Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music:

an acoustic and historical study1

∗ ∗∗
Stéphanie Weisser and Francis Falceto

The word qəñət (ቅኝት) is an old Amharic word deriving from qañä (ቃኘ),
which itself comes from the geez qanäyä (ቃነየ), meaning “to accompany a
chant or an hymn with bägäna”. In Amharic, qañä means 1) to start a tune,
an air, a melody, to give the tuning, to sing. 2) to tune an instrument. So,
qəñət indicates the first notes of a melody and gives notice of the scale of
the coming song or instrumental performance. One admires for instance
the qəñət of so-and-so.2
Since about half a century, the question of the scales used in non-
liturgical Amhara performances remains debated. According to literature
published after the 1960’s, the term qəñət (sometimes written qegnet,
keniet, qignit, kignit, etc.) is used to designate an allegedly culture-
emerged concept, consisting in a set of intervals defining the mode of a
musical piece or the tuning scale of the instrument playing this piece. A
supposedly closed system of four modes entitled ambasäl (አምባሰል), anči
hoye (አንቺ ሆዬ) bati (ባቲ) and təzəta (ትዝታ) is presented as an established,
accepted and reliable norm, in scholarly as well as in general publications.
This doxa is now taught notably by the Yared School of Music, and
moreover, joined in a chorus by numerous urbanized azmaris. Qəñət
historicity and musicological relevance remain untackled in depth, their
radical questioning did not exceed hitherto the stage of the simple alert or
of casting doubts on them3.
However, the issue of the Amhara secular scales qəñət remains an
unsolved question both from an historical and a musicological point of
view. The most questionable characteristic of this musicological vulgate,

1
This paper has been presented jointly at the International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies 18, Dire Dawa, October 28 – November 2, 2012.
*
Researcher and Acting Curator, Musical Instruments Museum ; Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,
Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium).
**
Music researcher, editor of éthiopiques and ethioSonic CD series, Buda Musique (France).
2
Thanks to Delombera Nega for providing these informations. Cf. Dillmann, 1865: col. 447
and Kane, 1990: 803-804.
3
See Falceto 1997, 2001a, 2001b, éthiopiques 2: 20; éthiopiques 10: 25; éthiopiques 11: 7.

Annales d’Éthiopie, 2013, 28, 299-322

299
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

on top of its strictly musicological and supposed accuracy, remains the

collateral affirmation that these qəñət are “traditional”, ancestral and
timeless, as well as based on tempered or quasi tempered intervals.
However, it appears that such a limited set of modes and their tempered
(in other words: quasi western) nature are consistent with neither the
discourse nor the practice of the musicians. Even if researchers have
sometimes mentioned that several other scales might have been or are
still used,4 such a simple, closed set of four scales is always to be found in
explanations – including, nowadays, by the musicians themselves,
especially those in contact with European audiences eager to quickly
“understand” this music, although unwilling to spend too much time and
effort to do so.
In this paper, we will therefore investigate, evaluate and attempt to
situate the emergence of this theory. To that end, two types of sources will
be analyzed: 1) historical texts, results from previous researches, and 2)
results from a newly analyzed significant corpus of ancient recordings
(1939).

Qəñət – Terminology and historical sources questioned

Even though several researchers have devoted considerable time and
effort to analyze in detail this question, it appears that no general
agreement has been reached about the “theory of the four qəñət”.5
In academic literature, Powne (1968) is the first writer to present this
theory. His book is based, as he explains in the introduction, on a six-year
stay in Addis Ababa between 1954 and 1960 (p. VII), and a return visit to
Addis Ababa in September 1963, where he could gather “a great deal more
material” (p. VIII). He details further (p. IX) the data collection on which he
based his researches:
“I relied for a good deal of my secular material on the performan-
ces of the National Folklore Orchestra of the Haile Sellassie Theatre,
Addis Ababa. I was able to record this group of performers in the
1959-60 and 1963 in Addis Ababa, and in 1962 when they gave a
series of folklore concerts in the National Theatre, Kampala,
Uganda”.
“One might doubt whether this was a reliable source for a study of folk
music”, the author adds prudently. In the chapter focusing on the krar, he

4
For example, Ashenafi Kebede (1977: 385) mentions a “Kignit or tuning called YefiKir
Ketaima” which does not belong to the canonical four; and Ezra Abate (2009: 1218) states
that “The widely used and popular Ethiopian pentatonic scales are four, but in the musical
practice there exists other types of pentatonic scales”.
5
See Powne 1968, Ashenafi Kebede 1968, 1971, 1975, 1977, Kimberlin 1976, Iyuel Yohannes
1974, Zenebe Bekele 1987, Bisrat Tamene 1998, Ezra Abate 2009, Weisser, in press, etc.

300
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

states: “My observation, however, is that one of the four tunings which
follow is always used, whatever the song” (p. 47).
A methodology for the mazenko / የመሰንቆ አመታት ዘዴ by Otho P. Rink6
(Peace Corps Volunteer in Dessie, 1962-64) has been published by the
Curriculum & Text Book Division of the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts
th
on January 15 , 1964, “as an experimental text book”. The author notes in
the preface: “The present volume is intended as a text-book for the
Secondary Schools of Ethiopia. It is designed to add enriching experiences
to a music program already being carried on within the Ethiopian schools”.
He adds in the Acknowledgments: “My special thanks to my colleague,
Miss Cynthia Tse, for expert assistance with preparation of material. And to
my very good friend, Ato Ashenafi Kebede, I would like to give a special
debt of gratitude for his Art Songs” included at the end of the book,
together with five more “Ethiopian Folk Songs for the Mazenko”. This
forgotten bilingual educational book, quite absent of Ethiopian bibliogra-
phies, never mentions the sacrosanct qəñət system along its 75 pages, nor
evokes any of them in the tuning chapter.
It is between 1966-1971 that Charles Sutton, then a Peace Corps Volun-
teer and an important witness and actor of Ethiopian music scene, learned
the masinqo with Getamesay Abebe, then a member of Orchestra Ethiopia,
and afterwards a long time member of Hagär Fəqər Theatre. He was
taught by his teacher the four modes and their associated melodies.
Sutton remembers forty years later that his mentor told him that he had
been his first pupil. “It's remarkable, he adds today, under these circums-
tances that Getamesay knew and specifically taught me the four modes as
7
such, given the fact that he had no formal musical training” .
In his Ph. D. dissertation The Music of Ethiopia. Its Development and
Cultural Setting (1971), Ashenafi Kebede refers to Powne’s analysis in his
8
presentation of the qəñət system (234-5). Afterwards, except for one , all
9
researchers have used this framework as a reference .
Cynthia Tse Kimberlin’s works deserve special attention since her early
researches had specifically focused on qəñət: her Ph. D. dissertation had
been devoted to Masinqo and the nature of Qəñət (1976) after two notable
stays in Ethiopia (peace corps volunteer in then northern Ethiopia, today
Eritrea, 1962-1964, and fieldwork in Addis Ababa 1972-1973), precisely
around the very time, it seems to us, when the concept of qəñət was
elaborated and spread. Her acoustic analysis of qəñət will be discussed
infra. Concerning the historicity of the terms, she simply assumes,
according to her informants, and successively:

6
Amharic translation by Kebede Kassa.
7
Personal communications of Charles Sutton (2012-2013).
8
Zenebe Bekele, 1987.
9
See Weisser, in press, for a systematic review.

