The charango is a small instrument from the Andes, historically made out of the body of an armadillo and strung with doubled strings in 5 courses (10 strings total). Today, most opt to play charangos made of wood or calabash gourds, since wood is said to sound better than armadillo. Wood is more widely available and less fragile/temperamental than plates of thick armadillo leather glued to wood, so armadillo charangos have become a bit of a rarity. The exact place of origin for this instrument may be unclear, but it is often played in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile today.
We may never know why the armadillo was used as the soundbox for the charango, but there are at least a couple theories. It's possible that technology for shaping wood into a box was beyond the means of Andean musicians during the Spanish occupation. Quite possibly, there were not many trees to be found in the high altitudes around Potosí (read more on this here). It's also likely that native music was prohibited by the conquistadors, and the smaller instrument was more easily concealed (beneath a poncho for instance).
The charango sounds a bit like a thumb piano crossed with a ukulele, with a similar tonality to the plucked strings of a harpsichord. The size as well as re-entrant tuning is indeed quite similar to that of a ukulele. The Strings are tuned as follows: G4 G4 • C5 C5 • E5 E4 • A4 A4 • E5 E5 (where the middle two strings are tuned an octane apart, and everything else is tuned in unison). There are many pitch duplications, helping to create a rich, full sound with a considerably small soundbox. Because of the tuning, it can be harder to play melodies than chords, but the chords are very sparkly and sweet in tone, much like a mandolin!
TUNING AND CHORD TUTORIALS:
- Chord and Strumming Basics
- 3 Finger Picking and Strumming Techniques
- Even more Chord Shapes
- Learn Scales, Chords, and a Melody
Bolivian charanguista Ernesto Cavour has made the case that the charango was likely inspired by the vihuela (more on this here), a lute-family instrument that the Spanish conquistadors brought with them in the mid-1500s. He suggests that the name charango could also be a mispronunciation of the Spanish word "charanga," meaning brass band, or it could be related to a word "charanguero" meaning rough or rustic. However, there is little in the way of written history about the instrument or its name until 1814, and no mention at this point of armadillos, which would seem to be an important detail worth mentioning!
LISTEN TO CHARANGO PERFORMANCES:
- Ernesto Cavour - "El Vuelo del Picaflor"
- Federico Tarazona - "El Condor Pasa"
- Oscar Miranda - "Charango de los Andes"
If you're looking to get started playing some charango yourself, you can find some on our online store – basic and rosette models, made of wood.