.1)

Maratu observed: “This has different ways of playing it, different versions. It can be used as kushaura or as kutsinhira one step behind.” 2002: You can see from those parts [Maratu’s and the others below], these are different people playing the same song called “Bangiza,” but there are different ways of playing it. What’s most important there is its structure [here, meaning basic features], which I call the backbone. You can hear or see that the backbone is there. Chingodza version (40.5.ks.Ch)

This is the basic part with nice substitutes. I don’t do these myself. Zifa version (40.5.ks.Zi)

This is so close to what I do. Mhlanga version (40.5.ks.Mh.1)

Cosmas pointed out the bass E for midrange A substitution in segments 1 and 4, which he uses as well. Mhlanga version (40.5.ks.Mh.2)

Here, Mhlanga speaks of variation as “adding more keys” to the music. 400

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Kwari version (40.5.ks.Kw.1)

2002: Kwari’s version is just a simplification of the kushaura with substitutes based on the main kushaura, but not a different kushaura. 2003: That’s Luken putting his stamp on the part, simplifying the right hand like Chingodza does; small changes at times, but you can tell that’s him.

Rusere versions (40.5.ks.Ru.1–2)

“This version I would play for a short time and switch. It’s too fast for your fingers. It’s OK if you’re playing with electricity! [He laughs.] It’s too heavy to play, so it needs a moderate speed.” Rusere added: “Since the time I was young, I just learned by hearing old mbira players. In the past, some of their phrases were too heavy to play. That’s why I modified what I heard and played my own phrases.” 2003: These are “Bangiza (5)” with a few substitutes. Cosmas also combined these variations with his Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1).

Maratu version (40.5.ks.Ma.2)

Maratu explained that he added right-hand substitutions here that were similar to Nhemamusasa yepasi (that is, overlapping shifting three-pulse figures in the right and left hands). Despite the version’s rhythmic density, he used it as a multipurpose part, that is, accompanying it with the “same” version shifted one step behind. 2002: I haven’t heard anyone doing this before with “Bangiza (5),” mixing it [this version with the busy right hand] as kushaura and kutsinhira. 2003: The left-hand substitutes are great. He reiterated that he had never heard of the practice of playing this Bangiza (5) in an interlocking arrangement as kushaura and kutsinhira. I mentioned another combination used by an associate of Cosmas’s in which a “kushaura,” Nhemamusasa kushaura (1), doubled as a kutsinhira shifted a pulse behind. He replied: Those who really know mbira will know that that isn’t right. Even Musekiwa was complaining about that person. When they play together, he needs to adjust to it or the combinations won’t work well [that is, adapting his patterns to the other player’s to a greater degree than usual]. Otherwise, the music won’t sound good.

Bangiza (5): Additional Kushaura Rusere versions (40.5.aks.Ru.1–3)

Rusere: “These parts just came from listening to other players when I’m playing with them— taking keys from the other players and modifying the keys, the beat, and the rhythm. Some of the words I sing with this are ‘Ndarotandabaiwa’ [I dreamed of death] and ‘Chinzvomona chinjengamuchairo’ [To stay for a long time without a wife].” He explained that one of his techniques for producing his initial version’s left-hand variations (40.5.ks.Ru.1) involved switching the order of keys within three-keystroke groups, creating different mixtures of “high to low” and “low to high sounds.” 2003: Cosmas interpreted the variations as produced by left-hand substitutes and right-hand note shifting. He initially classified Rusere’s three versions as kushaura-kutsinhira mixtures. 2006: This time, I don’t hear that as a mixture. You can use them as either kushaura or kutsinhira. In my system, I would use them as kushaura and accompany them with kutsinhira (1) from my “Bangiza (5).” Chingodza version (40.5.aks.Ch)

2003: Cosmas responded to the bass pattern in segment 1 immediately: That section is different, I know that. That’s Musekiwa. He does that. Also, see the right hand: the triple notes [shifting three-pulse figures]? Very nice how he’s putting that together. Very tasty in different ways. I remember it from playing with him in Eugene [Oregon]. Chingodza sometimes varied the part further, he recalled, developing segment 1’s three-pulse figures around the cycle, before reverting to the version given here. I also do my own version with the bass shaped like this [figures with segment 1’s contours], going all around the cycle [chap. 5, Bangiza (5), 5.kt2.1]. In fact, our review of Chingodza’s part had reminded Cosmas of his earlier practice, which had not occurred to him when he taught me Bangiza (5) in 1999. 2006: He characterized segment 1’s figures as little majimba. This part is sort of a hybrid pattern, part majimba and part of the regular one. It’s a “calling” pattern. It’s saying “Let’s go!” I’d treat this Chingodza version as a kushaura. Cosmas would use Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1) with the Chingodza version. You can see how the kushaura

basses respond to the kutsinhira basses, coming in just a little ahead of them (segments 3–4). Paradzai version (40.5.aks.Pa)

“This is my own composition,” Paradzai reported to me. This “Bangiza” sounds like “Chipembere” adapted here [Cosmas refers to the left-hand compound (3+1) keystroke figures at the beginnings of segments, reminiscent of Chipembere]. It needs practice to understand it better. There’s a certain shifting of keys in the end [segment 4]. 2003: I like this part because Paradzai uses the keys his own way. It’s interesting, he remarked, reflecting on our wider collection of variations. The mbira keys I’ve played for “Bangiza,” Chingodza played, Rusere played, Mhlanga played, and Maratu played. But within those keys, they just shifted and shuffled them around, playing them differently. He asked that I remind readers that Bangiza (5) kushaura, which he uses as the basis for comparison with the other players’ versions, takes on different roles in his cross-version arrangements. In the context of Bangiza (1), for example, he treats it as kutsinhira (8), combining it with other kushaura patterns and exploring a different set of musical relationships. In 1993, without the opportunity to explore the other players’ versions in the role of kutsinhira, Cosmas classified them as kushaura, compatible with his Bangiza (5) kutsinhira (1). After further experimentation in 2006, he determined that all the “additional kushaura versions” in this section could potentially function as kutsinhira in his system as well, depending on their interlocking relationship with their counterparts. As kutsinhira, they are compatible with Bangiza (1) kushaura (1).

Bangiza (5): Solo Versions Rusere versions (40.5.sv.Ru.1–2)

Rusere: “These phrases [also those of 40.5.sv.Ru.3] are zigzag like a graph. They were just coming to me while I was playing with Innocent at ceremonies from 1980 to the nineties. I used to come across [discover] different phrases when I played, but they never came back again. My fingers were just doing their job while I was looking away from the keys. That’s why I would like a tape recorder.” A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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Cosmas reconsidered Rusere’s variations over time, revealing the challenges to classification posed by the characteristics of some Bangiza family parts and their multipurpose applications in his own system. 2002: Those ones are Rusere’s with lots of different basses, which I’d use for solo playing. It’s also a nice one to use for a Bangiza (1) kutsinhira, if I can practice it. 2003: Cosmas picked up the part quickly from my demonstration. It’s easy for me because Chivhanga and I used to play this a long time ago. It can be kutsinhira for “Bangiza (3)” if it’s played slowly, because it’s a heavy part. 2006: Reviewing Rusere’s repertory, he concluded that in his system, they could serve as either solo versions, kutsinhira, or kushaura (akin to Cosmas’s use of Bangiza [5]). Rusere version (40.5.sv.Ru.3)

Initially Cosmas classified this as a kushaura-kutsinhira mix and specified its use as more for solo playing. 2002: I hear what he’s trying to do with the basses [he laughs with appreciation], but it’s a different formation. It needs practice. 2003: That’s William’s version and substitutes. I can hear it’s the same as “Bangiza (5)” [40.5.sv.Ru.2], but with left-hand substitutes. It’s a good kutsinhira, but it needs to be worked on to play well. He may be mixing different ones—“Bangiza (2)” kutsinhira, and maybe “Bangiza (4)”—taking different things from each and putting them together. Rusere versions can also be played with Bangiza (5) kushaura, he concluded. Maratu version (40.5.sv.Ma)

2003: This belongs to “Bangiza (5).” It is intended for solo playing.

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (2) Kwari version (40.12.kt2.Kw)

We re-created this part after reviewing my 1972 transcription. This is from Luken, but we both played it. Luken’s playing is changing, but I want to capture some things here to show his style of kutsinhira. 402

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Karigamombe: Kushaura Rusere versions (40.16.ks.Ru.1–2)

You can tell these are also ones that I play. Kwari version (40.16.ks.Kw)

We re-created this part after reviewing my 1972 transcription. 2003: This was Luken’s style. He’d do this once in a while. It goes well with Cosmas’s kutsinhira (3).

Karigamombe: Solo Version (3) Rusere versions (40.16.sv3.Ru.1–3)

2003: I do these small substitutes as well.

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1) Mhlanga versions (40.18.kt1.Mh.1–2)

Although Mhlanga demonstrated this part in the context of Nyamaropa, we present it under Mahororo for comparison with Cosmas’s repertory. Mhlanga also played the basic Nyamaropa kushaura (1) used by Cosmas and Luken. Moreover, he could switch from the latter to the kushaura of Karigamombe or Nyamaropa Chipembere, other members of the Nyamaropa family. Pointing to his bass G-for-E substitutions (40.18.kt1.Mh.2), he explained: “These are some of the different tricks I can do with this part. I can also mix this kutsinhira with others.” 2002: Since Chris places this within “Nyamaropa,” it’s a different kutsinhira, but you can see it’s close to my kutsinhira: what I do in “Mahororo.” 2003: I do this too, but use it for “Karigamombe.” You can use it as well for “Nyamaropa” like Chris does, but it’ll be a step behind [played a pulse later than in the context of Mahororo]. I sometimes do that as well. I noted the spare, offbeat right-hand figures that reinforce those of the left on pickups, producing a combined-hand shuffle keystroke pattern. Did it qualify as a distinctive kutsinhira in his system? From one standpoint, he offered, it could be considered the same as the other, but with gaps. Simply a right-hand variation?

