Chitarra battente
Encyclopedia
The chitarra battente also known as "chitarra italiana" is a musical instrument, a chordophone
of the lute
family. At a casual glance, it is similar to the everyday classical guitar
, but larger and typically strung with four steel strings. Nowadays it is typical of folk music mainly in Calabria
, Puglia, Basilicata
and Campania
, as well as in other areas of southern Italy; in previous centuries was common in most of central and southern Italy.
Locals refer to the instrument, simply, as the "guitar," using the term “French guitar” for what is general called elsewhere “guitar,” meaning the classical guitar. That designation of “French” is almost certainly wrong, since all reliable sources claim a Spanish origin for the modern six-string six-course classical guitar. (A “course” is a string or strings played as a single unit. A mandolin, for example, has eight strings, but they are arranged in close-spaced pairs, and each pair is fingered and plucked simultaneously, as if ithe pair were a single string -- thus, it is an eight-string, four-course instrument.) The chitarra battente, then, would be a four-string, four-course instrument. There are also versions of the chitarra battente that are 10-string, 5-course, meaning that the ten strings are grouped into five close-spaced pairs.
There is great variation in the size of the bouts (the rounded “hourglass” curves of the body of the instrument), kinds of wood, shape of the back, decorations, number of frets, etc. The strings are tuned in what is called a “re-entrant” system; that is, unlike a modern classical guitar, the progression from the bottom string to the top string does not simply go up in pitch, progressively. Here, in the four-string instrument, the third string (from the bottom) is lower than the second. Thus, a typical tuning of the four-string chitarra battente, bass to treble, is A-D-B-E, where the third string, the B, is lower than the second string, the D.
The instrument is played without a plectrum, and the fingers achieve a wide of effects through plucking, strumming, beating the strings or the sound board, etc. The chitarra battente is typically used to accompany songs and dancing and is not used as a solo instrument. The most important center of production is in Bisignano
in the province of Cosenza
.
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
of the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
family. At a casual glance, it is similar to the everyday classical guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, but larger and typically strung with four steel strings. Nowadays it is typical of folk music mainly in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, Puglia, Basilicata
Basilicata
Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...
and Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, as well as in other areas of southern Italy; in previous centuries was common in most of central and southern Italy.
History
The people of the area consider it a folk instrument, though it may have non-folk origins as an import from elsewhere centuries ago. Musicologists refer to the "historical" as well as the "folk" chitarra battente; the latter is the one folk musicians in southern Italy mean when they refer to the instrument. There are versions of the historical 17th instrument in museums, but the commonly played folk instrument comes in three sizes: small, medium, large. The medium and large instruments are the most popular; the small instrument is a toy and has traditionally been used to train children to play (much as quarter- and half-sized violins are used).Locals refer to the instrument, simply, as the "guitar," using the term “French guitar” for what is general called elsewhere “guitar,” meaning the classical guitar. That designation of “French” is almost certainly wrong, since all reliable sources claim a Spanish origin for the modern six-string six-course classical guitar. (A “course” is a string or strings played as a single unit. A mandolin, for example, has eight strings, but they are arranged in close-spaced pairs, and each pair is fingered and plucked simultaneously, as if ithe pair were a single string -- thus, it is an eight-string, four-course instrument.) The chitarra battente, then, would be a four-string, four-course instrument. There are also versions of the chitarra battente that are 10-string, 5-course, meaning that the ten strings are grouped into five close-spaced pairs.
There is great variation in the size of the bouts (the rounded “hourglass” curves of the body of the instrument), kinds of wood, shape of the back, decorations, number of frets, etc. The strings are tuned in what is called a “re-entrant” system; that is, unlike a modern classical guitar, the progression from the bottom string to the top string does not simply go up in pitch, progressively. Here, in the four-string instrument, the third string (from the bottom) is lower than the second. Thus, a typical tuning of the four-string chitarra battente, bass to treble, is A-D-B-E, where the third string, the B, is lower than the second string, the D.
The instrument is played without a plectrum, and the fingers achieve a wide of effects through plucking, strumming, beating the strings or the sound board, etc. The chitarra battente is typically used to accompany songs and dancing and is not used as a solo instrument. The most important center of production is in Bisignano
Bisignano
Bisignano is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza, part of in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is situated on hills in the Crati valley, between the Pollino and Sila National Parks .-History:...
in the province of Cosenza
Cosenza
Cosenza is a city in southern Italy, located at the confluence of two historic rivers: the Busento and the Crathis. The municipal population is of around 70,000; the urban area, however, counts over 260,000 inhabitants...
.
Sources
Tucci, Roberta and Antonello Ricci. (1985). "The Chitarra Battente in Calabria". The Galpin Society Journal (vol. 38, Apr. 1985): 78-105.External links
- Suoni della Terra
- Il sito della chitarra battente
- http://web.archive.org/web/20080412065858/http://www.accordo.it/dillo/06/06/22/1440213.shtml
- http://www.cupacupa.it/articoli/Articolo.asp?art=355
- Chitarra battente videos