Tizita (var. Tezeta; ; ) is one of the

Pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to heptatonic scales, which have seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient ci ...

s or Qañat of the Amhara ethnic group.

Etymology and origin

The term ''tizita'' is distinctly Tigrinya, and

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

, there's no Geez equivalent, as opposed to the term ''nafkot'' which belongs 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 Azmaris.

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. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

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 ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. 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 Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

sources often compare tizita to the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. 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 Tewodros Kassahun Germamo (; born 14 July 1976), known professionally as Teddy Afro, is an Ethiopian singer-songwriter. Known by his revolutionary songs and political dissent sentiment, Teddy is considered one of the most significant Ethiopian ...

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, Seyfu Yohannes and

Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed (Amharic language, Amharic: ማሕሙድ አሕመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopian Golden Age of music, Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, bef ...

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

.{{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

References

Music of Ethiopia Ballads

Etymology and origin

Tizita music genre

Ethio-Jazz

See also

References