Commentary

• Published in: Music theory online Vol. 30; no. 4
• Main Author: Chow, Sheryl Man-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago Society for Music Theory 01.12.2024
• Subjects: Chinese languages; Fingers & toes; Musical performances; Musicians & conductors; Names; Piano; Playing techniques; China; Africa; Zimbabwe
• ISSN: 1067-3040
• DOI: 10.30535/mto.30.4.19

[2] In contrast to the lack of scholarly attention to the ubọ-aka, there are ample English books devoted specifically to the mbira in Zimbabwe: Paul F. Berliner’s The Soul of Mbira: Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe (1993), Chartwell Dutiro and Keith Howard’s edited volume Zimbabwean Mbira Music on an International Stage: Chartwell Dutiro’s Life in Music (2007), Luis Gimenez Amoros’s Tracing the Mbira: Sound Archive in Zimbabwe (2018), to name a few. An understanding of the Igbo tone system and its influence on the tuning of the ubọ-aka can also cast light on the broader subject of the relationship between linguistic tones and musical melody in Igbo music, enriching the existing studies on tone-melody relationship in music not only from Africa but also from other parts of the world (e.g., Jones 1959; List 1961; Schneider 1961; Agawu 1988; Chow 2012; Li 2021; Zhang and Cross 2024). In his Soul of Mbira, Paul Berliner (1993, 56–59) explores the relationship between the indigenous names of the mbira keys and the musical functions of the corresponding pitches. According to Bandambira, it “makes the heart feel wild or excited like a mad person” and “has a sharp voice that leads the mbira.”