301
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

“Anchihoye is said to have been ascribed to David’s harp by

Yared (496-571 A. D.) who also set down the rules of music as used
in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Thus anchihoye was known in the
sixth century and at that time was reputed to be from before Salo-
mon” (75).
“Today the Ethiopian Church music is in the təzəta qəñət interval
family, predominantly, with one type sung in anchihoye. Conse-
quently it is relatively certain that the təzəta qəñət came in with
Christianity from the Greeks. In addition, one can postulate that
təzəta qəñət is relatively unchanged from the original, though it
probably was not until the eighth or ninth century that Christianity
was widespread and well defined in Ethiopia” (78).
(…) “Bati and ambassel became popular intervallic sets in Wallo,
Shoa and Begemder states. Because of this popularity they were
given names in the eighteenth or nineteenth century corresponding
to the towns in which they were first used” (78).
We don’t intend here to invalidate the reliability of oral tradition to trust
written data only, nonetheless Ethiopian history and historiography cannot
seriously rely on beliefs, hearsays and legends only. As a matter of fact,
Ethiopia’s study through its urban cultures cannot fully account for the
realities of the deep country, nor allow a satisfying understanding of its
cultural variants. Quite universally, capitals and major cities are not
precisely an exact reflection of the entire country. Rather leave the capital
city and investigate the deep Amhara countryside where azmari music was
born and is still alive, in order to probe the qəñət truthfulness. That is what
Timkehet Teffera (Gondär, Bahr Dar, Mäqäle, April-July 1997, 2000, 2006)
and Katell Morand (Godjam April, October-December 2003, 2005, Novem-
ber 2006-April 2007) undertook.
From her Ph. D. about Musik zu Hochzeiten bei den Amārā im Zentralen
Hochland Äthiopiens / Wedding Music of the Amārā in the Central Highland
of Ethiopia (1999) until recent articles, Timkehet Teffera has constantly
reaffirmed:
“As a result of my repeated and detailed research analysis and
interviews made in central highland areas of Ethiopia, almost no
musician or instrument player is neither aware of the term Qiñit, its
theoretical system nor knows about the existence of various scales
used in music traditions of this area. Of course, they play the songs
on their instruments and use the different intervallic-sequences, but
they are not able to abstract concrete songs and melodies on a
theoretical basis or in a theoretical tonality” (2005: 126, note 6).

302
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

10
Katell Morand has devoted a full chapter , extremely articulated, about
“Təzəta, l’expérience du souvenir” in her Ph. D. that focuses on musical
practices in Goğğam (Abbay valley).
« Dans les campagnes du Goğğam qui sont peu visitées par les
musiciens azmari et où les radios ne sont accessibles que dans les
villages de bord de route, le mot de təzəta n’y est pas connu en tant
que titre de chanson ou que figure littéraire : déjà, le mot lui-même
n'est jamais mentionné dans les poèmes11 » (98)
Questioned about a possible relationship with the eponymous qəñət, she
goes into more detail (personal communication, May 25, 2013):
« Concernant le concept de təzəta dans la région du Goğğam où
j’ai travaillé (vallée de l'Abbay – la précision a son importance car je
ne pense pas qu’on puisse généraliser à d'autres parties du
Goğğam, comme Debre Marqos, par exemple), təzəta désigne une
expérience – la remémoration d’événements précis par la musique –
et non une chanson, un style de musique, ou un mode. Bati, Anči
Hoye, ou Ambasäl sont inconnus (à l'exception des personnes qui
ont fait des séjours en ville et qui les associent avec les chansons
des azmaris – car cette campagne est pratiquement sans présence
azmari)12. »
One can certainly regret that such researches on practical and historical
reality of the qəñət have not been conducted yet (or not been published
yet) in Wällo, another region where azmari culture is still very alive.
Errors and omissions excepted, older written sources than Powne and
Kimberlin never mention this qəñət system. For instance, none of the
earliest writers who have dealt specifically and in detail with Ethiopian
music ever mentions or specifies this musical order. Neither Bruce (1774),
nor Villoteau (1809) evoke from near or by far the qəñət or any tuning
system for secular music. (De La Borde (1780) is just plagiarism of Bruce,
without credit). Idem with Mondon-Vidailhet (1922 but written in 1910 the
latest), Marius Chaîne (1923) and Marcel Cohen (1924) who have collected,
published and extensively discussed azmari music one century ago. The
latter mentions a couplet (n° 16, p. 57-58,) where the mountain of Ambasäl

10
Morand, 2012: 83-119.
11
“In Goğğam countryside, little visited by azmari musicians and where radios are available
only in the villages along the roads, the word təzəta is not known as a song title or literary
figure: the word itself is even never mentioned in lyrics.”
12
“Regarding the concept of təzəta in the part of Goğğam where I have been working (Abbay
valley – it is worth stating precisely since I don’t think one can generalized to other parts of
Goğğam, like Debre Marqos, for example), təzəta means an experience – remembrance of
definite events through music – and not a song, a style of music, or a musical mode. Bati, Anči
Hoye, or Ambasäl are unknown (except for those who have stayed in town and associate
them with azmaris songs, because this countryside is almost devoid of azmaris).”

303
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

is named, but no reference at all to an eponymous qəñət all along the 100
pages of his survey.
Each qəñət appellation appeared very recently as songs titles, and not
even related to a tuning system: bati and anči hoye in 1939 on recordings
made in Ethiopia by Italians, təzəta among a series of recordings made in
Hedar 1939 / November 1946, and ambasäl in the mid-50’s on recordings
released mostly on the occasion of the emperor’s Jubilee (see infra). It is
surprising that we don’t find old written mentions of them when, for
example, music instruments and various music-related expressions or
genres such as šəlläla, fukära, qärärto, dänfata, əngurguro or ləqso are
explicitely mentioned or clearly described either in royal chronicles,
manuscripts collections, missionary literature or travellers accounts. Let’s
keep in mind that the first written mention of azmari is seemingly found in
13 th
Bahrey’s History of the Galla dating back to the late 16 century.14
Two qəñət are said to have been named after a Wällo toponym. If there
is no contest that Ambasäl (the place) dates back to several centuries, it
th
doesn’t seem that the city of Bati is older than the late 19 century – not
to mention its Oromo polysemy (moon, lunation, month), in a multi-cultural
15 16
region for centuries. Interestingly, Delombera Negga and Katell Morand
review the occurrences (or the absence) of təzəta in various Amharic
17
dictionaries . It is only in Leslau and Kane that the given definitions are
18
related to music and qəñət. We could add Guidi who doesn’t refer either
to such field. Idem with the Dictionary of the Amharic Language of
Isenberg (1841) and the Dictionnaire de la langue Amariñña of Antoine
19
d’Abbadie . The publication dates plead by themselves. On another hand,
Delombera adds that the term təzəta belongs to the Amharic vocabulary,
and does not appear in the Geez-Amharic dictionary of Kidane Wold Kifle,
contrarily to nafkot which belongs to both languages with the same
meaning (nostalgia, regret, emotion linked to a remembrance).

