620:), initially learned from African American musicians in the early 19th century. (The blackface minstrels popularized the banjo in the 1830s and 40s. Prior to that the banjo was a folk instrument exclusive to African American and African Caribbean musicians.) This was the prevalent form of playing the 5-string banjo until the advent of the guitar style of up-picking in the late 1860s, also referred to as finger-picking. The stroke style of down-picking has survived to this very day in the folk traditions of both the black and white communities of the rural South, where it is commonly referred to as frailing,
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the melody. The middle string is also sometimes used as drone string. All the noting is done on the long string. The music of the akonting has been and still is folk music. Akonting players do not play music to confer status to their patrons. They play their music, usually in the evenings after work to relax and have a nice time before going to bed. Also when in their rice field bars (
730:
The standard griot playing technique is a 2-finger up-picking pattern: the player's index finger plucks up on a melody string, followed by the thumb plucking the short drone string, and culminating with the index finger brushing down all the strings. While the griot technique is strikingly similar to
627:
Remarkably, the Jola o'teck technique of playing the akonting is the only extant down-picking style of lute playing found in all of West Africa thus far. Even more pertinent to the ongoing search for the banjo's ancestors, it is the only West
African lute with a banjo-like short "thumb string" which
427:
The music of the akonting is short sustained notes that are played over and over again. Usually they are between two to three notes. The mechanics involved in playing the akonting is the regular sounding of the short string (drone string) when playing any melody. It acts as a drum to add beauty to
432:
in Jola) they play the
Akonting in the evening after working in their rice fields and drink their palm wine that they are expert in tapping from the palm tree. The music of the Akonting deals with all matters of life and does not need to be augmented by any other instrument to be danceable. It is
731:
some styles of old-time 2-finger up-picking found in various regions of rural southern United States, it is distinctly different from down-picking and not related to the early "stroke style" of playing the 5-string banjo or its descendants, the various old-time
Southern down-picking styles.
504:
at The 8th Annual Banjo
Collectors Gathering (December, 2005) – an annual international conference of the foremost collectors and scholars of 19th and early 20th century banjos, which also serves as the principal forum for presentations of new research on the banjo's history and
681:) have a short "thumb string" drone. The "thumb string" seems to be a feature unique to lutes of Senegambian origin which have three or more strings and are played with the fingers, regardless of playing style. Conversely, 1-string lutes (e.g. the gourd-bodied
604:
Both the akonting o'teck and the banjo stroke style are forms of down-picking, a technique in which the fingernail of a single finger – either the index or middle finger – is used to strike the individual melody strings in a downward motion, like a
555:(Nigeria, Niger, Ghana), to name but a few. The earliest forms of the banjo were, in fact, very similar gourd-bodied lutes, which enslaved West Africans in the Caribbean began making and playing sometime in the early 17th century.
284:(Spike bowl lute: Chordophone, the plane of strings runs parallel with the sound table, the string bearer is a plain handle and passes "diametrically" through the resonator, the resonator consists of a natural or carved out bowl)
392:. The name of the instrument's home village is recalled in the most common tuning pattern for the akonting's three open strings (from the 3rd short "thumb" string to the 1st long melody string):
416:
tuning pattern of 5/1/-7, a common tuning in
Casamance is dGF. In Gambia, for another variant the 1st long melody is raised a semitone (half-step) higher to make a natural 7th note, as in cFE.
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Of all the myriad variety of West
African plucked lutes, the Jola akonting stands out as the one instrument today that bears the strongest resemblance to early North American gourd
938:
829:, which have been hitherto overlooked. These instruments are just now beginning to get the international recognition and attention they deserve as living ancestors of the
601:(literally, "to stroke"), which is basically the same as the stroke, or frailing style, considered to be the oldest extant technique for playing the banjo.
818:
410:(flatted 7th note). Like in the traditional old-time/folk styles of playing the 5-string banjo, the akonting is tuned in different tunings. Using the
609:. This action is immediately followed by the player's thumb catching on the top short "thumb string" to create a rhythmic back-beat accompaniment.
796:
197:
423:, who pioneered the research and documentation of the akonting in the mid-1980s, describes the music of his people's folk lute as follows:
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family, while banjo historians and ethnomusicologists have begun to broaden the range of their focus to include these instruments.
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756:, the tradition of making and playing the instrument was relatively unknown outside of the rural Jola villages found throughout
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found throughout West Africa, like the akonting and its aforementioned
Senegambian siblings. Other varieties include the Frafra
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village is carrying on the traditional style; also, Sana Ndiaye, best known for his work with the Dakar-based hip hop group
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825:, and others, there is growing global awareness of the akonting and its siblings in the large diverse family of West African
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595:. This is seen not just in its physiology but also in the traditional technique used to play the akonting, called
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body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string, akin to the short fifth "thumb string" on the
760:. Even within these Jola communities, there were very few young people interested in carrying on the
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860:"How to Play the Akonting with Sana Ndiaye Segment One: Introduction and Basic Playing Techniques"
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Thanks to the work of Daniel Jatta, as well as the vital efforts of
Swedish banjoist/researcher
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It was the stroke style of banjo that
European American performers, who came to be known as
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509: – indicate that the banjo is probably descended from the many different types of
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791:. Young akonting players like Bouba Diedhiou, a teenage radio performer from a rural
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How to make an
Akonting: The Jola Way w/ Paul Sedgwick (part 1 of 3-part series)
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and help perpetuate this vital element of their people's cultural heritage.
