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The Psychology of Music Making in an African Society: the Shona

Author(s): ROBERT KAUFFMAN
Source: The World of Music, Vol. 18, No. 1 (1976), pp. 9-14
Published by: Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43563047
Accessed: 26-11-2019 18:18 UTC

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ROBERT KAUFFMAN

The Psychology of Music Making

in an African Society: the Shona
The human aspects of music making are often separated from music
itself. The concepts of music making, musical behavior, the perceptio
cognition of sound, and the social and cultural functions of music are
sary ingredients to an adequate understanding of the structures in sou
we call music. In Western societies these human aspects are often taken for
granted, since they are part of the general understanding of our cultural heritage.
Furthermore, our tendency to erect abstract musical structures which are devoid
of specific meanings, has made it possible to place the major emphasis on the
structures themselves, rather than upon the human response to these structures.
In non-Western societies, and particularly in Africa, the tendency towards
abstractness is not so prevalent as in the West, and cultural understanding is not
a part of our heritage. Hence, the human aspects of music making take on special
significance. However, most of the studies on the human understanding of music
making in Africa have concentrated on the social rather than the psychological
aspects. We are frequently told about religious rituals, appropriate work activities,
textual considerations of music making and the general social system, but we
rarely hear about psychological considerations: the nature of perception, the
relationship of ecstasy and music making, the learning processes in music, or
musical personality studies.
The Western world has, throughout its history, had a hierarchical view towards
sense perception in terms of emphasizing the seeing and hearing senses, while
relegating the tactile sense to an inferior status. Arnold Berleant, in his article
"The sensuous and the sensual in aesthetics" (Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, 23 (2), 1964, 186-87), very cogently traces this Western approach to
the senses back to the Greeks:
"The belief that sight and hearing are the aesthetic senses occurs in Greek
philosophy, receiving the endorsement of Plato, Aristotle, and their later followers
including Plotinus and Aquinas . . . following the rational bent of the higher senses
because they were held to be the senses most closely related to the operations
of reason. This belief complements the classical attitude which considers theo-
retical activity distinct from and superior to practical doing, and concurs with
the Platonic metaphysic which relegates the material, the physical, to an inferior
status, a belief which was reinforced during the centuries that the Christian

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 influence was dominant in aesthetic theory. Since the organs of sight and hearing
are distance receptors, detachment from direct contact with the physical may be
retained for the other senses call attention to the body, so destroying the isolation
of the contemplative mind. Thus the aristocratic attitude of classical Greek
culture has been preserved. "
With the tactile sense relegated to an inferior status it was possible and deemed
necessary for the Western world to make primarily intellectual rather than
emotional decisions about the artistic process. In terms of the development of
Western aesthetic considerations, Berleant calls this exclusion of the tactile
sense "a fissure in the rock of aesthetic respectability".
Even in music, which could be considered primarily as an aural art, the visual
sense is emphasized far more strongly than the tactile sense. The score itself
is often called "the music", and beginning instrumental students are often
discouraged from playing without "the music".
In Africa there are strong indications that an aural-tactile emphasis replaces
the aural-visual emphasis of the West. Let us now examine some of these indica-
tions as they are found in the Shona culture1). The major Shona instrument is a
plucked lamellophone known generically throughout the area as mbira. The
instrument is sometimes used as a solo instrument for self enjoyment or as enter-
tainment for small groups of people. At other times it is played in ensembles as
part of spirit ritual ceremonies. In all cases it is resonated inside a large gourd
with the keys of the instrument visible only to the performer. This playing position
would seem to be especially appropriate for self-delectative music where the
emphasis is upon the personal enjoyment of the player, but how about ritual
music where the instrument is used to help bring on a trance for those who are
attending the ceremony? Furthermore, the mbira is seldom heard clearly in the
ritual ensembles. Several gourd rattles are used in these ensembles, and the
rattles tend to almost drown out the softer mbira sounds. In fact, the percussive
sounds of the rattles are probably much more contributive to a state of trance
than are the softer mbiras. However, a ceremony is rarely held without the use
of mbiras. What then is the musical purpose of the mbiras in a ritual setting?
To a certain extent they are symbolic. In most ceremonies the mbiras, but not the
rattles, are consecrated to the spirits before the trance ritual begins. To a certain
extent the mbiras may add a certain musically decorative part to the predominant
rattle sounds. The mbira parts are musically very complex. But to a more
important extent the mbiras appear to be tactile means of music expression for
the players. In other words, the vibration complex of the mbira keys can be
enjoyed as a pleasant sensation, apart from or in addition to the sounds that are
being transmitted. Therefore, the mbira player is not only making aural sounds,
but he is also producing tactile music sensations2).
Another example of tactile music making in Shona culture is found in the two
types of mouth bows: chipendani and chimazambi. Both instruments emit a soft
external string sound. Most of the sound, and certainly the polyphonic interplay
between the harmonics and the fundamental string tone are transmitted internally
through the bones of the head rather than externally through the ears. Therefore,
bow music is mainly felt rather than heard.
The relationship of dance to music is another example of the tactile approach.
Tingu is the word that the Shona people sometimes use for the heavy beating
of a drum that is far away, and it is also the word that means "to walk heavily".

