Masenqo

{{Short description|String musical instrument from Ethiopia}} {{Expand language|topic=|langcode=Zh|otherarticle=馬辛可琴|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox instrument | name = Masenqo | names = | image = COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Langhalsluit met 1 snaar TMnr 2997-19a.jpg | image_capt = A traditional Ethiopian ''masinko'' or ''chira-wata'' | background = string | classification = chordophone | hornbostel_sachs = 321.311 | hornbostel_sachs_desc = spike bowed lute | inventors = | developed = | range = | related = *''gusle'' (Dinaric Alps) *''igil'' (Tuvan) *''krar'' (Horn of Africa) | musicians = | builders = | articles = }}

The '''masenqo''' ({{langx|am|ማሲንቆ}}; Tigrinya: ጭራ-ዋጣ (ዋጣ), also known as '''masinko''' or '''mesenko''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/arts/music/review-feedel-band-and-the-libyans-african-sounds-at-the-global-beat-festival.html|title=Review: Feedel Band and the Libyans, African Sounds at the Global Beat Festival|date=May 8, 2015|first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 27, 2025}}</ref> is a single-stringed bowed lute commonly found in the musical traditions of Eritrea and Ethiopia.<ref name=Grove>{{cite NewGrove2001|title=Ethiopia|last=Shelemay|first=Kay Kaufman|volume=viii|pages=355–356}}</ref> As with the krar, this instrument is used by Ethiopian minstrels called ''azmaris'' ("singer" in Amharic).<ref>{{Cite journal | author = Kebede, Ashenafi | title = The "Azmari", Poet-Musician of Ethiopia | journal = The Musical Quarterly | volume = 61 | issue = 1 | pages = 47–57 | date = January 1975 | doi = 10.1093/mq/lxi.1.47 }}</ref> Although it functions in a purely accompaniment capacity in songs, the masenqo requires considerable virtuosity,<ref name=Grove /> as azmaris accompany themselves while singing.

==Construction and design== The square or diamond-shaped resonator is made of four small wooden boards glued together, then covered with a stretched parchment or rawhide. The single string is typically made of horse hair, and passes over a bridge. The instrument is tuned by means of a large tuning peg to fit the range of the singer's voice.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Teferra | first = Timkehet | title = The One-Stringed Fiddle Masinqo: Its Function and Role in Contemporary Ethiopian Music and its Future | publisher = Horizon Ethiopia | year = 2009 | url=http://www.horizonethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=288:the-masinqo&catid=28:music&Itemid=80 | accessdate = 12 Sep 2011 }}</ref> It may be bowed by either the right or left hand, and the non-bow hand sits lightly on top of the upper part of the string.

==See also== * Music of Eritrea * Music of Ethiopia * Rebab

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Eritrean musical instruments Category:Ethiopian musical instruments Category:Bowed string instruments Category:Drumhead lutes Category:One-string fiddles