The charango is a small, bright-toned plucked string instrument central to Andean folk music in countries such as Bolivia, Peru, and parts of Argentina and Chile, instantly recognizable by its compact size and its shimmering, re-entrant tuning. Its history is tied closely to the colonial-era encounter between European stringed instruments and Andean musical culture, and its construction has shifted over time, most notably in the move away from traditional armadillo-shell bodies toward wood for conservation reasons. This guide covers how the charango is built, how it is tuned, and the role it plays in Andean ensembles today.
Key Ideas
- The charango is a small plucked string instrument with ten strings arranged in five paired courses, widely associated with Andean folk music.
- Its most common tuning is re-entrant, meaning the strings are not arranged in simple low-to-high pitch order the way they are on most guitars.
- Traditional charangos were often built using the shell of an armadillo as the resonating body, a practice that has significantly declined due to conservation concerns and is now restricted or discouraged in many places.
- Most charangos made and sold today use carved or built-up wood bodies rather than armadillo shell.
- The charango plays a central rhythmic and melodic role in genres such as huayno and other Andean folk styles, often within ensembles alongside wind and other string instruments.
Origins in the Andes
The charango is widely described as having developed in the Andean highlands, in the region spanning parts of present-day Bolivia and Peru, during the colonial period, when Spanish settlers brought small guitar-like and vihuela-type instruments into contact with Indigenous Andean musical traditions. Many sources describe local musicians as having adapted these imported instrument designs, scaling them down and reshaping them to suit available materials and local musical needs, though exact dates and the specific sequence of this development are not fully settled among scholars and are generally presented as a general historical pattern rather than a single documented event. Over subsequent centuries the charango became deeply embedded in the folk music of highland communities and later spread into broader Andean popular and folk music more widely performed and recorded across South America.
Body and Construction
A charango is notably small compared to most other plucked string instruments covered in this guide, including a full-size acoustic guitar, with a body typically only slightly larger than a person's hand span, paired with a short neck and a set of frets. The soundboard is traditionally thin wood, and the back and sides form a rounded resonating chamber. Historically, this chamber was often made from the dried, hollowed shell of an armadillo, a practice closely tied to particular communities and regions. Today, the large majority of charangos, including most instruments sold to students and performers alike, use carved or built-up wood bodies instead, a shift driven significantly by conservation efforts protecting armadillo populations in several South American countries, alongside wood's more consistent and controllable acoustic properties. Reputable instrument sellers and conservation organizations generally discourage the trade in armadillo-shell instruments where local laws restrict it.
Why the Shift to Wood Matters
The move toward wood bodies is not simply a matter of modern convenience; it reflects a broader and ongoing concern about the conservation status of armadillo species harvested for instrument making, several of which face population pressure from a combination of habitat loss and hunting for various purposes, including instrument construction. Many makers and musicians today treat wood-bodied charangos as the standard, respectful choice, and some older armadillo-shell instruments are now treated primarily as historical or cultural artifacts rather than instruments that should continue to be newly produced from that material.
Strings and Re-entrant Tuning
The charango typically has ten strings arranged in five courses of two strings each, tuned in a pattern that is commonly described as re-entrant. In a re-entrant tuning, the strings are not simply arranged from lowest pitch to highest pitch in a straightforward ascending order the way a standard-tuned ukulele or guitar typically is; instead, one or more middle or outer courses are tuned higher than courses next to them, creating a tuning pattern that affects both the chord voicings available and the instrument's characteristic bright, somewhat jangling sound. Exact tuning conventions can vary somewhat by region, performer, and specific repertoire, so this guide describes re-entrant tuning as a general, common pattern rather than one single fixed standard used identically everywhere.
Role in Andean Ensembles
Within Andean folk music, the charango commonly provides rhythmic strumming and chordal support, often at a fast, driving tempo, while also contributing melodic lines in some styles and solo contexts. It is frequently heard in huayno, one of the most widespread Andean folk genres, typically alongside wind instruments such as panpipes or quena flutes and other string instruments, and sometimes alongside guitars or other adapted string instruments in more contemporary ensembles. Readers interested in how instruments like the charango function within group settings more broadly may find useful context in how string instruments work in folk ensembles.
