Kolitong

Kolitong
Kolitong | Nayong Pilipino Foundation (@atingnayon)

Kolitong

Philippine Zithers are tube bamboo or wood-stringed instruments that are plucked or struck.

It is of two kinds:

  1. polychordal with several strings and
  2. the parallel which has two strings on one side of the tube.

Some names for zithers across the Philippine islands are:

  • kolitong,
  • kollessing,
  • kulibet,
  • saluray,
  • tambi,
  • bamban,
  • tabengbeng,
  • kudling, and
  • tabobo.

Parts of Kolitong

  1. Resonating body – made from bamboo tubes or half tubes.
  2. Strings – are etched out of the bamboo body and run parallel to the length of the tube.
  3. Frets – small wood inserted beneath the etched-out string.

Sources:
Text: Canave-Dioquino, Corazon. “Philippine Music Instruments.” National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Last modified June 2, 2015. https://ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-the-arts-sca/music/philippine-music-instruments/.

Image: Image Source:Fekke de Jager. Kolitong, 2011, digital image, Music Instruments from the Philippines, Hofberg 2, Brussel, accessed July 14, 2021, https://www.kipas.nl/Instruments/Kolitong.htm

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