Musical bow

The musical bow (bowstring or string bow, a subset of bar zithers) is a simple string instrument used by a number of African peoples, which is also found in the Americas via the slave trade. It consists of a flexible, usually wooden, stick 1.5 to 10 feet (0.5 to 3 m) long, and strung end to end with a taut cord, usually metal. It can be played with the hands or a wooden stick or branch. It is uncertain if the musical bow developed from the hunting bow, though the San or Bushmen people of the Kalahari Desert do convert their hunting bows to musical use.

Types of bow include mouth-resonated string bow, earth-resonated string bow, and gourd-resonated string bow.