Tizita/Tezeta/tazata ( am, ትዝታ; en, memory, "nostalgia" or "longing")
is one of the
Pentatonic scales or
Qañat of the
Amhara ethnic group.
Etymology and origin
The term ''tizita'' is distinctly
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
, there's no
Geez equivalent, contrarily to the term ''nafkot'' which belong to both languages with the same meaning (regret, emotion linked to a remembrance). Tizita folk songs developed in the countryside by the Amhara peasantry and the village musicians called the
Azmari
An Azmari (Amharic: አዝማሪ) is an entertainer who sings and plays traditional string instruments of the Ethiopian Highlands. Its comparable to medieval European minstrels or bard or West African griots.
''Azmari'', who may be either male ...
s.
Tizita music genre
Tizita songs are a popular
music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...
in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
. It's named after the Tizita
Qañat mode/scale used in such songs.
Tizita is known for strongly moving listener's feelings not only among the Amhara, but a large number of Ethiopians, in general.
Western sources often compare tizita to the
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
.
Other musical equivalent are the Portuguese ''
Saudade'', ''Assouf'' for the Tuareg people, or ''Dor'' in Romania. In Slovakia, the closest word is ''clivota'' or ''cnenie'', ''
Sehnsucht
() is a German noun translated as "longing", "desire", "yearning", or "craving". Some psychologists use the word to represent thoughts and feelings about all facets of life that are unfinished or imperfect, paired with a yearning for ideal alte ...
'' in German, and "կարոտ"
(phonetically ''karōt'') in Armenian.
Modern Ethiopian artists who have performed tizita songs include
Aster Aweke
Aster Aweke ( am, አስቴር አወቀ; born 1959) is an Ethiopian singer who sings in Amharic. Aster's voice has attracted broader public popularity, especially tracing back in 1990s singles and her single "Abebayehosh" in Ethiopian New Year. ...
,
Hailu Mergia
Hailu Mergia () is an Ethiopian keyboardist, now based in Washington D.C., United States. He is best known for his role in the Walias Band in the 1970s, one of the most significant groups in Ethiopia’s "golden age" of music.
Biography
Hail ...
,
Bezawork Asfaw,
Teddy Afro,
Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke (; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz".
Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he ...
,
Meklit Hadero
Meklit Hadero, known simply as Meklit, is an Ethiopian-born American singer and songwriter based in San Francisco, California. She is known for her soulful performing style, and for combining jazz, folk, and East African influences in her music. ...
, Seyfu Yohannes and
Mahmoud Ahmed.
Ethio-Jazz
Ethiopian Jazz or Ethio-Jazz genre was developed in the 1960's by infusing Tizita
Qañat with elements of Ethiopian Orthodox Christian music, and the use of Western instruments. The pioneer of this genre is
Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke (; French pronunciation: Astatqé; born 19 December 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz".
Born in Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he ...
.
[{{Cite web, url=https://explorepartsunknown.com/ethiopia/how-ethiopian-jazz-got-its-unique-sound/, title=How Ethiopian jazz got its unique sound, date=18 July 2018]
See also
*
Music of Ethiopia
Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.
The music of the Ethiopian Hig ...
References
Ethiopian music
Ballads