The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland grant to Art in Tanzania has helped us to collect children’s songs as the project name ‘mamas songs’. The Mamas Songs project aims to collect traditional music, sung in tribal languages, from various areas of Tanzania, specifically lullabies and songs for children, as well as songs for special occasions and ceremonies. This website has been created to enable Tanzanians and foreigners to learn about and appreciate the diverse aspects of their country’s musical culture, as well as to preserve its musical traditions. As all of the material on this site is downloadable free of charge, we encourage people to use the resources for teaching and singing in schools.
There are approximately 130 tribes in Tanzania, each with its unique language, religion, and social system; however, Swahili is also commonly spoken among these tribes. Songs have been collected from various tribes to display their musical and cultural differences. Some of the music shown on this site is in the form of a traditional lullaby, with the mother singing to the child. However, some of the pieces are intended to be sung in larger Tanzanian children’s groups (recordings may not accurately reflect this, but where this is the case, it is noted). Although the Mama’s Songs project primarily focused on collecting lullabies and children’s songs sung by women, we have also expanded to include male singers and adult songs for special events and ceremonies.
In addition to traditional tribal songs, the project has also collected Swahili children’s songs. This is different in that Swahili is Tanzania’s official language. Hence, the music collected in Swahili may be more modern and universal than the more unique tribal music.
For some of the songs, we have managed to create notation that was previously unavailable due to the music’s free nature and the people’s inability to notate it. Although we have not managed to notate all of the music, some example songs are accompanied by notation. Most of the songs have also been translated into Swahili and English, allowing the listener to understand the music’s meaning better.
We wish to expand this website and constantly find more music. If you would like to help us please send us more songs and ideas to info@artintanzania.org