13
Guidi, 1907: 230.
14
In this regard, it may seem rash to follow Ashenafi Kebede’s deduction: “Drawing thus a
parallel between the simultaneous existence of the monarchical system of government and
the poet-musician, it is safe to say that the azmari tradition dates at least as far back as the
centuries before the Christian era” (1975: 47-48).
15
Negga, 2004: 35.
16
Morand, 2012: 95-96.
17
Baeteman, 1929; Täsämma Habtä Mikael Getsew, 1958-59; Kidane Wold Kifle, 1969-70;
Leslau, 1976; Kane, 1990.
18
Guidi, 1901: col. 370.
19
For tizita, d’Abbadie gives: “caprice, etc. – instinct (chez les hommes seulement)”. For tizz
alew: “eut une idée vague, un souvenir confus, un caprice, une envie forte et irréfléchie”… ;
(1881: col. 399).

304
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

Contextualizing the qəñət – Musicological works questioned

All analysts agree on the relative nature of pitches used in Amhara non
liturgical music, as well as on the pentatonic nature of its scales. They
consider therefore that the defining and distinctive characteristics of each
qəñət lie in their specific intervallic setting. Most of them use the western
tempered system of interval as a basis for their investigations with the
20
notable exception of Kimberlin , who performed remarkably precise
measurements of the intervals in cents. It should be noted that a similar
study, focusing on liturgical scales and including precise measurements of
the intervallic settings, was conducted by Tourny (2008), and led to a
much-needed clarification on the concerned scales.
The transcriptions in western notation and staff, although not precise
(see below), already shows some variations in musicological literature.
Even if most researchers use the quadripartite division (except Sarosi
1967: 17, who names explicitly Ambasäl only), the intervallic sequences
identified by the same name can sometimes be transcribed in different
ways: for example, Ančihoye according to Ashenafi Kebede (1971) and
Kimberlin (1976) is different than the one provided by Zenebe Bekele
(1987), Timkehet Teffera (1999) and Ezra Abate (2009).
Several scholars also recently completed the “initial” group of four
scales. Timkehet Teffera (1999) divides bati and təzəta into two distinct
types (named “Type 1” and “Type 2”). Ezra Abate (2009) also provides
other scales than the “original” four, up to a total number of ten scales.
But a closer look into these added scales shows that most of these added
scales are actually inversions of the already existing four scales.
Təzəta scale is, except for its Minor or Type 2 (more recent) versions,
defined by wide consensus21 as a set of anhemitonic intervals (i.e.
composed of intervals larger than the tempered semitone), as well as
ambasäl22. As for the case of anči hoye, we can observe two different
possibilities: Ashenafi Kebede (1971) and Kimberlin (1976) considers anči
hoye scale to be the third inversion of the ambasäl scale whereas
Timkehet Teferra’s (1999) and Ezra Abate’s (2009) transcription is not an
inversion of any other scale – although this version is still referenced by
Ashenafi Kebede as the scale used for Wodadje (1971) and as “Ančihoye
according to Shemonmuanaye” in a context of krar tuning (1977: 392). If
we look into the transcriptions themselves, we see that the only difference

20
Kimberlin, 1976: 60-74.
21
Including Sarosi (1967: 14), who calls it “do-pentaton” and mentions its frequent use.
However, he also states: “every modi of the anhemitonic-pentatonic may be found” (Ibid.).
22
From the lowest degree, the təzəta sequence of intervals is transcribed as: major second –
major second – minor third – major second. Total ambitus reaches a major sixth. Ambasäl
scale is transcribed with good agreement as: minor second – major third – minor second –
major second – minor second. Total ambitus reaches a minor sixth. For a detailed discussion
on the varied transcriptions of qəñət into Western tempered intervals, see Weisser (in press).

305
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

on paper is the last interval: a major third according to Ashenafi Kebede

and Kimberlin, but a minor third according to Timkehet Teffera and Ezra
Abate. We will see below how such an apparently minor difference might
actually reveal a more fundamental issue.
The transcription of anči hoye scale into western staff notation seems to
be the most disputed one, and this is explained by Ashenafi Kebede
(1971): “Type IV [anči hoye] has a tendency towards microtonality (…)”.
However, Timkehet Teffera (1999: 21) notes a similar situation for the two
possible realizations of bati she mentions: “The first type [of bati] is easier
to sing and play on instrument as well, while the second type requires an
accurate intonation (here a few cents lower), because of its characteristic
intervals (…). In modern-folk ensembles, in which western music instru-
ments are used, it is impossible to play the exact intervallic-sequence of
the version (…)”. Kimberlin (1976: 66) makes a similar remark: “A key
informant noted that he thought that təzəta and bati qəñət songs could be
satisfactorily played on western instruments like the piano while ančihoye
and ambasäl qeñet songs could not. [“] Satisfactorily [“], did not indicate
that western instruments could provide an accurate rendition”.
These mentions of microtonality and of the inadequacy of western
instruments shows that the methodological choice of transcribing Amhara
intervals into western (tempered) notation constitutes a methodological
issue. Aside from its inadequacy, it actually prevents the understanding of
this scale system: as the smallest interval in tempered system is the
semitone, any interval that would be smaller, or fall in between a multiple
of semitone (such as a tone or a minor third, i.e. a tone and a half) would
be inevitably approximated – even if this approximation is not relevant in
this musical system.
Two different issues can be identified in the musicological investigation
of Amhara secular scales: 1) Are the intervals founding the qəñət tempe-
red or not? and 2) How many types of qəñət are they? The latter issue is
complicated to investigate, as it would require an exhaustive collecting of
songs in order to be sure that all the existing scales are analyzed. The first
issue is also complicated because the inter- and intra-personal variability
(especially in performance) may induce differences between a theoretical
“model” and its realizations. What increases the difficulty of the endeavour
is the fact that these issues are interconnected. To understand the nature
of the intervals requires an assessment of the margins of realization of an
interval (i.e. the limits within an interval remains the same and does not
become different), it is necessary to compute these margins from a large
group of culturally-equivalent ones. Hence, they need to be grouped.
However, it is possible, to some extent, to refine the partial knowledge
we possess regarding the scales used in Amhara secular music. The
analysis of the results obtained by Kimberlin (1976: 55-65) shows also
some interesting facts: she recorded ten azmaris, each one playing one

306
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

song in the four qəñət, and measured the intervallic distances between
each degree in cents (see below). It shows very clearly a rather wide range
of realization for each interval, whatever the interval, the song or the
performer (see namely page 63 for the detailed results). For example,
even the supposedly “most stable” scale təzəta shows differences
reaching from c. 50 cents (a quarter tempered tone) to over a tempered
semitone for the different intervals.
A study (Weisser, in press) focusing on contemporary masinqo players
(5 players playing 10 songs recorded in 2005 in Addis Ababa) has also
shown that the intervals used by musicians vary from each other, and
most probably differ from those of the western tempered system. The
results from both the latter studies cannot be explained solely by extensi-
ve margins of realizations: therefore, an hypothesis of pivotal or even
ambiguous intervals was elaborated, which could belong to either one or
another category of intervals (Weisser, in press). Eventually, a study
conducted solely on several performances of təzəta zäfän (Weisser and
Demolin, 2013) showed that intervals can also vary according to context,
i.e. whether they are considered as “acceptable” or “preferable” by the
same musician performing the same melody. This result concurs with
Kimberlin’s remark on the use of western instruments (see above).
This brief survey shows indeed that the Amhara secular scales are
much more complex than a simple set of fixed intervallic distances. It also
shows that, in order to investigate the musicological characteristics of the
scales under scrutiny in their historical dimension, we absolutely need to
go to the source: the published sources and the transcriptions into western
staff are not sufficient. We need to analyse historical recordings.

