science

Lesiba

Lesiba is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lesiba rather than just read about it. In short: The term lesiba (Tswana for 'feather') refers to a class of "unbraced mouth-resonated bow[s]" with a flattened quill attached to a long string, stretched over a hard stick, acting as the main source of vibration. Holding both hands around the quill, positioned without touching just inside the lips, the player sharply inhales or exhales against it, creating vibration in the string.

Key takeaways

Lesiba belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lesiba to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lesiba from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The term lesiba (Tswana for 'feather') refers to a class of "unbraced mouth-resonated bow[s]" with a flattened quill attached to a long string, stretched over a hard stick, acting as the main source of vibration. Holding both hands around the quill, positioned without touching just inside the lips, the player sharply inhales or exhales against it, creating vibration in the string. This "produces a powerful buzzing sound," usually in short notes on a small, limited scale. Inhalation excites the harmonics of the string, while exhalation is most often accompanied by a throaty grunt, except in players with strong breath, and may be accompanied by humming. Vocalizations create, from a single player, the effect of more than one part. The harmonics used are primarily the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth. The lesiba's construction is unique: "no other class of stringed-wind instrument has been found anywhere else in the world." According to Barrow in 1806, the instrument sounds "like the faint murmurs of distant music that 'comes o'er the ear' without any distinction of notes." Barnard in 1910 noted the loudness of the instrument, while Alberti in 1810 compared the sounds to the "tones of the so-called Hunting-horn," presumably a reference to the shared use of the harmonic series. According to Kirby in 1934, "the tone is, when well produced, very pleasant, partaking of the qualities of both string and wind, reminding one of the Aeolian harp; and it can be varied in power from a faint whisper to a strong, vibrant sound, the air column of the mouth and throat acting as a resonator." Though very few people alive today play this instrument, the "harsh, bird-like sounds" the instrument produces are so well recognised among the Sotho that it is used on Lesotho Radio to signal the start of the news broadcast. The lesiba is the national instrument of the Basotho, a southern African people, now located primarily in South Africa and Lesotho, and the Khoikhoi people of South Africa. The lesiba is played mostly by herdsmen and herdboys to give signals and instructions to their cattle, and, almost as much, for their own entertainment.

Whenever they [a herd] hear him [a herdsman] play [they easily recognize his mode of playing and distinguish him from other performers], they exhibit their appreciation of the music by clustering and huddling around him. As such, studies of the instrument may be classified as zoomusicology, and passages on the instrument are metaphorically compared to various linong (Sotho for 'vultures'). One player, Ntate Thabong Phosa, plays with Sipho Mabuse and can be heard in the song "Thaba Bosiu" on Mabuse's Township Child album.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lesiba

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lesiba claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lesiba before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lesiba ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lesiba

In research: Lesiba appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lesiba in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lesiba is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerophones, Harmonic series (music), Music of Lesotho, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lesiba outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lesiba in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lesiba means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lesiba out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lesiba in simple terms?

Why does Lesiba matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lesiba?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lesiba.