History of Stringed Instruments
Austin Harris
Archaeology ANT 240-01
23 April 2011
Construction of Stringed Instruments
The construction and design of stringed instruments like the banjo and guitar has changed and evolved over time due to: cultural movements, technological advancements, innovation, diffusion and migration. Certain stringed instrument designs and styles evolved independently in different cultures as inventions. These instrument designs were a byproduct of the musical traditions of each society. They evolved with the changes in that society and also due to diffusion and migration. The banjo traces its origins to several ancient instruments from the Far East, the Middle East (like the 3 string Rebec) and from Africa: all consisted of a skin stretched over a gourd or hollow body with gut strings stretched from this drum to the attached stick neck. These strings could be strummed like a banjo, plucked like a harp or even bowed.
[pic]
The musician on the left is playing a spike lute of the Jola in Senegal called an ekonting which has 3 strings and a gourd body.
These early gourd instruments from Africa were most likely a result of innovation from individual instrument makers. Their designs remained a secret within their perspective communities until the slave trade caused diffusion and migration within Africa and over to Europe and America. The banjos remained in their rough shape mainly because of technological limitations of construction. They did not have table saws or band saws to form a flat fingerboard or tuning pegs. They certainly had no ability to form metal frets. The “banjar”, “banza” or “banshaw” began to spread with African slaves in the 1700’s who brought it to Europe and America.
[pic]
Manjak tradition-bearer Francis Mendy playing his people's folk lute, the gourd-bodied 3-string bunchundo, in Banjul, Gambia, 2004.
[pic]The Gurmi from Nigeria
The stringed instruments from the Far East and the Middle
Archaeology ANT 240-01
23 April 2011
Construction of Stringed Instruments
The construction and design of stringed instruments like the banjo and guitar has changed and evolved over time due to: cultural movements, technological advancements, innovation, diffusion and migration. Certain stringed instrument designs and styles evolved independently in different cultures as inventions. These instrument designs were a byproduct of the musical traditions of each society. They evolved with the changes in that society and also due to diffusion and migration. The banjo traces its origins to several ancient instruments from the Far East, the Middle East (like the 3 string Rebec) and from Africa: all consisted of a skin stretched over a gourd or hollow body with gut strings stretched from this drum to the attached stick neck. These strings could be strummed like a banjo, plucked like a harp or even bowed.
[pic]
The musician on the left is playing a spike lute of the Jola in Senegal called an ekonting which has 3 strings and a gourd body.
These early gourd instruments from Africa were most likely a result of innovation from individual instrument makers. Their designs remained a secret within their perspective communities until the slave trade caused diffusion and migration within Africa and over to Europe and America. The banjos remained in their rough shape mainly because of technological limitations of construction. They did not have table saws or band saws to form a flat fingerboard or tuning pegs. They certainly had no ability to form metal frets. The “banjar”, “banza” or “banshaw” began to spread with African slaves in the 1700’s who brought it to Europe and America.
[pic]
Manjak tradition-bearer Francis Mendy playing his people's folk lute, the gourd-bodied 3-string bunchundo, in Banjul, Gambia, 2004.
[pic]The Gurmi from Nigeria
The stringed instruments from the Far East and the Middle