Music of Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
's ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
are strongly influenced by folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
, especially Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. However, Ethiopian religious music also has an ancient Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
element, traced to Yared
Yared
Saint Yared was a semi-legendary Ethiopian musician credited with inventing the sacred music tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopia's system of musical notation...
, who lived during the reign of Gabra Masqal. In northeastern Ethiopia, in Wollo
Wollo
Wollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...
, a Muslim musical form called manzuma developed. Sung in Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
, manzuma has spread to Harar
Harar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...
and Jimma
Jimma
Jimma, also Jima, is the largest city in southwestern Ethiopia. Located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of . The town was the capital of Kaffa Province until the province was dissolved. Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administratively as a...
, where it is now sung in the Oromo language
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
. In the Ethiopian Highlands
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
, traditional secular music is played by itinerant musicians called azmari
Azmari
An azmari is an Ethiopian singer-musician, comparable to the European bard or the West African griot . Azmari, who may be either male or female, are skilled at singing extemporized verses, accompanying themselves on either a masenqo or krar...
s, who are regarded with both suspicion and respect in Ethiopian society.
Music theory
The music of the highlands uses a fundamental modal systemMusical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
called qenet, of which there are four main modes: tezeta, bati, ambassel, and anchihoy. Three additional modes are variations on the above: tezeta minor, bati major, and bati minor. Some songs take the name of their qenet, such as tizita
Tizita
Tizita is a type of song in Ethiopian and Eritrean music. The term itself may serve as the name of a ballad performed in this style, or it can refer to the musical mode used in such songs. Western sources often compare tizita to the blues.Azmaris first introduced tizita...
, a song of reminiscence. When played on traditional instruments, these modes are generally not tempered
Musical temperament
In musical tuning, a temperament is a system of tuning which slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation in order to meet other requirements of the system. Most instruments in modern Western music are tuned in the equal temperament system...
(that is, the pitches may deviate slightly from the Western-tempered tuning system), but when played on Western instruments such as pianos and guitars, they are played using the Western-tempered tuning system.
Highland music is generally monophonic
Monophony
In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave . If the entire melody is sung by two voices or a choir with an interval between the notes or in...
or heterophonic
Heterophony
In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Such a texture can be regarded as a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized at the same time in multiple voices, each of which plays the melody...
. Outside of the highlands, some music is polyphonic
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
; Dorze polyphonic singing (edho) may employ up to five parts, Majangir
Majangir
The Majang people, or Majangir, live in southwestern Ethiopia and speak a Nilo-Saharan language of the Surmic cluster. The 1998 census gave the total of the Majangir population as 15,341, but since they live scattered in the hills in dispersed settlements , their actual total number is undoubtedly...
four parts.
Chordophones
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s include the :masenqo (also known as masinko), a one-string bowed
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
:lute; the :krar (also known as kirar), a six-string :lyre; and the :begena, a large ten-string lyre.
The dita (a five-string lyre) and :musical bows (including an unusual three-string variant) are among the chordophones found in the south.
Aerophones
The washintWashint
The washint is an end-blown wooden flute originally used by the Amhara people in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle..- Construction and...
is a bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
that is common in the highlands. Trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
-like instruments include the ceremonial malakat
Kakaki
The kakaki is a three to four metre long metal trumpet used in Hausa traditional ceremonial music. Kakaki is the name used in Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. The instrument is also known as waza in Chad and Sudan, and malakat in Ethiopia....
used in some regions, and the holdudwa (animal horn
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
; compare shofar
Shofar
A shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...
) found mainly in the south. Embilta flutes have no finger holes, and produce only two tones, the fundamental
Fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the...
and a fourth or fifth interval
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
. These may be metal (generally found in the north) or bamboo (in the south). The Konso
Konso
Konso is a town on the Sagan River in southwestern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Konso special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1650 meters...
and other people in the south play fanta, or pan flute
Pan flute
The pan flute or pan pipe is an ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting usually of five or more pipes of gradually increasing length...
s.
Idiophones
In the Ethiopian Orthodox ChurchEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the predominant Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All...
, liturgical music
Liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service , the Lutheran Divine Service, the Orthodox liturgy and other Christian services...
employs the senasel, a sistrum
Sistrum
A sistrum is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient Iraq and Egypt. It consists of a handle and a U-shaped metal frame, made of brass or bronze and between 76 and 30 cm in width...
