participation

Many of us have grown up in a musical tradition in which musician(s) perform for an audience that listens. In Shona culture there is no audience in the Western sense. Everyone present participates and is an integral part of the event, either by singing, clapping, dancing or calling out encouragement.

This is not to say the mbira players don't have a central, highly regarded place in musical event. It is the mbira musicians who provide a framework for group participation. The music they create transforms a group of separate individuals into a participatory polyphonic community.

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The active participation of those present makes demands of both the mbira players and the other participants. The mbira players must play songs and versions that will invite people to sing as well as dance. Participants must be able to hear into the music to creatively interact with the mbira. As David Locke puts it:

Creative, participatory listening is an essential aspect of this music-
culture. Performer and audience must hear coherent melodies in the mbira's numerous tones.

David Locke — Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples

hosho and clapping

Hosho is an integral part of mbira music. The sound of the hosho is surprisingly big—Westerners are often a bit put off by the prominence of the hosho sound compared with that of the mbiras—and the hosho regulate the tempo and drive the beat for both mbira and singing.

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Hand clapping plays an important rhythmic role, along with the hosho.

With a good clapper, the open palms can sound like two wooden blocks being struck against each other. The sound can be so sharp and piercing that it can be heard as far afield as four kilometres away on a still night.  Hand clapping is an aspect of percussion. There are also many different styles of clapping. Clapping is also important in regulating the tempo of the vocals and the Mbira. Bad clapping can ruin good Mbira and on the same token, good clapping can redeem bad Mbira. 

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singing

source: www.mbirajunction.com

Because we are so attracted to the sound of the mbira instrument and music, it's easy to overlook that "mbira" is a melding of singing and mbira—vocals and vocalization are an essential part of "mbira music"

While it is easy to think of the mbiras as playing the lead role in Shona music, it is often the case that the mbiras' role is to provide a framework for vocalizing by the mbira players and participants. The strong rhythmic pulse time from the hosho and the melodic and polyrhythmic energy from the mbira support the songs vocals.

As mentioned on the singing page, mbira players and singers often pick out melodic lines suggested by what they are playing and sing them with vocables. With each mbira player picking out different lines at different places in the song's cycle, and others clapping different rhythms, also. This not only adds to the richness and complexity of the sound, it allows all the community members to actively contribute to the music, to the best of their ability, with some people dancing, singing, and clapping in simpler ways, while others contribute more complex vocal lines, rhythms, and dance steps. (See the Singing page for more on mbira singing )

dancing

Where there's mbira music there's dance.