Bira ceremony
Encyclopedia
Bira is an all-night ritual, celebrated by Shona people
from Zimbabwe
in which members of an extended family call on ancestral spirits for guidance and intercession.
The attendees at a ceremony participate in singing, dancing and hand clapping. The two mbira
players are joined by a player on a pair of gourd shakers (hosho
), which emphasize the underlying triplet beat. The mbira
playing and singing are all improvised off the familiar basic patterns, resulting in a constantly changing polyphonic texture.
In this ceremony, music that was favored by the ancestors when they were alive is used to summon the spirits to possess living mediums; thus the religious belief system helps to preserve older musical practices.
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in which members of an extended family call on ancestral spirits for guidance and intercession.
The attendees at a ceremony participate in singing, dancing and hand clapping. The two mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
players are joined by a player on a pair of gourd shakers (hosho
Hosho (instrument)
The hosho are Zimbabwean musical instruments consisting of a pair of Maranka gourds with seeds. They typically contain hota seeds inside them. The hosho are used to accompany Shona music, especially mbira music. They make a rattling sound that western ears may be unaccustomed to hearing...
), which emphasize the underlying triplet beat. The mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
playing and singing are all improvised off the familiar basic patterns, resulting in a constantly changing polyphonic texture.
In this ceremony, music that was favored by the ancestors when they were alive is used to summon the spirits to possess living mediums; thus the religious belief system helps to preserve older musical practices.