Yes. This is what we use as a kutsinhira for “Nyamaropa” and “Mahororo” as well. [Further below, he also likens the kutsinhira’s texture to that of Nhimutimu kushaura, for example, kushaura (1).] Kunaka version (40.18.kt1.Ku)

2003: I can tell that’s Maridzambira. I do something like it [chap. 18, Mahororo, 18.kt5.1], but Kunaka has his own way. He stays with these basses, emphasizing them, and in the last segment, explodes! Cosmas smiles at the upward triadic leaps of the bass figure (D-F-A) that springs from the lower voice at the end of the cycle. That’s his signature pattern.

Mahororo: Solo Version (2) Chingodza version (40.18.sv2.Ch)

Although Chingodza taught me this version as a component of Nyamaropa, Cosmas’s inclination was to classify it under Mahororo in his system. 2002: That’s Musekiwa’s way. I haven’t played this part in the past, but I could use it for a while in my performances. 2003: I consider this to be a shortcut for the “Nyamaropa” family songs. You can use it for all of them [Mahororo, Karigamombe, etc.]. I consider the part to be a “Nyamaropa” family mixture. It’s part of “Mahororo,” and I’d use it with my regular kutsinhira for “Mahororo.” To my ears, it represents a mixture, but I would go with “Mahororo” because of what happens in segment 3. I hear it related to my own solo “Mahororo” right-side pattern [18.sv2.1, above]. The other segments are not as clear, although they are part of the “Nyamaropa” family. The keys used for “Mahororo” and “Nyamaropa” are much the same. Musekiwa’s part is “Mahororo,” but he’s dropping some of the other keys.

Mahororo: Additional Solo Version Chingodza version (40.18.asv.Ch)

2002: Initially, Cosmas classified the part as follows: That’s “Nyamaropa Chipembere” for Musekiwa. There are so many things brought into “Nyamaropa Chipembere”

in general. In the Musekiwa example here, it’s also part of “Mahororo.” I can hear “Nhimutimu” in it too. 2003: Cosmas revised his classification. I’d put this as a kutsinhira to “Mahororo,” rather than as “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira. You can hear that that version also has “Nhimutimu” in it. I use it too, like the one Maridzambira plays. 2006: In the end, Cosmas suggested that in his system, we classify Musekiwa’s version as a solo part.

Mukatiende: Kutsinhira (9) Kwari versions (40.20.kt9.Kw.1–2)

2003: That’s Kwari. He had his own style. It’s how one throws one’s fingers to the keys. In Shona we would say, “He has got his hand-style.” So, he did his own way, although it’s close to what I did. We liked that, being able to tell one another’s styles from the things we did differently, and we would want to try out the other’s way of doing them. Those were the kinds of things that came to Luken when he was improvising. And I would do the same. We were like parallel roads, going to the same destination.

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (1) Kwari version (40.22.ks1.Kw)

2003: Yes, that was also his style. I mean the kushaura, the way he played the right-hand keys, playing fast repeated [triple-striking] notes there. It was how he liked doing that. When I played the kushaura, I would usually do it the other way.

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (1) Maratu version (40.23.ks1.Ma.1)

That’s Sidney’s style. I don’t do this. Whereas Maratu combines the left hand of kushaura (1) with high lines, Cosmas restricts the part to right-hand basic lines. Maratu version (40.23.ks1.Ma.2)

Cosmas plays comparable variations in which he creates developing high lines by altering kushaura (1)’s basic-line figures with “tenor leap” substitutions (chap. 23, Nhemamusasa, variations 23.ks1.5–7). A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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Chingodza version (40.23.ks1.Ch)

I don’t do the mixture that Chingodza does here. Cosmas notes that Chingodza’s version incorporates right-hand high E and D substitutions in fourthbeat areas that his own developing high-line variations favor on third beats (chap. 23, Nhemamusasa, 23.ks1.5, 23.ks1.7). Also, while Cosmas periodically uses the midrange A for bass E substitution here in the context of kushaura (1) (chap. 23, Nhemamusasa, 23.ks1.13), he tends to emphasize it, along with a wider range of left-hand variations, with kushaura (2). While listening to my recording of Chingodza’s demonstration of this part, he noticed that in segments 1–3, Chingodza sometimes reversed the order of pitches in his midrange E-A figures— initiating a pattern that Kadumba completes in segment 4 of his variation below. Cosmas does not use these substitutions in his performance of kushaura (1), but they comprise a central component of his version of kushaura (2).

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (4) Kunaka version (40.23.ks4.Ku)

Kunaka called this “Nhemamusasa kushaura nemabera [with bells]” for its emphatic tremolos and indicated that it was for a mbira with “an extra key [L7].” 2002: It’s like my and Luken’s full kushaura pamusoro, but leaving out some keys. That’s his style. As you can hear now, even if people have a different style, you should be able to tell that that’s “Nhemamusasa,” and so on. 2003: I also do something like this when I keep going around [the cycle], but I use triple noting for the A in the right hand because I don’t have that hwindingwi note [L7/A].

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (5)

Kadumba version (40.23.ks1.Ka)

Chingodza version (40.23.ks5.Ch)

I don’t mix the right and left side this way. Still, Kadumba’s version and all these kushaura (1) versions can be played with my basic kutsinhira, kutsinhira (5).

I play that with Luken a lot, instead of regular kushaura kwepamusoro. That could serve as a kutsinhira for regular “Nhemamusasa” or “Nhemamusasa pasi” but, because of the gaps in this part, it may be best to use it when there are three or more players. Reviewing its combination with other parts over the years, Cosmas concluded that it worked most effectively as a kushaura in his system.

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (3) Maratu version (40.23.ks3.Ma)

I do this one. It’s a kushaura basic pamusoro, with the right and left hands leaving out things instead of alternating keys [throughout]. It’s similar to what we use when warming up at the beginning of performances. After playing this part, he and Luken would transition to more elaborate variations. Actually, this one could be considered an advanced one. It’s a bit tricky for learners because of the timing issue [that is, the challenge of maintaining combined-hand shifting three-pulse figures in relation to the beat]. Kadumba version (40.23.ks3.Ka)

That’s a good one. It is the same as Cosmas’s, except for the left-hand 404

E-for-D substitution in segment 4, prolonging the dyad E area.

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Rusere version (40.23.ks5.Ru)

2002: It’s a nice variation, leaving [out] some keys, replacing the normal kushaura right hand and left hand with double noting. I like it. I’m just hearing it now. I’ve never played it. I hear that it’s a kushaura and it’s from the basic pamusoro part [kushaura (3)]. When someone’s experienced, you can tell whether a thing is right or whether it’s not right. And you can tell what part it comes from. I’m used to hearing a lot of different things. 2003: I don’t do this. It’s William’s way. That version really is a kushaura, and it goes well with kutsinhira (10), that pamusoro one. It can also go with the main one— kutsinhira (5). 2006: No, cut out kutsinhira (5) here. They don’t work

well together. This combines best with Magaya Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (10).

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (6) Mujuru version (40.23.ks6.Muj)

In my 1972 transcription, a note dictated by Ephat read: “This is Nhemamusasa yaMuvirimi. It was one of Muvirimi’s favorite songs and he played it best of all.” 2002: This “Nhemamusasa” also reminds me of “Chakwi,” especially the right hand. 2003: This is a “Nhemamusasa yepasi,” according to my way of thinking. 2006: No, just “Nhemamusasa.” I’d use Ephat’s part with kutsinhira (5).

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1) Kadumba version (40.23.kt1.Ka.1)

2003: That’s Donald’s way, but I can tell he’s doing that kutsinhira for “Nhemamusasa” slightly differently from what we do. That’s his style, like a different taste— like tasting different foods. Cosmas chuckles. Initially, he thought something was wrong with the part when I demonstrated it by itself, but after we played it with the kushaura, he said it worked OK. Compared to his own version: It’s just that Donald’s delaying getting to the Es and doesn’t go out to the left side of the mbira [in segments 1 and 2, he prolongs dyad C; at the ends of segments, he avoids B7/A; also B1/G]. It seems obviously to be a kutsinhira.

parts as potentially kushaura or kutsinhira, depending on where they were placed in relation to the beat, and the counterpart that suited them. In the end, he was inclined to classify parts like Kadumba’s above as multipurpose, since each could potentially be combined with the “same part” shifted a pulse later.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1) variation 23.kt1.21 Kunaka version (40.23.kt1.Ku)

Clearly, this is a different kutsinhira from the ones we documented. It goes nicely with regular kushaura (1). I’m learning a new trick from this, Cosmas says with excitement. It’s so different from what I do, the way he went all around the cycle with it [developing the figure as a motive]. Chingodza version (40.23.kt1.Ch)

2002: That’s Musekiwa. Cosmas pointed to segment 2’s upward leaps on pickups to the second and fourth beats: bass C-F and bass C-E (the former anticipating dyad F). I don’t do those. Musekiwa’s arrangement is different, its emphasis on the basses. If I wanted to play that, I could relate to it quickly, finding the keys to go through it. Musekiwa’s kutsinhira goes nicely with regular kushaura (1). 2003: That’s Musekiwa’s way of doing it. This goes with Magaya Nhemamusasa kushaura (1).