Analyzing performances: material and methods

On top of various texts discussing the qəñət question, our investigation
was based on one of the oldest and richest corpus of Ethiopian recordings:
124 double-sided 78 rpm, (meaning 248 songs), recorded in Ethiopia in
1939, during the Italian occupation.23 These discs do not seem to have
been extensively marketed even though they have been manufactured,
which explains their extreme rarity and difficult access.24 (On another
hand, none of Tessema Eshete’s songs recorded in 1908/1910, éthiopiques
27, has a single reference to the “four qəñət”, be it in word or in music.)

23
These discs have been recorded on “Cap. Dott.” Giovani Silletti’s and Ufficio Studi della
Triennale d’oltremare’s initiative, and “produced” by Saleh Ahmed Kekiya, a wealthy Eritrean
merchant (and banda). Cf. Barblan, 1941: 137-138. They have been released by Columbia -
La Voce del Padrone - Marconiphone - Milano. We will refer to this corpus as “Columbia 1939”
or “1939”.
24
Two selections of these recordings are scheduled for release in éthiopiques CD series. They
are already restored. Most of these original shäkla used to belong to the private collection of
Hakim Wärqenäh Eshäte a.k.a. Dr. Charles Martin. Deep acknowledgements to his grand-
daughter W/ro Ellene Mocria for having given open access to this treasure.

307
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

These recordings of 1939 have been made in war time: azmaris, singers
and musicians have been obliged to perform a great deal of mandatory
propaganda, such as “Lode al Duce ed a S.A.R. il Vice Re Duca d’Aosta”,
“Lode al Governo e alle Autorità”, “Lode a S.M. il Re Imperatore, al Duce e
alla bandiera italiana”, “Lode al Governo e racconto della sconfitta del
Negus”, “Lode al Commendatore Checchia”, etc.25 They were often taken
out of jail to attend a record session, since many of them were hunted
down as propagandist against Italian Occupation, arrested and imprisoned
– when they were not simply executed.26 Nonetheless, more than once, the
resources of sämennawärq (wax-and-gold rhetoric) have heavily misled
and fooled the Italian recorders. This is specially remarkable in ይኑር፡ ዘላለም፡
አማኑኤል፡ ቄሣር፡ ነጉሠ፡ ሰላም። “Che viva per eterno l’imperatore Emanuele Re
della pace” (AI 556/AOI 176), where the singers have played on the name
Emanuele – supposedly Vittorio Emanuele III King of Italy and Imperatore
d’Etiopia for the ones, but definitely almighty God for the others... In other
songs, anči ləǧ would refer openly to a beloved person but covertly to
Ethiopia... However, comparison with other pre-WW2 recordings shows
that the historico-political context and recording conditions didn’t affect
the musical style of the performances.
Out of these 248 songs, we have information about 75% of them (188
songs). Despite missing a quarter of reference details, and given a very
useful dual numbering system (one disc reference number with AI prefix,
and two side reference numbers with AOI prefix per disc), it is possible to
infer that Amharic repertoire counts roughly 163 songs out of the total
corpus, Tigrigna and Tigré repertoires between 50 and 58, Arabic and
Somali repertoires between 26 and 34.27 Symptomatically, Oromo and
southern people repertoires are absent of this Columbia 1939 corpus.
The central labels of each disk (cf. Fig. 1) are by themselves worthy of
information: we can read in Amharic and in rough Italian transcription the
name of the artist(s), the title of the song and, last but not least, a kind of
“categorization” of this song. Among the categorizations found in this
collection, we have found up to now, among the 188 available songs, 13
bati (በባቲ፡ ዘፈን። Canzone Bati) and 2 anči hoye (በአንቺ፡ ሆዬ፡ ዘፈን። Canzone

25
Respectively በዘለሰኛ፡ ለዱቼና፡ ለቄሣር፡ አንደራሴ፡ ልዑል፡ ዱካ፡ ዳዎስታ፡ ምስጋና። (AI 511/AOI
16), ለኢጣሊያ፡ መንግሥትና፡ በለሥልጣኖች፡ ምስጋና። (AI 551/AOI 26), ለግርማዊ፡ ቄሣርና፡ ለዱቼ፡
የኢጣሊያ፡ ባንዲራ፡ ምስጋና። (AI 528/AOI 15), ለግርማዊ፡ ቄሣርና፡ ለዱቼ፡ የኢጣሊያ፡ ባንዲራ፡ ምስጋና።,
ለኢጣሊያ፡ መንግሥት፡ ምስጋናና፡ ስለቀድማው፡ ንጉሥ፡ ድል፡መሆን። (AI 582/ AOI 62), ለኮሜንዳቶር፡
ኬኪያና፡ ለወዳጆቹ፡ ምስጋናና፡ የፍቅር፡ ግጥም፡ (በወሎ፡ ዘፈን፡) (AI 502/AOI 28).
26
Interviews with Beshah Tekle-Maryam, November 8, 1994, and with Negatwa Kelkay, June
25, 1995; both had been part of these recordings. Cf. La Civilisation de l’Italie Fasciste en
Éthiopie, Orders of Graziani: 63 and 73; Falceto, 2001: 46 and 48.
27
Reference numbers of the discs go from AI 501 to AI 624. Side reference numbers go from
AOI 1 to AOI 248.

308
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

Ancihoie) – and not a single təzəta or ambasäl.28 It seems that these are
the very first written mentions of bati and anči hoye ever as “musical
category”. Nonetheless, we find also in this collection about 30 other
names referring to a type of musical categorizations, such as Canzone
Uollo (35 songs), Canzone Zelessignà (10 songs), Canzone Etiemelà (7
songs), Canzone Casaghedai (6 songs), Canzone Mammo (6 songs),
Canzone Chebretalem (5 songs), to name but six29 of them.
In order to investigate the scales in the most coherent possible set of
songs, four categories have been selected, according to two criteria: (1)
the fact that the name of the category was still used in today’s musical
practice and (2) the number of songs existing in this category. For
example, bati (9 out of the 14 recorded), anči hoye (1 out of the 2
recorded), medina (1) and zelesiña (9 out of the 10 recorded) songs have
been selected according to the first criterion. The Wällo songs (21 available
out of the 35 recorded) have been selected according to the second
criterion. In total, 41 songs have been analyzed. As all songs are based on
a pentatonic scale, five scale degrees are needed per song to characterize
each song scale.
The study of scales, especially in a musical system without fixed pitch
reference such as the Amhara’s, requires a procedure that is nowadays
well known. In the absence of a pitch reference, what is pertinent is the
distance between the constitutive degrees of the scales: the intervals.
These are supposed to remain more or less constant, whatever the pitch of
the starting degree is.
Modes and/or scales are sometimes defined by other criteria than
intervallic settings. It must be stated here that two reasons explain why we
will only consider this factor in this study: 1) as noted above, all the
researchers who investigated this issue concur in considering that intervals
qəñət are determined by the dimension of their intervals. No data
suggesting that another dimension (contextual, symbolic, etc.) might
intervene in the discrimination between qəñət was found in the musicolo-
gical sources or in any other text ; 2) when a historical corpus such as this
one is put under scrutiny, data related to the context of the performances
are not directly accessible anymore. Therefore, the analysis must be based

28
It is worth noticing that there are two other important corpus of recordings which have not
been analyzed in the frame of this paper: one recorded in 1946 and the other for the imperial
Jubilee in 1955, both realized under the auspices of Beshah Tekle-Maryam and Hagär Fəqər
Mahbär. In short, let’s note that seemingly the very first appearances of təzəta (as song title,
strictly) date back to November 1946 (Hedar 3, 39). It is found on two press-tests or advance
copy shellacs (78 rpm) with a label “Duodisc”: one version is by Etagägn Haylä a.k.a. Zärrafe,
and the other one by Assäläfätch Mulat & Negatwa Kälkay. The first appearance of ambasäl is
the version recorded by Manahle Lämma in the mid-1950’s (HMV JOE 39/OAE 154).
Respectively በወሎ፡ ዘፈን፡, በዘለሰኛ፡ ዜማ፡, በእቴመላ፡ ዘፈን፡, በካሣ፡ ገዳይ፡ዘፈን፡, በማሞ፡
29

ዘፈን፡, በክብረታለም፡ ዘፈን፡.

