ENTONGOLI

This is the most representative instrument of the Baganda and Basoga. Generally, the harp-lute is the instrument of the griots, or praise-singers, much as the similar kora or soron is among the people of Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gambia, and southern Mali. It is played either solo to tell stories or to accompany songs of praise. The endongo has six to eight strings that are plucked to give a buzzing sound. It is rather a soft instrument that is played for chamber performances. It is made with a large hemispherical sound-box made from a gourd, crossed by a long and straight cylindrical neck or crossbar, the lower end of which extends beyond the base and serves to hold the strings that connect to rings that can be slid up and down the crossbar to tune the instrument. The player holds the instrument in front of him, so that he may pluck the strings between the bridge and the neck with the thumbs and forefingers of each hand.