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (2) Kunaka version (40.23.kt2.Ku)

Kadumba version (40.23.kt1.Ka.2)

This was created by applying rest and pitch substitutions to the previous version. That’s a good one, Donald’s way. You can hear it has a relationship with my kutsinhira (1) and kutsinhira (2). After drawing the comparison, Cosmas paused to ponder alternative interpretations of parts with kutsinhira (1)’s general characteristics. At one stage, he suggested: Maybe it’s better not to label things kushaura and kutsinhira in this “Nhemamusasa” section, in cases where we’re not sure for other players or we’re really in doubt. A more neutral interpretation would be to represent such

Kunaka initially described this as a kushaura nepasi that “features a big voice for the bass, with the pamusoro keys helping only a little.” Cosmas: That’s a good pamusoro substitute [midrange C in segment 3], which I don’t play. Kunaka treated his part as multipurpose, accompanying it with a shifted version— one step behind— that served as a kutsinhira. From one standpoint, Cosmas viewed Kunaka’s version in its original position as a “kushaura” in relation to its repositioned kutsinhira counterpart. From another standpoint, he viewed the arrangement as comprising two kutsinhira. CorA Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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respondingly, in the context of a three-part arrangement combining Nhemamusasa kushaura (1) with the Kunaka version in two beat positions, he viewed the latter as functioning as primary and secondary kutsinhira. With admiration, he observed that the collective kutsinhira in this section illustrated how people will go about this differently, but the backbone of “Nhemamusasa” is there. If we take Kadumba’s part [40.23.kt1.Ka.2], it was like he was doing three different parts, mixing them in one, but again, the backbone is there.

2002: That’s a variation on basic kutsinhira (3). I don’t do it that way. 2003: That’s Donald’s way. I can also hear it in terms of Luken’s kutsinhira earlier [Luken’s part above emphasizing left-hand Cs (40.23.kt2.Kw.1–2)]. If your listening has been extensive, you hear mbira music in terms of what others have played. You can pick things out in their playing and tell where they’re coming from.

Muchena versions (40.23.kt2.Muc.1–2)

Kadumba version (40.23.kt3.Ka.3)

These are Mondreck’s own substitutes for kutsinhira (2). I called Cosmas’s attention to Mondreck’s bass C-for-B substitution, segment 1, which could be interpreted as a dyad C insertion in the underlying form. That’s OK.

Kadumba explained that he could mix bass G in different proportions with bass C to create further variations. Alternatively, he removed the left-hand pickup to the third beat in each segment (as does the Kunaka version below). You know where the Kadumba one is from, it’s from kutsinhira (3). So, it’s OK to give that one as a variation rather than a new part. 2003: That’s Donald’s, but related to things I play and used to play with Mondreck one step behind [kutsinhira (3)].

Kwari versions (40.23.kt2.Kw.1–2)

Responding to Luken’s emphasis on midrange and bass C as drones in both versions, he explained: That’s fine because the right side is controlling the left [that is, representing the melody and form]. That was his way. In Luken’s second version, right- and left-hand substitutions increase the part’s harmonic ambiguities. Chingodza version (40.23.kt2.Ch)

2002: That’s Musekiwa’s version again. 2003: Musekiwa is triple striking [here, playing on every pulse] in the right hand. Most of his songs have that. He’s triple striking in the kutsinhira part. Luken used to do a lot of that as well when we played together, but that was not my style. There’s so much going on in the right hand in relation to the left hand, it’s really for solo playing. In my system, I’d really want something with a lot of things going on like that to be for solo because, otherwise, it might distort the music. When you’re playing being two or three [players], there’s lots of duplication [temporally overlapping pitches].

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3) Kadumba version (40.23.kt3.Ka.1)

2006: I don’t do those substitutes, but I find them to be smooth. They’re good ones. 406

Kadumba version (40.23.kt3.Ka.2)

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Kunaka version (40.23.kt3.Ku.1)

2002: Maridzambira, he played like that, but there’s some similarity to what I do on “Nhemamusasa.” It also sounds close to some of the “Nhimutimu” parts I know. After closer examination: It’s a hybrid part. The first half [of each segment] we share in common (23.kt3.1), but the second half is his. Kutsinhira (3) can be played as a multipurpose part: as kushaura, and as kutsinhira played one step behind. In Mhuri yekwaRwizi, we used to do that sometimes. We’d start with that arrangement, then one of us switched into kushaura (1). Nothing stayed the same for long. The kutsinhira player would continue with kutsinhira (3) for a while, overlapping with kushaura (1), then change again to something else. Kunaka version (40.23.kt3.Ku.2)

2003: This is Kunaka’s kushaura-kutsinhira mixture. That’s his way of mixing, which I don’t do. 2006: The left-hand pattern belongs with most of the kutsinhira parts, but the kushaura-kutsinhira mixture [incorporating right-hand triple striking] is really for solo playing. Yes, it’s good for solo playing because there’s

a mixture of kushaura and kutsinhira within it. It also works with kushaura (1). That’s a good one, and it’s familiar. It must be my playing. [Cosmas laughs.] It shows that Kunaka had long ago done things like that himself. Rusere versions (40.23.kt3.Ru.1–2)

2003: The Rusere versions are kushaura. I hear them also as kutsinhira, but a version of kutsinhira (2). You remember Luken’s playing. It reminds me of Kwari’s versions also [40.23.kt2.Kw.1–2]. Subsequently, Cosmas related the parts to kutsinhira (3) as well, but decided that he would treat it as a solo version in his system. It’s a good way. I did things like this, years ago. There’s majimba there that I don’t do that’s his. I can already hear William has a style. Forward’s way is also in that [Forward Kuenda]. These parts are for “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” 2006: Cosmas reassessment. No, they’re just for the regular “Nhemamusasa.” This is definitely William’s way (40.23.kt3.Ru.2). I can see how the young players enjoy their majimba, good ones. Literally, majimba means a way that’s not straightforward, not how it should be. For mbira, it means a different way, a stylish way, but a funny way of doing things.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (4) Chingodza version (40.23.kt4.Ch)

2002: Comparing his closest part, kutsinhira (4), to Chingodza’s version, Cosmas said he regarded the latter as a kushaura. This is Musekiwa’s own variation. It’s nice, sweet. He noted the agile action of Musekiwa’s right index finger and thumb alternating with his left thumb’s double noting, at times embedded in three-pulse figures. 2003: I can hear all the double noting for solo playing. The hosho position would be different if you’re not playing solo. Treating the version as a kushaura, Cosmas would combine it with kutsinhira (9) pamusoro.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (5) variation 23.kt5.23 Kwari version (40.23.kt5.Kw)

That’s Luken’s style on regular kutsinhira (5), especially in segment 4. Those things [typically played with accents] were his wake-up call.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (9) variation 23.kt9.10 Chingodza version (40.23.kt9.Ch)

I can hear that that’s Musekiwa’s version of my kutsinhira (9), but he just stays in one place [emphasizing midrange C as a drone, in conjunction with upper-midrange E or F]. That style is like Luken’s. It can be a kutsinhira for regular “Nhemamusasa” or “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” 2003: That’s real Musekiwa style, especially the detail of the right-side double noting [here, embedded in compound (3+1) figures]. But his left hand is the same as mine and others. Mujuru version (40.23.kt9.Muj)

My 1972 transcription annotation dictated by Mujuru describes this as a “Nhemamusasa from Bandambira. I learned this song from him. It’s his style.” 2002: Cosmas initially interpreted this as closely related to his Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (7), then revised his opinion. Actually, I hear more of the kutsinhira (9) in it. Clearly, it’s a mixture of that, plus the techniques in kutsinhira (7). 2003: After exploring its relationship to other Nhemamusasa versions and considering its applications: This is “Nhemamusasa yepasi” according to my way of thinking now. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (10) Muchena version (40.23.kt10.Muc)

This is Mondreck’s own style. Maratu version (40.23.kt10.Ma)

This is very close to Mondreck [above], also William, Kunaka, and me too. It just tells you it’s that kutsinhira (10) part for “Nhemamusasa” with just a few [left-hand] substitutes. Mhlanga version (40.23.kt10.Mh)

Chris Mhlanga taught me this part, starting with segment 2, but we rotated it for comparison with those of the other players. This part is the same as the others [refers to basic leftA Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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hand pattern above, but with additional midrange C substitutions]. Rusere version (40.23.kt10.Ru.1)

Rusere described this as a kushaura-kutsinhira mixture, but Cosmas’s initial impression was that it was a kushaura, just a different kushaura. When we tried it together with various kutsinhira, however, it came up short. The part really should be considered a version of kutsinhira (10), played with the regular, basic kushaura (1). It reminds me of things I used to do, but I’d add a different right hand in the first segment. He demonstrated an ascending sawtooth figure followed by a scalar descent (chap. 23, Nhemamusasa, variation 23.kt10.2). 2003: I wonder who taught Rusere. I could easily play with him since we play similar parts. Chingodza version (40.23.kt10.Ch.1)

2002: That’s his own style of doing it [incorporating a midrange C drone], similar to what I do as a variation too. 2003: It’s pretty close to my variation. It’s easy for me to pick up. Rusere version (40.23.kt10.Ru.2)

That’s the pamusoro of what we saw Rusere do earlier [but with Rusere substituting midrange pitches for the shallow bass pitches in his former version, 40.23.kt10.Ru.1 above]. I also play this at times when leaving the main one, kutsinhira (10), for a while. Rusere’s is a good one. I’d play it using his substitute, though [40.23.kt10.Ru.3 below, segment 4, right-hand B-for-D substitution combined with the left-hand midrange D]. Those two keys when played together, the sound they produce, is like chords— it’s closer to the sound produced when chording in the right hand— a pleasing sound, though an unusual combination. 2003: I don’t usually do this, leaving out the basses and limiting myself to the upper keys, but it sounds great.

