What Is A Diddley Bow?
I'm glad you asked : )
The diddley bow may have been the first instrument that
produced the sound of sliding rhythm and the whines and cries
of a single string that later became the distinctive sound known
today as the "Blues". It was common to the rural south in the 1800's
and was made by takinga piece of broom or cotton wire and
stretching it between two nails tied to the side of a wooden frame
house, with a bottle or "snuff can" wedged under the wire to create
tension for pitch. The string was plucked while sliding a piece of
metal or glass on it to produce notes. The "diddley bow" is
similiar to an African one-string instrument that was called an
"Umakweyana."
"In Africa, too, these instruments have been overlooked or
not found worth reporting. For this reason we have notable gaps in
our African distribution map. Monochord zithers are common in a
relatively compact region of Africa including southeastern Nigeria,
southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo,
and the southwestern tip of the Central African Republic....[the
instruments] are played mostly by two (male) youngsters, one
striking the string with two sticks, the other altering its pitch by
stopping the string with a knife, bottle, or other object, often
sliding along it." Gerhard Kubik