. Additionally, the clergy will use prayer staffs, or maqwamiya, to maintain rhythm. Rural churches historically used a dawal, made from stone slabs or pieces of wood, in order to call the faithful to prayer. The Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
use a small gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
called a qachel as liturgical accompaniment, though qachel may also refer to a small bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
. The toom, a lamellophone, is used among the Nuer, Anuak, Majangir
Majangir
The Majang people, or Majangir, live in southwestern Ethiopia and speak a Nilo-Saharan language of the Surmic cluster. The 1998 census gave the total of the Majangir population as 15,341, but since they live scattered in the hills in dispersed settlements , their actual total number is undoubtedly...
, Surma
Surma people
Surma is a panethnicity residing in South Sudan and southwestern Ethiopia. It includes the Nilo-Saharan-speaking Suri, Mursi and Me'en.-Overview:...
, and other Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
groups. Metal leg rattles are common throughout the south.
Membranophones
The keberoKebero
A kebero is a double-headed, conical hand drum used in the traditional music of Eritrea and Ethiopia. A piece of animal hide is stretched over each end, thus forming a membranophone. A large version of the instrument is also used in Orthodox Christian liturgical music, while smaller versions are...
is a large hand drum
Hand drum
A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. The simplest type of hand drum is the frame drum, which consists of a shallow, cylindrical shell with a drumhead attached to one of the open ends.-Types:The...
used in the Orthodox Christian liturgy. Smaller kebero drums may be used in secular celebrations. The nagarit, played with a curved stick, is usually found in a secular context such as royal functions or the announcement of proclamations, though it has a liturgical function among the Beta Israel. The Gurage
Gurage
Gurage is an ethnic group in Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, its population is 1,867,377 people , of whom 792,659 are urban dwellers. This is 2.53% of the total population of Ethiopia, or 7.52% of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region...
and other southern peoples commonly play the atamo, a small hand drum sometimes made of clay.
Popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
is played, recorded and listened to, but most musicians also sing traditional songs, and most audiences choose to listen to both popular and traditional styles. A long-standing popular musical tradition in Ethiopia was that of brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
s, imported from Jerusalem in the form of forty Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n orphans (Arba Lijoch) during the reign of Haile Selassie. This band, which arrived in Addis Ababa on September 6, 1924, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia. By the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, large orchestras accompanied singers; the most prominent orchestras were the Army Band, Police Band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
, and Imperial Bodyguard Band. Most of these bands were trained by Europeans or Armenians.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Ethiopian popular musicians included Bizunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ahmed
Mahmoud Ahmed
Mahmoud Ahmed is an Ethiopian singer of Gurage ancestry.-Biography:Born in Addis Ababa, Mahmoud shined shoes in that city before becoming a handyman at the Arizona Club, where he first sang professionally in the early 1960s...
, Alemayehu Eshete
Alemayehu Eshete
Alemayehu Eshete is an Ethiopian Ethio-jazz singer active since the 1960s who primarily sings in Amharic. Eshete's talent was recognized by colonel Rètta Dèmèqè who invited the young singer to perform with Addis Ababa's famous Police Orchestra...
, Hirut Bekele, Ali Birra
Ali Birra
Ali Birra is a famous Oromo singer, composer, poet and nationalist. He was born in Lagaharre village in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.- Early life :Ali birra was born in Dire Dawa ....
, Ayalew Mesfin, Kiros Alemayehu
Kiros Alemayehu
Kiros Alemayehu was an Ethiopian Tigrigna singer. He was born in Tigray region, Saesi Tsaedaemba and was the only child to his parents.-Early life:...
, Muluken Melesse
Muluken Melesse
Muluken Melesse is an Ethiopian singer and drummer who later abandoned his music career to involve himself in the Pentecostal Church....
and Tilahun Gessesse
Tilahun Gessesse
Tilahun Gessesse was an Ethiopian singer regarded as one of the most popular of his country's "Golden Age" in the 1960s....
, while popular folk musicians included Alemu Aga
Alemu Aga
Alemu Aga is an Ethiopian musician and singer, a master of the bèguèna.Born in Entotta, near Addis Ababa, Alemu became interested in the begena at the age of twelve, when a master of the instrument moved in next door to his family, the Aleqa Tessema Welde-Emmanuel...
, Kassa Tessema, Ketema Makonnen, Asnaketch Worku
Asnaketch Worku
Asnaketch Worku, also known by the French spelling of her name Asnaqètch Wèrqu was a famous Ethiopian singer...
, and Mary Armede. Perhaps the most influential musician of the period, however, was Ethio-jazz innovator Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and arranger best known as the father of Ethio-jazz....
. Amha Records
Amha Records
Amha Records was an Ethiopian record label founded by Amha Ashèté. The company released 103 singles and 12 albums between 1969 and 1975.Prominent singers and musicians who recorded for the label included Alemayehu Eshete, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke and Tilahun Gessesse.-Resource:* Falceto,...
