Music in Burundi

The Tutsi, the Hutu and the Twee people each have their own music traditions which form the basic elements of Burundi’s music. Drum ensembles, ingoma, with 24 drums in a semicircle around a drum in the middle, are common. The music is based on a fifteen scale, and in the song there are finer scale divisions which may indicate Arabic influence, especially among the Tutsis. The most important string instrument is inanga, a trough-shaped zither, used both as a solo instrument and to accompany song. Music bow, one-string fiddle, likembe (mbira or thumb piano) and whistles are also common. The song is mostly unanimous, but the twee people have a rich vocal polyphony with hints of jodel effects that are also found among other pygmy people in Africa.