Three Little Birds: Yared’s Inspiration From Above

The Western hemisphere is familiar with musical giants like Beethoven and Mozart and the beautiful compositions they left behind on the five-lined staves in treble and bass clef. Yet long before this form of musical notation began in the West, there was a composer in the horn of Africa who had created his own notational system and had established a tradition of musical pedagogy that would continue to this very day. His name was Yared.