Charango

Product Information

As the instrument is a little smaller than the ronroco, it tends to adhere to the fourths and fifths tuning convention mentioned above, rather than the full octave tuning employed by most Bolivian musicians.

Charango music is generally played in many traditional Andean musical styles . Some of the most internationally-renowned Andean bands, such as Los Kjarkas, Quillapayun, and Inti-Illimani, play charangos as a main instrument, together with flutes and panpipes. Widely respected master charango players include Ernesto Cavour, Jaime Torres and Federico Tarazona. If you have a limited budget, charangos are generally more widely available and cheaper to ship. It also typifies the sound of the Andes and is likely to be the instrument you’ve heard before through numerous popular and folk music recordings. Only strings 5 & 6 feature the octave stringing configuration, with one ‘E’ tuned to the same note as the high ‘E’ on the 1 st and 2 nd strings and the other ‘E’, an octave lower.The soundboard, or top of the charango, is then attached to the body. This part of the instrument is critical in producing the charango’s unique sound, and its construction requires a great deal of precision. Once the soundboard is attached, the soundhole is carefully cut out. If your charango goes out of tune, read my guide to why fretted instruments go out of tune, and how to fix it. Over time, as woodworking techniques improved and as armadillo populations became protected, the construction of the charango shifted towards wood. This change brought a new range of tonal possibilities, as different types of wood imparted their unique acoustic characteristics to the instrument. Various woods such as mahogany, maple, and chestnut became popular choices, offering not only their acoustic properties but also aesthetic variations. The design of the instrument also evolved, with the number and arrangement of strings varying across different regions and periods. The standard charango now typically features ten strings arranged in five courses. Introduction of Electric Charangos and Other Modern Variations The introduction of the charango in Potosi was as a result of migration within the Quechua populations, through cultural interaction it eventually spread to the larger Andean area. This theory is yet to be proven, however. The creation of a charango is as much a work of art as the music it produces. The process combines traditional techniques passed down through generations with modern adaptations, resulting in an instrument that beautifully embodies the heritage of the Andean region.

Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘El Condor Pasa’, a traditional tune with lyrics by Paul Simon, accompanied by Los Incas.Thirdly, you can always tune to a guitar, i f it has a built-in electronic tuner, which a lot of electro-acoustic models have today. There is another theory of the origin of the charango. According to this theory, the charango initially came to Potosi in Bolivia from colonial Peru in a region known as Ayacucho.