Qiñit (; singular; alternatively spelled Qignit) is a term used for a single
pentatonic musical scale developed by the
Amhara ethnic group of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. A qiñit consists of a set of intervals defining the
mode of a musical piece or the tuning scale of the instrument playing the piece. There are four main qiñit scales: Tizita (ትዝታ), Bati (ባቲ),
Ambassel (አምባሳል), and Anchihoye (አንቺሆዬ).
Three additional modes are variations on the above: Tizita minor, Bati major, and Bati minor.
[ Abatte Barihun, liner notes of the album Ras Deshen, 200.] Some songs take the name of their qiñit, such as
Tizita, a song of reminiscence.
History
Ashenafi Kebede was one of the early scholars to standardize the kignits of northern and central Ethiopia.
References
Music of Ethiopia
Pentatonic scales
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