2002: It’s OK. I don’t do it. 2003: That’s Donald’s approach on the right side of the mbira, but on the left side, I also do this. Chingodza version (40.23.kt10.Ch.2)

I don’t play that, but it’s similar to things I hear. That is why he absorbed it easily from my demonstration. Automatically, it came to my mind and fingers. I feel that it’s like a tributary of kutsinhira (10). A lot of things I’m hearing are related to that. It’s pretty close to my variation, so it’s easy for me to pick up. Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (13) Kunaka version (40.23.kt13.Ku.1)

That’s Maridzambira’s own. What I do is different from that. Kunaka version (40.23.kt13.Ku.2)

2002: Cosmas points to segment 2: Kunaka didn’t use chording throughout, but sparingly. That’s one reason why his music’s so beautiful. I’d use his part with kushaura (1). 2003: I play something very close to this, except for the last segment. It’s just that that one didn’t occur to me when I was teaching you, so we didn’t write it down. You’ll hear me do things like that on my records. It also reminds me of things that I do on “Nhimutimu.” The Kunaka versions go with “Nhemamusasa” kushaura (4). When they’re combined, I hear their high lines calling to each other. Chingodza version (40.23.kt13.Ch)

This reminds me of something I used to do with Chivhanga, but I don’t do it anymore. I used it as a solo part. After listening to Chingodza’s recorded demonstration, in which he improvises a continuous right-hand triplestriking line: He’s mixing kushaura and kutsinhira and solo playing— nice majimba. It reminds me of Luken.

Kadumba version (40.23.kt10.Ka)

Donald gives this as a kushaura, but like the Rusere ones, I would apply that on the kutsinhira side, playing it with regular “Nhemamusasa” kushaura (1) or “Nhemamusasa yepasi” solo version (1). 408

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Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (14) Kunaka version (40.23.kt14.Ku)

This is very close to my version.

Rusere version (40.23.kt14.Ru)

2003: I don’t do that. It’s William’s way. I never played anything like this. Cosmas appreciated its novelty. When I asked him about segment 1 of the Rusere versions in which the right-hand C on the third beat prolongs dyad C (all but eliding dyad E in the standard sequence), he replied: It’s just a substitute, which is fine there. In other parts, there’s a B there.

Nhemamusasa: Solo Version Chingodza version (40.23.sv.Ch)

I don’t play this one, and I’m not sure where the beat is just from hearing it. I’d use it as a solo part. Or, it could be used as either kushaura or kutsinhira if I knew how to phrase it. It depends on where you put the hosho on it. Pointing out Chingodza’s wide right-hand leap at the end of the cycle (high D to midrange B): That’s a signature for Chingodza and a stepping-stone that I don’t play.

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (15) Chingodza version (40.23.kt15.Ch)

2002: Again, this is from Musekiwa. I don’t do this; that’s Musekiwa’s thing. 2003: That’s just from Musekiwa. It has a lot of what Kunaka called madunhurirwa, playing some things and leaving others out. The left-hand side reminds me of what I used to hear my brother Leonard play [refers to Leonard’s version above], but doing it in a different way. Cosmas took over the performance of Musekiwa’s version from my demonstration, then commented: I would treat it as a kutsinhira as it is now positioned, playing it with regular kushaura (1). Also, this part clearly shows that it can be played solo. Reviewing it more closely, he added that in his system, Musekiwa’s busy right hand would belong to a solo part, and the left hand, to a kutsinhira part. See, the right-hand triple striking is covering gaps in the left. He’s playing “Nhemamusasa yepasi” there, but with continuous triple striking in the right. These are good substitutes. He hesitated to say more about the part until we had worked on its performance enough to hear it played well.

Nhemamusasa: Additional Kutsinhira Chingodza version (40.23.akt.Ch)

I don’t do that, but I realize he’s playing the opposite of what he did earlier [40.23.kt9.Ch], playing upside down just like I do with the different versions of “Nhemamusasa yepasi” [reversing the order of the shuffle figures’ elements]. This can serve as kutsinhira for regular “Nhemamusasa” or “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” 2003: This is Musekiwa’s way of playing “Nhemamusasa,” not mine.

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kushaura (2) Muchena version (40.24.ks2.Muc)

Mondreck taught me this part in 1994, placing it a pulse earlier in relation to the beat than given in my transcription and describing its role as a kutsinhira. 2002: This is Mondreck’s, a nice one. It’s a kutsinhira that goes with the main kushaura. It reminds me of Mondreck and Erick, and playing together with them. Regarding the contours of the initial four left-hand figures: Mondreck’s taking the same approach here as for “Nhemamusasa yepasi” [its succession of shifting three-pulse figures with leaps in contrary motion]. His approach is very interesting, a good way to play. It shows it’s one of the “Nhemamusasa” songs. I don’t play it that way. Nevertheless, Cosmas picked up the part from my demonstration effortlessly. I can do that since I know what Mondreck’s doing there. The part goes with “Nhemamusasa yekutanga” kushaura. In 2006, in the context of our performances and evolving arrangements for Nhemamusasa yekutanga, Cosmas pulled a similar part out of memory, though altered with substitutions and cast in the role of kushaura. (At that time, his recollection was that Mondreck had performed it in the same role.) The following year, he taught it to me as kushaura (2) above.

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (2) Kwari version (40.24.kt2.Kw)

I also do this part. It works with the main kushaura for “Nhemamusasa yekutanga.”

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Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (3) Kwari version (40.24.kt3.Kw.1)

2002: That’s Luken’s pamusoro, his playing. It’s a separate kutsinhira [a pamusoro derived from kutsinhira (2)]. 2003: This is Kwari’s version. We’re giving that a different kutsinhira name because it’s different enough from the other. Mude really used to like that. When Luken would come in with that, Mude would start giving praise, shouting, “Hauwoneka, Kwari!” [You can see now, Kwari!], meaning “That’s it!” Cosmas played this as well, but Luken mainly did this version with the substitutions. He’s the one who taught me that part. Kwari version (40.24.kt3.Kw.2)

That’s Luken’s hybrid part. Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (1) Maratu version (40.25.sv1.Ma)

In my lesson with Maratu, he explained that he could create another variation by reversing the last two keys within each left-hand three-pulse figure, in effect producing solo version (2). 2002: I do Maratu’s basic part too, the basic “Nhemamusasa yepasi,” skipping some of the keys on the right side. Here, Cosmas refers to omitting the middle pitches of his right-hand three-pitch figures in his model part above (R2/Gs and R3/As, for example)— as well as substituting others— to create an alternate-pulse upper-voice pattern. Muchena version (40.25.sv1.Muc)

2002: That’s how Mondreck played. I play some of these substitute keys and not others.

Kunaka version (40.25.sv1.Ku.2)

2003: It’s Maridzambira’s style to do things this way in each segment. He points out that Kunaka’s substitutions produce figures with identical contours that respond to one another at different points in the cycle: the second figure in segments 1 and 4, the third figure in segments 1 and 3, and the first figure in segments 2 and 4. Rusere versions (40.25.sv1.Ru.1–3)

This is from “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” I can hear something exactly like I play. He does the same variation, breaking it up this way. Yes, that’s funny. He does a lot of things there that are closely related to my own discoveries. I didn’t realize someone else was also discovering them! 2003: It’s William’s way. In relation to his practices at the time, Cosmas had a different impression of Rusere’s versions than earlier. I don’t do this. 2006: Several years later, however, he again heard a relationship between William’s practices and his own current practices: Definitely, I do some mixing like that. Mujuru version (40.25.sv1.Muj)

Ephat taught me this part as Nhemamusasa yeDambatsoko kushaura in 1972, referring to the home of his grandfather, Muchatera Mujuru, in the Dambatsoko area of Rusape. 2003: This is Ephat’s way. Since many different things are happening here, it’s better to put it as a solo part. Initially, Cosmas viewed it as belonging to Nhemamusasa, but later saw it as more closely related to Nhemamusasa yepasi. With those gaps and irregular rhythm, it doesn’t fit into my own system right away. I’d have to work with it and try things out. I’m not sure whether it is written right or needs clarification from the Dambatsoko people. As it stands, it isn’t a part that I’d use.

Kunaka version (40.25.sv1.Ku.1)

2003: This was Maridzambira’s way, just switching keys up and down. Cosmas, too, plays segment 1’s distinctive left-hand triadic figure (A-C-E), which he learned from Kunaka directly— and from the latter’s student Erick Muchena. Some of the things I learned through Erick because Erick used to play with Kunaka at the mapira. I also do something on the left that’s the same as Kunaka in segment 2. 410

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Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (2) Chingodza version (40.25.sv2.Ch)

2002: Chingodza likes to play that a lot. The part comes from the “Nhemamusasa yepasi” basses. It works as a kutsinhira equally well with regular “Nhemamusasa” and “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” I used to do that, but no longer. It

sounds like too much bass for me. My style has a different approach. 2003: Interesting changes in the left hand for “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” 2006: In my system, this would be a solo part.

