The Cultural Role of Tsonga Beer-Drink Music

Of seven distinct bodies of vocal music and one body of instrumental music recognized and separately classified by the Tsonga of Mozambique and the Northern Transvaal, beer-drink music is the most often performed and comprises about 40% of the total folksong repertoire of about five hundred items (Figure 1). The other musical styles are exorcism music, girls’ initiation music, children's songs, solo instrumental music, boys’ drumming school music, and circumcision school music (Figure 2). The order given reflects the estimated man-hours of performance (the circumcision school is organized only every four or five years), and it coincides roughly with sample rankings obtained from informants during the period 1968–70. Variations of the ranking were some women's claim that girls’ initiation music is more important than exorcism music, and some men's claim that muchongolo (the national dance performed at beer-drinks) is more important than beer-songs or any other single category.