, Kaifa Records
Kaifa Records
Kaifa Records was an Ethiopian record label which released 53 records between 1973 and 1977. Ali Abdella Kaifa, better known as Ali Tango, managed the company.Singers who recorded for Kaifa included Alemayehu Eshete, Bezunesh Bekele and Mahmoud Ahmed....
, and Philips-Ethiopia
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
were prominent Ethiopian record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s during this era. Since 1997, Buda Musique's Ethiopiques
Ethiopiques
Ethiopiques is a series of compact discs featuring Ethiopian and Eritrean singers and musicians. Many of the Ethiopiques CDs compile various singles and albums that Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in Ethiopia...
series has compiled
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
many of these single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s and album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
During the 1980s, the Derg
Derg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
controlled Ethiopia, and emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
became almost impossible. Musicians during this period included Ethio Stars, Wallias Band and Roha Band, though the singer Neway Debebe was most popular. He helped to popularize the use of seminna-werq (wax and gold, a poetic
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
form of double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
) in music (previously only used in qiné, or poetry) that often enabled singers to criticize the government without upsetting the censors
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
.
Contemporary scene
One of the most popular musicians from Ethiopia is the Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
–area expatriate Aster Aweke
Aster Aweke
Aster Aweke is an Ethiopian singer who lives in the United States. She is sometimes referred to as Ethiopia’s Aretha Franklin.Aweke was born in 1961 in Gondar, Ethiopia, and was raised in the capital city of Addis Ababa...
.
More recently, music from Tigray
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
has become popular in Ethiopia and among exiles, especially in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. One of the biggest new trends, however, has been the rise of bolel
Bolel
Bolel is a style of Ethiopian music that evolved out of the Azmari musical tradition in Addis Ababa and elements of modern urban culture. The word bolel is a corrupted form of the word meaning dust, in reference to the bad roads of the rural countryside.- References :* * Falceto, Francis. "Land of...
, a sort of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
-like music, played by sarcastic azmari playing in parts of Addis Ababa, especially Yohannès Sefer and Kazentchis. Bolel musicians include Tigist Assefa, Tedje and Admassou Abate.
Currently the most prominent Ethiopian singer internationally is Gigi
Gigi (singer)
Ejigayehu Shibabaw, or Gigi as she is popularly known, is one of the most successful contemporary Ethiopian singers worldwide. Coming from an ancient tradition of song originating in the Ethiopian Church, she has brought the music of Ethiopia to wider appreciation and developed it in combination...
. Through her performing with top jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians such as Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
(who is also her husband) and Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Gigi has brought Ethiopian music to popular attention, especially in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she now lives.
Neway was very popular among the youth of the 1980s and early 1990s with such songs as "Yetekemt Abeba," "Metekatun Ateye," "Safsaf," and "Gedam," among others. Abatte Barihun
Abatte Barihun
Abatte Barihun is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer. His sound is reminiscent of John Coltrane's, who has highly influenced Barihun.- Early life and career :...
has exemplified all four main qenets on his 2005 album Ras Deshen
Ras Deshen
Ras Deshen can refer to*The highest mountain of Ethiopia, most often spelled Ras Dashen*The Ras Deshen Ensemble, an Israeli jazz duo named after the mountain...
.
Ethiopiques producer Francis Falceto criticizes contemporary Ethiopian music for eschewing traditional instruments and ensemble playing in favor of one-man band
One-man band
A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...
s using synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s. Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
professor Kay Kaufman Shelemay, on the other hand, maintains that there is genuine creativity in the contemporary music scene. She further points out that Ethiopian music is not alone in shifting to electronically produced music, a point that Falceto acknowledges.
Notable Ethiopian musicians
- Abatte BarihunAbatte BarihunAbatte Barihun is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer. His sound is reminiscent of John Coltrane's, who has highly influenced Barihun.- Early life and career :...
- Helen Berhe
- Afework Nigussie
- Alemayehu EsheteAlemayehu EsheteAlemayehu Eshete is an Ethiopian Ethio-jazz singer active since the 1960s who primarily sings in Amharic. Eshete's talent was recognized by colonel Rètta Dèmèqè who invited the young singer to perform with Addis Ababa's famous Police Orchestra...
- Alemu AgaAlemu AgaAlemu Aga is an Ethiopian musician and singer, a master of the bèguèna.Born in Entotta, near Addis Ababa, Alemu became interested in the begena at the age of twelve, when a master of the instrument moved in next door to his family, the Aleqa Tessema Welde-Emmanuel...
