by Prof. Lydia Ayers Chordophones: Strings • A vibrating string produces sound. • Important elements are the string and a rigid frame to hold it tight. • Plucked • Struck • Bowed • Air North American Folk Music • Where was the farmer who wanted to win the Nobel prize? • Out standing in his field…. African Bow Harp • <8:07> lullaby – accompanied by bow harp with gourd resonator, struck with stick – Zulu people, Republic of South Africa • African myth about the origin of Swazi man plays a musical bow http://viewimages.lycos.com/LycosPurchase.a the bow harp: sp?imageid=AR000357&partnerid=12 A young girl went out for a walk. She knelt down and drank water with cupped hands at a stream. At the very moment when she had satisfied her thirst, a man dealt her a strong blow on the nape of the neck. As she died, she immediately transformed into a musical bow; her body became the wood, her limbs the cord, her head the sound box, and her spirit the melancholy and sentimental music. Berimbau • bow and arrow-like instrument • folk ritual • from African jungles of Angola to Bahia, Brazil • played by striking the string with a stick while stopping the string with a coin and holding a shaker Berimbau • How to build and play the berimbau probably came to Brazil from Africa • Often compared to the moans of slaves longing for their African homeland • African musical bow primarily a solo instrument • Brazilian bow developed into an ensemble instrument, employed in public performances of capoeira and samba • The word berimbau is Portuguese <8:08> Capoeira • Brazilian dance from martial arts • accompanied by berimbau – high note produced by coin pressed against string (stopped) – low note on open string (unstopped) EKTARA / GOPI YANTRA • Bengal folk instrument • Spherical resonator made of dried pumpkin, wood or coconut • Split bamboo cane neck • String attached through skin membrane on the bottom of the resonator http://www.indian- instruments.com/stringed_instruments/ektara_gopiyantra.htm One String Phono Fiddle • A web search for “one string instrument” produced a picture of the phono fiddle – The bell amplifies the sound!! http://www.carolenoakes.co.uk/market/otherstrings/CNS730.htm Monochord: Đàn bầu • Vietnamese • Wood box resonator, with a flexible vertical stick (neck), to which one end of its string is tied • Uses mostly harmonic overtones • Subtle ornamentations, glissandi and imitation of the human voice produced by simultaneously plucking the string and pulling the vertical stick • [iii:38] Hanh van from Tieng Đàn bầu.