Ethiopia has a long and at times tormented history, with an equally long and fascinating history of arts and culture. Ethiopia and its folk music and culture have a long step in the history of civilization. The music of Ethiopia is a reflection of all the historical and social episodes, such as the military campaigns that various warlords or chiefs had to launch.
The music is about war as well as patriotism, songs of victory, and songs that incite support for a certain crusade. The music is also about love, with wonderful melodies and poetic lyrics. The spirituality of Ethiopians is expressed in the form of music. Music in the country can be traced back to the Ethiopian highlands, where the strong oral-literary custom was born.
In this area, traditional music is played by mostly itinerant musicians called azmaris, who are regarded with respect in their society. As this form of music slowly spread across the country, it appropriated aspects of the regions it infiltrated, depending on the local customs, culture, and religion. The music and culture of Ethiopia has been influenced by Christianity, Islam, and Judaism among other factors.
In terms of instruments, Ethiopian music incorporates a wide variety of instruments. Music from the highlands of Ethiopia has a modal system called qenet which consists of four main modes; tezeta, bati, ambassel, and anchihoy. Traditional Ethiopian singing includes a variety of vocal techniques, such as melismatic, ornamentation, vocal slides, and call-and-response structures.
Music holds deep cultural and social significance in Ethiopia, often accompanying religious ceremonies, cultural festivals, and social gatherings. Stimulating and expressing emotion in the performers, and imparting it to the listeners. This is a key trait of the Ethiopian traditional music. The various tribes and ethnic groups of Ethiopia have their distinct music, cultures, and traditions.
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According to some analysts, Ethiopian dances are not divided according to their function but rather according to their uniqueness and individuality. Therefore, there are over 150 unique dance movements across Ethiopia.
Some of the famous dances are “Shewa Oromo” and “Harar Oromo”. Especially, Shewa Oromo dance has unique costumes as well as steps. Women wear leather-made wild two-piece costumes decorated with shells. Men wear fur skin like a lion’s mane on the head and use sticks for dance. What is most surprising is women’s very fast and sharp neck motion.
For example, the Tigrayans to the north have a smooth, circular dance routine characterized by shoulder and neck movements. The Amharas at the center of the country have a dance style dominated by upper body and neck movements. The Oromos at the center and south have a jumping style and full-bodied dance routine. The Gurages have an acrobatic dance that requires high levels of arm, leg, and body coordination. The Welayita, Kenbata, Sidama, Dawro, and others among the peoples of the South Region have very attractive belly dances that are hugely popular throughout the nation. The beats are quite rhythmic and fast.
Eskista is a traditional Ethiopian cultural dance from the Amhara ethnic group performed by men, women, and children. It's known for its unique emphasis on intense shoulder movement which it shares with the shim-shim dance of the Tigrinya people in neighboring Eritrea. The dance is characterized by rolling and bouncing the shoulders, jilting the chest, and thrusting the neck in various directions.
Motives and characteristics of the dance often vary according to the performers and the context, for example, war songs, hunting songs, shepherd songs, love songs, and work songs. The best dancer is typically appointed as the leader of the group and/or the best singer. Eskista dance brings the dancer into a role as a storyteller, who then expresses with his or her body the cultural traditions and life of the community.
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Religious music is very important and plays significant role to Ethiopian Orthodox society. The term mezmur is instinctively denotes an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo music. There are also wide range of Islamic music.
Some Ethiopian religious music has an ancient Christian element, traced to Yared, who lived during the reign of Emperor Gebre Meskel (Son of Kaleb of Aksumite Empire) in the 6th century. Yared was considered the father of Ethiopian-Eritrean traditional music as well as he composed chant or Zema and the use in liturgical music.
Popular music is played, recorded and listened to, but most musicians also sing traditional songs, and most audiences choose to listen to both popular and traditional styles.
Musical Instruments in Ethiopian Music
Music in the Ethiopian highlands is generally monophonic or heterophonic. In certain southern areas, some music is polyphonic. Here are some of the instruments used in Ethiopian music:
- Washint: A bamboo flute common in the highlands.
- Malakat: A ceremonial trumpet-like instrument used in some regions.
- Holdudwa: An animal horn (compare shofar) found mainly in the south.
