An olaranyani or song leader will call each song by beginning with a namba (numba). Nambas consist of the olaranyani singing a line or tile of a song. The group will respond with one unanimous call in acknowledgment. Each song has its specific namba structure based on call-and-response.

It is said that namba (which appeared around the time of colonial rule in East Africa) comes from the english word ‘number.’ The Maasai observed that placement or ranking was identified as ‘number’ (i.e. ‘number one’). It was used to mark the beginning of a song simply as ‘number.’ With written language came the phonetic spelling taken from an accented pronunciation.

The title of olaranyani depends on which singer can best sing a song. Often several singers may lead a song. Each will start his or her verse with a namba. The olaranyani will sing a verse over the group’s rhythmic throat singing. Olaranyani rhythmic patterns vary from double time to real time or a combination of both. Lyrics follow a typical theme and are often repeated verbatim over time.

Common among groups of women is the call-and-response pattern. Each song is begun with a namba. Throat singing is less common among groups of women. Lullabies and milking songs are homophonic melodies sung by females only. Nonsense phrases stemming from Laleyio, such as hoyi-ho are repeated after a few lines of a verse. Singers will respond to their own verses. This pattern comes from call-and-response polyphonic group singing. The repeated phrase following each verse is sung on a descending scale.