Molo (lute)

Molo is the name given to a lute by the Hausa people of Niger and northern Nigeria and the Songhay people of Niger.

Molo is the name used for a specific type of African lute, one that has a boat-shaped body or soundbox, carved from wood and a round dowel for a neck. The soundbox has an open top, covered by duiker hide or goatskin.

Molo has also has become a generalized term for "any plucked string instrument" among the Hauser people in Nigeria. As the name of a specific type of lute among the Hauser, the instrument is one of at least seven different Hausa lutes, also including the round bodied garaya (2-string. wood body), gurmi (3-string gourd bodied), gurumi (2-sting calabash bodied), the komo (2-sting gourd body), the kwamsa (or komsa, 2-string, gourd bodied) and the kontigi.