When Spanish and Portuguese travellers set off to discover lands in the new world in the early 19th Century, they took with them their musical instruments. The most popular and most portable instruments at the time were small lute type instruments such as the vihuela, and the machete. In Europe, these instruments developed into the guitar, in Hawaii they developed into the ukulele and in Bolivia they developed in the charango.

Size

The charango is about the size of a ukulele (but with a much wider neck). The average length of a charango is sixty six centimetres with the played part of the string (the scale length) being around thirty three centimetres.

Legend has it that the charango is small as the Spanish had outlawed the traditional music of Bolivia. The native Bolivians developed the charango so it could be easily hidden beneath a poncho should any Spanish soldiers arrive.

The Strings

The charango has ten strings. These strings are divided into groups of two. The string order, starting nearest your head, is G, C, E, A, E. The strings are in unison with the exception of the first set of E strings where one string is tuned an octave lower. This tuning is very similar to the ukulele (with only the high E strings being different).

Materials

Traditionally, the body of the charango has been made from the shell of an armadillo. This makes the instrument very individual. However, in recent years, there have been some environmental concerns over the use of armadillo shells and they are now produced from wood more often - particularly the high quality ones. Also, armadillo shells are much less durable than ones made of wood.

Playing the Charango

If you know how to play the guitar or the ukulele, you have a big advantage when it comes to learning to play the charango. The GCEA strings of the charango are exactly the same as a ukulele, or the top four strings of a guitar capoed at the fifth fret. Just use the chord shapes you are already familiar with. As for the top E string, the easiest option is to just double what you are playing on the other E string. If you are playing that E string open, do the same for the top E string. If you are playing that E string at the third fret, play the top E string at the third fret and so on.

The charango is a great instrument for anyone who already plays a fretted instrument to pick up. It will be instantly familiar yet present you with a whole range of new sounds and note combinations.