Kontigi

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]

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.

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
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

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
  • Kidan Kashewa by Dan Maraya Jos[4]
  • Wakar Keren Mota III by Dan Maraya Jos[4]

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"".


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