309
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

on the written and acoustic information contained in the recordings – and

that means, for the investigation of the qəñət, the intervallic settings.
th
Since the end of the 19 century, Ellis and Hopkins have developed a
formula to calculate with great precision these distances between pitches
(see below). This formula is based on the measurement of the frequencies
(in Hz) of the two sounds constituting the interval to study. The result is a
number, corresponding to the size of the interval (the greater the number,
the bigger the interval). The number is expressed in cents and, as a point
of comparison, 100 cents equals a tempered semitone (the distance
between a white and a black key on the piano, or between two conjunct
white keys). Therefore, the intervallic setting of any European major scale
would be (in cents and starting from the lower tone): 200 – 200 – 100 – 200
– 200 – 200 – 100. Of course, these are theoretical values. During perfor-
mances, intervals might diverge a little from this setting, mostly for
expressive reasons (or in case of insufficient control over pitch if the
musician is not an expert). Nevertheless, it is commonly admitted that the
threshold of perception (the smallest perceptible difference between two
pitches) reaches 5-6 cents for ears accustomed to western music.
However, recent researches, namely in India, seem to indicate that this
threshold is culturally-modelled (Weisser, 2011).
However, even if intervallic values may diverge in performance from
the theoretical ones, they diverge within limits. It would not be possible to
find, in a system based on tempered scale, results showing a continuous
progression in numbers. On the contrary, performance values would
present a cluster-like appearance, with values in cents grouped around the
theoretical ones. Clear differentiation would be noticeable between these
groupings.
Each scale degree was extracted from the recording, preferably during
solo instrumental parts (mostly during the introduction), in order to avoid
the problems induced by the vibrato of the singing voice. For each degree
of the scale, the longest possible sounds have been selected. Then they
were analyzed for fundamental frequency with “mirpitch” function of the
MIR Toolbox, implemented in Matlab software. In order to check the
pertinence of the results, the function “frame” was used in order to access
intermediary values calculated for each time frame (and, if needed, discard
the aberrant ones). Mean value was therefore calculated. For some sounds,
when MIR did not provide coherent results, the Praat software was used,
sometimes with the “Periodicity” analysis. Intervals were then calculated in
cents, according to the formula established by Ellis at the end of the
th
19 century (Ellis and Hipkins, 1884):

310
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

I (cents) = 1200 log2 (f1 / f2)

where f1 and f2 are the fundamental frequencies (in Hz) of the sounds
composing the interval to be measured. As a reference, a tempered
semitone equals 100 cents.
In total, more than 200 intervals have been calculated. However, the
age and sometimes poor quality of the recordings required the elaboration
of a control methodology. To that end, the intervals calculated were
reconstructed with a real masinqo sound recorded in Addis Ababa in 2005,
in order to ease a comparison between the original soundfile and the
results when needed. All the scales were reconstructed based on this
sound, characterized by a fundamental frequency of 214 Hz, making
possible an aural comparison of all the intervals. A second transformation
allowed a pitch shift from this reconstructed scale with a 214 Hz-frequency
first degree to “real pitch” reconstructed scales (in which the first degree
of the reconstructed scale is the same frequency than the original one), in
order to compare the accuracy of the intervals and measurements. Sound
Studio and Audiosculpt softwares have been used for this step of the
process.
Several difficulties were met during the analysis of the corpus. First, the
peculiarities of the recordings such as crackling noise and loudness of the
voice regarding to the instrument made the extraction of the individual
sounds quite problematic. In many cases, analyses of the fundamental
frequencies had to be performed of very brief sounds, or on sounds
produced with singing voice, or on sounds produced at the higher octave.
Moreover, for several songs (mostly in the Wällo group), multiple mea-
surements had to be done, in order to take into consideration variations
occurring within the songs. Such variation may occur in only one scale
degree (such as in song AI 542/86), or in the entire scale (such as AI
541/98). In these cases, both configurations were included in the results.
Intervals were classified according to their size, regardless of their
position within the scales. In order to maintain the largest interval (created
by the sounds induced by the ring or little finger’s degree – the highest
pitch – and the open string – the lowest pitch) within an order of magnitude
allowing comparison with the other intervals, this fourth interval was
calculated in regard with the higher octave and not the open-string pitch
(which corresponds to a playing style often encountered in performances).
Therefore, a interval of 848 cents is counted as a 1200-848=352 cent
interval. After the intervals being sorted in ascending order according to
their size, differences between each of them and the one being just
smaller are calculated, in order to look for clear demarcation between
them. These results were compared with measurements done by Kimberlin
(1976) and Weisser (2005) (results in press).

311
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Results
The majority of the 210 intervals analysed and sorted in ascending order
are quasi conjunct in size. Only four of them differ from their previous one
(meaning the one just smaller) by more than 10 cents. Three of these four
intervals are located at the extremities of the constituted table (meaning
the smallest and the largest intervals). In all cases, the maximum distance
found does not reach 25 cents, which is equivalent to a eighth of a
tempered tone. It appears therefore quite clearly that no “clusters” around
specific intervallic values are observable (cf. Fig. 2). Comparison with 1976
and 2005 corpuses shows that in spite of the appearance of the qəñət
theory (in the 1960’s), the used intervals remained very close to each
other. It is however interesting to notice that in Kimberlin’s values (1976)
no intervals between 258 and 281 cents are used, and Weisser's values
(2005) show a similar absence of intervals between 239 and 266 cents.
Such a “gap” does not appear in the 1939 corpus and might indicate that
intervals between the major second and the minor third were less used
after the introduction of the “qəñət theory”.

