Presented by Daniel Toriola
Classical music is incredibly powerful. Even to teenagers, listening to a symphony is about as exciting as
reading the Constitution. Classical music has a certain mathematical precision not found in other genres of
music.
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Ethiopian Music
By Abesha
The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of Ethiopia's ethnic groups being associated
with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from
elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. However, Ethiopian religious music also has an
ancient Christian element, traced to Yared, who lived during the reign of Gabra Masqal. In northeastern
Ethiopia, in Wollo, a Muslim musical form called manzuma developed. Sung in Amharic, manzuma has
spread to Harar and Jimma, where it is now sung in the Oromo language. In the Ethiopian Highlands,
traditional secular music is played by itinerant musicians called azmaris, who are regarded with both
suspicion and respect in Ethiopian society
The music of the highlands uses a unique modal system called qenet, of which there are four main
modes: tezeta, bati, ambassel, and anchihoy. Three additional modes are variations on the above:
tezeta minor, bati major, and bati minor. Some songs take the name of their qenet, such as tezeta, a
song of reminiscence. When played on traditional instruments, these modes are generally not
tempered (that is, the pitches may deviate slightly from the Western-tempered tuning system), but
when played on Western instruments such as pianos and guitars, they are played using the
Western-tempered tuning system.
Highland music is generally monophonic or heterophonic. Outside of the highlands, some music is
polyphonic; Dorze polyphonic