It is quite normal in the high plateau region of Zimbabwe/Southern Africa that you gather your family to hold a ceremony of ancestral spirit possession. A relative acts as medium possessed by the dead ancestor´s spirit. The sound of Mbira music attracts the spirit to take possession of the body of the medium which then turns into the dead ancestor.
The spirit actually arrives when the medium dances hot enough to reach a trance so that his personality vanishes and the spirit takes possession of the body. The body of the medium then dances with other movements and uses steps which had been danced in former times.

The spirit sounds and talks in the voice of and like the ancestor. Now the living family members consult the wisdom and advice of their dead elder. In such a culture people continue to be part of the community even after their death and the present community is guided into its future by the presence of human experience from the past. Strict rules must be observed for the success of such a ritual. Only then the music will have the desired effect.

For the first part of the ceremony the Mbiras are accompanied by "Hosho" (a pair of gourd rattles) and singing. Around four o´clock in the morning the spirit arrives and it is "Matare" (court hearing) time when the spirit gives advice about individual and family matters as in times of drought, illness, war, etc. It is time for consultation and the music cools down. The Gwenyambira now without Hosho play free improvisations to make the spirit talk.

This is not only what Mbira music is for. It is also played for fun, for dancing, for healing, for travelling and for soothing. Mbira was for a long time played only by men because it was said to be a male domain. Women were not allowed to play it. Nobody of the men today gives a satisfactory answer why women shouldn´t play it. Some say because the women then wouldn´t be able to play their role as housewives or to bring up children, they would be always travelling to play on ceremonies. For women who wanted to learn, it was impossible, because men didn´t accept it therefore nobody could teach them. This really affected the role of women as Mbira players because in Zimbabwe now there are only a handful of female Mbira players.

"Mbira" literally just means key. This plugged instrument is spread in Bantu Africa far more than the drum. The version of the Shona people of Zimbabwe figures among the most perfect and sophisticated of lamellophones. There are several types of Mbira in Zimbabwe just as there are different Shona people. The Mbira played on Matare is the Mbira of the Zezuru Shona who are found in the central part of Zimbabwe. Mbira is not the only instrument of Zimbabwe. Some people play drums and some only sing and dance.
The Zezuru Mbira -also called "Dza vaDzimu"- is made of 22 tuned metal sticks, flattened at one end and pinned with the other end on to a flat wooden sound board which is then wedged into a calabash gourd or fibreglass resonator. Pieces of metal, bottle tops or shells are attached to the soundboard and buzz when the Mbira is stroken. The player holds the board between the palms of his hands with the free end of the keys pointing towards him. The keys are plucked with thumbs and right index finger and are grouped in three manuals. Hosho -rattles made of dried gourds and filled with seeds- keep time with a simultanity of duple and triple beat.
Mbiramusic is basically the interwoven interplay of two tone patterns which are interlocking each other so as to reach a certain speed of tone production. Only then -similar to the turning of images into film- the human ear cannot perceive all the sounds but starts to hear its own music inside the Mbira patterns. The metal sound cuts time in here and beyond. You hear inherent patterns which result in your perception from the played Mbira patterns. What you hear is not played as such but your ear selects tones to form melodies. This mechanism is the basis for the otherworldly effects generated by Mbira music. The patterns consist of 48 beats subdivided into 4 phrases of 12 beats each. They are constantly repeated so that time starts to take the form of a circle which after some time expands into kaleidoscopic inner spaces, shifting melodies and criss-cross rhythms beyond your senses. And then it´s up to you to follow Mbira.

Mbira is mostly played by two people together and accompanied by Hosho/rattles. They are a type of pumpkin which is left out to dry. The stuff inside is taken out and some seeds are put in it. They make a beautiful sound which you can hear on Matare after 29.59 minutes. Sometimes the Mbira are also accompanied by drumming.
What makes this instrument so special is not only the spiritual part but also that nobody can ever teach him/herself how to play it. This is because the tunes are handed down from generation to generation and you cannot hear how the single patterns are made.
Some young people of today compose their own tunes. These tunes are not accepted spiritually and the elders don´t accept them too. They also do not provide the same soothing feeling like the original old tunes and they can´t save the same purpose. Only the lyrics of the tunes can be composed but not the music.

A Mbirasong is a melodic and rhythmic theme which in performance is coupled with improvised variations. As Mbira music probably dates back at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands of years there are about fifty Mbira themes which are handed down from generation to generation and which are known to have supernatural effects on the listener. This classical Mbira repertoire is one of the deepest musical styles of the planet. Mbira´s most important function is to preserve the religious foundation of the culture: the communication with the living spirits of dead ancestors. Different ways of playing the same song are called "hands". Hands stem from the teachers/ancestors which form the different family lines.

Mbira was forbidden in Zimbabwe the then Rhodesia by the colonisers. It was not the music but the purpose it saves why they forbid Mbira. Only to possess a Mbira was a major crime. Mbira was only played privately and people had always to hide it. This was indeed a terrible time for Mbira players. The missionaries also tried by all means to make people stop to play it or to pray to their spirits saying their were demons and that Mbiramusic was the work of satan. This really affected the culture of Zimbabwe because some people believed these silly preachings and stopped praying to their spirits and became christians. Sometimes the anger of the spirits is seen by droughts and other things because some of the people were betraying them. But despite colonization and settlement the practice of ancestral religion lives on, even in the cities. Mbira music is part of the musical style of indirect formation of the sound image, common to all Bantu African cultures. Further to the indirect sound imgae Mbira encompasses a religious system, a philosophy, a healing system, a style of music, a rhythm, a dance and a number of social or individual occasions and therefore Mbira is at the traditional root of all Bantu African music.

Mbira culture is also so strong because Zimbabwe is situated relatively isolated on a vast high plateau region with a beautiful climate on top of its geographical neighbours.

The story is that the first first Mbira ever to appear in Zimbabwe was found under water. Somebody was crossing a river and stepped on something hard. He picked it up and it was a Mbira. As Mbira music is very soothing it is also used for healing certain illnesses. To be a professional Mbira player you must be a strong person, not physically but spiritually. People come to invite you from different parts of the country. A Mbira player has rules to follow. You play for the whole night and the payment is low. If it was high then ordinary people from the countryside would not be able to afford it. Even if you are tired you have to play on. If blisters grow they burst whilst you are playing. It´s the most difficult job of all. Maybe this is why men thought women cannot do it. Now we proved it to them that women are just as strong.

To be a Gwenyambira/traditional Mbira musician requires not only the capacity to play several days and nights in a row but also a particular lifestyle. A Gwenyambira is obliged to play for the spirits if asked by anybody. A Gwenyambira has to follow the traditional rules for daily life. Gwenyambira use to play most of their time. Not to follow the rules how to handle the instrument weakens the music and the strength of playing.