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The leaders of the Chaminuka spirit possession cult

Chikinya is a dance term that means "to beat the ground with heavy steps".
In this sense the dancers are using the earth in the same way that the drummers
use the membrane of a drum. Thus, dancers become musical performers, but
the emphasis is upon tactile movements rather than upon aural impressions.
These examples must be considered along with the meanings the Shona assign
to their basic sense verbs: kuona means "to see"; kubata means "to touch";
kuravira means "to taste"; and kunuhwa means "to smell". The verb that means
"to hear" is much more comprehensive in its meaning than are the other sense
verbs. It is kunzwa, and it means "to perceive by touch, sight, or hearing; to
understand". Its meaning involves perception in terms of a unity of the senses,
and it also involves cognition in terms of its inclusion of understanding.
This assessment of the meaning of the sense verbs, together with the emphasis
that Shona musicians place upon the tactile phenomena, would tend to indicate
that the hearing and tactile senses are primary in Shona culture, in contrast to
the seeing and hearing senses that are emphasized in Western societies.
Erich von Hornbostel apparently understood the possibility of a tactile hearing
emphasis when he wrote, in his article "The unity of the senses" (Psyche, 7 (4),
1927, 85-89), that there is little that belongs to one sense alone. Movement can
be seen, heard, or touched. Hearing through the skin is not an unusual
phenomenon. Yet the Western world has continued to treat music wherever i

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found as primarily an aural phenomenon. If we accepted a variety of hierarchical
possibilities in sense perception, would we possibly come closer to accepting
a unity of creative expressions in the African world where a holistic approach
rather than a segmented divisive "arts" approach is so badly needed? Dance
and music would at least be considered as similar expressions rather than as
two separate arts. Charles Seeger has proposed that the universe of speech
discourse can be viewed on a continuum that has logic at one end and mysticism
at the other ("Preface to the Critique of Music", Inter-American Music Bulletin,
49, September). He further proposes that music criticism should ideally be placed
approximately in the middle of this continuum drawing both upon the more logical
sciences and mathematics at one end of the continuum and upon the more
mystical domains of poetry and other subjective means of expression at the other
end. We could take his L-M continuum and apply it more specifically to the world
of music itself, and propose that all music exists on this continuum with trance-
inducing music, for example, veering more towards the mystical end of the line,
and carefully calculated fugai music veering towards the logical end. Both the
mystical and the logical would be present in all music, however with the world's
greatest musics having a large measure of both ingredients. The present state of
musical criticism has equipped us better for dealing with the logical aspects of
music than with the mystical, the result being that highly ecstatic forms of musics
are often not as carefully studied as are more logically derived pieces.
As a whole, most Shona music is probably more ecstatic than is most Western
music, and the Shona trance music represents the extreme aspects of ecstasy
with all Shona music sharing some aspects of that extreme.
Trance in Shona society usually occurs during ceremonies honoring ancestors,
although it can also occur in Christian church ceremonies. Music is always the
main ingredient at such ceremonies, although the senses can additionally be
excited by the intense smoke and the flickering light of a wood fire burning within
a closed room. In spirit possession ceremonies gourd rattles accompanied by
mbiras provide the music, although some ecstatic singing can also occur. In
Christian ceremonies singing accompanied by gourd rattles and/or handclapping
is used. As the music builds in intensity women frequently interject ululations
into the music, and those who feel so inclined will individually dance to the music.
The physical and emotional feelings that this basically musical atmosphere
produces are known as kudzamirwa, meaning "to be moved deeply". This
feeling can be contrasted with the more flamboyant, excited, and frenzied feeling
called manyawi, that is present in non-ritual dances and performances. In the
religious ceremonies some people can dance for a whole evening without
changing consciousness, but frequently a few people will go into a state of
possession or trance. In such cases they will sit on the floor but continue moving
their heads to the rhythm of the music even after the musicians have stopped
playing. Eventually they are assisted in returning to their more normal states by
members of the group who splash water on their faces and who give them drinks
to satisfy the intense thirst caused by dehydration. People who have been in this
state claim that possession is their principal means of communicating with their
ancestors.

