History of Gourds as Musical Instruments
Musicians Have Grown Musical Gardens for Centuries
Feb 15, 2009
Arthur Stephens, founding member of the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, has spent years digging through libraries and museums to become an expert on the history of gourd musical instruments.
For over twenty years, he has grown gourds and constructed the historical instruments he discovered. Recently, he and the Gourd Orchestra have produced four CDs of music they played on instruments straight from his garden.
Gourds Are Perfect Resonators
Arthur takes pride in the place of gourds in man’s early history. “Gourds are believed to be the first cultivated plants,” he explains. “There were enough fruits and vegetables for hunter gatherers, but they would actually take the gourd vines and seeds with them to cultivate wherever they went.”
“When gourds weren’t used as musical instruments,” Arthur comments, “they were containers. In ancient times, they were the closest thing to modern Tupperware. Gourds were made into plates, bowls, spoons, funnels, and canteens.”
“Gourds that were used as musical instruments usually acted as resonators,” says Arthur. “Basically, they’re a giant seed pod. You have this vegetable that hollows out and becomes a natural resonator.”
Early Musical Instruments Made With Gourds
“Gourds were used as musical instruments all over Africa and Asia,” comments Arthur. “They quickly spread to North and South America and the Caribbean.”
“Supposedly, the very first musical instrument created by humans was something called the musical bow,” Arthur remarks. “It’s still played today.” This early instrument is believed to be of African origin and consists of a string attached to a flexible frame just like a hunting bow. When plucked, the string makes a pleasant vibrating noise.
“Originally, Arthur explains, “early musicians would stick one end of the musical bow in their mouth as a resonator. They could cup their mouth to make a wa-wa sound. They eventually learned they could attach an open gourd to the bow. In South America, they call it a berimbau. The berimbau is still played particularly in Mardi Gras music and the martial arts dance called capoeira. We play it a little differently than the traditional method which is to cup the gourd against your chest to make the wa sound. That’s supposedly the grandfather of all string instruments.”
“There’s another early instrument called the sheng,” Arthur continues. “It’s a Chinese mouth harp. You blow into a small gourd with reeds stuck in the top of it. The instrument sounds a lot like a harmonica, and it was created over ten thousand years ago. That instrument is the grandfather to the accordion, bagpipes, and harmonica.”
One of the simplest early gourd instruments was a water drum. “You cut a gourd in half,” Arthur says, “then take another smaller gourd and cut it in half as well. You fill the large gourd with water and you turn the small gourd and have it float on top. You take a mallet and hit it and it makes this nice bass sound. One musician I met at the gourd show in Ohio was from Mexico and specialized in Mayan culture. He said the Mayans have used water drums for centuries. The water drums I first learned about came from Africa.”
Musicians may be interested in tips for making some of the historical gourd instruments featured by the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, a review of the gourd orchestra and their four CDs, as well as Arthur Stephan’s tips for planting, growing, harvesting and drying gourds.
Quotes gained in conversation with Arthur Stephans of the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra
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