This sample bassline was performed by Joseph Makwela of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens8. The bass is played with a plectrum and the notes are played staccato. The drum set plays a steady kick drum9 on all four beats in the bar and plays a syncopated snare drum10 pattern that accentuates the staccato notes of the bass

more commonly used mbaqanga basslines used throughout the transcription. To describe mbaqanga derived basslines in terms of their construction is difficult as the basslines’ main focus is feel and groove while harmonically the bass only plays roots and sometimes the third degree of a chord. Mostly the bassline will focus on phrasing similar to those which might be sung by performers of this genre. As I understand it, as much inflection as possible is utilized in these basslines in order to mimic the nuances of the human voice. The first example of this kind of playing is in bars 10-13

The analysis

My attempt to answer the question “What is mbaqanga?” in terms ofits musical influences is that it is a vocal and instrumental genre of music that emerged in the early 1960s from a fusion between kwela, marabi, isicathamiya and jazz coupled with indigenous and traditional melodies of the Zulu-speaking people of South Africa. My attempt to answer the question “What is mbaqanga?” as it relates tomusical performance is that it is a vibrant, punchy genre of music where the drum set, bass guitar and electric guitar or electric organ are the primary instruments. A basic description of a mbaqangasong is where the drum set plays a kick drum and snare drum (rim) on all four beats while the hi-hats play up-beats or in an eighth-note division. The electric bass plays the root on the first beat of the bar while interjecting small melodic phrases within the harmonic rhythm. The electric guitar or electric organ plays the main melodic and cyclical phrase that the song will be based on. The basic harmonic rhythm has a chord changing at four beat intervals and the chord structure is based on a I-IV-V-I chord progression.

The symbiotic relationship between the bass guitar and drum set in mbaqanga is not always an obvious one. In the examples of mbaqanga the drum set usually plays the same groove for the duration of the song

This groove creates a more relaxed or open feel which allows for it to be performed at faster tempos

Figure 1.1

Contextualizing and Defining Mbaqanga and Ghoema

Bassists of iKapa (the Cape)