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (3) Mujuru versions (40.25.sv3.Muj.1–3)

2002: That’s Ephat’s way, he changes and mixes. He’s just leaving out the pamusoro [of solo version (2)] and going on the basses. 2006: You can hear how he dropped the pamusoro and is just playing the basses. Here, Mujuru also combined the left-hand pattern with a right-hand simplified part. You use things like Ephat’s version when you’re resting while playing “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” Cosmas’s version, given here as solo version (3), uses a nearly identical left-hand pattern to Mujuru’s initial version. Kadumba and Maratu taught me this part from their repertories as well, both explaining that they had created it by dropping the middle key of the left-hand figures in Nhemamusasa yepasi (solo version [2]). Kadumba added that his goal was to create a part “with a new rhythm.”

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (4)

pasi solo version (1)’s three-pulse figures. With respect to Ephat’s version, he shifted the right-hand pattern a pulse later. Additionally, Rusere added, he could vary his right-hand pattern further by omitting the high E of segments 1–3 (fourth beat, beat division 2). 2002: Cosmas looked over quizzically when I recreated Rusere’s part from my 1994 transcription. I’m surprised because I used to do something like that. I also alternate keys on the right and left sides for the complete pamusoro. 2003: I could easily play with him since I play similar parts. I wonder who taught him. When Keith [Goddard] came with Sheri Sparks [American mbira player] to see me in Victoria Falls, I taught Keith. Perhaps he later taught William [who worked as a gardener at Goddard’s home]. I asked if independent invention might explain such similarities. He nodded, but continued musing: I’m surprised because it’s really my style. In my system, I’d first start with solo version (1), then go into this one. You can tell it’s from “Nhemamusasa yepasi,” but without basses. He also recalled that his brother Leonard used to play Nhemamusasa kutsinhira (16), which was especially good with a comparable part to William’s that Cosmas played in the past. Leonard used to switch parts all the time. Either Cosmas or Leonard would change: when one made the move to solo version (4), the other moved to kutsinhira (16).

Mujuru version (40.25.sv4.Muj)

2002: Initially, Cosmas classified the part— a combined-hand alternate-pulse pattern emphasizing octave doubling— as “Nhemamusasa” regular. 2003: Revising his classification to Nhemamusasa yepasi: That’s Ephat’s way of playing. I guess it’s fine for kushaura. I used to do this too. Cosmas added that, earlier, we had seen how Ephat dropped the pamusoro keys from Nhemamusasa yepasi solo version (2) to create another version; here, he accomplishes this by dropping the bass keys from Nhemamusasa yepasi’s main part, solo version (1). Rusere version (40.25.sv4.Ru)

Rusere also explained that he derived his version by taking the middle bass notes out of Nhemamusasa ye-

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (5) Kunaka version (40.25.sv5.Ku.1)

In 1999 we re-created this version from my 1972 transcription, its features blending tremolos with left-hand shifting three-pulse figures and alternate-pulse figures. A note dictated by Kunaka advised: “Not for all songs; used for a rest and change. Too small a voice [that is, with its pamusoro emphasis]; use only for five minutes [that is, in relation to the extended performance of the other parts].” 2002: This also works with basic regular “Nhemamusasa” kushaura [if the solo version is shifted a pulse earlier]. It’s the first time I’ve heard a kutsinhira like this. It’s similar to what I do on “Mukatiende” and “Taireva.” After playing a while, I can see that there’s something in common A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

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with “Nhemamusasa yepasi” rhythms. For now, I’d say it’s for solo mainly, but with practice, we can try different combinations. 2003: This is Maridzambira’s. Subsequently, when we reviewed the transcription, he recalled that, in fact, earlier he had known a version of this part, given above as solo version (5). It had slipped from his memory. I’ve relearned the basic part for my system from your old notation and play it now. It’s a similar technique to what I do on “Taireva” and “Mukatiende.” Kunaka version (40.25.sv5.Ku.2)

This version includes a substitution suggested by an annotation on my 1972 transcription advising: “For mbira without extra key L7/A, you can substitute L5/F for A, segment 3”— that is, the third of dyad D in the underlying harmonic sequence.

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (6)

mamusasa’s harmonic framework and developed the idea around the cycle, leading him to the version above. 2003: That’s Donald’s way. That’s fun. I like that. When I was young, in the seventies, I liked to do that, trying out some parts, playing around with them. By doing that, you won’t know that you’re inventing something until you’ve found out what it is. I’ve heard a lot of that in Musekiwa and Forward. It can lead to discoveries, he added, as long as you play around within the basic framework of the piece. Initially, like Kadumba, we classified the version as a kushaura, but later, Cosmas envisaged other possibilities. That works well as a kutsinhira for “Nhemamusasa regular” or “Nhemamusasa yepasi” solo version. 2006: Mainly I’d use this for solo playing in my system. Maratu version (40.25.asv.Ma)

This is Maratu’s own style of substitution for “Nhemamusasa yepasi.”

Chingodza version (40.25.sv6.Ch)

Rusere version (40.25.asv.Ru.1)

This is Musekiwa’s version with the “Chakwi”-like right hand. The left hand is coming back to his pamusoro kutsinhira (9) [40.23.kt9.Ch]. Cosmas tried it out. It’s very good when playing solo. He added that the part reminded him of his own right-hand patterns with Nhemamusasa yepasi above and with Mahororo in different solo formations (chap. 18, Mahororo, variations 18.sv1–2). I’d combine it with kutsinhira (5), the basic one.

2003: As soon as I began demonstrating Rusere’s part for Cosmas, he nodded in recognition. It’s William’s way of yepasi. Just from the first phrase, you can see that that’s his style and Musekiwa’s. I don’t do this. It’s like another solo version for “Nhemamusasa yepasi,” which works [as a kushaura] with regular “Nhemamusasa,” basic kutsinhira (5). 2006: I asked whether, in the combination with kutsinhira (5), there was a problem with the degree of overlapping between the parts’ respective left-hand patterns. No, it works despite the left-hand duplication.

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Additional Solo Versions Kadumba version (40.25.asv.Ka)

In one of my lessons with Donald, we discussed the process of creating parts in performance. When I asked if he ever composed things on the spot outside of performance, he offered to give me a demonstration. Thinking silently for a few minutes, he began humming a repeated riff, his right hand marking out its pattern in the air. “I have the rhythm in my head,” he said. Taking up his mbira, he experimented with fitting different pitches to the pattern. Subsequently, settling on a particular melodic-rhythmic shape, he imagined it in Nhe412

Chapter 40

Rusere version (40.25.asv.Ru.2)

During our lesson, William advised me: “This is played softly [at religious ceremonies] while the spirits are talking, consulting.” 2003: This is William’s way. I heard something similar in the other parts earlier. I’ve heard Forward doing this too. They’re changing from what should be— not flowing [in the conventional way] on the left-hand side. This could be used as a “Nhemamusasa yepasi” solo part or kushaura with regular “Nhemamusasa” kutsinhira (5).

Chingodza version (40.25.asv.Ch)

2002: That’s a nice one for comparison’s sake— a solo version. 2003: Now that your playing’s improved on this, I can hear that, in addition to being for solo performance, it could also be a kutsinhira to the basic “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” 2006: This is for solo performance really.

Nhimutimu (1): Kushaura (2) Chingodza version (40.26.ks2.Ch)

2002: This is clearly “Nhimutimu.” “Nhimutimu” used to be called “Nhimutimu yaNyamaropa” in the olden days when I was learning it. The song was coming from “Nyamaropa,” but eliminating some of the keys, taking shortcuts or madunhurirwa. Cosmas wondered whether Musekiwa had labeled it as a kutsinhira because he had shifted it a pulse later in his practice. Cosmas considered it a kushaura in its current position. 2003: It’s similar to what I do.