Discussion
This absence of clear demarcation between intervals invalidates the
hypothesis of the use of tempered intervals in Amhara secular music –
when performed with non-western instruments. It also supports the
hypothesis of ambiguous or pivotal values developed in Weisser, in press.
Compared with the results found in this preliminary study, the current
results of the 1939 corpus’ analyses show that the “pool” of intervals in
which musicians use to build their scales was not organized in intervals
clearly delimited by unambiguous boundaries. Such clear boundaries are
important in order to discretize the sound continuum. According to Arom
and al. (2007: 115) in their study of Ouldémé flutes in Cameroon (which
can be characterized by an absence of differentiation of intervals ranging
from 120 to 320 cents), the absence of ambiguity between intervals occurs
when the upper limit of the smallest and the lower limit of the widest are
at least 30 cents apart. No such thing appears in the 1939 analyzed
performances. This would mean that in this context an interval’s size was
not meaningful per se, but made sense in its musical environment – within
limits, of course. The determination of these limits would require an
extended corpus, with some certainty regarding the grouping of the songs:
indeed, the analyst needs to be sure that songs are grouped according to
their intervallic setting (and not for another reason) in order to investigate
the margins of realization and establish which intervals are considered as
culturally equivalent.
However, it can be hypothesized that whoever initiated the “four-scales
theory” drew his inspiration from existing scales, and it also seems
reasonable to suppose that the selected scales were among the most

312
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

popular ones. It also seems reasonable to suppose that such a theory

exerted a standardizing and reducing action on a more complex reality
(namely to adapt them to a performance accompanied by western
tempered instruments). According to this hypothesis, the bati group of the
1939 recordings could be considered as a kind of realization pre-dating the
bati scale that was built later on, and also as a type of the performances
based on which the bati scale was created. Indeed, if we look into the
intervallic settings of these songs, we can observe both a similarity
between each 1939 realization on one hand, and a similarity with the
standardized tempered bati scale (except for one, AI 544/142, very
divergent from the others), on the other. Except for the latter, the intervals
of the 1939 bati realizations present a maximum range of about 100 cents
(i.e. a tempered semitone only).
But it is also quite noticeable that the 1939 bati songs are characterized
by non-tempered median values (see Table 1). A certain “amount” of
symmetry is noticeable between the intervals 1 and 2 on one hand and 3
and 4 on the other (cf. Fig. 3). This rather symmetrical construct appears
to be a distinctive trait of these songs’ scalar system and explains why the
chosen transcription for the bati standardized scale in western tempered
intervals was: minor (or major) third-major second-minor (or major) third
(Weisser, in press). However, such a total symmetry can be considered as
an excess of simplification: 1976 and 2005 measurements clearly show
that the slight asymmetry remains between intervals 2 and 3 and 1 and 4
respectively (see Table 2).
The 1939 anči hoye song also resembles the standardized eponymous
scale – even if, of course, a unique piece does not allow drawing a solid
conclusion. As for the other two studied groups, Wällo and Medi-
na/Zelessignà, the situation is not that clear. Based on listening, some of
the Wällo songs clearly resemble the standardized təzəta scale (the name
təzəta being absent from this corpus, see above). However, some other
songs categorized as Wällo seem quite different. Analysis of the variability
also shows that it is more important in this group (12% of mean value for
the relative standard deviation or RSD) than in the bati songs’ group (8%).
A similar dispersion can be observed in the Medina/Zelesiña group: the
RSD for the latter reaches 14%.
Therefore, it seems possible that either Wällo and Medina/Zelesiña
groups are constituted according to another criterion than the intervallic
setting or that those two groups are characterized by a more important
variability than the bati group. As showed in Weisser, in press, groups of
similar (or even identical) songs can present some variability and this
variability can change according to the type of songs. But in the current
situation of knowledge, it is not possible so far to decide in favour of either
one or the other hypothesis.

313
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Conclusion
Both historical examination and musicological analysis of the so-called
“four qəñət theory” lead to the same conclusion: accuracy and relevance
of this theory has no serious base but just a pedagogical utility.
Comparison of measurements of recordings dating from 1939, 1976
and 2005 (covering therefore a period of about 70 years) shows that the
“pool” of intervals performed by musicians remain on the whole stable and
composed of conjunct intervals in the course of this period of time. This
shows that the westernized system supposed to replace the traditional
concepts and practices regarding the choice of the musical degrees was
not widely adopted since the 1960s. This can probably be linked with the
still-informal training of traditional musicians.
Comparison of intervallic settings adopted by musicians for the bati
songs in 1939, 1976 and 2005 shows also a remarkable stability: the global
RSD (calculated on all intervallic values) are indeed quite low: it does not
exceed the RSD calculated on an individual corpus. For example, highest
value of RSD for the five interpretations of the bati zäfän recorded in 2005
in Addis Ababa reaches 26% for interval 2 whereas the same interval’s
RSD reaches only 21% for all three corpuses altogether. Median values,
providing a good estimation of the central tendency, are also impressively
stable across 70 years: the maximal range reaches only 65 cents.
However, one observation is clear: the transcription in western staff
notation of Amhara performance or scale is not adapted to the musical
reality. Amhara music is not (and probably never was) based on tempered
intervals. Although authors such as Ashenafi Kebede (1968: 159) have
mentioned the inadequacy of such a transcription for anči hoye scale (see
also above), it needs to be extended to the entire Amhara non-liturgical
music. And this current study contributes to indicate that the introduction
of the “four-scale theory” is indeed part of a very specific moment in time
in the music’s history of Ethiopia. This introduction arose most probably in
the late 1950’s-early 1960’s and was linked to the practical necessities of
teaching Ethiopian music to many musicians. It was then the pick of music
development in Ethiopia, with numerous institutional bands like Municipali-
ty Orchestra, HSI Theatre Orchestra, Imperial Bodyguard Band, Police
Orchestra, Army Band, etc. On another hand, what would become Yared
Music School by 1966-67 had been in a constant developing process since
the Liberation, and create a rational teaching method if not a curriculum
was then a priority. Several music teachers have been teaching both
institutional bands and pre-Yared School students – Ashine Hayle, Assefa
Gurmu, Haylou Wolde-Maryam, Nerses Nalbandian30, Tsegaye Debalqe,

30
Bisrat Tamene, author of the Krar Method (1998), clearly remembers that, as a music
beginner within the second Police Orchestra at the age of 13 (1962-63), he was taught the
four qəñət by Nerses Nalbandian (1915-1977). He has been saxophonist in the second Police

314
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

etc. We did not succeed yet in establishing who exactly has or have been
the key person(s) in this pedagogical innovation. Maybe one or more
among the above mentioned, maybe none of them, possibly others...
Further research is needed. Therefore, this “four-scale theory” should be
discussed and questioned in all its aspects (including ideological and
contextual) and certainly not continued to be taught as the only and
almost eternal musical reality in Ethiopia. The latter induces a loss of
complexity (meaning an impoverishment) due to standardization,
simplification and reduction to a mere fragment of the real musical Amhara
non-liturgical universe. And it would do no justice to the musical skills,
acute ears and extraordinary expertise of traditional Amhara musicians.

Acknowledgements
Stéphanie Weisser would like to thank the Wallonie-Bruxelles International
(WBI) Service and the National Fund for Scientific Reseach (FRS-FNRS),
Belgium, for the travel and research grants. Many thanks to Anaïs Wion
and Thomas Beardsley for their help.

References
Arom S., Fernando N. and Marandola F., 2007, An Innovative Method for
the Study of African Musical Scales: Cognitive and Technical Aspects,
th
Proceedings of SMC’07, 4 Sound and Music Computing Conference,
Lefdaka, Greece: 107-116.
Ashenafi Kebede, 1968, Krar, Ethiopian Observer, 11 (3): 154-161.
Ashenafi Kebede, 1971, The Music of Ethiopia. Its Development and
Cultural Setting, PhD Dissertation, Wesleyan University, Ann Arbor:
Xerox University Microfilms.
Ashenafi Kebede, 1975, The azmari, poet-musician of Ethiopia, The Musical
Quaterly, 61 (1): 47-57.
Ashenafi Kebede, 1977, The Bowl-Lyre of Northeast Africa. Krar: The
Devil’s Instrument, Ethnomusicology, 21 (3): 379-395.

