The kora (

Manding languages The Manding languages (sometimes spelt Manden) are a dialect continuum within the Niger–Congo languages, Niger-Congo family spoken in West Africa. Varieties of Manding are generally considered (among native speakers) to be mutually intelligible ...

: ''kɔra'') is a

stringed instrument 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 so ...

used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It has features of the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

Description

The kora is built from a gourd, cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is supported by two handles that run underneath it. It has 21 strings, each of which plays a different note. These strings are supported by a notched, double free-standing

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

. The kora doesn't fit into any one category of musical instrument, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridge-harp-lute." The strings run in two divided ranks, characteristic of a double harp. They do not end in a soundboard but are instead held in notches on a bridge, classifying it as a bridge harp. The strings originate from a string arm or neck and cross a bridge directly supported by a resonating chamber, also making it a lute. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style it bears resemblance to a guitar played using the

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

technique of plucking polyrhythmic patterns with both hands (using the remaining fingers to secure the instrument by holding the hand posts on either side of the strings).

Ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from the Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces inc ...

riffs ("kumbengo") and improvised solo runs ("birimintingo") are played at the same time by skilled players. Kora players have traditionally come from jali families (also from the Mandinka tribes) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. Though played in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, the instrument was first discovered in

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. While those from neighbouring Guinea were known to carry the lute, Senegalese Griots were known as carriers of a hand drum known as the 'sabar'. Most West African musicians prefer the term "jali" to "griot," which is the French word. "Jali" means something similar to a "bard" or oral historian. Traditional koras feature strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. Modern koras made in the Casamance region of southern

sometimes feature additional bass strings, adding up to four strings to the traditional 21. Strings were traditionally made from thin strips of hide, such as cow or antelope skin. Today, most strings are made from harp strings or nylon fishing line, sometimes plaited together to create thicker strings. A vital accessory in the past was the nyenmyemo, a leaf-shaped plate of tin or brass with wire loops threaded around the edge. Clamped to the bridge, or the top end of the neck it produced sympathetic sounds, serving as an amplifier since the sound carried well into the open air. In today's environment, players usually prefer or need an electronic pickup.
By moving the Tuning mechanisms for stringed instruments#Konso, konso (a system of leather tuning rings) up and down the neck, a kora player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. These scales are close in tuning to western

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, minor and Lydian modes.

History

Possible Antecedents

In the 1300s, the traveller

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

mentioned that the women who accompanied Dugha to perform were carrying bows that they plucked. He did not mention the number of strings, but this clearly shows the existence of harp instruments in 14th century Mali and could be the earliest written reference to the kora. The kora is designed like a bow with a gourd, similarly to Ibn Battuta's description, but Battuta did not go into enough detail about the instruments for them to be identifiable.

Legendary Origin

Mandinka oral tradition preserves several legends of the origin of the kora, but all of them claim that the instrument originated in

Kaabu Kaabu (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was a federation of Mandinka kingdoms in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, large parts of today's Gambia, and extending into Koussanar, Kou ...

. In the stories, the famous Jali Mady Woulin
Cissoko
purchased the instrument from a

djinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

or spirit. and was th
first person to play the kora
the first song played was kelefaba.

Modern history

The earliest European reference to the kora in Western literature is in ''Travels in Interior Districts of Africa'' (1799) by the

Scotsman Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (o ...

Mungo Park. The kora is mentioned in the

ese national anthem " Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons." In the late 20th century, a 25-string model of the kora was developed, though it has been adopted by only a few players, primarily in the region of Casamance, in southern Senegal. Some kora players such as Seckou Keita have double necked koras, allowing them to switch from one tuning to another within seconds, giving them increased flexibility. The French Benedictine monks of the Keur Moussa Abbey in Senegal (who possibly were the first to introduce guitar machine heads instead of leather rings in the late seventies) conceived a method based on scores to teach the instrument. Brother Dominique Catta, choirmaster of the Keur Moussa Abbey, was the first Western composer who wrote for the kora (solo pieces as well as duets with Western instruments). An electric instrument modeled on the kora (but made primarily of metal) called the gravikord was invented in the late 20th century by instrument builder and musician Robert Grawi. It has 24 strings and is tuned and played differently than the kora. Another instrument, the gravi-kora, a 21-stringed electro-acoustic instrument, was later developed by Robert Grawi especially for kora players who wanted a modern instrument. Its playing and tuning are the same as the traditional kora. The gravi-kora has been adopted by kora players such as Daniel Berkman, Jacques Burtin, and Foday Musa Suso, who featured it in recordings with jazz innovator

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

, with his band ''Mandingo'', and on Suso's ''New World Power'' album.

