Qañat or Qeñet (Amharic: ቅኝት, alternatively spelled Kignit, Keniet, Gegnet, Gignit) are secular musical scales developed by the Amhara ethnic group of Ethiopia. Qañat consists in a set of intervals defining the mode of a musical piece or the tuning scale of the instrument playing the piece.[1] There are four main qañat scales that are used, all of which are pentatonic: tizita (ትዝታ), bati (ባቲ), ambassel (ዐምባሰል), and anchihoye (አንቺሆዬ).[2][3] Three additional modes are variations on the above: tezeta minor, bati major, and bati minor.[4] Some songs take the name of their qañat, such as tizita, a song of reminiscence.[3]

History

Ashenafi Kebede was one of the early scholars to standardize the kignits of northern and central Ethiopia.

References

  1. ↑ Weisser, Stéphanie; Falceto, Francis (2013). "Investigating qәñәt in Amhara secular music: An acoustic and historical study". Annales d'Ethiopie. 28: 299–322. doi:10.3406/ethio.2013.1539.
  2. ↑ Kaufmann, Walter. Selected Musical Terms of Non-Western Cultures.
  3. 1 2 Shelemay, Kay Kaufman (2001). "Ethiopia". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. viii (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. p. 356.
  4. ↑ Abatte Barihun, liner notes of the album Ras Deshen, 200.


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