Monday, January 19, 7001

Xhosa Migration to South Africa (AD 1) - Solo Song


The Xhosa people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east



South Africa.

Xhosa-speaking peoples are divided into several subgroups with related but distinct heritages. The main subgroups are the Bhaca, Bomvana, Mfengu, Mpondo, Mpondomise, Xesibe, and Thembu.



The name "Xhosa" comes from that of a legendary leader called uXhosa. There is also a theory that the word xhosa derives from a word in some Khoi-khoi or San language meaning "fierce" or "angry," the amaXhosa being the fierce people. The Xhosa refer to themselves as the amaXhosa and to their language as isiXhosa.

Presently approximately 8 million Xhosa people are distributed across the country, and Xhosa is South Africa's second most common home language, after Zulu, to which Xhosa is closely related.


The Xhosa were part of the South African Nguni migration which slowly moved south from the region around the Great Lakes.

Xhosa - Wena









Lala









Nguni peoples are pastoralist groups, ethnically part of the greater Bantu group occupying much of the East and Southern parts of Africa.



They migrated southwards over many centuries, with large herds of Nguni cattle, probably entering what is now South Africa around AD 1 in sporadic settlement, followed by larger waves of migration around 1400.

***

A solo (from the Italian solo, meaning alone) is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer, often accompanied by others. In practice this means a number of different things, depending on the type of music and the context.

The plural is 'soli' or 'solos'. In some context these are interchangeable.

***

Accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played. An accompaniment figure is a gesture used repeatedly in an accompaniment.

***

A song is a musical composition. Songs contain vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and generally feature words (lyrics), commonly followed by other musical instruments (exceptions would be acappella and scat songs). The words of songs are often of a poetic, rhyming nature, although they may be religious verses or free prose. The words are the lyrics.

Songs are typically for a solo, singer, though there may also be a duet, trio, or more voices (works with more than one voice to a part, however, are considered choral). Songs can be broadly divided into many different forms, depending on the criteria used.