Not wishing necessarily to inject another option into the mix, I think sometimes we tend to look at some instruments from a European/Western point of view and give little credit to the countries where some of the instruments in question can be, or were found. We look at these instruments as the bastard offspring of something European settlers/conquerors brought to the area. Is it impossible that they were developed independently of European influence? Best example I know is an instrument, the name of which escapes me, played by the Chinese. It looks very much like a lute but is much older, and as far as I know not influenced by European contact. To think that a bunch of strings stretched over a hollow surface to produce sounds at varying pitches as being an exclusive European idea is a little arrogant and narrow of vision. Is it not possible that the Charango existed before the Spanish and Portuguese influence became dominant in the area, and only after words did it evolve into something tuned to please European influence?
Vance Wood. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Posner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 3:26 PM Subject: Re: charango as vihuela > kilpatrickbill > > > i've come to suspect, however, that "charango" is merely a word > > south americans give to a european vihuela de mano. > > it would also be fair to say that contributors to wayne's lute list > > have proved somewhat cool to the idea. > > > may i ask for your opinion? > > Are you talking about the little five-course instrument in re-entrant tuning > that was traditionally made from armadillo backs and is often heard in > Andean music? If so, it's not a vihuela. Granted, our evidence of the > Spanish vihuela da mano is skimpy, but it all points to an instrument quite > different from the charango; bigger and with six courses, and with a > different body style. The charangos I've seen strike me as having far more > in common with a small baroque guitar, including the re-entrant tuning and > playing style. > > > i think the question of whether the charango is an altogether different > > instrument rests on whether the first charango ever made was created > > intentionally as something different than its vihuela predecessor or did the > > first > > luthier to make a "charango" think he was making another vihuela? > > I think this is of interest only if you, personally, own that first > charango. We have no way of knowing about the first charango, but even if > that first maker tried to make a six-course vihuela, he didn't. > > HP > >
