In-Laws Might Get Me a Charango

mendel · Nov 7, 2010

My in-laws are in South America visiting family, and they said they might get me a Charango if they can find one. I just started to play the Ukulele, and I am having a ton of fun. I am excited about it. I am also excited to have yet another awesome instrument to learn.

I have not found any online charango music, though. I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge about the instrument because I only know what I find on Wikipedia. Does anyone have any insight for me about this????

mendel

Tudorp · Nov 7, 2010

that would be cool if they could find one made out of an armadillo. Those are cool IMHO..

austin1 · Nov 7, 2010

when I was in Bolivia there was a whole section of the marketplace devoted to charangos, and a couple friends bought one. I picked it up a few times and messed around with it, but the only similarity to the ukulele was the size. Such a cool instrument though!

Edit: From what I understand, there are several good charango resources out there, but how's your spanish?

rasputinsghost · Nov 7, 2010

Charangos are tuned GCEAE, so that's pretty similar to the uke

Doug W · Nov 7, 2010

that would be cool if they could find one made out of an armadillo. Those are cool IMHO..

I know that armadillos were the original material for the body of charangos but they actually don't sound as good as the instruments made of wood. Don't know if all armadillos are endangered species but some varieties are.

I lived in Bolivia for 6 years in the city of Cochabamba where I bought a charango. I was mostly broke when I lived there so I played a lot of them in the market before I ended up with one I liked and fit my budget.

Your in-laws may or may not know enough about instruments to pick out a decent playing one for you in the market. I never really visited the shops of quality charango makers while I lived there. They will probably find a lot of tourist instruments in the market but some of those sound OK and are very playable.

I loaned my charango to a neighbor kid down there who had a charango class in school. He and his family moved one day and my charango went with him. If your In-Laws see him, please get my charango back.

austin1 · Nov 8, 2010

Doug W said:
I know that armadillos were the original material for the body of charangos but they actually don't sound as good as the instruments made of wood. Don't know if all armadillos are endangered species but some varieties are.

I lived in Bolivia for 6 years in the city of Cochabamba where I bought a charango. I was mostly broke when I lived there so I played a lot of them in the market before I ended up with one I liked and fit my budget.

Your in-laws may or may not know enough about instruments to pick out a decent playing one for you in the market. I never really visited the shops of quality charango makers while I lived there. They will probably find a lot of tourist instruments in the market but some of those sound OK and are very playable.

I loaned my charango to a neighbor kid down there who had a charango class in school. He and his family moved one day and my charango went with him. If your In-Laws see him, please get my charango back.

I was in Cochabamba!

Pete, you're a better person than I, because nothing I did made them sound good

vic2354 · Nov 8, 2010

I have two friends that own a charango. Both of them really love them but are having a hard time learning because they don't speak Spanish. One friend has a wood charango and the other has an armadillo. The Wood charango wins out by far!

ichadwick · Nov 8, 2010

Tudorp said:
that would be cool if they could find one made out of an armadillo. Those are cool IMHO..

Well, a charango is similar to a uke with another string above the A - or rather two, since all the strings are paired, so it's a 10-stringed instrument. I had one but found the small size and number of strings a challenge. Actually ordered one before I bought a uke and while waiting for it to arrive from South America, bought a uke from MGM and had so much fun with it that when the charango arrived, I sold it a few days later because I wanted more ukes!

Armadillo backs may be traditional in some places, but they are poor for sound reproduction and killing an animal for the sake of a "cool" instrument is unethical. Stick to wood. t will sound better and bring better karma.

rasputinsghost · Nov 8, 2010

I agree with the 'don't buy an armadillo charango' sentiments

mendel · Nov 14, 2010

I just saw and heard my Charango on Skype. It is a wood back and it sounds amazing!!!! My in-laws went to a real place to get a legit instrument. My father in law is from the city they are visitor, so no street merchant was able to get over on them.

I'm curious about the tuning!!! Can I get a traditional tuner from Sam Ashe or something?!?!? Should they bring a tuner back for me!?!? What do you guys think!?!?!?!?

rasputinsghost · Nov 14, 2010

GCEAE.

http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/info/charango.htm

mendel · Nov 15, 2010

So, essentially, a Charango is a ukulele with an additional E string(s). I should be able to play any Uke tab on it as long as I don't hit the additional string as well as playing Charango tabs too. Now THAT is fat sick Daddy!!!

I've found some amazing Uke and charango vies on YouTube as well. Strumming a Charango looks a lot different. More of a Flamenco type of flair to it. I'm psyched!!!!

In-Laws Might Get Me a Charango

mendel

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Tudorp

Big guy with a lil' uke..

austin1

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rasputinsghost

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Doug W

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austin1

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vic2354

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ichadwick

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