Charango

What it means

The charango is a small plucked instrument of the lute family, native to the Andean region, especially Bolivia and Peru. It has ten strings arranged in five double courses, usually strung with nylon and sometimes with metal strings. Its unusually small body was traditionally made from the dried shell of an armadillo, and today is mostly built from wood.

The charango likely emerged in the post-colonial period among the Quechua and Aymara peoples of the Bolivian highlands, after Spanish settlers brought European string instruments such as the guitar and the vihuela to the region. Its origin is often traced to the Bolivian mining town of Potosí in the sixteenth century, where people of diverse backgrounds came together.

Musical use

The charango is a central instrument of traditional Andean music and is played both as a solo instrument and in ensembles alongside instruments such as the quena flute or the bombo drum. Its high pitch and bright, shimmering sound make it a distinctive melodic and accompanying instrument in music from Bolivia, Peru, and neighboring regions.

The charango should be distinguished from the guitar, with which it shares the basic construction of a fretted plucked instrument: the charango is considerably smaller, tuned higher, and sounds denser because of its double strings, while the guitar has a larger body and single strings.

Performance practice

Practice the charango's typical fast strumming patterns (rasgueo) slowly at first, to control an even stroke across the double strings. Because of its short scale length, pay particular attention to precise fingering changes in the upper positions, where the frets sit close together.