Tebiban School
A School of Traditional and Spiritual Instruments
Each has its own voice in Ethiopian music — the begena for prayer, the kirar for song, the masinqo for story, the washint for breath. We teach all four.
What we teach
Four instruments, one tradition
Each has its own voice in Ethiopian music — the begena for prayer, the kirar for song, the masinqo for story, the washint for breath. We teach all four.
Begena
The harp of David
A ten-string ceremonial lyre with a deep, meditative voice. Played in prayer and contemplation rather than performance.
Browse instruments in the market
Kirar
The voice of song
A six-string bowl-lyre carried through weddings, feasts and street corners. The instrument most Ethiopians know by ear.
Browse instruments in the market
Masinqo
The storyteller
A single-stringed bowed lute with a diamond soundbox, played with a horsehair bow. The azmari's instrument, and the closest to the human voice.
Browse instruments in the market
Washint
The breath
A bamboo flute tuned to the four kiñits — Tizita, Bati, Ambassel and Anchihoye — the modes that carry Ethiopian melody.
Browse instruments in the market
Why it matters
This music was never written down
Ethiopian traditional and spiritual music passes from a teacher to a student, in a room, by ear. That is how it has survived, and it is also how it can be lost. A student in Addis Ababa can find a master; one in Toronto or Dubai usually cannot.
Taught by ear, for centuries
There is no standard notation for the begena. What a teacher knows, a student learns by sitting with them.
Distance breaks the chain
The instruments travel with the diaspora. The teaching does not, unless something carries it.
Sacred, not decorative
The begena accompanies prayer and fasting. Learning it is closer to learning liturgy than to learning a hobby.
Who teaches
Decon BirhaneMeskel
ዲያቆን ብርሃነ መስቀል
Chief Instructor, Tebiban School
Lessons at Tebiban are prepared and taught under the direction of our Chief Instructor.
Learn with us
A course you can actually follow
Structured lessons in a fixed order, so you always know what comes next and what you have already covered.
Explore coursesModules and lessons, in sequence
A course is a path, not a playlist. Each lesson builds on the one before it.
Your progress is remembered
Finish a lesson and it stays finished, on any device you sign in from.
Checks along the way
Short quizzes confirm a lesson landed before the next one assumes it.
A certificate anyone can verify
Complete a course and you receive a certificate with a serial number that can be checked publicly.
English and Amharic
The whole platform, in both languages, chosen from the header.
Free to enrol
Tebiban courses cost nothing to join.
The market
Instruments from the artisans who make them
Handcrafted instruments and sacred items, sent from Addis Ababa. Tebiban is the only seller — there is no marketplace of strangers here.
- Bought directly from Tebiban, not from resellers
- Pay by CBE or Telebirr and send us the receipt
- Every payment is checked by a person before your order moves
Get in touch
Talk to the school
Questions about the instruments, the lessons or an order — message us and a person will answer.