Orchestra during seven or eight years before founding the Blue Nile Band (a private band with
the young Muluqen Mellesse as vocalist). Afterwards, he has been teaching marching bands in
Dessie (W/ro Sihin Comprehensive School) and in Nazret (Atse Gelawdewos School), then
researcher assistant at the Yared Music School (1980) and assistant director until 1992,
before working at the Cultural Department of Region 14 (Addis Ababa). Nerses Nalbandian
has been teaching music in many institutions between the early 1940’s and 1977:
Municipality of Addis, Haile Selassie I Theatre and later National Theatre, Police Orchestra…
As soon as 1955, he will teach at the “National School of Music” located then in the vicinity of
the Theological College and directed by the American pianist Lou Ann Skinner. He will become
its acting director in 1962-1965 when the school, a prefiguration of Yared Music School,
moved to the University compound, and finally taught at the Yared Music School from its
opening in 1966.

315
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Baeteman J., 1929, Dictionnaire Amarigna-Français, Dire-Dawa, Imprimerie

Saint-Lazare.
Barblan G., 1941, Musiche e strumenti musicali dell’Africa Orientale
Italiana, Napoli, Edizioni della Triennale d’Oltremare.
Beshah Tekle-Maryam, November 8, 1994, personal communication.
Bisrat Tamene, 1998, Krar Method, Addis Ababa, The Author.
Bisrat Tamene, June 27 & 28, 1994, September 27, 2010, February 8,
2012, September 30, 2013, personal communications.
Bruce J., 1774, Letter from Mr Bruce to Dr Burney, on Egyptian and
Abyssinian Music, in Burney C. (1776), A General History of Music, I:
214-224.
Chaîne M., 1923, La poésie chez les Éthiopiens (Poésie amharique), Revue
e
de L’Orient chrétien, 3 série, T. II (XXII), 1920-1921 [1923], n°3: 306-
326 and n°4: 401-425.
Cohen M., 1924, Couplets amhariques du Choa, Journal Asiatique, 205,
juillet-septembre 1924, 1-100.
d’Abbadie A., 1881, Dictionnaire de la langue Amariñña.
de La Borde J.-B., 1780, Flûtes et autres instrumens d’Abissinie in Essai sur
la musique ancienne et moderne, Paris, I: 262-263.
Delombera Negga, 2004, Tezeta, le souvenir et la nostalgie, in M. Demeul-
dre (ed.), Sentiments doux-amers dans les musiques du monde, Paris,
L’Harmattan: 33-41.
Dillman A., 1865, Lexicon Linguae Aethiopicae cum Indice Latino.
Ellis A.J. and Hipkins A.J., 1884, Tonometrical Observations on Some
Existing Non-Harmonic Musical Scales, Proceedings of the Royal Society
of London 37: 368-385.
Ezra Abate, 2009, Ethiopian Kiñit (scales) – Analysis of the formation and
th
structure of the Ethiopian scale system, Proceedings of the 16 Interna-
tional Conference of Ethiopian Studies: 1213-1224.
Falceto F., 1997, 2001a, 2001b, CD booklets éthiopiques 2 Tètchawèt !
Urban azmaris of the 90’s; éthiopiques 10 Tezeta – Ethiopian Blues &
Ballads; éthiopiques 11 Alemu Aga – The Harp of King David.
Falceto F., 2001c, Abyssinie Swing, Addis Ababa, Shama Books.
Gouvernement Impérial d’Éthiopie (département de la Presse et de
l’Information), 6-7-38 [mars 1946], La Civilisation de l’Italie Fasciste en
Éthiopie, Berhanena Selam Printing Press.
Guidi I., 1901, Vocabolario Amarico-Italiano.

316
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

Guidi I., 1907, Historia Gentis Galla [History of the Galla], Paris/Leipzig,
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalum vol. 20-21 (Scriptores
Aethiopici 3-4).
Isenberg C.-W., 1841, Dictionary of the Amharic language.
Iyuel Yohannes, 1966 EC/1973-74, እንተዋወቅ/Entäwawäq, Addis Ababa,
Berhanena Selam Printing Press.
Kane T. L., 1990, Amharic-English Dictionary, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz.
Kidane Wold Kifle, 1962 EC/1969-70, Mätsehafä säwasew wages wämäz-
gäbä qalat haddis, Addis Ababa.
Kimberlin C. T., 1976, Masinqo and the nature of Qəñət, Ph. D. Disserta-
tion, University of California, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Xerox University
Microfilms.
Leslau W., 1976, Concise Amharic Dictionary, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz.
Mondon-Vidailhet C., 1922, La musique éthiopienne, in Lavignac et de La
Laurencie (Éds.), Encyclopédie de la Musique et Dictionnaire du Conser-
vatoire, Première partie - Histoire de la musique, vol. 5: 3179-3196.
(Reprint Annales d’Éthiopie 19, 2003: 149-187)
Morand K., 2012, Solitudes habitées. Le chant, le souvenir et le conflit chez
les Amhara du Goğğam (Éthiopie), Ph. D. Université de Paris Ouest
Nanterre.
Negatwa Kelkay, June 25, 1995, personal communication.
Powne M., 1968, Ethiopian Music. An Introduction, London-New York-
Toronto, Oxford University Press.
Sutton C., 2012-2013, personal communications.
Rink O. P., 1964, A methodology for the mazenko – የመሰንቆ አመታት ዘዴ,
Ministry of Education & Fine Arts, Addis Ababa, iii+72 p.
Sarosi B., 1967, The music of Ethiopian people, Studia Musicologica
Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. IX, Fasc. 1-2: 9-20.
Täsämma Habtä Mikael Getsew (Käsate Berhan Täsämma), 1951 a.m.
[1958-59], Yäamareña mäzgäbä qalat, Addis Ababa, Artistik Matämiya
Bet.
Timkehet Teffera, 1999, Kinder als Musiker: Verständnis und Mißverständ-
nis theoretischer Systeme, in M. Bröcker (ed.), Berichte aus dem ICTM-
Nationalkomitee Deutschland, Vol. VIII, Bamberg: 139-152.
English version: Theoretical Systems and Practical Realization: Observa-
tions of Children Musicians in Bahər Dar, <http:// zemaaf-
rica.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/theoretical-systems-and-practical-
realization-children-musicians.pdf> (consulted in August 2013).

317
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Timkehet Teffera, 2001, Musik zu Hochzeiten bei den AMARA im Zentralen

Hochland Äthiopiens, Frankfurt, Peter Lang (Ph. D. dissertation Hum-
boldt-Universität Berlin, 1999). English version: Wedding Music of the
Amara in the Central Highland of Ethiopia (unpublished).
Timkehet Teffera, 2005, Music, Making Music and Dancing: Ethnomusi-
cological Observations in Mekele/Tigray, Guandu Music Journal n° 3,
Taipei National University of the Arts: 126-147.
http://www.tnua.edu.tw/~musiccollege/publish/NO.3.pdf (consulted on
August 2013)
Tourny O., 2008, Gue’ez, Ezl, Araray. Les subtilités d’une Trinité dans la
psalmodie de l’Église chrétienne d’Éthiopie, Annales d’Éthiopie 23: 77-
99.
Villoteau G.-A., 1809, De la musique des Abyssins ou Éthiopiens, in
Description de l’Égypte, Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, T. I: 741-754.
Villoteau G.-A., 1809, Du kissar, ou de la lyre éthiopienne, ibid., T.I: 918-
930.
Villoteau G.-A., 1809, Des instrumens mélodieux, des instrumens bruyans
et des crotales des Éthiopiens, et particulièrement de ceux des Abys-
sins, ibid., T. I: 999-1008.
Weisser S., 2011, unpublished field notes.
Weisser S. and Demolin D., 2013, Variability as a key concept: when
different is the same (and vice versa), Proceedings of the Third Interna-
tional Workshop on Folk Music Analysis, Amsterdam, Netherlands, June
6-7, 2013: 21-27.
Weisser S., in press, Opening Pandora’s box? Investigating Azmari scales,
Proceedings of the First International Conference on Azmari, Hildesheim
(Germany).
Zenebe Bekele, 1987, Music in the Horn: a preliminary analytical approach
to the study of Ethiopian music, Stockholm, Författares Bokmaskin.