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (1) Chingodza version (40.29.ks1.Ch)

I do this too. There are a few different substitutes here and there. There are a lot of substitutes for “Mahororo,” “Nyamaropa,” and others [in the Nyamaropa family]. Rusere version (40.29.ks1.Ru.1)

2002: I feel William’s version here should be a kushaura, not a kutsinhira. This is a kushaura to “Nyamaropa,” putting in some substitutes. I do this one too—a good one. In more general terms, Cosmas observes: These days, some [aspiring] players aren’t taught what is kushaura and what is kutsinhira. That’s why sometimes older musicians like myself have to help them. Rusere version (40.29.ks1.Ru.2)

Cosmas points out a difference between his and Rusere’s versions that occurs in segment 4’s left-hand pattern: the initial movement of bass B to midrange D

(pickup to the second beat). It sounds a little strange to me, but maybe that’s how he does it. 2003: I do something similar [in the upper voice], but not the right-hand G-B keys in segment 4. Especially if I’m playing “Nyamaropa Chipembere,” I do a lot of those basses, many such things. But I can’t tell if I’ve played this like Rusere. Since I do so many things myself with “Nyamaropa Chipembere,” I don’t always remember them. It’s a complete mix of things. Kunaka version (40.29.ks1.Ku)

2003: I do this too. Maridzambira called this regular “Nyamaropa” by the name “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” We all did in the early days. We also used the name “Chipembere.” Maybe it’s because “Nyamaropa” refers to Chief Nyamaropa, and chipembere— the black rhinoceros— is a strong animal. Cosmas knew that it was Maridzambira’s style from his midrange D-for-F substitution (segment 1, second beat). When I re-created this version, Cosmas heard an error in my performance and suggested that he review that corner of the part with me—those particular notes, that angle. Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1) Rusere versions (40.29.kt1.Ru.1–2)

2002: This is Rusere’s basic kutsinhira with small substitutes. He drew attention to the third-beat bass E-for-F substitution in segment 1, anticipating dyad E; and the bass Bfor-C substitution in segments 2–3, anticipating dyad C. 2003: I do these substitutes as well. Mhlanga version (40.29.kt1.Mh)

2002: These are nice substitutes on the basic kutsinhira for “Nyamaropa.” 2003: This is Mhlanga’s style, going to that bass E twice [segment 1]. It’s a kutsinhira. Rusere version (40.29.kt1.Ru.3)

2002: This is a mixture of “Nyamaropa” and “Mahororo.” You can use that with “Karigamombe” and “Mahororo” as well. It’s an example of something that would have its own kutsinhira name because there are continuous breaks throughout [spare offbeat right-hand pattern on pickA Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

413

ups], and it has a different character [its succession of combined-hand three-pulse keystroke figures, including bass E repetition, segments 1–3]. 2003: I can see that it’s part of “Nyamaropa” and “Mahororo.”

would consider it to be a kutsinhira part for “Nhimutimu” because of those basses. 2006: That’s a nice one. I’d change that to solo “Nyamaropa,” though.

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (2) Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (2) Kunaka version (40.29.kt2.Ku)

This is really a different kutsinhira, the way he stays on those basses, the Bs. It reminds me of “Nhimutimu.” It’s different from the other “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira. 2003: I do that one as well. We also used it for a “Mahororo” kutsinhira. We tried out Kunaka’s version with Nhimutimu kushaura (1), prompting Cosmas to reflect on its applications: What I know from playing with many musicians is that they’d put this kutsinhira together with the kushaura of different [Nyamaropa family] tunes. Alexander Kanengoni also used to play that part.

Nyamaropa: Additional Kutsinhira Chingodza version (40.29.akt.Ch)

2002: After listening to this combined with Nyamaropa kushaura: I can hear it fits [technically], but to me, it doesn’t really sound good as a kutsinhira to “Nyamaropa.” He added that coming to this part out of context, he did not really have a clear sense of the piece it represented. 2003: That’s Musekiwa’s. I consider it to be a shortcut to the “Nyamaropa” family. You can use that for all the “Nyamaropa” family songs. I consider it to be a mixture. Musekiwa calls it a kutsinhira, but I can’t really know without hearing how he uses it. I wouldn’t want to miscategorize it here, leading people to misuse the part. 2006: For now, I’d use it as a solo version, or combined with “Nyamaropa” kushaura in a big ensemble.

Nyamaropa: Solo Version Chingodza version (40.29.sv.Ch)

2003: Cosmas initially classified this part as Chingodza’s own “Nhimutimu.” I can hear what he’s doing and 414

Chapter 40

Chingodza version (40.30.sv2.Ch)

2002: If you listen carefully, you can hear it’s a sorrowful pattern for “Nyamaropa.” It has a very good flavor when played solo. Actually, it’s a shortcut for “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” Musekiwa doesn’t expand upon it there. I do this in a similar but different way. I’d also use it as a kutsinhira for “Mahororo.” When no hosho or other parts are there, Musekiwa’s is very good as a solo part with these kinds of things [for example, embedded triple noting in right-hand five-pulse figures]. But it’s a different story when you play with another musician.

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (3) Kwari version (40.30.sv3.Kw)

In 2002 Cosmas and I reviewed my 1972 transcription dictated by Luken. The basses are doing funny things. It’s a completely different version from my version of “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” I can hear a lot of mixing in this: “Nyamaropa,” “Mahororo,” “Karigamombe”— different things. Initially, he said that he did not personally care for this version. I don’t really remember it, so it must have been Luken’s style. Upon further consideration: I played something like it in the past, but different in style. I’m not playing it today. You can see that it’s in the same family as “Gorekore” [chap. 15, Gorekore, variation 15.sv.3]. He refers to both parts’ overlapping right- and left-hand shuffle keystroke patterns— the former emphasizing double noting, the latter producing a spare offbeat bass line. In Cosmas’s review of the part in 2008, he reflected on contingencies affecting his access to his aural repertory. Sometimes when you know so many things, it may take you some time to come back to something from the past. Like now, I’m always on the road. When I’m not with my group, playing the old songs, I’m with new students, and I can’t use a part like that [because of its complexity]. That’s the importance of reuniting with old advanced stu-

dents. There are things that you and I play that I can’t play with Beauler. I’m not a free agent in those situations. I have to adjust to every situation and person I’m playing with. That’s why some of the parts I only remember when I’m reminded of them by a CD or record— if it’s something I’ve recorded in the past.

version. At the same time, it also belongs to “Nyamaropa Chipembere.” I play a similar version of it, but do it in a different way than the main ones: reducing the basic part by removing the basses and staying on top [emphasizing left-hand pamusoro keys]. So that’s also my style or approach. I play that song in so many different forms.

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (5)

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (6)

Kunaka version (40.30.sv5.Ku)

Rusere versions (40.30.sv6.Ru.1–2)

2003: I also play this. Leonard used to play a lot of that style as well [offbeat combined-hand compound (3+1) keystroke pattern], which he did again on “Nhemamusasa yepasi.” You can hear there’s a lot of madunhurirwa, leaving things out [in relation to Cosmas’s solo version (7), 30.sv7.1, for example]. The Kunaka version goes together with “Mahororo” kushaura. In 1999, Cosmas found some of the rhythmic movements in my 1972 transcription to be awkward, especially double-noting midrange Es that I had initially notated as beginning on the pickup to fourth beats. When he remained troubled by this in 2005, I ascribed it to a transcription error, and in the current version, shifted the second E of the pairs a pulse later to beat division 2. There, they formed three-pulse groups with subsequent midrange pitches at the ends of segments (E-G-D, E-A-E, and so on), conforming to Cosmas’s version and his sense of the appropriate phrasing.

2003: That’s Rusere’s way. What he’s doing with his left hand especially— how he puts the keys together— is a different arrangement from mine.

Chingodza version (40.30.sv5.Ch)

2003: This is “Nyamaropa,” but the feel of it is also like “Mutamba” [comprising a combined-hand shuffle keystroke pattern; chap. 21, Mutamba, 21.ks.1]— nearly three-quarters of it. When you’re learning “Nyamaropa,” you start with a part like that, which Chivhanga taught me. It’s just a short version of “Nyamaropa” kushaura. I would use the regular “Nyamaropa” kutsinhira with that

Nyuchi: Kushaura Kwari version (40.32.ks.Kw)

2013: That’s Luken’s hand, which differs from mine, for that kushaura. He used to alternate right- and left-side keys instead of always playing them together; also, to repeat the one key [segment 1: L2/D]. We traveled different roads and learned different things about mbira playing from different people before we met in Mhuri yekwaRwizi.

Shumba: Kushaura (1) Kwari versions (40.33.ks1.Kw.1–2)

2002: In the first version, Cosmas directed me to such features as Kwari’s octave E substitution (segment 4), creating a brief succession of left-hand octave leaps; in the second version, to his use of right-hand rest substitutions and C pitch insertion. That’s Luken’s style! Although Cosmas included such variations in his performance now and again (chap. 33, Shumba, 33.ks1.2–3, 33.ks1.13), he did not consider them part of his style.

A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments

415

A Comparative View of Artists’ Composition Treatments Bangiza (1) Kushaura (2)

1.ks2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.1.ks2.Muc

Muchena version

40.1.ks2.Pa

Paradzai version

Kutsinhira (3)

1.kt3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.1.kt3.Muc

Muchena version

40.1.kt3.Pa

Paradzai version

Kutsinhira (5)

1.kt5.1

416

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (5)

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (5)

40.1.kt5.Pa

Paradzai version (taught as kushaura)

40.1.kt5.Ma.1

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

40.1.kt5.Ma.2

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

40.1.kt5.Ch.1

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

40.1.kt5.Ch.2

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura); solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (7)

1.kt7.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.1.kt7.Muc.1

Muchena version

40.1.kt7.Muc.2

Muchena version

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (7)

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (1): Kutsinhira (7)

417

40.1.kt7.Muc.3

Muchena version

40.1.kt7.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.1.kt7.Kw.2

Kwari version

Solo version (2)

1.sv2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.1.sv2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

Bangiza (2) Kushaura

418

2.ks.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.2.ks.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (2): Kushaura

Bangiza (2): Kushaura

40.2.ks.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.2.ks.Ru.3

Rusere version

40.2.ks.Ru.4

Rusere version

40.2.ks.Ch.1

Chingodza version

40.2.ks.Ch.2

Chingodza version

40.2.ks.Ch.3

Chingodza version

40.2.ks.Ch.4

Chingodza version

Kutsinhira (1)

2.kt1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (1)

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (2): Kutsinhira (1)

419

40.2.kt1.Ru

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.2.kt1.Ma

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

40.2.kt1.Mh

Mhlanga version (taught as kushaura)

