Xylophones and Other Strange Music Makers Quiz

Answer: Marimba

The marimba is played by striking wooden bars arranged in a similar fashion to a piano keyboard. The bars are arranged in two rows, one behind the other: the front row (nearest the player) represent the white keys on a piano, whilst the back row are equivalent to the black keys.

The first marimbas were developed by the Mayans in the late 17th-century. When Guatemala declared independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, the marimba was designated as the national instrument in the proclamation.

Answer: Djembe

The body of a djembe is carved from hardwood with a drumhead made from rawhide (most often goatskin) stretched taught across the top. The drumhead itself is usually 13-14 inches in diameter and the whole thing weighs around 20 pounds.

In the Bamanankan language (a 'lingua franca' spoken by about 80% of Mali's population), 'djembe' means "everyone gather together in peace".

Answer: Sarangi

Usually around two feet long and six inches wide, the sarangi has three main strings made from gut which are bowed using a horsehair bow. Three chambers are hollowed out of the main, box-like body of the instrument.

A sarangi was used in the score for the 'Lothlórien' scenes (those in the elven forest realm) of "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".

Answer: Nadaswaram

The nadaswaram has a double reed and is made up of three parts with a conical bore that gets larger towards the bottom. The notes are made by covering combinations of the seven holes, which are each played with seven different fingers. The nadaswaram has a range of two and a half octaves.

Answer: They are single-string instruments

The common factor between all of these instruments is that they are monochords.

Developed in the 19th century in Sweden, the pictured psalmodicon can be played either by plucking or by using a bow. It was created primarily because instruments used to create music for dancing, such as fiddles, were considered inappropriate for churches. It also had the benefit that people with little musical training could play it.

The other single-string instruments in the question include the ektara is a drone lute consisting of a gourd resonator and a single string that is played by plucking. It is often used in traditional music in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The ichigenkin is a single-strong zither from Japan that is played by plucking with a plectrum whilst a tubular device slides along the string. The tumbi is a traditional, single-string, plucking instrument from the Pubjab region of India.

Answer: Bandura

The name 'bandura' dates back to the middle of the 15th century, but the term did not completely replace 'kobza' as the name for this traditional Ukrainian instrument until the middle of the 20th century. The use of lute-like instruments in Ukraine dates back more than 1,500 years, and numerous variations developed primarily for use in the royal courts of Eastern Europe. Classes in bandura instruction were opened in numerous cities (notably Prague, Kiev and Odessa) during the early years of the Soviet era.

The main body of a bandura is traditionally carved from a single piece of willow, poplar, maple or cherry with the soundboard made from spruce. Today, there are four main types of bandura manufactured.

The alternatives are three more plucked-string instruments: the guzheng is an 18-string zither from China; the rubab a lute-like instrument from Afghanistan; and the baglama (also called a saz) is an Ottoman folk music instrument.

Answer: Cittern

The cittern is an instrument that developed from the medieval citole (or citole). Today, the instrument is popular with folk revival groups and musicians. It is similar to the 'cetara' used in traditional Corsivan music and the Portuguese guitar. The traditional Spanish 'bandurria' is also a similar instrument.

Answer: Nohkan

The tapering, conical bore of the nohkan is made from strips of smoked bamboo glued together. Bound together with cherry bark, seven finger holes are made in the bore along with a larger oval-shaped hole through which the player blows.

Answer: Acker Bilk

Born Bernard Stanley Bilk in 1929 in Somerset, England, Acker Bilk MBE was one of the great musicians of the mid-20th century. He was not, though, a trumpeter, but a clarinettist.

Bilk's best-known instrumental single, "Stranger on the Shore", was the UK's best-selling single of 1962, spending 50 weeks in the UK singles chart. It was also the first single by a British performer to reach the number one spot in the U.S. Billboard 100 pop chart.

Answer: Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo is native to the aboriginal tribes of Australia, with rock paintings more than 1,500 years ago clearly showing a player participating along with singers in a ceremony.

Normally around four feet in length, didgeridoos can be as long as 10 feet. The longer the instrument, the lower the key although a flared end will mean that an instrument is higher-pitched than another of similar length.