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Diddly Bo – Seasick Steve (LWJH S35E05)
Music is meant to be fun. It should be easy for anyone with almost any level of aptitude to make some form of music. Unfortunately we are taught that, in order to make music, you need to study music tablature, learn scales and chords, spend money on expensive musical instruments and practice loads. But this isn’t true.
Have you ever see any African tribes people dancing to drums? These talented drummers will have never been to music college. They obviously can’t read music and wouldn’t know a scale or chord if it hit them on the head. But they know how to have a good time. Making music on simple, home made instruments like drums and rattles is what music making is all about.
There is a one stringed Brasilian instrument called a Berimbau that has African roots. The instrument looks very much like a bow that might be used for hunting. Now this simple instrument is the precursor to pretty much all forms of stringed instrument including guitars, harps and even pianos.
You make have heard of an instrument called a Diddley Bow. This is an easy to make African American one stringed folk instrument. Typically these are a simple plank of wood with a piece of wire stretched from end to end. The string is tensioned with something uses as a bridge and the pitch is varied by fretting the string with a piece of bone, glass or maybe a knife or some other form of slide.
One notable Diddley bow player, Lonnie Pitchford, would make his Diddley Bows by attaching a wire to a vertical support beam on the front porch of his house. Diddley bows were commonly made by poor field workers and share croppers in the Mississippi Delta region.
The blues is rooted in simple folk instruments like the diddley bo. Many of the early blues greats got their start in the 1920s and 1930s by playing Diddley Bows. One popular modern day Diddly bow player is Seasick Steve. So if you want a bit of fun with a simple one string folk instrument why not make yourself a Diddley Bow today.
Tags: diddley bow, diddly bow, guitars, seasick steve