Zimbabwe: Ticha Muzavazi to launch mbira instruction book

Nyunga Nyunga is a 15-key mbira that is widely taught in primary schools and at university level.

Speaking to Music In Africa, Muzavazi, who is also a mbira manufacturer and poet, said the book covered important topics such as the expansion of mbira modes.

“I looked at four of the common mbira modes and illustrated how we develop these into many song patterns,” he said. “For instance, we have the vamudhara mode, a traditional mbira mode that develops into Jari Kukaiwa. In the book I illustrate how we develop these modes into countless patterns.”

Muzavazi says he developed a system where he grouped the mbira modes into family groupings, much like the taxonomy of plants and animals.

“If we take the cat family, for example, we find that we have a range or members with a general description of behavior patterns or other particularised attributes,” he said. “I worked with the vamudhara, jari-kukaiwa, kusarima and nhemamsasa modes. If we pick the nhemamsasa mode, we have nhemamsasa as a common song pattern. I illustrated relationships in the nhemamsasa mode and presented them for teachers and students.”

Published by Best Books Publishers, the handbook will be translated into French and Portuguese and is useful for schoolteachers, college lecturers and musicians.

“It is also useful for mbira makers who have the task to make the instrument more appealing to musicians,” Muzavazi said. “It can be used as one of the means influencing further research on the part of anyone who works with the mbira.”

Muzavazi’s journey as one of the best mbira players and makers dates back to the days when he was a student. “I was introduced to the mbira at a teachers' college as a student. I looked for notes on how to play this instrument. There was very little. As I grew in my teacher-researcher journey, I learnt how to make the mbira, experimented with mbira scales, came up with many new things, learnt how to teach students of various backgrounds and worked for years on how to sequence my content.”

Muzavazi said his handbook would make it easier for students to learn the mbira, reducing the time required to master the instrument. “My time with a student 10 years ago would go up to 15 sessions,” he said. “As I grew in this trade, I went down to 10 sessions with a student. Now I do not need more than six sessions with any students because of the structure of my content.”

“The handbook has come to reduce a student's time with me to one session. After three years of development I looked at my work and felt it was time to share it with the rest of the world.”

Muzavazi, who draws inspiration from late artists such as Chiwoniso Maraire, Adam Chisvo and Andy Brown, spent a considerable amount of time gathering content for this handbook, which also accommodates blind people.

“I have taken my time and tried it with students from a wide range of backgrounds around the globe. The notation I have used has been effective with my blind students and those I teach over the phone.”

Muzavazi’s handbook would also be available online. “We are working on accessibility of other forms of the content online. I would love a situation where a phone application allows one to download the content without limitations to location or other gadgets. Initially, I loved mbira for its unique sound and for being portable. Computers and mobile phones are going to take us to fulfillment with the Nyunga Nyunga Mbira.”

Apart from the Nhunga Mbira Handbook, Muzavazi has had his poetry published in four Shona anthologies, namely Ngoma Yekwedu (1998), Jakwara reNhetembo (2008), Mudengu Munei (2010) and Shoko Harivhikwi (2012).

In Zimbabwe, the handbook can be purchased for $25 a copy. For outside Zimbabwe, the cost is $40 including shipping.