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Internet Radio Interview w/ Daniel Jatta + Field Recordings of Akonting
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West African Akonting at the Casa Museo del Timple, Lanzarote, Spain.
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Recent findings presented by researchers Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta,
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tradition. Recognizing this fact, Daniel's father, a traditional
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first began to research and document his people's folk lute, the
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Today, there is a burgeoning revival of interest in the
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player originally from the instrument's birthplace, the
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Banjo Ancestors: The Akonting & Buchundu Folk Lutes
799:, is introducing the instrument to broader audiences.
727:, so a drone string is useless on these instruments.
398:(the 5th note of the scale, tuned an octave higher),
821:, banjoist/ gourd musical instrument expert/builder
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In the mid-1980s, when Gambian Jola scholar/musician
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Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum (16 October 2012).
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The African Akonting & The Origins of the Banjo
90:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
380:Jola oral tradition places the birthplace of the
950:
189:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
817:, American old-time country musician/scholar
369:. It is a string instrument with a skin-headed
895:Akonting: a West African Ancestor of the Banjo
486:of the Balanta people, both of Guinea-Bissau.
474:) of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, as well as the
448:The akonting is practically identical to the
723:, and Ghana) are played with flat-pick type
693:) and 2-string lutes (e.g. the gourd-bodied
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
929:Banjo Ancestors: the Lutes of West Africa
238:Learn how and when to remove this message
220:Learn how and when to remove this message
150:Learn how and when to remove this message
562:
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513:gourd-bodied folk/artisan plucked lutes
433:rhythmic enough to enable one to dance.
345:in French transliteration) is the folk
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837:and other members of the West African
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384:in the village of Kanjanka in Lower
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88:adding citations to reliable sources
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533:(Togo, Benin and Ghana), the Gwari
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16:Folk lute of the Jola ethnic group
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388:(Senegal), near the banks of the
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964:West African musical instruments
934:The Early Banjo in the New World
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872:from the original on 2021-12-21
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276:Hornbostel–Sachs classification
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419:Gambian Jola scholar/musician
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521:(Ghana), The Kotokoli (also
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175:This article includes a
204:more precise citations.
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579:lute, related to the
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559:Relationship to banjo
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84:improve this article
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441:Akonting player in
290:Related instruments
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922:2016-04-17 at the
910:2007-03-12 at the
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809:2018-07-02 at the
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335:[ə'kɔntiŋ]
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77:verification
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815:Nick Bamber
804:Ulf Jägfors
571:. Probable
491:Ulf Jägfors
367:West Africa
202:introducing
953:Categories
845:References
819:Ben Nelson
789:Senegambia
772:region of
758:Senegambia
691:Mauritania
674:, and the
622:clawhammer
507:organology
210:March 2014
140:March 2014
110:newspapers
99:"Akonting"
39:improve it
793:Casamance
770:Casamance
725:plectrums
614:blackface
386:Casamance
45:talk page
920:Archived
908:Archived
870:Archived
835:akonting
807:Archived
785:akonting
778:akonting
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762:akonting
750:Archived
746:akonting
637:buchundu
633:akonting
607:plectrum
581:akonting
567:Guinea,
494:Archived
460:Man'yago
451:buchundu
413:kanjanka
382:akonting
342:ekonting
328:akonting
251:Akonting
876:5 March
865:YouTube
774:Senegal
717:Nigeria
711:of the
697:of the
687:Haratin
685:of the
679:gambare
676:Soninke
646:kisinta
641:busunde
577:ngopata
573:busunde
483:kisinta
477:busunde
472:Manjaca
468:Manjaco
464:Manjaku
355:Senegal
349:of the
281:321.311
198:improve
124:scholar
708:garaya
699:Frafra
695:koliko
683:gambra
667:, the
660:, the
651:griots
598:o'teck
593:banjos
536:kaburu
519:koliko
500:, and
458:(also
443:Bagaya
430:Hu Waa
361:, and
359:Gambia
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831:banjo
721:Niger
713:Hausa
703:Ghana
672:hoddu
665:xalam
662:Wolof
658:ngoni
655:Mande
585:banjo
549:komsa
541:gurmi
527:Temba
371:gourd
339:, or
315:xalam
310:ngoni
300:banjo
183:, or
131:JSTOR
117:books
878:2021
669:Fula
583:and
553:wase
551:and
545:komo
531:lawa
470:and
351:Jola
347:lute
325:The
103:news
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