Kontigi

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.

  1. ^ a b 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 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.