The Chinlili, also known as the Chinlilo, is a
chordophone
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
from
Ayacucho
Ayacucho (, , derived from the words ''aya'' ("death" or "soul") and ''k'uchu'' ("corner") in honour of the battle of Ayacucho), founded in 1540 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga and known simply as Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga) until 1825, i ...
,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. It is a variant of the Charango tuned to a lower tone. The frets are laid out
diatonically, and it has 6
courses of 8 metal strings much like a
dulcimer
The term dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments.
Hammered dulcimers
The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...
.
The doubled courses on the instrument are tuned to an octave. The traditional tuning, known as the "temple tuning" of the courses is E - B - G - D - B - G.
The Chinlili was prevalent in Chimaycha songs which portrayed scenes about courtship, love or poverty using metaphors from nature. Historically, the performers were herders who would meet while herding and compose music together. Current indigenous music in cities focuses on social problems and partying. The music is still a forum for people to connect through common issues, but those issues have changed.
References
El Chinlili
String instruments
Peruvian musical instruments
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