Bulawayo Township Rhythms & Songs, 1995 to 2010
Article 1
Backdrop
Before 2005, very few people in the townships, or ‘high-density’ suburbs, of
Bulawayo had television or radio sets. Families like my own used to sing and in the absence of drums, would play on boxes and buckets to entertain themselves.
The few families who owned radios and TVs would allow others to come and watch or listen, and people would imitate what they saw and heard. Over time, as more families could afford radio and TV and DVD players and satellite dishes became accessible, people
were able to choose what to watch or listen to. This led to drummers developing different ‘feels’, influenced by the type of music they were exposed to.
With the National Railways of Zimbabwe headquartered in Bulawayo, rail travel was a major means of transport, and the industrial sector of Bulawayo employed people from all around Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries. When people from different places and ethnic backgrounds meet and live together, there is a great level of exchange; since
music means a lot to us, their different styles were welcomed and when merged with ours, became the music of the townships.
Drumming in the townships was also influenced by different folklore techniques which appealed to everyone, regardless of origin or ethnicity. The Nguni peoples of Zimbabwe and South Africa share a lot in common including language and music cultures, and
there has always been lots of South African music played in Zimbabwe; this too had a strong influence on our style of township drumming.
Youth Centres in different townships were functional and used for rehearsals.
Amakhosi Township Square Cultural Centre was a beautiful place built in Makokoba which provided facilities for artists and displayed the beauty of
African culture. Talent scouts came to the centre from far-flung countries, and this led to more people joining the burgeoning arts industry.
The early 2000s also saw the economy of Zimbabwe declining drastically and many people left for other countries in search of greener pastures.
When they returned, they brought with them new music which also influenced our drumming styles. Artists went to Europe and other parts of the world, and brought back drums such as the Djembe (West Africa), Congas (South America/Cuba), Darbuka (Mediterranean/Arabic), Cajon(Peru), Calabasse (West and North Africa) which were incorporated
into our style.
The ‘Bulawayo Township’ drumming style spans a number of decades, making it a living tradition, which is still evolving.
EXTRACT 1 FROM THE BOOK “BULAWAYO TOWNSHIP RHYTHMS AND SONGS”
My Journey
As a little kid of four, I followed my sister Rea Moyo to her rehearsals with
Impilo Arts and NASA at Amakhosi Township Square Cultural Centre, and by the age of five I was drumming at home in the township with my family and others. But my fires for drumming were really lit when watching one particular drummer, Austin Tholo, at Mzilikazi High School; I had not come across anyone who made the drum talk like Austin did. I then decided to focus on drumming and went from community to community, watching and learning.
Austin Tholo’s technique was from a drummer called Vusa, who also trained Leon Sivako, Makula Moyo and many other teenagers and children in Makokoba Township, at the Thabiso Youth Centre. I listened to the likes of Lewis Ndlovu, Sikhathele, Trevor Ncube, Tongesayi Gumbo, Dee, Antony Gwarimbo, Lyons Matope, Lizwe, Ndifas, Leon Sivako, Makhula, Jayie and Ngqa. I also had the privilege to share with the likes of John Phiri, Bruce Ncube, Mehluli ‘Gomez’ Dube, Brighton Nhloko Chisare, Bekezela Sjure, Donavan Maulana, Antony Maisa, Alfonso Ndlovu and Thembelani Dube, who were
notable drummers of that period.
Groups like Platform 1 and Freddie Gwala were heard on every radio set and most dance and theatre ensembles sang that music or composed music along those lines.
Music by artists like Papa Penny, Peter Tinet, Shimora, Ntombi Marumbini, Joe Shirimani, Dan Chanda and Brenda Fassie also contributed. D-gong came, Kwaito came, and Kwasa Kwasa came as Ndombolo which also added the DRC- (Democratic Republic of Congo) feel in our township drumming style.
I first studied the Amantshomane folklore style (see Glossary) and later mixed it with Freddie Gwala, Kwasa Kwasa, House Beats, a bit of Reggae, Funk, more Zimbabwean folklore rhythms and many West African styles.
Over the years I joined several overseas tours in support of Zimbabwean artists, which led to many other connections with interesting drummers of the world.
My journey so far has led me to share the rhythms and styles of this period with you.
It is the first book of more to come.
Instruments & Drumming Styles
iNgungu Yomhlaba
The iNgungu Yomhlaba is a beautiful light-wooded drum of Matabeleland mainly used in ceremonial gatherings, playing a pivotal role in rain-making, cleansing and other rituals carried out at shrines by Guardians of Culture, and by drummers in homesteads around Matebeleland. Among these, the revered Njelele Shrines lie about 60km
from Bulawayo. The same level of respect, fear of these shrines overflows to the Ingungu Yomhlaba which is an important medium for the activities that take place at the shrine.
We grew up with overwhelming awe and respect for this drum; for example, no one was allowed to sit on any part of the drum, even the sides where there is no skin.
With 90% of the people following Christian doctrines that did not approve of the use of the iNgungu yomhlaba, a stigma grew against the drum, leading to fewer people using it. Younger generations began to dread the drum because of what they had been told. However, when researching among older drummers from both Bulawayo and Harare, I was told that Ingungu
Yomhlaba became very much in use in music ensembles in the 90s.
Tonga Ngoma
The Tonga drum is a prized instrument, of higher value because of the type of wood and craft that is used. It is one of the most beautiful drums you can find in Zimbabwe, from ‘the people of the Great River’ along the Zambezi, concentrated in the remote Binga district, and on both the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides of Lake Kariba. Because of the density of the wood, the Tonga drum has been widely used all around Zimbabwe. Many Tonga people migrated from the Binga district to Bulawayo, being the closest large city, for work and trade.
The Kusile Flats in Makokoba became known as
‘EmaTongeni’ because of the many Tonga people who lived there. They brought with them their unique drumming styles, and with Tonga drum-makers exporting their instruments to tourist areas, more of these drums were accessible and being played in the Bulawayo townships.
In this Book
A new way of drumming hits Bulawayo every now and then, but in this book I will stick to documenting styles that used to prevail before the introduction of djembes and other ‘borrowed’ instruments. I have named the rhythm variations or fills according to the name of the person I first saw playing them.
Where the fill or variation is my own creation, the influencer is indicated.
We will look at rhythms that we used to play on the iNgungu Yomhlaba – a style which translates well to the western drum kit, Djembe, Cajon, etc., because it’s a very groovy style that allows vocalists to despatch their prowess, and enhances one’s sense of rhythm.
The first four chapters are an introduction to township drumming from the late 1990s to early 2000s. At the end of the first 4 chapters, feel free to alternate between songs, fills, rhythms and their variations.
In Chapter 5 we will look into Baba Mnumzane’s 3/4 Style and its drumming variations.
In Chapter 6 we will look into five rhythms from way before I was born, which my older siblings and colleagues showed me, but were seldom used in our time because they didn’t appeal much to drummers of our generation. I hope this book will help you to treasure and preserve our culture through understanding, and as an introduction to
and documentation of Bulawayo styles and their origins, and learning techniques for playing the Zimbabwean Ngoma.
The book is mainly for hand drummers, but a kit drummer can substitute the taps with hi-hat strokes; accented taps
with the snare, bass with the bass drum and the open tones with the toms.
The book can be used for choirs who want to learn these songs from Bulawayo (be free to transpose to the key you
desire); and for teaching rhythm and songs to a music class.
You can follow the next articles which are extracts from the book and I backed up by YouTube tutorials to help you with visuals that translates to the transcriptions that will be on this blog.
Enjoy!
Ngoma Music and Dance 