The Art of Mbira
By Paul F. Berliner
Growing out of the collaborative research of an American ethnomusicologist and Zimbabwean musician, Paul F. Berliner’s The Art of Mbira documents the repertory for a keyboard instrument known generally as mbira. At the heart of this work lies the analysis of the improvisatory processes that propel mbira music’s magnificent creativity.
The Art of Mbira: Chapter Examples
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to the right of the player.Chapter 3: Representing Mbira Music in Notation
Chapter 4: Sounds Ringing in My Head–Mbira Parts’ Designs
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Chapter 5: Hand Dance–Keyboard Polyphony and Polyrhythmic Templates
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Chapter 6: In the Shadows of the Imagination–Harmonic Motion
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Chapter 7: Composed Variations
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Chapter 8: Variation Techniques
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Chapter 9: The Fluidity of Perception in Performance
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Chapter 10: The Interlocking Aesthetic–Kushaura-Kutsinhira Combinations
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Chapter 11: The Acquisition of Repertory, and Its Associations
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Chapter 12: The Path from Re-Creation to Invention
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Chapter 13: Musical Arrangements:
The Systemization of Aural Preferences
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Chapter 14: Musical Influences:
Incorporation and Modification of Others’ Styles
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Chapter 15: Improvisation and the Individual Mbira Player
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Chapter 16: Narrative Tour of the Magayas’ Individual Kushaura and Kutsinhira Nhemamusasa Performances
Chapter 17: Narrative Tour of Kunaka’s Solo Nhimutimu Performance
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Chapter 18: Comparative Analysis of Individual Players’
Nhemamusasa and Nhimutimu Performances
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Chapter 19: Improvisation and Kushaura-Kutsinhira Interplay
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Chapter 20: Nhemamusasa Kushaura-Kutsinhira Interplay Narrative Tour
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Chapter 21: Comparative Analysis of Collective Resources and Creative Processes in Nhemamusasa Performances
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Chapter 22: Social-Musical Relations in Improvisation:
Performing at a Bira
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Chapter 23: Conclusion
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