| Themes > Arts > Music > Musical Instruments > Musical Instruments of Africa > Lute | |
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Of
the many lutes which appear in different guises throughout the world,
those played in Africa often have a boat-shaped sound-box with a fairly
long neck, of wood, which enters the resonator through the skin sound-table.
These lutes must have existed in early antiquity, as similar instruments
may be seen in the hands of the women musicians depicted in the reliefs
and paintings of ancient Egypt. In Chad, the lute used among the populations of Tibesti has two strings tuned to the third - an extra string may be added in order to perform certain pieces; these are fastened to the wooden neck with leather straps. The belly of the instrument consists of a hemispherical vessel, of wood, gourd or metal (often a household utensil), covered with a camel skin. Its use is reserved for the men, who play their lutes as a solo instrument at evening gatherings or to beguile the solitude of the traveler far from his village.
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