_   _     _             _                        
  ___| |_| |__ (_) ___  _ __ (_) __ _ _ __             
 / _ \ __| '_ \| |/ _ \| '_ \| |/ _` | '_ \            
|  __/ |_| | | | | (_) | |_) | | (_| | | | |           
 \___|\__|_| |_|_|\___/| .__/|_|\__,_|_| |_|           
                       |_|                             
                     _                      _          
 _ __ ___  _   _ ___(_) ___   ___  ___ __ _| | ___  ___
| '_ ` _ \| | | / __| |/ __| / __|/ __/ _` | |/ _ \/ __|
| | | | | | |_| \__ \ | (__  \__ \ (_| (_| | |  __/\__ \
|_| |_| |_|\__,_|___/_|\___| |___/\___\__,_|_|\___||___/


                       /\
                    __/  \
                 __/    o Aksum
                |          \      
                |          o Mek'ele
                /              \
               /    o Gonder    \_
              |                   \_
             /                      \__
            /     o Bahir Dar          \
         __/                            \
        /                                |
        |                            /\_/
    _   /                            /
   / \_/                            /___--_
  |                               o Dire Dawa      
  |                 o Addis Abeba           \__
 _|                                            ---____--
/_                                                     /
  \                                                ___/
   \                                           __--
    \__                                ______--
       |                   __      ___/
       \_____           __/  \____/
             \__     __/
                \___/


There is something unique with a lot of ethiopian music - it has a tantalizing
effect on the human soul. Its full of melancholy and possesses a peculiar
mystifying enchanting undertone. Ancient and otherworldly, taking you to other
places. Due to its mysterious nature traditional ethiopian music flowed into
a more jazzy style with ease - in the 1960s ETHIOJAZZ was born, one of
the coolest music styles in the world.

Ethiopia is big and therefore we can't really talk about one all encompassing
music style - there are many regions with their own distinct forms but
generally we see that ethiopian music uses a pentatonic scale. This means
that there are 5 notes in a scale.

A system of four pentatonic scales is used - these scales are called kiñits:

     _____________________________________________________________________
    | |Db | |Eb | | | Gb| | Ab| | Bb|  | | Db| | Eb| | | Gb| | Ab| | Bb|
    | |   | |   | | |   | |   | |   |  | |   | |   | | |   | |   | |   |
    | |C# | |D# | | | F#| | G#| | A#|  | | C#| | D#| | | F#| | G#| | A#|
    | |___| |___| | |___| |___| |___|  | |___| |___| | |___| |___| |___|
    |   |     |   |   |     |     |    |   |     |   |   |     |     |
    | C |  D  | E | F |  G  |  A  | B  | C |  D  | E | F |  G  |  A  |  B
    |___|_____|___|___|_____|_____|____|___|_____|___|___|_____|_____|___
       
                                       |_________ next octave ___________|

AMBASSEL listen

C  Db.  F  G  Ab

A scale from the Gonder & Wollo regions - that is often used in songs with
historical subjects. The tears will flow like waterfalls - an intense
emotional mode to squeeze out feelings you thought you never had. Almost
like a musical therapist. My all time favorite scale. Also very jazzy.



TIZITA listen

C  D   E   G  A

The Tizita scale stands for 'longing' a certain melancholia - there is not
really an english word for it - The words tesknota in Polish or sehnsucht in
German come close. The Saharan Tuareg Assouf scale is similar...a very
'Bluesy' scale.


BATI listen

C   E   F   G   B
This is a more uplifting and less melancholic scale then Ambassel and Tizita.
But it still has a very modest, subdued feel of melancholy. A very pensive
and sensual scale.


ANCHIHOYE listen

C   Db   F   Gb   A

Almost microtonal in nature this is the most authentic of Ethiopian scales, 
it has a more 'celebrational' feel to it. But like all Ethiopian scales,
underneath its celebral nature it can also have a devotional sacred attitude,
reminding us of ancient sites or what we percieve in the west as 'rudi v
alentino 1920s desert movie music'


This above is all a ***very*** basic briefing on ethiopian music, hopefully
to spark your interest - Just sit behind a keyboard and jam out on these
scales - its a lot of fun! if you want to know more, like the different
variations and of each mode you can read (PDF):
Ezra Abate's Ethiopian Kiñit: Analysis of the Formation and Structure of the
Ethiopian Scale System

SW