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ABBAY REFLECTED IN THE ETHIOPIAN MUSIC [Abstract ID: 1211-11]
The contribution of music has been mentioned since the early days. It is used as accompaniment to or part of almost every human activity, can and shape, strengthen and channel social, political, economic, linguistic, religious and other kinds of behaviours. It is an inseparable part of culture. It yields crucial information in various aspects of culture such as in education, social and political spheres, in constructing culture history. Ethiopians have had a great concern for Abbay river (known as Blue Nile) to be exploited for development. This has been expressed in different ways where Music (sacred and secular music) is among them. Various efforts to utilize this huge resource have been undergoing since recently, where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is among them. However, there hardly exists a thorough study made on Music in connection with Abay. Hence, this study focuses on the analysis of Abbay reflected in the Ethiopian Music. The method employed for this study is both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Available sampling was considered to collect the data from songs, singers and music instructors. Accordingly, for this study first songs (thirty one) released in Amharic language wereselected. Second, research participants that include Azmaris (six traditional singers) and music instructors (seven) were preferred. Questionnaires for research participants and a checklist for analyzing the contents of songs were employed. The analysis both in the songs and in the responses made by research participants indicates that Abay is a huge resource to be utilized for development. Neither a single song nor a respondent was against the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It is recommended that such songs are useful cultural heritages and need to be preserved and promoted.