Yared

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Yared is the name of a saint from ancient Ethiopia, who according to tradition lived in the sixth century in the kingdom of Aksum. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church regards him as the founder of its church chant. That tradition is called zema and is sung to this day in the churches of Ethiopia. What is known of his life rests on legend and church tradition, not on documents from his own time.

Music and breakthrough

According to that tradition Yared arranged the chants of the church in three modes, called Geez, Ezel and Araray. They are linked with the seasons of the year. He is also said to have devised a notation system of his own, with signs placed above and below the text of the chants that indicate the movement of the melody. In this way Ethiopian church chant is among the oldest music traditions that have survived to the present. The singing is accompanied by percussion, such as the kebero drum, and the sistrum, a rhythmically rattling instrument, and by the movement of prayer sticks, with which the singers mark the rhythm.

Influence

For the history of pop, Yared is important above all as a source and as a reminder: long before sound recordings existed, there was already a music culture with its own modes and its own notation. The church singing tradition of Ethiopia continues to work through in the way Ethiopian musicians later thought about melody and scale.

Listening

Mentioned in other articles

• Ethiopian church chant GenreAccording to Ethiopian tradition, Saint Yared arranged the church chant, the zema, in Aksum in the sixth century into three modes: ge'ez for ordinary days, ezel for Lent and araray for great feasts.