Frequently the cult leaders are mbira players, and they will also becom
sessed during the ceremonies while playing mbira. In such cases the form
ceases, and the leader may ecstatically whistle or sing the melody he was

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on the mbira. Since he is the leader of the cult he will then pontifically relate
what the spirit is saying to him.
Margaret Field, In her "Search for Security" (Faber and Faber, London, 1958),
describes possession as "dissociated personality", which she states is similar
to but not synonymous with hypnosis. A person under possession can have
access to recesses of memory that have long since been forgotten and can make
oracular utterances. She states that dissociation is no more hysterical than
laughter is, and describes how the former can be used for therapeutic purposes.
For instance, if a person is convinced of his possession by a witch, the peaceful
euphoria that occurs after possession can convince him that the witch is gone,
and thus he is able to get a new lease on life. This peaceful aftermath is often the
motivation for Christian churches to practice spirit possession.
In Shona society kudzamirwa is the feeling that must be present in any religious
music, be it animistic or Christian. It is the feeling of ecstasy that exists regardless
of whether or not possession occurs. The persistent percussive sound of the
gourd rattle along with some type of tonal pattern, generated either by the mbira

The mbira dzaVadzimu used for spirit possession ceremonies

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or the human voice, seem to be the only major musical ingredients necessary
to produce kudzamirwa. It is doubtful whether any particular rhythmic or tonal
patterning is essential for a feeling of ecstasy, even though each ceremony has
its appropriate musical patterning. But so does each ceremony have its appro-
priate atmosphere, be it a smoke-filled hut or an indoor or outdoor church setting.
Thus, it would seem that the musical aspects of ecstasy in Shona religious rituals
are focused upon some type of percussive sound, usually gourd rattles, assisted
by or ornamented by tonal patterns produced by mbira or singing.
The Shona have unique music-making characteristics not found in other
African societies, but on a more general level they share much in common with
other African groups. The nature of their perceptive processes and the ecstatic
aspects of their music making are probably shared with other African groups.
However, more detailed studies of these and other psychological aspects of
African music making are needed if we are going to accurately ascertain the
nature of the humanness of African music making. Such studies should contribute
to psychological and musical research in other parts of the world as well, in a
growing attempt to understand more of the musical nature of man.

Notes
1) Shona is the general lingual and cultural term for an aggregate of mutually
Intelligible languages and cultures found in Southeastern Africa. The more
specific names of the major groups are Karanga, Zezuru, Manyika, Korekore,
Ndau, and Kalanga. The Shona groups represent about two-thirds of the
population of the present country of Rhodesia which is also known by the
African nationalist name of Zimbabwe.
2) For another tactility study of mbira music see the article by John Blacking,
"Patterns of Nsenga kalimba music" (African Music, 2 (4), 1961, 26-43) which
claims that the physical patterns of thumb movements rather than melodic
similarity determine the style of Nsenga kalimba music. ■

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