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, 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 som ...
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 Er ...
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.
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'' in German, and "կարոտ"
(phonetically ''karōt'') in Armenian.
Modern Ethiopian artists who have performed tizita songs include
Aster Aweke,
Hailu Mergia,
Bezawork Asfaw,
Teddy Afro,
Mulatu Astatke,
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 musi ...
, 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.
[{{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
References
Ethiopian music
Ballads