I began listening to mbira music at mapira ceremonies. Mostly, I attended ceremonies in Chihota. But even before I started going to ceremonies in Chihota, one of my relatives played mbira. Yet I used to laugh at him, saying, “You’re playing mbira! Are you an old man who plays mbira?” He would just say, “Oh, I’ll never give up playing mbira. I love them so much.” He used to spend the whole day playing in Highfield, in Canaan. He would play all day. But I didn’t take it seriously.
Then I went to a bira ceremony in Highfield in 1965, and the mbira really moved me. It was very exciting. So after this I met a female spirit medium who used to stay in Mbare. Her brother lived in Mbare, and she would come and stay with him. So whenever she came, I would go to see her with my nephew, my older brother’s son. And we found the mbira so exciting, so we started going every weekend.
Then she said, “Now I am returning to my village. You should keep coming to see me in my village.” So we used to go to Chihota, at a place called Adam’s. That spirit possessed an older woman we called VaGorwa. Really, Gorwa was the name of the spirit. So we honored her by calling her VaGorwa, although that was the spirit’s name.
We would go there after we had finished working on Friday, and then come back Saturday morning in time to go to work. When we finished working at noon, we would go right back to Chihota again. I didn’t have any desire to play mbira, but I found the mbira very enjoyable.
So eventually, there was a very young boy there. I said, “Ah! A small child like this plays mbira! How?” The boy’s name was Ham, and he played with Shame, who was older. Shame’s totem was Mhofu Nyakudirwa. So those boys were playing, and then Shame said, “Do you want to learn?” I said, “Oh! I would like to learn! Play, let’s see.” Then he played, and now I saw that it wouldn’t work, because his fingers were really racing. I said, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this.” He said, “Why not? Didn’t you say you wanted to learn mbira?” I said, “Oh, let me just forget about it.”
So we were going there from 1965 to 1966. And then at the end of 1966, I stopped going. But throughout 1967, the mbira was still ringing in my head.
So in March of 1968, there is another person I used to live with, who came from Murewa. So that man worked at Lobel’s Bakery, and he also used to play mbira. His older brother made mbira. So the younger brother said, “Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to my village, and I’ll tell my older brother to make you an mbira.” I said, “Oh! I would like one!”
So, at that time mbira were not too expensive. They were five dollars – two pounds and ten shillings. So he went there, and came back with the mbira. And then I gave him the five dollars. Then he said, “Here’s what we’ll do for you to be able to play. When my brother comes, you can pay him two shillings and six pence – which is twenty-five cents. So for that two shillings and six pence, he will teach you one song.” I said, “Oh! That won’t work.” He said, “Why not?” I said, “It’s really a lot of money.” Because long ago, it was. I said, “If I see that I’m not able to play them, I’ll just hang them up on the wall where I can look at them.” He said, “Oh, alright, that’s fine.” And then I took the mbira, and went into my house.
I stayed like that for quite some time. Then I said to myself, “I’ve watched how those young boys play mbira. Can I fail to do it myself? I learned to play guitar simply by watching my uncle play, and then I took the guitar and played it. So this shouldn’t give me any trouble at all.” Then I picked up that mbira, and held it.
The song I loved most was “Chipindura.” So, then I started working on “Chipindura,” and I said, “Oh! Look, it’s already working!” Then I continued working on it until I was able to play it. That very same evening, I was playing it. I played and played, and I said, “Oh, I am able to play mbira already!”
“Chipindura,” performed by Tute Chigamba. From the album Yangu Ndega.
Then the next morning I woke up and went to work, and I returned in the evening. I said, “What about ‘Nhemamusasa?’”And then I played “Nhemamusasa,” and once again I was able to play it that very evening. By the end of the week, when Friday came around, I had five songs. But then, there was no one who could help me really polish those songs. There was no one for me to play with, because the young man who had sold me the mbira worked the night shift in the bakery, and I worked during the day.
“Nhemamusasa,” performed by Tute Chigamba. From the album Yangu Ndega.
So, there was a recording of Bandambira that was played on the radio every Wednesday morning. They played Bandambira’s recording because he was the first to record on this mbira, the mbira dzachakwi. We used to hear njari on the radio. Those mbira were played long back, and we used to hear them when I was a young child. One of the njari players on radio was an elderly man named Chimanikire, who lived in Guruve. He played njari, and Simon Mashoko also played njari. But Bandambira was the first to play chakwi.
So, I used to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning and turn on the radio, and they were playing songs. And the songs being played on the radio were the very same ones I wanted. Those were the songs I had been seeking someone to help me polish. So I polished them myself, by listening to the radio. Right there, by the radio, I polished them. When “Nhemamusasa” was played, I would realize when I really had it. When “Chipindura” was played, I would realize when I really had it. And I continued doing that until I had finished polishing all of the songs I played.
At that point, I was listening to other people playing. I would listen, but I didn’t want to play. I said that I didn’t know how to play, but I was playing. I didn’t want to play, although sometimes I would play hosho for other people. But finally I said, “Oh, now I can really play.”
And when I was playing mbira, my wife also bought her own mbira. And then I began teaching her, until we could play together. Yes, then we played, we were playing together. By that time, I had started being invited to play at bira ceremonies, and I would spend the whole night in the bira, playing by myself. My wife played hosho for me. And when we returned home, we would sit outside and play mbira together.