The kora is
an instrument with 21 strings, with a sonority between that of the harp
and that of the guitar, depending on the way the strings are plucked.
The soundbox is made of half a gourd, with a neck on which the strings
are stretched. They are divided into two parallel rows, separated by a
bridge. Each hand plays one row, plucking with the thumb and index finger.
In these models the strings are hooked to the wood; to tune them it is
sufficient to turn the keys. The kora is the traditional instrument of
the Griots, the Senegalese ballad singers, who still hand down their music
orally from father to son.
Once the Griots were the advisors to the king and kept the "constitution
of the kingdom with only the work of their memory". Each royal family
had its Griot whose task it was to preserve tradition and the epics.
In the rigidly hierarchical African society of the pre-colonial period,
where each individual had his proper place, the Griot emerged as one of
the most important elements of the community as, in the absence of archives,
he was the one who preserved the local traditions and customs.
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