Zimbabwe
Shona

Wood, metal bottle caps, metal, 
Early 20th Century
Height: 9.125 in; Width: 8 in; Depth: 2.5 in
Idiophone – Lamellophones – Plucked

The body of this Shona mbira dza vadzimu (“of the ancestral spirits”) is cut from a single piece of wood, primarily “mubvamaropa”. It’s name suggests that it was used long ago in the context of religious ceremonies for the ancestors. The mbira was held into a gourd resonator (“deze”) which is missing here, but seen in example A of this collection.  The body is almost square-shaped with a hole on the bottom right corner for the right hand little finger to insert. There are three ranks of twenty one (21) keys (lamellas). It is played with both hands, using both thumbs and the right index finger which plays the six high set row of lamellas on the right side with an upward motion called “kukweya” (scratching) rather than plucking. Harmonically, the progressions alternate between six bichords (octaves, fifths or fourths) to form a cycle. There is a strip of metal attached to the bottom of the sounding board below the lamellas, with four loosely attached metal bottle caps. When playing the lamellas these vibrate causing a buzzing sound.