Qañat or Qeñet (Amharic: ቅኝት, alternatively spelled Kignit, Keniet, Gegnet, Gignit) are secular musical scales developed by the Amhara ethnic group of Ethiopia. Qañat consists in a set of intervals defining the mode of a musical piece or the tuning scale of the instrument playing the piece.[1] There are four main qañat scales that are used, all of which are pentatonic: tizita (ትዝታ), bati (ባቲ), ambassel (አምባሳል), and anchihoye (አንቺሆዬ).[2][3] Three additional modes are variations on the above: tezeta minor, bati major, and bati minor.[4] Some songs take the name of their qañat, such as tizita, a song of reminiscence.[3]
History
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Ashenafi Kebede was one of the early scholars to standardize the kignits of northern and central Ethiopia.[citation needed]