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Description
Charango refers to the Andean tradition of music centered on the charango, a small, bright‑sounding 10‑string lute that emerged in the central Andean highlands during the colonial era.
Typically built today with a carved wooden bowl (historically sometimes with armadillo shell), the instrument uses reentrant tuning (commonly sol–do–mi–la–mi / G–C–E–A–E across five courses), producing a chiming, bell‑like timbre ideal for rapid strums, cross‑rhythms, and tremolo melody lines.
Charango music accompanies and carries the melodies of regional dances and songs such as huayno, carnavalito, cueca boliviana, tinku, kaluyo, and saya, and often appears with panpipes (siku), end‑blown flutes (quena), and bombo/wankara drums. Beyond folk ensembles, the charango has become a solo concert instrument and a modern studio color in film, pop, and world fusion.
History
The charango took shape in the central Andes during the colonial period, adapting Iberian baroque/early guitar and vihuela practices to local craftsmanship and aesthetics. Indigenous and mestizo musicians embraced the compact lute for portability in highland festivities and rituals. Reentrant tuning and dense strumming idioms developed to project melody and rhythm in outdoor settings.
By the late 1800s and early 1900s, distinct Andean regions (especially Bolivia and southern Peru, extending into northwest Argentina and northern Chile) cultivated local repertoires—huayno, cueca boliviana, carnavalito, tinku, kaluyo—where the charango alternated between fast arpeggiated melody, harmonic “campanella” textures, and percussive rasgueados. Larger/smaller relatives (ronroco, charangón) expanded its range, and luthiers refined wooden bowlback builds.
Radio, records, and folk ensembles professionalized charango performance. Virtuosi and pedagogues systematized technique and tunings. During the 1960s–70s Nueva Canción movement, the instrument became a sonic emblem of Andean identity and social protest. Chilean and Bolivian ensembles showcased its capability as both accompanist and lead instrument on international stages.
From the 1980s onward, the charango entered world‑fusion, popular music, and cinema. Composers wrote concert works; players adapted classical techniques (tremolo, campanella scales, mixed articulations) to solo recital contexts. National and regional festivals (notably in Bolivia) fostered pedagogy and luthiery, while modern builders created electro‑charangos and extended‑range models. Today, the instrument is equally at home in traditional ensembles, contemporary folk/rock hybrids, and film and ambient scores.