Solo Versions

420

40.2.sv.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.2.sv.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.2.sv.Ru.3

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.2.sv.Ru.4

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (2): Solo Version

Bangiza (2): Solo Version

Bangiza (3) Kushaura (1)

3.ks1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.3.ks1.Ch

Chingodza version

Kushaura (3)

3.ks3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.3.ks3.Pa

Paradzai version

Kutsinhira (1)

3.kt1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.3.kt1.Kw

Kwari version

40.3.kt1.Ka

Kadumba version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (1) 40. Comparative View : Bangiza (3): Kutsinhira (1)

421

40.3.kt1.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.3.kt1.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.3.kt1.Ch.1

Chingodza version

40.3.kt1.Ch.2

Chingodza version

Kutsinhira (2)

3.kt2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.3.kt2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kutsinhira); solo version in Magaya system

Additional Kutsinhira

40.3.akt.Ch 422

Chingodza version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (3): Additional Kutsinhira

Bangiza (3): Additional Kutsinhira

40.3.akt.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.3.akt.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.3.akt.Ru.3

Rusere version

40.3.akt.Ru.4

Rusere version

Bangiza (4) Kushaura

4.ks.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.4.ks.Pa.1

Paradzai version

40.4.ks.Pa.2

Paradzai version

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (4): Kushaura

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (4): Kushaura

423

40.4.ks.Ch

Chingodza version

40.4.ks.Mh

Mhlanga version

Kutsinhira (3)

4.kt3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.4.kt3.Ka.1

Kadumba version etc.

424

40.4.kt3.Ka.2

Kadumba version

40.4.kt3.Ka.3

Kadumba version

40.4.kt3.Mh.1

Mhlanga version

40.4.kt3.Mh.2

Mhlanga version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (3)

Bangiza (4): Kutsinhira (3)

Additional Kutsinhira

40.4.akt.Mh

Mhlanga version

Bangiza (5) Kushaura

5.ks.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.5.ks.Ma.1

Maratu version (taught as kushaura, or kutsinhira if shifted)

40.5.ks.Ch

Chingodza version

40.5.ks.Zi

Zifa version

40.5.ks.Mh.1

Mhlanga version

40.5.ks.Mh.2

Mhlanga version

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (5): Kushaura 40. Comparative View : Bangiza (5): Kushaura

425

40.5.ks.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.5.ks.Kw.2

Kwari version

40.5.ks.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.5.ks.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.5.ks.Ma.2

Maratu version (taught as kushaura, or kutsinhira if shifted); solo version in Magaya system

Additional Kushaura

426

40.5.aks.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.aks.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.aks.Ru.3

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (5): Additional Kushaura

Bangiza (5): Additional Kushaura

40.5.aks.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.aks.Pa

Paradzai version (taught as kutsinhira)

Kutsinhira (4)

5.kt4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.5.kt4.Muc.1

Muchena version

40.5.kt4.Muc.2

Muchena version

40.5.kt4.Muc.3

Muchena version

40.5.kt4.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.Comparative View

Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (4)

40. Comparative View : Bangiza (5): Kutsinhira (4)

427

40.5.kt4.Kw.2

Kwari version

Solo Versions

40.5.sv.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.sv.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.sv.Ru.3

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.5.sv.Ma

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

Chipindura Kutsinhira (2)

428

12.kt2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.12.kt2.Kw

Kwari version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Chipindura: Kutsinhira (2)

Chipindura: Kutsinhira (2)

Karigamombe Kushaura

16.ks.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.16.ks.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.16.ks.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.16.ks.Kw

Kwari version

Solo Version (3)

16.sv3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.16.sv3.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.16.sv3.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.Comparative View

Karigamombe: Solo Version (3) 40. Comparative View : Karigamombe: Solo Version (3)

429

40.16.sv3.Ru.3

Rusere version

Solo Version (4)

16.sv4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.16.sv4.Ru

Rusere version

Mahororo Kutsinhira (1)

430

18.kt1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.18.kt1.Mh.1

Mhlanga version (taught as Nyamaropa kutsinhira)

40.18.kt1.Mh.2

Mhlanga version (taught as Nyamaropa kutsinhira)

40.18.kt1.Ku

Kunaka version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1)

Mahororo: Kutsinhira (1)

Solo Version (2)

18.sv2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.18.sv2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as Nyamaropa kushaura)

Additional Solo Version

40.18.asv.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as Nyamaropa kutsinhira)

Mukatiende Kutsinhira (9)

20.kt9.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.20.kt9.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.20.kt9.Kw.2

Kwari version

Muzoriwa Kushaura (1)

22.ks1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

Muzoriwa: Kushaura (1) 40. Comparative View : Muzoriwa: Kushaura (1)

431

etc.

40.22.ks1.Kw

Kwari version

Nhemamusasa Kushaura (1)

23.ks1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.ks1.Ma.1

Maratu version

40.23.ks1.Ma.2

Maratu version

40.23.ks1.Ch

Chingodza version

40.23.ks1.Ka

Kadumba version

Kushaura (3)

23.ks3.1

432

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (3)

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (3)

40.23.ks3.Ma

Maratu version

40.23.ks3.Ka

Kadumba version

Kushaura (4)

23.ks4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.ks4.Ku

Kunaka version

Kushaura (5)

23.ks5.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.ks5.Ch

Chingodza version

40.23.ks5.Ru

Rusere version

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (5)

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kushaura (5)

433

Kushaura (6)

23.ks6.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.ks6.Muj

Mujuru version (taught as kushaura); solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (1)

23.kt1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt1.Ka.1

Kadumba version

40.23.kt1.Ka.2

Kadumba version

23.kt1.21

Magaya variation presented for comparison

40.23.kt1.Ku

Kunaka version

40.23.kt1.Ch

Chingodza version

40.Comparative View 434

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1)

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (1)

Kutsinhira (2)

23.kt2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt2.Ku

Kunaka version

40.23.kt2.Muc.1

Muchena version

40.23.kt2.Muc.2

Muchena version

40.23.kt2.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.23.kt2.Kw.2

Kwari version

40.23.kt2.Ch

Chingodza version; solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (3)

23.kt3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3) 40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3)

435

436

40.23.kt3.Ka.1

Kadumba version

40.23.kt3.Ka.2

Kadumba version (taught as kushaura)

40.23.kt3.Ka.3

Kadumba version (taught as kushaura)

40.23.kt3.Ku.1

Kunaka version

40.23.kt3.Ku.2

Kunaka version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture); solo version in Magaya system

40.23.kt3.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture); solo version in Magaya system

40.23.kt3.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3)

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (3)

Kutsinhira (4)

23.kt4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt4.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura); solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (5)

23.kt5.23

Magaya variation presented for comparison

40.23.kt5.Kw

Kwari version

Kutsinhira (9)

23.kt9.10

Magaya variation presented for comparison

40.23.kt9.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

40.23.kt9.Muj

Mujuru version

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (9) 40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (9)

437

Kutsinhira (10)

23.kt10.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt10.Muc

Muchena version

40.23.kt10.Ma

Maratu version

40.23.kt10.Mh

Mhlanga version

40.23.kt10.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.23.kt10.Ch.1

Chingodza version

40.23.kt10.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.23.kt10.Ru.3

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View 438

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (10)

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (10)

40.23.kt10.Ka

Kadumba version (taught as kushaura)

40.23.kt10.Ch.2

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

Kutsinhira (13)

23.kt13.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt13.Ku.1

Kunaka version

40.23.kt13.Ku.2

Kunaka version

40.23.kt13.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kutsinhira); solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (14)

23.kt14.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (14)

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Kutsinhira (14)

439

40.23.kt14.Ku

Kunaka version

40.23.kt14.Ru

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira); solo version in Magaya system

Kutsinhira (15)

23.kt15.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.23.kt15.LMa

Leonard Magaya version; solo version in Cosmas Magaya system

40.23.kt15.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura); solo version in Magaya system

Additional Kutsinhira

40.23.akt.Ch

Chingodza version

Solo Version

40.23.sv.Ch 440

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa: Solo Version

Nhemamusasa: Solo Version

Nhemamusasa yekutanga Kushaura (2)

24.ks2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.24.ks2.Muc

Muchena version (taught as kutsinhira shifted one pulse earlier)

Kutsinhira (2)

24.kt2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.24.kt2.Kw

Kwari version

Kutsinhira (3)

24.kt3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.24.kt3.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.24.kt3.Kw.2

Kwari version (taught as “pamusoro and regular kutsinhira mixture”)

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (3) 40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa yekutanga: Kutsinhira (3)

441

Nhemamusasa yepasi Solo Version (1)

25.sv1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv1.Ma

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Muc

Muchena version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Ku.1

Kunaka version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Ku.2

Kunaka version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View 442

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (1)

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (1)

40.25.sv1.Ru.3

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv1.Muj

Mujuru version (taught as Nhemamusasa yeDambatsoko kushaura)

Solo Version (2)

25.sv2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv2.Ku

Kunaka version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

Solo Version (3)

25.sv3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv3.Muj.1

Mujuru version (taught as kushaura)

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (3)

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (3)

443

40.25.sv3.Muj.2

Mujuru version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv3.Muj.3

Mujuru version (taught as kushaura)

Solo Version (4)

25.sv4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv4.Muj

Mujuru version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.sv4.Ru

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

Solo Version (5)

444

25.sv5.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv5.Ku.1

Kunaka version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.25.sv5.Ku.2

Kunaka version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (5)