Key Terms
- Course
- A pair of strings tuned together and played as a single unit, as on most of the charango's five string pairs.
- Re-entrant tuning
- A tuning arrangement in which string pitches do not simply ascend from lowest to highest across the instrument.
- Huayno
- A widespread genre of Andean folk music in which the charango commonly plays a rhythmic and melodic role.
- Quena
- A traditional Andean wind instrument often heard alongside the charango in folk ensembles.
- Vihuela
- An early Spanish stringed instrument often cited as part of the charango's historical background.
Common Misconceptions
A common misconception is that all charangos are, or were, made from armadillo shells. In practice, the large majority of charangos made and played today use wood bodies, and the armadillo-shell version, while historically significant, is now far less common and is restricted in many places for conservation reasons. Another misconception treats the charango as simply a small guitar; while it shares a family resemblance with guitar-like instruments brought during the colonial period, its small size, re-entrant tuning, and specific role in Andean folk ensembles make it a distinct instrument with its own playing conventions, more comparable in spirit, though not in origin, to how the ukulele developed its own identity after arriving in Hawaii. A third misconception assumes the charango has one fixed, universal tuning; tuning conventions vary somewhat by region and repertoire, even though re-entrant tuning patterns are common across most of them.
What to Listen For
Listen for the charango's bright, somewhat percussive strummed sound, which comes partly from its small body size and partly from its re-entrant tuning producing closely spaced, jangling pitches when strings are strummed together. Notice the fast, often driving rhythmic strumming patterns common in huayno and related genres, frequently locked tightly with other instruments in the ensemble. Pay attention to how the charango sits in the overall texture of an Andean ensemble recording, often providing a rhythmic bed under wind instrument melodies rather than always carrying the main tune itself. In solo or featured passages, listen for melodic lines picked out against the instrument's characteristic ringing chordal backdrop.
Getting Started
Because the charango's small scale, re-entrant tuning, and regional strumming styles differ meaningfully from more commonly taught Western string instruments, beginners are generally encouraged to learn from a teacher familiar with Andean folk traditions, or at minimum from instructional material specifically focused on the charango rather than generic guitar method books. Students sometimes come to the charango after already playing a small fretted instrument such as the ukulele, since some basic right-hand strumming concepts transfer, though the charango's tuning and repertoire still need dedicated, separate study. New players should also budget time to learn the re-entrant tuning by ear, since it can take some adjustment for anyone used to simple low-to-high string order; those wanting a general primer on tuning concepts first may find it useful to read how tuning systems work on string instruments.
Charango Construction Then and Now
| Feature | Historical practice | Common practice today |
|---|---|---|
| Resonating body material | Often armadillo shell in some regions | Primarily carved or built-up wood |
| Availability of armadillo-shell instruments | More common historically in specific communities | Significantly reduced; restricted in many places for conservation reasons |
| Typical string count | Ten strings in five courses | Ten strings in five courses (largely unchanged) |
| Primary musical context | Andean highland folk communities | Andean folk genres plus wider South American and international performance |
Frequently Asked Questions
Are charangos still made from armadillo shells?
Some historical instruments were, but today the large majority of charangos use wood bodies, partly due to conservation concerns about armadillo populations and legal restrictions in several countries.
What does re-entrant tuning mean on a charango?
It means the strings are not simply arranged from lowest to highest pitch across the instrument; instead, certain courses are tuned higher than neighboring ones, which shapes the instrument's characteristic bright, jangling sound.
Is the charango the same as a small guitar?
Not quite. While it shares some ancestry with guitar-like instruments introduced during the colonial period, its small size, re-entrant tuning, and role in Andean folk music give it its own distinct identity and playing conventions.
What music is the charango typically used for?
It is strongly associated with Andean folk genres such as huayno, commonly played alongside wind instruments like the quena and often other string instruments within folk ensembles.
- Grove Music Online
- The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History