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From Africa to the New World ♦ The New World Banjo ♦ African Ancestors ♦ Lute Family ♦ Related Topics ♦ Please note: This site is currently under construction. For the latest in modern banjo roots research, please visit: http://www.myspace.com/banjoroots
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From Oud to Uke: A Lute by Any Other Name by Guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, oud, saz, tar, bouzouki, lauto, cuatro, charango, sitar, setar, sanxian, shamisen, gimbri, xalam, akonting, violin, rebab, erhu.... The list goes on and on.... All these disparate musical instruments share one thing in common: They're all members of the lute family of string instruments. And of all the myriad different types of string instruments found the world over, those of the lute family are, perhaps, the most widespread and popular. According to the Hornbostel/Sachs system of classifying musical instruments, the designation lute refers to any type of composite chordophone-- that is a string instrument on which the parts that bear the strings and the resonating sound chamber are integral-- which has a neck (string bearing member) emanating from the body (resonating sound chamber). Another major characteristic is that the given instrument's strings run parallel to its soundtable-- the top of the instrument's resonating sound chamber which vibrates when the strings are plucked or bowed. The English word lute and the various other European terms for this class of instruments-- for example, luth (French), laute (German), lauto (Italian), and laúd (Spanish)-- are all derivations of al-'ud, the Arabic name for the oud, the Middle Eastern/Near Eastern plucked-string instrument with a pear-shaped body and vaulted back that was the ancestor of the classic Western Europe lute. In the Hornbostel/Sachs system, the lute category encompasses bowed-string fiddles-- for example, the European violin, the Arab/ North African rebab, Chinese erhu and so on-- as well as plucked-string instruments, like the modern guitar, banjo, mandolin, and ukulele, and their kin: the Chinese pipa, the Near Eastern tanbur, the Japanese shamisen, and the Indian sitar, to name but a few of the myriad kinds of plucked lutes found around the world. |
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