Small fretted lute of the Andean regions of Bolivia, central and southern Peru and northern Argentina. It is one of the few hybrid instruments resulting from contact between indigenous and European cultures and is known to have existed by the early 18th century (an example is found in a decorative sculpture at Puno Cathedral, completed in 1755). Its area of distribution, which follows precisely the major colonial trade routes, indicates that it was disseminated by muleteers; its small size may have been partly due to practical considerations of transport.
It is shaped like the Spanish guitar but has a small, thin soundbox and short strings, giving a sharp, high-pitched sound (see illustration). The neck has between five and 18 wooden, bone or metal frets. The soundbox may have a flat wooden back of cedar or walnut, or a round back made of armadillo shell or a single piece of carved wood; its face, which has a round soundhole, is of pine, spruce, cedar or walnut and the bridge is cedar or walnut. The total length of the instrument varies from 45 to 65 cm. The instrument also exists in other forms; it has been made from a round gourd, in a pear-shape of wood or armadillo, and ornately carved in the form of a mermaid. The strings are arranged in four or, more commonly, five single, double or triple courses and number between four and 15; they are of metal, nylon or gut (now rare). Tunings vary according to region and personal taste; those found most frequently are A minor (e''/e''–a'/a'–e''/e'–c''/c''–g'/g') and E minor (b'/b'–e''/e''–b'/b'–g''/g''–d''/d''). In Peru and parts of Bolivia, the charango is also referred to as chillador (from Spanish chillar: ‘to make a high-pitched cry’). The armadillo charango is sometimes called kirkinchu (Quechua for ‘armadillo’) or kirki in Peru and Bolivia, and tatu or mulita in Argentina.
Two distinct contemporary charango traditions may be identified. The Quechua- and Aymara-speaking peasants (campesinos) in much of Peru and Bolivia favour a small wooden flat-backed instrument with five double or triple courses of thin metal strings, which produce a thick treble sound. Campesinos in northern Argentina and the Lake Titicaca region of Peru and Bolivia play a metal-string armadillo charango. A single melodic line is strummed rapidly with the remaining open strings to produce a dense texture; the rhythmic aspect of the music remains dominant. The charango is played only by men as a solo or ensemble instrument and is used predominantly for courting and festival dances. It is also played in certain isolated areas in connection with agricultural and animal fertility ceremonies.
The performers of the mestizo charango tradition in larger towns and urban centres favour an instrument with more bass and a deeper timbre (often the round-backed variant with a low octave string in the central course) and the clearer sound of nylon strings. The music consists of sections that are alternately plucked and strummed. In the former, the melody is plucked and an accompanying harmonic line in parallel 3rds; the chords used in the strummed introduction, interlude and postlude sections are triadic. The charango is used to accompany singing and dancing at family parties and in stage presentations; it is performed solo and in ensembles of string, wind and percussion instruments.
M.P. Baumann: ‘Der Charango: zur Problemskizze eines akkulturierte Musikinstruments’, Musik und Bildung, xi (1979), 603–12
M.P. Baumann: ‘Music of the Indios in Bolivia's Andean Highlands’, World of Music, xxiv/2 (1982), 80–96
T. Turino: ‘The Charango and the Sirena: Music, Magic and the Power of Love’, LAMR, iv (1983), 81–119
T. Turino: ‘The Urban-Mestizo Charango Tradition in Southern Peru: a Statement of Shifting Identity’, EthM, xxviii (1984), 253–70
I. Ruiz: ‘1892–1987: pasado y presente de un cordófono europe en el ambito indígena guaraní’, Asociación Argentina de musicología: Conferencia I: Buenos Aires 1987, 59–70 [with Eng. summary]
THOMAS TURINO