He’s on a mission to save the Nyatiti
Rapasa Nyatrapasa Rapwapwa’s journey didn’t start as that. He just knew he enjoyed playing the instrument whenever he would travel upcountry from his home in Nairobi, and he wanted to learn everything about the eight stringed instrument that is synonymous with musical sound in western Kenya and eastern Uganda. When he would go to shags as a young boy some people in the village tried to dissuade the Nairobi boy from his interest because “nyatiti players didn’t amount to anything but villagers”.
But he had a different view and he eagerly pursued his learning, taking time to seek out masters in the village who could elicit beautiful sounds from the instrument and train him. About ten years ago he signed up to learn under a master instrumentalist. In time he also learnt the construction of the nyatiti, the different ways it can be played depending on the village or location where its being used. He learnt that different forms of the nyatiti dominate the region as far north as Egypt.
His quest for learning and sharing knowledge has seen him play as part of the Nile Project – a collective of musicians from the 11 countries of the Nile who have travelled the world from Egypt to Belgium to America, sharing their music and the unique sounds of the region to a global audience.
He has gone beyond the interest of his mentors to learn about other string instruments from Kenya, infuse them in his music and teach young children about the instruments that called out song and dance in our history.
Rapasa has just released a new album and continues to work with different actors to use music as a source of effective social conversations, change and history capture. There is life in music and there is hope for a future for our instruments with people like Rapasa who just will not let them die. And clearly – that love of nyatiti took and continues to take him way beyond the village!
Do you know schoolkids who would benefit from learning nyatiti skills? Or use traditional instruments for an event ? Connect with Rapasa on Facebook.
additional image courtesy of the Nile Project
