However, the number of frets ranges from five to eighteen. The overall length of a typical charango is about 66 cm, with a string scale length of about 37 cm. Aside from these visual distinctions, it resembles a small ukulele. The charango's ten strings require quite a large headstock, often approaching or even exceeding the size of its diminutive sound box. Unlike most wooden lutes, the body and neck are typically made of a single block of wood, carved into shape. Traditionally made with a dried armadillo shell for the back and wood for the soundbox top, neck etc, today charangos are commonly made of wood, with a bowled back imitating the shape of the armadillo shell. El Charango the film Construction File:Parts of the Charango 1.jpg The 2005 documentary film "El Charango" (director, Jim Virga editor, Tula Goenka assoc producer and sound, Andrew Reissiger) sheds light on the relationship between the charango and Cerro Rico, site of the worlds largest silver deposit and therefore the most likely location of the charango's birthplace. It is believed the charango came to be what it is today in the early part of the 18th century in the Andes somewhere in modern-day Bolivia probably from Amerindian contact with Spanish settlers. Assuming the chroniclist is not representing the actual "charango" it is very important to notice that the image he presented is dated in the early 17th century, registering the musical mestizaje of the chord instruments in Bolivia. Turino mentions he found carved sirens representing playing charangos in some Colonial churches in the highlands of the Altiplano Boliviano.įile #857 of The New Chronicle of Guaman Poma eloquently expresses under the suggestive title "Indian Criollos" a drawing and text representing the Indigenes of Bolivia playing a similar instrument. around here in the Andes of Bolivia they called them Charangos". The first historic information on the charango was gathered by Vega going back to 1814, when a cleric from Tupiza documented that "the Indians used with much enthusiasm the guitarrillos mui fuis. Another story says that the Spaniards prohibited natives from practicing their ancestral music, and that the charango was a (successful) attempt to make a lute that could be easily hidden under a garment such as a poncho. One story says that the native musicians liked the sound the vihuela made, but lacked the technology to shape the wood in that manner. Was it born of the vihuela, bandurria(mandolin) or the lute? There are many stories of how the charango came to be made with its distinctive diminutive soundbox of armadillo. It is not clear from which Spanish stringed instrument the charango is a direct descendant. try improvising with these chords over a progession in Fmajor.and of course, if the key changes, just reharmonize and you're good to go.When the Spanish conquistadores came to Bolivia, they brought the vihuela (an ancestor of the classical guitar) with them. If you notice, this allows you to move chromaticllay up or down the fretboard without skipping a fret on the high E.sweet. Now of course, you can feel free to use tastier extensions than just the 7th (9ths, 13ths, whatever)īut where this gets REALLY fun is to connect the dots with passing diminshed chords. so in my next example, here's the F major scale harmonized in block chords (Fmajor, Gminor, Aminor, Bbmajor, C dominant, Dminor, E diminished) i'll use sevenths, so you'll see Fmaj7, Gm7, Am7, Bbmaj7, C7, Dm7, Em7b5, and back to Fmaj7 "block chord technique" refers to something guys like wes and ed bickert were masters of, improvising using not single notes, but block chords. There's a lot of names for that chord, but we'll call it an Fmaj7 for the sake of my example. Well, pete, on the guitar block chords are basically a four note voicing on four adjacent strings, often the D G B and E.
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