Molo Musical Instrument

The Molo is a three-stringed lute (a lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body). The Molo is made of a wooden resonator and a wooden neck from which the strings are attached. The resonator is hollowed out from a solid piece of wood. There is a skin soundboard bound to the back of the resonator with leather thongs. The three strings are attached to the wooden neck of the instrument and are made of plaited fiber.

Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner, a linguist, collected this object from the Hausa people of Nigeria during a research trip to West Africa in 1951. Dr. Turner was interested in the tonalities of music and language and how they carry meaning within communities and cultures.