318
Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

Annex

Fig. 1. – Sample of 78 rpm central label, Columbia / Checchia series, 1939

Fig. 2 – Intervals of the 1939, 1976 (Kimberlin, 1976) and 2005 (Weisser, in press) corpuses,
sorted by increasing size in cents. ©Weisser S.

319
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Fig. 3 – Intervallic settings (in cents) of eight of the 1939 songs referenced as Bati. ©Weisser S.

Interval 1 Interval 2 Interval 3 Interval 4 Interval 5

AI 512/20 353 195 171 291 1010
AI 512/192 343 185 192 331 1052
AI 528/130 338 202 197 268 1005
AI 541/84 375 179 205 332 1091
AI 544/141 339 168 175 361 1042
AI 513/121 326 228 158 272 984
AI 540/83 309 222 161 322 1014
AI 581/12 308 174 175 342 999
Range 68 60 46 93 106
Median values 338 190 175 326 1012

Tab. 1 – Intervals (in cents) of eight of the 1939 songs referenced as Bati ©Weisser S.

320
 Stéphanie Weisser & Francis Falceto

Source Interval 1 Interval 2 Interval 3 Interval 4 Interval 5

AI 512/20 – 1939 353 195 171 291 1010
AI 512/192 – 1939 343 185 192 331 1052
AI 528/130 – 1939 338 202 197 268 1005
AI 541/84 – 1939 375 179 205 332 1091
AI 544/141 – 1939 339 168 175 361 1042
AI 513/121 – 1939 326 228 158 272 984
AI 540/83 – 1939 309 222 161 322 1014
AI 581/12 – 1939 308 174 175 342 999
Median values 338 190 175 326 1012
Mus. 1 – 1976 333 229 151 375 1092
Mus. 2 – 1976 343 240 108 407 1096
Mus. 3 – 1976 314 240 177 351 1081
Mus. 4 – 1976 399 117 172 396 1079
Mus. 5 – 1976 387 191 162 296 1071
Mus. 6 – 1976 311 178 122 425 1041
Mus. 7 – 1976 355 176 234 289 1059
Mus. 8 – 1976 306 192 230 354 1088
Mus. 9 – 1976 290 332 123 307 1055
Mus. 10 – 1976 367 127 194 387 1075
Median values 338 192 167 365 1077
Mus. 1 Bati zäfän – 332 181 189 373 1074
2005 2 Bati zäfän –
Mus. 380 133 203 403 1118
2005 3 Bati zäfän –
Mus. 348 183 209 303 1043
2005
Mus. 4 Bati zäfän – 351 179 182 351 1063
2005
Mus. 5 Bati zäfän – 266 269 173 368 1075
2005 1 Yämmatbäl-
Mus. 322 183 183 361 1050
la wäf2zäfän
Mus. – 2005
Yämmatbäl- 344 194 144 372 1054
la wäf zäfän – 2005
Mus. 3 Yämmatbäl- 330 191 197 320 1037
la wäf4zäfän
Mus. – 2005
Yämmatbäl- 384 187 162 329 1062
la wäf5zäfän
Mus. – 2005
Yämmatbäl- 333 172 195 390 1090
la wäf zäfän – 2005
Median 339 183 186 365 1063
Median values (all 338 186 176 351 1061
corpuses)
RSD (all corpuses) 9% 21% 16% 11% 3%

Tab. 2 – Intervals (in cents) of Bati songs from the 1939, 1976 and 2005 corpuses. ©Weisser S.

321
 Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music

Abstract / Résumé
Weisser S. & Falceto F., 2013, Investigating qəәñəәt in Amhara secular music: an acoustic and
historical study, Annales d’Éthiopie, 28, 299-322.

Since the 1960's, a kind of musicological gospel claims that Amhara secular music is based,
supposedly from time immemorial, on a so-called closed system of four pentatonic modes or
qəәñəәt called ambasäl (አምባሰል), anči hoye (አንቺ ሆዬ), bati (ባቲ) and təәzəәta (ትዝታ), usually
presented as a set of tempered or quasi-tempered intervals such as major and minor seconds
and thirds. It is presented as an established, accepted and reliable norm, in scholarly as well
as in general publications. Today urbanized azmaris (the wandering minstrels of the Amhara
and Christian highlands) present it as the basic of traditional music – whereas azmaris of the
deep countryside have simply no knowledge about it. This study aimed to re-explore in detail
the Amhara secular scales, and to tackle in depth qəәñəәt historicity and its musicological
relevance. To this end, a corpus of recordings dating back to 1939 have been analyzed and
confronted with written sources. A control methodology was developed, in order to verify
incoherent results due to age and quality of some of the recordings. A comparison with the
intervals measured in songs recorded in 1976 (by Cynthia Tse Kimberlin) and 2005 (by
Stéphanie Weisser) was completed, covering therefore a period of about 70 years.
Keywords: Ethiopia, qəәñəәt, tuning, scale, intervals, historicity, music

Analyse des qəәñəәt dans la musique profane amhara : une étude acoustique et
historique – Depuis les années 1960, une sorte d’évangile musicologique martèle que la
musique séculaire amhara est basée, supposément de toute éternité, sur un système fini de
quatre modes pentatoniques ou qəәñəәt nommés ambasäl (አምባሰል), anči hoye (አንቺ ሆዬ),
bati (ባቲ) and təәzəәta (ትዝታ). Ces modes sont en général présentés comme fondés sur des
intervalles tempérés ou quasi tempérés (secondes et tierces majeures et mineures).
Publications savantes comme vulgarisatrices le présentent comme une norme bien établie,
reconnue et fiable. Même les azmaris (les ménestrels ambulants des hauts-plateaux amhara
et chrétiens) de la capitale le présentent aujourd’hui comme le fondement de leur pratique
musicale traditionnelle – alors que ceux de la campagne profonde ne les connaissent pas.
Cette étude réexamine en détail les échelles de la musique non liturgique des Amhara et
questionne radicalement l’historicité des qəәñəәt et leur pertinence musicologique. Un important
corpus d’enregistrements datant de 1939 a été analysé et confronté à des sources écrites.
Une méthode de contrôle a été élaborée afin de vérifier des résultats incohérents du fait de
l’altération de certains enregistrements. Une comparaison avec les intervalles mesurés dans
des chants enregistrés en 1976 (par Cynthia Tse Kimberlin) et 2005 (par Stéphanie Weisser)
a également été effectuée, permettant ainsi de couvrir une période de 70 ans.
Mots-clefs : Éthiopie, qəәñəәt, accord, échelle, intervalles, historicité, musique

322