Stringed Music of the Americas
The string requires several characteristics in order to qualify it for musical use. There needs to be a degree of flexibility, elasticity, and durability in order for it to produce resonance and tone. The circumstances that lead to the first person discovering that these qualities existed within the intestinal tract of animals must be an amazing story. Whatever the circumstances, I think it curious that those discoveries did not prevail in the Americas, yet it prevailed elsewhere, like in the Indus, Mesopotamian, Eastern, and Egyptian cultures. It might be that the materials used for string and rope production simply did not afford themselves the necessary elasticity required to produce a pitch. Perhaps, in the case of the Andean peoples, their diet was so dominantly aquarian based that there wasn’t enough opportunity to encounter animal intestines in a way that lead to someone considering them usable for musical purposes. Whatever the case may be, it is fairly certain that the use of stringed instruments did not evolve until brought here by Spanish conquistadors. Once here, the local populations, in concert with the immigrants, made quick integration of the guitar, mandolin, and lute into the repertoire and early modifications lead to a whole new family of native instruments. If strings weren’t initially part of the performative family, it was a welcomed addition.
The charango is one of the early adaptations of new instrumentation. It resembled the guitar and is likely a descendant of it. The body was traditionally made from the dried-out body of an armadillo, though today’s instruments are typically produced from wood to create a higher quality tonal production. Zoila Mendoza writes in his study of the instrument that its smaller construction may be attributed to “the fact that it could be hidden inside the poncho so that it would not be seen by the Spaniards as this instrument was forbidden.” The strings are set in a series of 5 doubles and are tuned to a unique re-entry style, meaning that they are tuned in such a way that does not proceed from high to low, rather, they re-enter the octave in terms of pitch. While this is not the norm for most traditional tuning methods, its is not entirely uncommon. Other instruments that use this tuning include the banjo, ukulele, some guitar tunings, and steel guitar tunings. What is impressive about the charango’s is that it is tuned inside the octave and when played, it has unusually resonated 9th and 11th chord presence, as a result of its pitch order. The fingerboard and headstock are quite large in proportion to the body, and it has a remarkably high sound, reminiscent of the mandolin, though its tonal qualities are often equated with the harp.
The charango appears by the early 18th century, though it is possible that it was invented earlier. Today it uses nylon and gut, and in a few rare cases, steel strings. The late 18th century would see the rise of the guitarre théorbée, also referred to as the chitarra atiorbata, but more commonly known as the harp guitar. This instrument is making a small comeback in modern times and has recently entered The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (Gregg Miner, author, 2014). The harp guitar came into existence in the 1800s and was unique in its use of fretted and floating strings. The upper course of strings were unfretted bass strings that broadened the tonal range. The Museum of Music Making cites, “In 1659, G.B. Granata of Italy wrote a series of compositions for a "chitarra atiorbata," an instrument with seven floating bass strings below the guitar's then-standard five strings.” By the late 1800s, the more common use of steel strings made this instrument a welcomed addition to guitar and mandolin combos that wanted chordal accompaniment to compliment the underlying harmonies. By the 1920s, as the rise of electronic music flourished, it fell out of favor. Today, the nuance of the harp guitar has returned, and several specialty manufacturers have options for those who wish to add this instrument to their collection.
The arpa jarocha, or Mexican harp, is another prominent American stringed instrument that has entered the ensemble of modern times. It is commonly played while standing, although early 16th through 19th century examples are smaller and depict the musician sitting. The modern Paraguayan harp, another type of stringed instrument in the harp family, is roughly 5 feet tall, with a single sound hole in the bottom of the sound box. Occasionally one or more sound holes are added to the back of the sound box. It weighs about 7 and 12 pounds and is bright and powerful. The Spanish colonial priest were known to teach the native populations how to play a build the instruments. Jesuit Father Sepp, in 1692 is quoted as saying “The Indians built very good musical instruments, among them trumpets, clarinets, harps…” by Alfred Renaldo Ortiz, famed musician of the instrument. His website notes,
“The usual number of strings is 36, but some have as many as 40. The string spacing is overall narrower than in other Latin American harps, but the spacing increases toward the lower range to allow more room for the fingers and the string vibrations. Traditionally the tuning pegs were made of hard wood, and today are of aluminum. Sometimes guitar-type mechanical tuning pegs are used.”
The addition of stringed instruments to an already impressive ensemble of wind and percussion has made the Americas a vibrant, diverse, and elaborate place for musical expression to flourish. Though much of these traditions were bore through oppression, slavery, and war, the result has been a rich and vibrant expanse of harmony, versatility, diversity, and sound. There are many more examples of how the simple and ancient technology of the string has enriched the musical expression of mankind, but I will leave you with a sample of a modern American group from Peru, including the harp, violin, flutes, and percussion. It’s a wonderful mix of several world cultures, performed by The Choquehuillca family: experts in the harp, bandurria, and orquestín styles from the town of San Pablo in the Sicuani valley between Cusco and Lake Titicaca, Peru.
Sources:
· Monica Hall, “The chitarra atiorbata and guitare theorbée”, (June, 2012)
· Alfredo Rolando Ortiz, “Harp Spectrum, Exploring the World of Harp” 1991
· Zoila Mendoza “Creating Our Own: Folklore, Performance, and Identity in Cuzco, Peru” (Duke University Press, 2008)