Qañat/Qeñet ( amh, ቅኝት) sometimes written Kignit, Keniet, Gegnet, Gignit are secular

musical scales In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale. Often, especially in the ...

developed by the Amhara ethnic group of Ethiopia. Qañat consists in a set of intervals defining the

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

of a musical piece or the tuning scale of the instrument playing the piece. There are four main qañat scales that are used, all of which are

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale (music), scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed ...

tizita 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, ...

(ትዝታ), bati (ባቲ),

ambassel Ambassel (Amharic: ዐምባሰል) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and an ''amba'', or mountain fortress, located in the woreda. The word Ambasel is derived from two words "Amba" from the Amharic word for plateau, and “Asel” from the ...

(ዐምባሰል), and anchihoye (አንቺሆዬ). Three additional modes are variations on the above: tezeta minor, bati major, and bati minor.

Abatte Barihun Abatte Barihun ( he, אבטה בריהון, born 1967) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer. His sound is reminiscent of John Coltrane's, who has highly influenced Barihun. Early life and career (1967–1999) Barihun was born in Addis Ab ...

, liner notes of the album Ras Deshen, 200. Some songs take the name of their qañat, such as

, a song of reminiscence.

History

Ashenafi Kebede Ashenafi Kebede ( am, አሸናፊ ከበደ; 1938 – May 8, 1998) was an Ethiopian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist, historical musicologist, music educator, novelist, and poet. Early life Born in 1938 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As ...

was one of the early scholars to standardize the kignits of northern and central Ethiopia.

References

Ethiopian music Pentatonic scales {{Ethiopia-stub