The matepe is a type of lamellophone played in North-Eastern

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 ...

. It is primarily played by the Sena Tonga and the Kore-Kore peoples which are subgroups of the

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 ...

. It is one of the five main types of

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 ...

played in Zimbabwe. The matepe is an umbrella term for many mbira-style instruments such as ''hera, matepe, and madhebhe.'' The matepe, according to Sekuru Chigamba, has soundboards that are made of wood from ''mutiti'' '' (Erythrina abyssinica'') or ''mupepe'' (''Commiphora marlothii'') trees. The matepe has a different playing style than other mbira in that it uses both thumbs and both index fingers. The keys are also thinner and longer compared to the mbira. Four or five independent melodies are played simultaneously in traditional matepe music. The traditional music is used for spirit possession ceremonies, known in Zimbabwe as a bira ceremony. The music is constituted by interlocking musical parts, creating rhythmic lines of great polyrhythmic intricacy and variety. The harmonic sequences upon which the music is based can be understood in fractal mathematical terms.

References

{{Reflist * Tracey, Andrew. (1970). The Matepe Mbira music of Rhodesia. J. African Music Society, 4:4, 37-61. Available at:

International Library of African Music The International Library of African Music (ILAM) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and study of African music. Seated in Grahamstown, South Africa, ILAM is attached to the Music Department at Rhodes University and coordinates its ...