Engineering:Kontigi

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A kontigi or kuntigi is a one-stringed African lute played by the Hausa, Songhai, and Djerma.[1][2] A 3-string version teharden is used among the Tamashek.[2]

The instrument is used in Hausa music, primarily in northern Nigeria and Niger,[1] 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

File:Instruments de musique traditionnelle au Musée BOUBOU HAMA de Niamey.jpg
Kontigi, bottom row, third from left.

The instrument uses a calabash gourd as its body, covered with skin, with a stick for a neck.[1][2] Modern instruments have had the gourd replaced by a can, such as a large sardine can.[1][3] The neck on the Kontigi has "a metal disk surrounded by small rings," which makes noise as the instrument is moved or played.[2] The tone is high-pitched.[2]

Performance

The instrument is used to perform "praise songs" by professional musicians or by Griots in Nigeria.[1][3] A well-known musician who used the instrument was Dan Maraya, who recorded albums.[1][3] The instrument is used in Niger by children and men who perform solo.[1]

Sample recordings

File:Kontigi, as observed by P. G. Harris, 1932.jpg
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[4]
  • Wakar Keren Mota III by Dan Maraya Jos[4]

See also

  • Krar

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Gourlay, K. A. (1984). Sadie Stanley. ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 487. https://archive.org/details/newgrovedictiona0002unse_w8l1. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Francis Bebey (1975). African Music A People's Art. Brooklyn, New York: Lawrence Hill Books. p. 46. ISBN 1-55652-128-6. https://archive.org/details/africanmusicpeop0000bebe/page/46/mode/2up. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos; Adamu Abu, Abuja (21 June 2015). "Dan Maraya Jos dies at 69". The Guardian (Lagos, Nigeria). https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/national/dan-maraya-jos-dies-at-69/. "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. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Dan Maraya Jos "Kidan Kashewa" and "Wakar Keren Mota III"". 30 January 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bWbXz4FEAo. 




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