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The garaya or komo is an oval-bodied, two-string spike lute from Niger and Northern Nigeria.
The garaya or komo is an oval-bodied, two-string spike lute from Niger and Northern Nigeria.
Details
Two different versions of the ''garaya'' exist in Nigeria. The Fulani people and Hausa people both have their own version.Hausa ''garaya''
A garaya is around 50 centimeters long, plucked with a plectrum made from stiffened cowhide or hippopotamus hide. It is used by the Hausa people to play traditional music. The instrument has a wooden soundbox in the shape of an oval, covered with goatskin orduiker
A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophina ...
-skin and a neck that goes through both sides of the bowl. From the butt, the strings run across the bowl, and the loose ends are tied to tuning strings (which are wrapped around the neck as anchor points). The lute may have a metal jingle attached to the handle.
A larger version of the instrument is called the ''babbar garaya'' or ''komo''.{{cite book , last=Gourlay , first=K. A. , url=https://archive.org/details/grovedictionaryo0002unse_h8z7/ , title=The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments , date=1984 , publisher=MacMillan Press , editor=Sadie Stanley , volume=2 , place=London , page=454 , article=Komo ''Babbar'' means large. The instrument has a gourd body or soundbox and is about 75 centimeters long.
The ''komo'' (also 2 strings) is equivalent to the ''garaya''. It has a soundbox made from a gourd (instead of wood) and is about 75 centimeters long.
The instruments have traditionally been played to make "praise" songs for hunters, accompanied by gourd rattles. The instruments are used for entertainment, accompanying song and dance. They have also been used in a religious context, part of the "'' bori'' spirit possession cult."
See also
*Krar
Krar (Amharic: ክራር) is a five-or-six stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern ''Krar'' may be amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or violin. The ''Krar'', along wit ...
, a five or six-stranded bowl-shaped lyre used in Ethiopia and Eritrea
References
Spike lutes Drumhead lutes Nigerian musical instruments