Charango
The charango in five languages — charango, Charango, charango
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 查朗戈 |
| English | charango |
| Italian | charango |
| German | Charango |
| French | charango |
The charango is a small plucked instrument from the Andes, usually with ten strings in five double courses. Its traditional back was an armadillo shell, though modern instruments are wooden; its range is high and its sound bright, and it often plays alongside panpipes and vertical flutes. It is common in Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and north-western Argentina.
Watch out: the charango is not a ukulele. Both are small and high, but the charango has five double courses, ten strings in all, while the ukulele usually has four single strings; the charango is tied to Andean tuning and repertoire, the ukulele to Hawaii. Nor is it an ordinary guitar, though it belongs to the plucked family.
Read deeper → The charango
Sources
- 各语种乐器名与安第斯拨弦传统，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Charango"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.