Gurmi (lute) explained

The gurmi is a two or three-stringed lute of the Hausa people of northern Nigeria.^{[1] [2]} May also be called gurumi or kumbo.^{[1] [2]} In looking at the two-finger playing style used by musicians who play the gumbri, researchers have listed it as a possible relative to the banjo.^{[3] [4]} Researchers have talked about the gurmi and gurumi as if these are two different but similar instruments.^{[2] [5]}

The instrument is also played by Toubou people and "other peoples of Niger and northern Nigeria."^[5]

Details

It has a soundbox made from a half calabash or gourd, the opening covered with hide for a soundboard.^{[1] [2]} The neck pierces the calabash, its end poking out the bottom of the instrument. Strings are secured to the stump of stick at the bottom and run across a bridge on the hide soundboard to the neck. The strings are secured to the neck by tying them to tuning rings, separate strings or bands tied around the neck.

While a member of the xalam family of instruments, the gurmi is specific to the Hausa people.^[1] Unlike the xalam, with its oval shaped soundbox, the gurmi's soundbox is round (the shape of the gourd which is its body).^[4] They have a rounded dowel neck.^[4]

The instrument has been traditionally played by Hausa men to make songs that praise wrestlers.^[1] It may be played as a solo instrument or accompany singing.^[1]

Variations and relatives

Researchers have paired the gurmi with a number of African lutes, many with names that may be related to the name gurmi.^[2] The instruments are "full-spike lutes" meaning that the neck goes all the way through the instrument, poking through both sides of the gourd or calabash resonator.^[2] Another alternative, separating these from other African lutes is the "semi-spike lutes" such as the xalam, in which the end of the neck pokes out through the soundboard (instead of out through the side of the gourd) and acts as a bridge.^[2]

These full-spike lutes include:

• Gambare. Soninke people of Mali.^[1]
• Gullum. Kilba people, Nigeria. 3 strings, round calabash soundbox, soundhole in side, a bridge that is hollow and "contains seeds".^{[1] [2]} Used at death ceremonies.^[1]
• Gulum, gulom. Kotoko people, Chad, Cameroon. 3 strings, "hemispherical" calabash soundbox, covered with cowhide, laced to instrument with strips on instrument's back. Horsehair/nylon strings.^{[2] [6]}
• Gumbri, Guinbri.^{[1] [7]} Lute played by Gnawa people (descendants of West Africans brought north to Morocco as slaves).
• Gurumi. Dosso people of Niger.^[1] Mauri people, southern Chad.^[1]
• Gurumi. Hausa people. Niger. 2 strings, calabash soundbox.^[2]
• Gurumi. Toubou people. Nigeria. 2 strings, calabash soundbox.^[2]
• Kambre. Sierra Leone.^[1]
• Kubru. Timbuktu, Mali.^[1] 3 strings, plucked. Boat shaped soundbox, "metal-ringed jingle". Paired with diarka one-stringed fiddle.^[8]
• Ngùlǎn. Bana people. Cameroon. 3 strings, calabash or gourd soundbox in bowl shape.^{[2] [9]}

External links

• Interview with Hausa musician who plays Gurmi; has photo
• Video of Salamatu Mai Gurmi playing the Gurmi.

Notes and References

1. Book: Gourlay, K. A. . The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . 1984 . MacMillan Press . Sadie Stanley . 2 . London . 111. Gurmi.
2. Book: Banjo Roots and Branches . Robert B. Winans . 3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes . Shlomo Pestcoe . Greg C. Adams. University of Illinois Press . Urbana, Illinois . 2018. 47.
3. Book: Banjo Roots and Branches . Robert B. Winans . 1 Banjo Roos Research, Changing Perspectives on the Banjo's African American Origins and West African Heritage . Shlomo Pestcoe . Greg C. Adams. University of Illinois Press . Urbana, Illinois . 2018. 11.
4. Book: Well of Souls . Kristina R. Gaddy . W. W. Norton & Company . 4 October 2022 . 13–14. 978-0393866803.
5. Book: Banjo Roots and Branches . Robert B. Winans . 7 "Strum Strumps" and "Sheepskin" Guitars, The Early Gourd Banjo and Clued to Its West African Roots i the Seventeenth-Century Circum-Caribbean. Shlomo Pestcoe . University of Illinois Press . Urbana, Illinois . 2018. 126.
6. Book: Gourlay, K. A. . The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . 1984 . MacMillan Press . Sadie Stanley . 2 . London . 110. Gulom.
7. Book: Gourlay, K. A. . The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . 1984 . MacMillan Press . Sadie Stanley . 2 . London . 110. Gumbri.
8. Book: Gourlay, K. A. . The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . 1984 . MacMillan Press . Sadie Stanley . 2 . London . 477. Kubru.
9. Book: Gourlay, K. A. . The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . 1984 . MacMillan Press . Sadie Stanley . 2 . London . 765. Ngulang.