Representation of music in Zambia: prominence of three

Representation of music in Zambia: prominence of three. The number three is very prominent in (older) Chibale music.

Three in (older) Chibale music

Most ensembles consist of three instruments: drums, rattles, one-note-xylophone, panflute, masamba & nsangwa, gourd idiophones and gourd drums.
The instrument to ward off birds consists of three hollowed-out, wooden sounding boats. The musical bow produces three tones. The board-zither had three strings.
The keys, eight to thirteen, of the two lamellophone types are divided in three tone groups. As are tones of the mutolilo & mutole and the board-zither.

Most importantly, melodies must contain notes from all three tone groups, in a prescribed order, in order to be effective. This is a crucial element in A theory about music. See also the shape and course of a melody.

When three is purposely not used

Representation of music in Zambia: prominence of three. The importance of the number three is also confirmed by situations in which the sounding of three instruments is or was purposely prevented.
Instruments with one tone: lusonsolo, mikoci, mukonkonto, minkobele, mangu and horns are used either for signalling or for doubling one of the drums.
To prevent the music from being hot, at a Cililo 1 no set of three (similar) instruments is used. The one drum used can be of any type: ‘it is only drumming for the funeral.’¹In 1873, two drums were used for the ‘loud, wailing lamentation’ at the death of David Livingstone (Livingstone 1874: 315).
Another situation in which no real music but rather its opposite was wanted, also had only one ‘drum’. When a witch was exposed, the shing’anga beat a drum or something drum-like, a signal to which the exposed witch ‘danced’, rather shuffled, in a circle of people while he ‘sang’, rather crooned: “I am no longer a witch, surely the shing’anga has taken my powers away” (Nomba nshilipo mfwiti, mwandine balipokele). The ‘music’ played was not meant to be real music, the drumming was not real drumming but signalling, the dancing was shuffling, the singing was more mumbling and the text conveyed only one message.

The three hold each other

[When there are three instruments/ tone groups with a start in the middle, followed by the high instrument/group and then the low one for kula panshi,] then it is good, then they hold each other/ are interrelated well (Elo fiwama, elo fikatana bwino). Two is not enough. The second one is there to answer the first and fill up the holes. The third one completes the other two.
One instrument sounds well when it has to convey a clear message. For instance, a hunter has killed an animal that has been tramping the fields for too long. He comes home with the tail and informs the family. He takes out his ilimba and starts singing a song to tell everybody that only the footprints have remained of the animal that has annoyed all. Hunters use a horn or one or two notes of the ngolwa for signalling to each other. Similar things could be done by the chief with the lusonsolo or mangu. […]
Dancing is not possible to only two drums. Should only the two smaller drums be available, the cibitiku becomes iyikulu by throwing water in it and in the same way the kace becomes cibitiku. Then any container will serve as a kace.
Mika Mwape Chungwa ∵ personal communication, 1986.

Representation of music in Zambia: prominence of three. It is not unlikely that the prominence of three is also related to the three major spirits that were central to the older local cults. These three major spirits are Mulenga wa Mpanga, Mushili Mfumu, and a third spirit that may vary depending on the location or situation. There is a notion among some that music (re)produces reconciliation between older cults.

Representation of music in Zambia: prominence of three.