The Zulu bow songs of Princess Magogo

‘Something else is possible’: transcultural collaboration as anti-apartheid activism in the music of Juluka

“…More significant for this study is the isiZulu subtype, which harkens back to Zulu bow songs. In these, as David Rycroft (1975/1976) has detailed, a normally female singer accompanies herself by percussing the single, undivided string of the ugubhu , a bow which is 1.5–2 m long and is attached to a gourd resonator. Performers on this seemingly simple instrument can produce complex musical effects: by pinching the string, the performer can produce a second pitch, a semitone higher than that of the open string, and by shifting the position of the resonator against the body, the performer selectively amplifies harmonics of each fundamental in order to create a secondary melody (pp.…”

“…132.) Rycroft has noted that in ugubhu songs, either the lower or higher fundamental pitch may predominate (Rycroft 1975/1976, pp. 65–6).…”

“… 14 It is also possible, however, that the members of Juluka used unusual metre and hypermetre as a nod to Zulu bow songs: some of them contain phrase lengths of five and six measures, and at least one recorded song has an additive 2 + 3 + 3 pulse organisation (see the songs performed by Princess Constance Magogo kaDinizulu and transcribed by David Rycroft, 1975/1976, pp. 65, 76–91).…”