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Solo Version (5)

Solo Version (6)

25.sv6.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.25.sv6.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kushaura)

Additional Solo Versions

40.25.asv.Ka

Kadumba version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.asv.Ma

Maratu version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.asv.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kushaura)

40.25.asv.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.25.asv.Ch

Chingodza version

40.Comparative View

Nhemamusasa yepasi: Additional Solo Versions 40. Comparative View : Nhemamusasa yepasi: Additional Solo Versions

445

Nhimutimu (1) Kushaura (2)

26.ks2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.26.ks2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as Nyamaropa kutsinhira)

Kutsinhira (4)

26.kt4.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.26.kt4.Kw.1

Kwari version; solo version in Magaya system

40.26.kt4.Kw.2

Kwari version; solo version in Magaya system

Nyamaropa Kushaura (1)

29.ks1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.29.ks1.Ch

Chingodza version

40.Comparative View 446

40. Comparative View : Nyamaropa: Kushaura (1)

Nyamaropa: Kushaura (1)

40.29.ks1.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.29.ks1.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as kutsinhira)

40.29.ks1.Ku

Kunaka version (taught as Chipembere kushaura)

Kutsinhira (1)

29.kt1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.29.kt1.Ru.1

Rusere version

40.29.kt1.Ru.2

Rusere version

40.29.kt1.Kw

Kwari version

40.29.kt1.Mh

Mhlanga version

40.Comparative View

Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1)

40. Comparative View : Nyamaropa: Kutsinhira (1)

447

40.29.kt1.Ru.3

Rusere version

Kutsinhira (2)

29.kt2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.29.kt2.Ku

Kunaka version

Additional Kutsinhira

40.29.akt.Ch

Chingodza version

Solo Version

40.29.sv.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as kutsinhira)

Nyamaropa Chipembere Solo version (2)

448

30.sv2.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.30.sv2.Ch

Chingodza version (taught as Nyamaropa kushaura)

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (2)

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (2)

Solo version (3)

30.sv3.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.30.sv3.Kw

Kwari version

Solo version (5)

30.sv5.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.30.sv5.Ku

Kunaka version (taught as kushaura)

40.30.sv5.Ch

Chingodza version

Solo version (6)

30.sv6.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.30.sv6.Ru.1

Rusere version (taught as Nyamaropa kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

40.Comparative View

Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (6) 40. Comparative View : Nyamaropa Chipembere: Solo Version (6)

449

40.30.sv6.Ru.2

Rusere version (taught as Nyamaropa kushaura/kutsinhira mixture)

Nyuchi Kushaura

32.ks.3

Magaya variation presented for comparison

introductory material 40.32.ks.Kw

continues as in Magaya kushaura variation

Kwari version

Shumba Kushaura (1)

450

33.ks1.1

Magaya basic version presented for comparison

40.33.ks1.Kw.1

Kwari version

40.33.ks1.Kw.2

Kwari version

40.Comparative View

40. Comparative View : Shumba: Kushaura (1)

Shumba: Kushaura (1)

Acknowledgments

When a book project spans the better part of a life and career, there is no problem figuring out where to begin the acknowledgments. The problem is figuring out how to end them. Without Cosmas Magaya’s patient teaching so many years ago— and the friendship and musical/scholarly collaboration that grew out of it— the current project would have been unthinkable. Over the course of the latter, we formed a council, as Cosmas described it. A principal member of its production team was James Dossa (multi-instrumentalist, music theorist, composer, computer specialist), who took charge of the typography and layout of my musical transcriptions. Our work together inevitably led to discussions about the transcriptions’ content in which he variously served as sounding board, provocateur, and theorist confessor— from which the project always benefited. Jim used the suite of software tools provided by Leland Smith’s SCORE 4.01 Computer Music Typography System, widely acknowledged for their powerful versatility and visual finesse. This gave Jim exceptional control in the digital rendition of my musical transcriptions. The music’s unique preparation was substantially facilitated by Thomas Brodhead’s auxiliary SCORE utilities and Jan de Kloe’s SCORE Information Package (SIP) utilities. We are indebted to the software designers for their assistance. Joining the council’s conversation over the years was my partner, Louise Meintjes, who made interventions at just the right moments. Composer Thomas Limbert (director of the Walford Recording Studio and assistant professor of music at Sonoma State University) also signed on, bringing his editing prowess to the book’s website audio recordings. Zeno Gill and Mark Williams contributed to the latter’s production as well. Catherine Angst (multimedia and user services specialist at Duke University) edited my video recordings, as well as the images of the mbira in the “Guide to Mbira Notation.” Courtesy of Nonesuch 451

Records, our website reproduces a few illustrative tracks from my field recordings on The Soul of Mbira and Shona Mbira Music. In addition to my close work with Cosmas and the associates named in The Soul of Mbira, several other mbira players contributed to this study in the 1980s and 1990s. I owe special thanks to Musekiwa Chingodza, Beauler Dyoko, Donald Kadumba, Leonard Magaya, Chris Mhlanga, Lovett Paradzai, William Rusere, and Thomas Zifa. Cosmas and I express our appreciation to Denver Banda for assisting with our interviews with other mbira players at times when we were occupied with other components of the research. We are also indebted to Tsitsi Hantuba nee Magaya and Simon Magaya for consulting with us on matters concerning Shona culture and its representation in the book. It is impossible for us to think of our time together in Zimbabwe over the decades without remembering the hospitality and encouragement of our friends Alexander and Peggy (Watson) Katz— and of the extended families of Bandambira, Kunaka, Kwari/ Pasipamire, Magaya, Mashoko, Muchena, Mude, and Mujuru, who stood by us at a tumultuous time in the country’s political history during which our association carried risks. Various foundations enabled the project at different stages in Zimbabwe and in the States. Residency fellowships at the National Humanities Center in 1996 and 2011 allowed me to review my early 1970s fieldwork and to develop the larger repertory study. With a Stanford Humanities Center fellowship (2001), I developed the social components of the study. For support on complementary aspects of the project, I am grateful to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Program on Global Security and Sustainability), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the ACLS-SSRC Joint International Postdoctoral Program, the Social Science Research Council, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. In analyzing data produced by my research, I benefited from discussions with music theorists Suzannah Clark, James Dossa, Robert Gjerdingan, Jairo Moreno, and Lawrence Zbikowski. Along with Louise Meintjes, two ethnomusicologist mbira specialists, Klaus-Peter Brenner and Gerd Grupe, read earlier chapter drafts 452

Acknowledgments

and offered invaluable criticism. So did Eric Charry, Aaron Fox, Marc Perlman, and Anthony Seeger. My ongoing conversations with Brenner about his analysis of mbira music played an important role in the revision of this work. I thank valued friends for weighing in on various aspects of the subject over the decades, and for sustaining me with their enthusiasm and humor through the long haul: composers T. J. Anderson and his wife Lois, John Austin, and Robert Zimmerman; literary scholar Chris Froula; novelist Stanlake Samkange; historians Constantin Fasolt and Alan Isaacman; linguists and researchers Aaron Hodza and George Fortune; anthropologists Karen Hansen and Charlie Piot; veteran ZBC broadcaster Dominic Mandizha; and musicians and music scholars Bjørn Alterhaug, Howie Becker, Steven Feld, David Samuels, Tom Solomon, and Joe Urbinato. I have drawn inspiration from generations of my mbira students, whose fresh perceptions on discovering mbira music led me to look and listen anew. I am indebted to editor Elizabeth E. Branch Dyson at the University of Chicago Press, whose suggestions about the book’s production and faith in its mission buoyed me throughout. Also, to NHC editor Karen Carroll, whose command of detail and structural complexity during the volumes’ multiple revisions rendered the books’ consistent presentation. Cosmas expresses his gratitude to his family for their profound encouragement and support: his late wife, Joyce Magaya nee Zinyengere; his late parents, Joshua and Matilda Magaya; and his children. He credits his many international supporters, sponsoring organizations, and students over the years, beginning with the Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center, which arranged his first visit to America to assist with the mbira program. (Marilyn Kolodziejczyk— and her husband, Mark, and son, Budd— interviewed him for the center’s teaching residency while they were visiting Zimbabwe.) His position with Kutsinhira led to his association with countless other organizations and individuals in the United States and Canada. He thanks attorney Christine Brigagliano and her staff for their generous and skillful management of his visas since 2001. In the book’s chapter commentaries, Cosmas pays tribute to upward of twenty associates from whom he learned mbira repertory, including Ernest Chivhanga;

Alexio, Justin, and Leonard Magaya; Mondreck and Erick Muchena; Hakurotwi Mude; Luken Kwari (Pasipamire); Ephat Mujuru; Moses Chisirimunhu; John Gondo; Muzazananda; Alexander Kanengoni; John Kunaka; Mubayiwa Bandambira; David Maveto; Boniface Muchapondwa; Sam Mvure; Beauler Dyoko; and Musekiwa Chingodza. Additionally, he honors those from whom he learned by osmosis on the mbira bench during performances, as is part of the mbira practice. He acknowl-

edges his son Mudavahnu as well, to whom he had taught mbira from the age of four, and who in his twenties taught his father material he had picked up in other mbira circles. Finally, contributing to his repertory in the new millennium were advanced American and Canadian students who had themselves learned from seasoned players in Zimbabwe— in effect, completing the circle of exchange within mbira music’s ever-expanding networks of circulation.

Acknowledgments

453