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Kontigi

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One-stringed African lute
Kontigi with metal body made from oval can.
Side view of a kontigi. The lute has a elongated or oval half-calabash soundbox. It is small, about 12 inches long, with a high pitch.

A kontigi or kuntigi is a one-stringed African lute played by the Hausa, Songhai and Djerma. A 3-string version teharden is used among the Tamashek.

The instrument is used in Hausa music, primarily in northern Nigeria and Niger, and among Hausa minorities in Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. It is also found among Islamized peoples throughout West Africa (see Xalam). The best-known player of the kontigi is Dan Maraya.

Characteristics

Kontigi, bottom row, third from left.

The instrument uses a calabash gourd as the body of the instrument, covered by skin, with a stick for a neck. Modern instrument have had the gourd replaced by a can, such as a large sardine can. The neck on the Kontigi has "metal disk surrounded by small rings" which make noise as the instrument is moved or played. The tone is high pitched.

Performance

The instrument is used to perform "praise songs" by professional musicians or by Griots in Nigeria. A well-known musician who used the instrument was Dan Maraya, who recorded albums. The instrument is used in Niger by children and men, performing solo.

Sample recordings

A kontigi as illustrated by P. G. Harris in his 1932 article Notes on Drums and Musical Instruments Seen in Sokoto Province, Nigeria
  • Kidan Kashewa by Dan Maraya Jos
  • Wakar Keren Mota III by Dan Maraya Jos

See also

References

  1. ^ Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Kuntigi". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 487.
  2. ^ Francis Bebey (1975). African Music A People's Art. Translated by Josephine Bennett. Brooklyn, New York: Lawrence Hill Books. p. 46. ISBN 1-55652-128-6.
  3. ^ Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos; Adamu Abu, Abuja (21 June 2015). "Dan Maraya Jos dies at 69". The Guardian. As a Nigerian Hausa Griot, he was popular for playing the Kontigi, a small, single-stringed lute, whose body is usually a large, oval-shaped sardine can covered with goatskin.
  4. ^ "Dan Maraya Jos "Kidan Kashewa" and "Wakar Keren Mota III"". YouTube. 30 January 2016.

External links


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