Maraire was raised in a musical family. The family traditionally sang together in the evenings at home. His Xhosa mother (from South Africa) and Shona father (from Zimbabwe) were his first music teachers. Maraire began to perform when he was twelve years old. He started to accompany his own singing on the guitar when he was fourteen. In 1966 Maraire went to the Kwanongoma College of Music in Buluwayo and began to learn nyunga nyunga mbira and marimba. Other names for nyunga nyunga mbira include "thumb piano" and "kalimba." The mbira is a very important instrument in Shona music. It is used to accompany singing and sometimes to accompany story-songs. The mbira has flat, narrow iron keys and metal buzzers that are attached to a hollow wooden body (see the illustration on page 286 in Silver Burdett Making Music © 2002, grade 2 student text.). Players strum the keys with their thumbs and their index (pointer) fingers. A very good player can play two or three melodies at the same time.
Dumi Maraire was an excellent mbira player. In 1968 he came to the United States. He was Visiting Artist at the University of Washington in Seattle through 1972. At the university he started the "Tuesday Night Ensemble" where he taught mbira, marimba, drumming, singing, and dancing. Through his teaching, many students became interested in playing the traditional music and instruments of Zimbabwe. Maraire earned a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology (the study of music from a specific culture) in 1990.
Maraire arranged many pieces of music from Zimbabwe for marimbas and nyunga nyunga mbira. He composed pieces of his own, too. His music expresses both his Shona heritage and his own personality. There are several CD recordings of Maraire playing his own music and the traditional music of Zimbabwe.
 | Facts About Dumisani Maraire | |
| • | In 1990 Maraire went back to Zimbabwe to teach at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. | |
| • | Maraire had nine children. | |
| • | Maraire died of a stroke on November 25, 1999 in Zimbabwe. | |
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 | A Book by Dumisani Maraire | |
| • | Let Your Voice Be Heard! Songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe (with companion audio CD) by Abraham Kobena Adzenyah, Dumisani Maraire, and Judith Cook Tucker (World Music Press, 1991). This book has story-songs and information about the music of Ghana and Zimbabwe. Encourage your teacher or an adult at home to share it with you. | |
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| A Book About the Mbira | |
| • | The Soul of Mbira: Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe by Paul F. Berliner (University of Chicago Press, 1993). Ask an adult to share this book with you. | |
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| A Book About Zimbabwe |
| Where Are You Going, Manyoni? by Catherine Stock (William Morrow & Co., 1993). This book is about all of the sights a young girl from Zimbabwe sees during her two-hour walk to school. | |
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| Recordings that Feature Dumisani Maraire | |
| • | Chaminuka—Dumisani Maraire: Music of Zimbabwe ©  1988, 1989 Music of the World, CD. |
| • | Shona Spirit: Mbira Masters from Zimbabwe, Dumisani Maraire and Ephat Mujuru. All songs published by Owl’s Head Music (BMI). © 1996 Music of the World Ltd. |
