Bira is an all-night ritual, celebrated by
Shona people
The Shona people () are part of the Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and a worldwide diaspora including global celebriti ...
from
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
in which members of an extended family call on ancestral spirits for guidance and intercession. Shona people believe that the only ones who can communicate with both the living and God are the ancestral spirits, or ''dzavadzimu''. These spirits are summoned during the Bira ceremonies through the use of music and ritual dance. Bira ceremonies are also held to welcome back the spirit of an ancestor into the home where a family member is a svikiro who is occasionally possessed by one or more ancestors.
The attendees at a ceremony participate in singing, dancing and hand clapping. The two
mbira
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...
players are joined by a player on a pair of gourd shakers (
hosho), which emphasize the underlying triplet beat. The
mbira
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...
playing and singing are all improvised off the familiar basic patterns, resulting in a constantly changing polyphonic texture.
In this ceremony, music that was favored by the ancestors when they were alive is used to summon the spirits to possess living mediums; thus the religious belief system helps to preserve older musical practices.
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[{{Cite journal , last=MIHALKA , first=MATTHEW , date=August 20, 2021 , title=Bira , url=https://uark.pressbooks.pub/musicinworldcultures/ , journal=Music in World Cultures]
Shona