Decolonizing the Cavaquinho: A New Narrative
As cultural objects, musical instruments have been sometimes misinterpreted, their origins wrongly reclaimed, their socio-musical impact exaggerated, and their essence distorted. This may have resulted from a lack of information and a fertile imagination, or perhaps the voicing of ideologically motivated agendas. This is a study about a tiny guitar with four metal strings currently played in continental Portugal, which has been understood as a major player in the dissemination of plucked instruments throughout the world, since the age of European maritime expansion: the cavaquinho Minhoto, according to its hypothetical place of origin/departure, the Minho region of Portugal. While revisiting the historical evidence associated with the cavaquinho, I propose a new narrative towards a better, more accurate understanding of the popular instrument. My research is based on archival sources such as texts and iconography found in periodicals, literature, specific ethnographic/organological works and surviving specimens in museums and private collections. After defining the cavaquinho Minhoto in terms of its physical characteristics, construction system, and playing technique, I introduce the concepts that shape the framework of my study, and I expose the misconceptions of Lusocentric...
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