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Kontigi

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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.[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

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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.[1][2] Modern instrument have had the gourd replaced by a can, such as a large sardine can.[1][3] The neck on the Kontigi has "metal disk surrounded by small rings" which make noise as the instrument is moved or played.[2] The tone is high pitched.[2]

Performance

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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, performing solo.[1]

Sample recordings

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Kuntigi". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 487.
  2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "Dan Maraya Jos "Kidan Kashewa" and "Wakar Keren Mota III"". YouTube. 30 January 2016.
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