Tuning

Nowadays, koras are increasingly made with guitar machine heads instead of the traditional konso (leather rings). The advantage is that they are much easier to tune. The disadvantage is that this design limits the tuning range of the instrument because string lengths are more fixed and lighter strings are needed to lift it much more than a tone. Learning to tune a traditional kora is arguably as difficult as learning to play it, and many tourists who are entranced by the sound while in West Africa buy koras and then find themselves unable to keep it in tune once they are home, relegating it to the status of ornament. Koras can be converted to replace the leather rings with machine heads. Wooden pegs and harp pegs are also used, but both can still cause tuning problems in damper climates unless made with great skill.

Images

File:Brooklyn Museum 61.2 Figure of a Seated Musician Koro Player (2).jpg, alt=A wooden sculpture of a man seated on a low stool, playing a kora which rests on and slightly between his knees. The figure is stylized, with an elaborate hairstyle, the kora body slightly boxy., A kora player wearing a korte necklace, from the central northern Bandiagara Escarpment,

Mopti Region Mopti (Fula language, Fulfulde: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤃𞤮𞥅𞤩𞤼𞤭𞥅, transliterated ''Diiwal Moobti'') is the fifth administrative region of Mali, covering 79,017 km2. Its capital is the city of Mopti. During the Mali War, ...

. The kora neck and handles appear to have broken off. Late 1700s. File:Griot de Niantanso-1872.jpg, Sambou, jali of Niantanso,

, with a Kamalengoni (a relation to the Kora) in 1872. File:Bijoutier et joueurs de kora.jpg, Kora players in Sénégal, 1900. The koras are straight-necked, with handles, carrying cords, tacked skins and small, square soundholes. File:Kora-Player2.jpg, Jali Fily Sissokho playing a 22-string kora, tuned with

konso Karat is a town in south-western Ethiopia and the capital of the Konso Zone in the new South Ethiopia Regional State. Situated 20 km north of the Sagan River at an elevation of , it is also called Pakawle by some of the neighboring inhabita ...

string terminations and strung with nylon monofilament strings, 2008. File:Aid for Trade Global Review 2017 – Day 1 Sona Jobarteh tuning kora.jpg, Sona Jobarteh tuning a 22-string kora with open machine head tuners, 2017. File:Strings of a 21 string Kora harp-lute, Rome - 3497.jpg, Playing position of a kora, showing how the strings are notched into both sides of the square bridge File:Gravi-kora 2 (Photo Jacques Burtin).JPG, The gravi-kora, an

electric instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...

, lacks the

acoustic instrument Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the ad ...

's gourd-and-skin

resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a reso ...

. File:Sri Lankan composer Dinesh Subasinghe playing the kora Lute in Tone Poem program.jpg, Dinesh Subasinghe Performing a Kora Lute. File:4 Koras showing 4 sides.jpg, 4 Koras showing 4 sides File:4 Koras.jpg, 4 Koras (zoom in version)

Scores

As part of the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

of West Africa, music for the kora was not written until the 20th century. Ethnomusicologists were the only ones to record some traditional airs in the normal grand staff method, using the G clef and the F clef. Today, kora scores are written on a single G clef, following the Keur Moussa notation system. This notation system was created for the kora in the late 1970s by Brother Dominique Catta, a monk of the Keur Moussa Monastery (Senegal). The seven low notes that should be written on the F clef are replaced by

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

and written on the G clef. While jali still compose in the traditional way (without writing scores), some Western musicians began to write partitures for the kora and adopted the Keur Moussa notation system at the beginning of the 1980s. More than 200 scores have already been written for kora solo or kora and Western instruments. Two notable Western composers for the kora are Brother Dominique Catta and Jacques Burtin (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

), who wrote most of these scores, though composers like Carole Ouellet (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

), Brother Grégoire Philippe (Monastère de Keur Moussa) and Sister Claire Marie Ledoux (France) have also contributed with their own original works. Derek Gripper (

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) has transcribed a number of West African kora compositions by Toumani Diabaté and others for performance on western-style

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

, and has performed some of these transcriptions on two recordings and in concert from 2012 through 2017.