- Embilta flutes: Flutes without finger holes, producing only two tones.
- Fanta: Pan flutes played by the Konso and other people in the south.
- Senasel: A sistrum used in Ethiopian Orthodox Church liturgical music.
- Mequamia: A walking stick used by the clergy to maintain rhythm.
- Dawal: A drum historically used by rural churches to call the faithful to prayer.
- Kebero: A large hand drum used in the Orthodox Christian liturgy.
- Nagarit: Played with a curved stick, usually found in a secular context.
- Atamo: A small hand drum, sometimes made of clay, played by the Gurage and other populations in the lowlands.
Ethiopian Musical Instruments
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The Evolution of Ethiopian Music in the 1990s
During the 1980s, the Derg controlled Ethiopia, and emigration became almost impossible. Musicians during this period included Ethio Stars, Walias Band and Roha Band, though the singer Neway Debebe was most popular. He helped to popularize the use of seminna-werq (wax and gold, a poetic form of double entendre) in music (previously only used in qiné, or poetry) that often enabled singers to criticize the government without upsetting the censors.
Another noteworthy singer is Neway Debebe, who was very popular among the youth of the 1980s and early 1990s with such songs as "Yetekemt Abeba," "Metekatun Ateye," "Safsaf," and "Gedam" - among others.
Tilahun Gessesse was popular through 20th-century and nicknamed "The Voice" due to his prolong tenor vocal. In 2001, Teddy Afro debut his album Abugida and quickly become famous singer in his generation, nicknamed "Blatenaw" (English: The boy). Some commentators also compare Teddy Afro with Tilahun Gessesse by musical style and patriotic sentiments.
The most prominent internationally acclaimed Ethiopian singers are Aster Aweke, Alemayehu Eshete, Gigi, Teddy Afro, Tilahun Gessesse and Mahmoud Ahmed.
Through her performing with prominent Western jazz musicians such as Bill Laswell (who is also her husband) and Herbie Hancock, Gigi has brought Ethiopian music to popular attention, especially in the United States, where she now lives.
A long-standing popular musical tradition in Ethiopia was that of brass bands, imported from Jerusalem in the form of forty Armenian orphans (Arba Lijoch) during the reign of Haile Selassie. This band, which arrived in Addis Ababa on 6 September 1924, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Ethiopian popular musicians included Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete, Hirut Bekele, Ali Birra, Ayalew Mesfin, Kiros Alemayehu, Muluken Melesse and Tilahun Gessesse, while popular folk musicians included Alemu Aga, Kassa Tessema, Ketema Makonnen, Asnaketch Worku, and Mary Armede. Perhaps the most influential musician of the period, however, was Ethio-jazz innovator Mulatu Astatke.
Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia were prominent Ethiopian record labels during this era.
In the West, several bands were also created in recent years to play music inspired by the Éthiopiques series and other examples of Ethiopian music of the '60s and '70s. Musical acts like Jano Band play a new style of music progressive rock, with a mix of Ethiopian music.
Hip hop music started influencing Ethiopian music in the early to mid 2000s and culminated with the creation of Ethiopian hip hop, rhymed in the native Amharic language. The electronic dance music in Ethiopia was not fully developed until mid-2010, although some electronic music employment with hip hop element began in the 2000s. In 2018, a DJ and recording artist named Rophnan introduced the country to his own version of electronic dance music, winning the album of the year award and changing the mainstream music scene further.
Since the 2010s, Ethiopia’s music industry has undergone significant transformation with the rise of digital platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. Contemporary musicians like Teddy Afro, Betty G, and Rophnan have introduced modern interpretations of traditional sounds, blending Ethio-jazz, hip hop, and electronic influences.
Along with the Ethiopian diaspora, western artists such as JID, Billy Woods (Aethiopes), and Yves Tumor (Bekelé Berhanu) have also taken influence from the nations music.
Since 2016, the most used record label is Hope Music Entertainment [am], while Minew Shewa Entertainment and Admas Music are used as secondary labels. Hope Music Entertainment, Minew Shewa Entertainment and Dire Tube become the country's online streaming media in recent years. Dire Tube typically recovers older recordings and music videos.
