Thediddley bowis astring instrumentofAfricanorigin made popular inAmerica, probably developed from instruments found on theGhanacoast of west Africa.
The diddley bow is rarely heard outside the rural South. Other nicknames for this instrument include "jitterbug" or "one-string", while an ethnomusicologist would formally call it a "monochordzither". The diddley bow is typically homemade, consisting usually of a wooden board and a single wire string stretched between two screws, and played by plucking while varying the pitch with a metal or glass slide held in the other hand. A glass bottle is usually used as the bridge, which helps magnify the sound. The diddley bow was traditionally considered an "entry-level" instrument, normally played by adolescent boys, who then graduate to a "normal" guitar if they show promise on the diddley bow. However currently, the diddley bow is also played by professional players as a solo as well as an accompaniment instrument.
The diddley bow is significant to blues music in that many blues guitarists got their start playing it as children, as well as the fact that, like the slide guitar, it is played with a slide. However, because it was considered a children's instrument, very few musicians continued to play the diddley bow once they reached adulthood. The diddley bow is therefore not well represented in recordings.
[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/sb7pjr.jpg[/IMG]
This space reserved to mock trolls
sam u da man~!
M a gonna turn on dat
sound again gight now...
aloha from waipouli...
...ambrose...
ambrose M. curry III
I've worked with, and hung out with, Mr McDaniel a couple of times. What a character he was!!!
This space reserved to mock trolls
The diddley bow is rarely heard outside the rural South. Other nicknames for this instrument include "jitterbug" or "one-string", while an ethnomusicologist would formally call it a "monochord zither". The diddley bow is typically homemade, consisting usually of a wooden board and a single wire string stretched between two screws, and played by plucking while varying the pitch with a metal or glass slide held in the other hand. A glass bottle is usually used as the bridge, which helps magnify the sound. The diddley bow was traditionally considered an "entry-level" instrument, normally played by adolescent boys, who then graduate to a "normal" guitar if they show promise on the diddley bow. However currently, the diddley bow is also played by professional players as a solo as well as an accompaniment instrument.
The diddley bow is significant to blues music in that many blues guitarists got their start playing it as children, as well as the fact that, like the slide guitar, it is played with a slide. However, because it was considered a children's instrument, very few musicians continued to play the diddley bow once they reached adulthood. The diddley bow is therefore not well represented in recordings.
just touring the wikipedia......ambrose...[edit]
ambrose M. curry III