The kora is mentioned in the Senegalese national anthem " Pincez Tous vos Koras, Frappez les Balafons." The most likely scenario, based on Mandinka oral tradition, suggests that the origins of the kora may ultimately be linked with Jali Mady Fouling Cissoko, some time after the founding of Kaabu in the 16th century. The earliest European reference to the kora in Western literature is in Travels in Interior Districts of Africa (1799) by the Scotsman Mungo Park. The kora is designed like a bow with a gourd, similarly to Ibn Battuta's description, but Battuta did not go into enough detail about the instruments for them to be identifiable. He did not mention the number of strings, but this clearly shows the existence of harp instruments in 14th century Mali and could be the earliest written reference to the kora. In the 1300s, the traveller Ibn Battuta mentioned that the women who accompanied Dugha to perform were carrying bows that they plucked. History Kora (Bridge-Harp Or Plucked Harp-Lute) from St. These scales are close in tuning to western major, minor and Lydian modes. īy moving the konso (a system of leather tuning rings) up and down the neck, a kora player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. In today's environment, players usually prefer or need an electronic pickup. Clamped to the bridge, or the top end of the neck it produced sympathetic sounds, serving as an amplifier since the sound carried well into the open air. Today, most strings are made from harp strings or nylon fishing line, sometimes plaited together to create thicker strings.Ī vital accessory in the past was the nyenmyemo, a leaf-shaped plate of tin or brass with wire loops threaded around the edge. Strings were traditionally made from thin strips of hide, such as cow or antelope skin. Modern koras made in the Casamance region of southern Senegal sometimes feature additional bass strings, adding up to four strings to the traditional 21. Traditional koras feature strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. "Jali" means something similar to a "bard" or oral historian. Most West African musicians prefer the term "jali" to "griot," which is the French word. While those from neighbouring Guinea were known to carry the lute, Senegalese Griots were known as carriers of a hand drum known as the 'sabar'. Though played in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Senegal, the instrument was first discovered in the Gambia. Kora players have traditionally come from jali families (also from the Mandinka tribes) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. Ostinato riffs ("kumbengo") and improvised solo runs ("birimintingo") are played at the same time by skilled players. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style it bears resemblance to a guitar played using the flamenco or Delta blues technique of plucking polyrhythmic patterns with both hands (using the remaining fingers to secure the instrument by holding the hand posts on either side of the strings). The strings originate from a string arm or neck and cross a bridge directly supported by a resonating chamber, also making it a lute. They do not end in a soundboard but are instead held in notches on a bridge, classifying it as a bridge harp. The kora doesn't fit into any one category of musical instrument, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridge-harp-lute." The strings run in two divided ranks, characteristic of a double harp. These strings are supported by a notched, double free-standing bridge. It has 21 strings, each of which plays a different note. The skin is supported by two handles that run underneath it. The kora is built from gourd, cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. It combines features of the lute and harp. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. The kora ( Manding languages: ߞߐߙߊ kɔra ) is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. Toumani Diabaté, Jaliba Kuyateh, Ballaké Sissoko, Sona Jobarteh, Foday Musa Suso, Seckou Keita, Toubab Krewe, Jacques Burtin, Alhaji Bai Konte and sons Dembo and Sherrifo, Mory Kante, Sidiki Jobarteh, Alahji Malamini Jobarteh father of Tatadinding, Pabobo Dembo, Landing Jobarteh, Lalo keba Drameh Jobarteh, Moussa Kouyate Harp, gravi-kora, seperewa, simbing, ngoni, bolon (Acoustic instruments which have a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, in which the plane of the strings lies at right angles to the sound-table a line joining the lower ends of the strings would be perpendicular to the neck. Malian stringed instrument with 21 strings Stringed instrument from West Africa Kora
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