- Ali BirraAli BirraAli Birra is a famous Oromo singer, composer, poet and nationalist. He was born in Lagaharre village in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.- Early life :Ali birra was born in Dire Dawa ....
- Amsale Mitike
- Asnaketch WorkuAsnaketch WorkuAsnaketch Worku, also known by the French spelling of her name Asnaqètch Wèrqu was a famous Ethiopian singer...
- Aster AwekeAster AwekeAster Aweke is an Ethiopian singer who lives in the United States. She is sometimes referred to as Ethiopia’s Aretha Franklin.Aweke was born in 1961 in Gondar, Ethiopia, and was raised in the capital city of Addis Ababa...
- Ayalew Mesfin
- Betty Rock
- bizuye the singer
- Bisrat Lemma
- Gigi Shibabaw
- Getatchew MekuryaGetatchew MekuryaGetatchew Mekurya is an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist.-Early career:Mekurya began his musical studies on traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the masenqo, and later moved on to the saxophone and clarinet. Upon reaching adolescence, he began his professional career in 1949 as a part...
- Hamelmal Abate
- Hablul
- Hirut Bekele
- Kassa Tessema
- Ketema Makonnen
- Kiros AlemayehuKiros AlemayehuKiros Alemayehu was an Ethiopian Tigrigna singer. He was born in Tigray region, Saesi Tsaedaemba and was the only child to his parents.-Early life:...
- Kuku SebsebeKuku SebsebeKuku Sebsebe is an Ethiopian popular singer. She lived in the Washington, DC, area of the United States for many years but moved back to Ethiopia c. 2003...
- Maki Siraj
- Mahmoud AhmedMahmoud AhmedMahmoud Ahmed is an Ethiopian singer of Gurage ancestry.-Biography:Born in Addis Ababa, Mahmoud shined shoes in that city before becoming a handyman at the Arizona Club, where he first sang professionally in the early 1960s...
- Mamila & Kichini
- Manalemosh Dibo
- Martha Ashagari
- Mary Armede
- Mulatu AstatkeMulatu AstatkeMulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and arranger best known as the father of Ethio-jazz....
- Muluken MelesseMuluken MelesseMuluken Melesse is an Ethiopian singer and drummer who later abandoned his music career to involve himself in the Pentecostal Church....
- Neway Debebe
- Tadesse AlemuTadesse AlemuTadesse Alemu was an Ethiopian singer from Wollega who sang traditional Ethiopian songs, sometimes Christian-based, in an upbeat pop-music style with the modern-day electronic instrumentation that is characteristic of today's Ethiopian popular music. Active since 1997, nothing was known about his...
- Teddy AfroTeddy AfroTeddy Afro is a popular Ethiopian singer and critic of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front...
- Tewodros Tadesse
- Tigist ShibabawTigist ShibabawTigist Shibabaw was an Ethiopian singer and one of the original members of the Harlem-based hip hop fusion band Bole2Harlem. She was the sister of singer Gigi.-Early life:...
- Tilahun GessesseTilahun GessesseTilahun Gessesse was an Ethiopian singer regarded as one of the most popular of his country's "Golden Age" in the 1960s....
- Yohannes Berhanu
Scholarship
Ashenafi KebedeAshenafi Kebede
Ashenafi Kebede was an Ethiopian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist, historical musicologist, music educator, novelist, and poet.Kebede was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and educated in musicology in the United States at the Eastman School of Music , and Wesleyan University...
studied much in the area of Ethiopian music, history, instrumentation, and composition as a leading ethnomusicologist
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
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Source
- Falceto, Francis. "Land of Wax and Gold," 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Diane, Orfi (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 480–487. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-02828-636-0
External links
Audio clips: Traditional music of Ethiopia. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.- Addis Music
- Ethiopian Music Channel (EthioTube)
- Ethiopian Music Site (Azmari Bet)
- afrosong.com is a website for Ethiopian Music, mezmur, orthodox song, protestant or christian song, oromo song, tigre song, instrumental
- ADDIS LIVE! Ethiopian Music Internet Radio, Video, Interview with famous Ethiopian artists and short stories
- Ethio-Jazz: Mulatu Astatke
- Buda Musique's Ethiopiques series
- Band of 40 Armenian orphans in Ethiopia (French)
- Ethiog - New and classic Ethiopian musics provided in different players
- Ethiopian Music Video Channel ZedClips Ethiopian Music
- BBC Radio 3 Audio clip (60 minutes): Music of Ethiopia. Accessed on November 25, 2010.