Selected discography

African composers (oral tradition)

* ''Mali: cordes anciennes'' ("Mali: Ancient Strings"), Sidiki Diabaté, Batourou Sekou Kouyaté and Djelimadi Sissoko, Buda Music, 2000. First published in 1970, this CD was the first album totally devoted to the kora. Sidiki Diabaté was the father of Toumani Diabaté and Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté, and Djelimadi Sissoko was the father of Ballaké Sissoko. Toumani and Ballaké recorded '' New Ancient Strings - Nouvelles Cordes Anciennes'' in 1999 (Hannibal), as a tribute to their fathers. * ''Gambie : l'art de la kora'', Jali Nyama Suso, edited by Roderic Knight, Ocora, 1996. First published in 1972, this CD is also a historical recording. * ''Kora Melodies from the Republic of The Gambia, West Africa'', Alhaji Bai Konte, Recorded and produced by Marc D. Pevar; photography and notes by Marc and Susan Pever. Rounder Records 5001. * ''Jali Kunda - Griots of West Africa & Beyond'', Ellipsis Arts, 1996. A book and a CD edited by Foday Musa Suso, produced by

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

. Photographs by Daniel Lainé. A journey through traditional kora music and three original meetings: kora and piano ("Spring Waterfall" by Foday Musa Suso and

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

); kora and synthesizers ("Lanmbasy Dub'", with Bill Laswell, bass, and

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

, synthesizers); kora and saxophone ("Samma", a duet with jazz saxophonist

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

). * ''The Mandé Variations'', Toumani Diabaté, World Circuit, 2008. Twenty years after his first CD, ''Kaira'' (Hannibal, 1988) - the first CD ever recorded with solo kora pieces without any song, Toumani Diabate alternates traditional pieces on a kora with leather rings and his own creations with a special tuning on a kora with wooden pegs.

Western composers (written music)

* ''Quand renaît le matin'', Abbaye de Keur Moussa, Art et Musique, 2007. First published in 1991, this album gathers pieces composed and performed by Brother Dominique Catta and Carole Ouellet: solo kora pieces, songs with kora accompaniment and a Concerto for flute and three koras. There is also a piece composed by Brother Grégoire for three koras differently tuned and played by one musician. * ''Le Jour des Merveilles'', Jacques Burtin, 3-CD Box Set, Bayard Musique, 2009. Pieces for solo kora, duets with cello, viola, guitar and koto, suites for flute, guitar and three koras.

Notable players

* Toumani Diabaté (

) * Soriba Kouyate (

)
Suntou Susso
(Gambia/UK) * Sidiki Diabaté (Mali) * Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté (Mali) * Foday Musa Suso (Gambia,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

), recorded with

Yerko Lorca
(Spain) * Jali Nyama Suso (Gambia) * Jalli Lamin Kuyateh (Gambia/The Netherlands) * Ablaye Cissoko (

) * Tasana Camara (Guinea) * Mamadou Diabaté (Mali) * Djeli Moussa Diawara also known as Jali Musa Jawara (Guinea, now playing a 32-stringed Kora) * Tunde Jegede (

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) * Sona Jobarteh (Gambia/United Kingdom, female kora player) * David Gilden (

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

) * Seckou Keita (United Kingdom)
Guylene Solon
(Haiti/United States, female kora player) * Prince Diabate * Adam Doughty (United Kingdom) * Bai Konte (Gambia) * Dembo Konte (Gambia) * Kandia Kouyaté (Mali) * Kadialy Kouyaté ( Senegal, United Kingdom) *

Moussa Kouyate Moussa Kouyate (born 1956) is a kora player from Bamako, Mali. His father, Batourou Sekou Kouyate, was also a prominent kora player. Biography In 2003, Moussa Kouyaté came to Finland to record his album ''Finlandiafrica'', which was produced by ...

(Mali) * N'Faly Kouyate (Guinea) * Jaliba Kuyateh (Gambia) * Jacques Burtin (

) * William Parker (United States) * Justin Perkins (United States) * Lamin Saho (Gambia) * Ballaké Sissoko (Mali) * Papa Susso (Gambia) * Alhaji Bai Konte (Gambia) * Momi Maiga (Senegal) * Marleen Stempel (Germany)

References

Bibliography

* Eric Charry, ''Mande Music : Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa'', University of Chicago Press, 2000. * Ousmane Sow Huchard, ''La kora : objet-témoin de la civilisation manding : essai d'analyse organologique d'une harpe-luth africaine'', Presses universitaires de Dakar, Dakar, 2000.

External links

Cora Connection

Kora Music

History of the 'Keur Moussa' kora

* ttp://www.DennisHavlena.com/ Web-page of Dennis Havlena—Contains a number of construction articles for koras and accessories {{DEFAULTSORT:Kora (Instrument) Harp lutes Harps String instruments West African musical instruments