Mbira dzaVaNdau

Table of contents

Introduction

This instrument class represents the mbira dzaVaNdau - "mbira of the Ndau [people])" - from central Mozambique (Northern Gaza, and Southern Manica and Sofala provinces) and adjacent Southeast of Zimbabwe.

The hexatonic mbira dzaVaNdau played as a solo instrument for entertainment and secular occasions. With little need for standardization, tunings, key layouts and repertoire are highly individual.

Resources
In The Original African Mbira?, Andrew Tracey distinguishes several subtypes by their key layout, and describes the specifics of scales and intervals.

Tony Perman has written a brief introduction to the instrument on mbira.org. His article Brevity, Ambiguity and Expressivity in Mbira dzaVaNdau Performances (a chapter of this book) explores musical key characterictics, such as "rhythmic complexity, harmonic stasis, employment of overlapping patterns, and the role of brevity and ambiguity in shaping the instrument's expressivity [...]".
A tale of two mbiras tells about its more recent history and uncertain future - it is considered almost extinct. (Both articles are available from the author on request, especially for people without access to the publications.)

Luis Gimenez Amoros' documentary The Mbira Republic and the preservation of Zimbabwean mbiras features Mbira dzaVaNdau player and maker Solomon Madinga (get in touch for contact) playing his instrument.

Subtypes
Based on their key layout, Andrew Tracey distinguishes the "Tomboji", "Danda", and "Utee" subtypes (not locally used terms). All based on a common core, the "early" type, though the distinctions are "not that clear", as he noted in personal communication.

While the "Danda" type mainly adds to, and occasionally substitutes keys of the (older) "Tomboji" type, the "Utee" type adds an entire right hand bass manual (RL) in exchange for the left upper one (LU), compared to "Tomboji"/"Danda".

30-key Mbira dzaVaNdau, "Danda" type
by Mubati Muyambo (TIC 272)
    
30-key Mbira dzaVaNdau, "Utee" type
from Chimanimani (TIC 137)
32-key Mbira dzaVaNdau, "Danda" type
by Solomon Madinga
Reference key
The leftmost key of the left upper manual (LU1 in Pitch notation) serves as our reference key.

In general, most manuals tend to start with octave counterparts of that key, though sometimes they are extended downwards. For the right hand manuals their leftmost key may not always be apparent, as often the keys form continuous ranks across the soundboard.

Therefore in order to locate the first scale degree it may be necessary to compare the bottom end of several manuals - there might be additional keys, but it is never missing.

Notations
Currently there are two notations. They are called All of them employ an additional track for Hosho [down]beats (denoted by a dot ".").

There are seven playing areas:

  • RU: Right thumb upper manual
  • RI: Keys in the right lower manual (or middle, if RL is present), played with the index finger
  • RT: Keys in the right lower manual (or middle, if RL is present), played with the thumb
    There is no fixed transition point between thumb and index finger keys in this manual, depending on the piece many keys are played with either finger.
  • RL: Right thumb lower manual
    "Utee" type only.
  • LU: Left thumb upper manual
    Not on "Utee" type.
  • LM: Left thumb middle manual
  • LL: Left thumb lower manual
All notations are convertible to and from Pitch. If a direct translation between two notations is not available, use an intermediate step across Pitch.

Click on the tabs below for a description of each notation:

Scale degrees are numbered from 1 to 6; 1 being the reference key of the instrument (which in most cases is the lowest key of all manuals, as in the picture above). It is the same as the Pitch+Octaves notation, with all octave indication omitted where it can be deduced from the playing area.

Key Overview
The table below shows all keys of the notation, from lowest to highest. Each row contains all possible keys for that playing area. Each column contains all keys of the same pitch.

Not all instruments may have keys matching all these notes. Red notes are alias names for the same key, if it can be played with different fingers.

Hosho.
RU5/1234561''2''3''
RI3/456123
RT6,123456
RL13451/
LU134561''2''3''
LM5,134561'2'
LL5,,134561/
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL6RT6,LL6 key played with right instead of the left thumb (on 'early' type)
RT3RI3/RT3 key played with the right index finger instead of the thumb
RI4RT4RI4 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', 'Danda' and 'Utee' types)
LM5RU5/LM5 key played with right instead of the left thumb (on Solomon Madhinga's mbira)
RI5RT5RI5 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', 'Danda' and 'Utee' types)
RI6RT6RI6 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', 'Danda' and 'Utee' types)
RU1LM1'RU1 key played with left instead of the right thumb (on 'Utee' type)

Same numbers as the Pitch notation, but full octave indication.

Key Overview
The table below shows all keys of the notation, from lowest to highest. Each row contains all possible keys for that playing area. Each column contains all keys of the same pitch.

Not all instruments may have keys matching all these notes. Red notes are alias names for the same key, if it can be played with different fingers.

Hosho.
RU51'2'3'4'5'6'1''2''3''
RI34561'2'3'
RT6,123456
RL1,3,4,5,1
LU1'3'4'5'6'1''2''3''
LM5,134561'2'
LL5,,1,3,4,5,6,1
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL6,RT6,LL6, key played with right instead of the left thumb (on 'early' type)
RT3RI3RT3 key played with the right index finger instead of the thumb
RI4RT4RI4 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', 'Danda' and 'Utee' types)
LM5RU5LM5 key played with right instead of the left thumb (on Solomon Madhinga's mbira)
RI5RT5RI5 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', 'Danda' and 'Utee' types)
RI6RT6RI6 key played with the right thumb instead of the index finger (on 'early', Danda' and 'Utee' types)
RU1'LM1'RU1' key played with left instead of the right thumb (on 'Utee' type)