Editing Musical bow (section)

{{Short description|Simple string musical instrument}}
{{About|the bow as a musical instrument|the bow used to play another instrument|Bow (music)}}
[[File:MusicalBow.gif|thumb|300px|Obu man playing a musical bow in [[Obubra]], [[Cross River State]], Nigeria]]
{{listen|filename=Toque-de-angola.ogg|title=An unaccompanied berimbau|description=The [[berimbau]] is a musical bow, originally from Africa, that is now used in Brazil.|format=[[Ogg]]}}

The '''musical bow''' ('''bowstring''' or '''string bow''', a subset of [[bar zither]]s) is a simple [[string instrument]] used by a number of African peoples as well as Indigenous peoples of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501113|work=metmuseum.org|title=Musical Bow}}</ref> 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 [[bow and arrow|hunting bow]], though the [[San people|San or Bushmen people]] of the [[Kalahari Desert]] do convert their hunting bows to musical use.<ref name=Brit/>

Types of bow include mouth-resonated string bow, [[ground bow|earth-resonated string bow]], and gourd-resonated string bow.<ref>Nzewi, Meki and Nzewi, Odyke (2007). ''A Contemporary Study of Musical Arts: Informed by African Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Volume 1: The Root: Foundation'', p. 108. African Minds. {{ISBN|9781920051624}}</ref><ref name=Brit>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/African-music#ref519723|title=African music Musical bows|encyclopedia=britannica.com|author=Donald Keith Robotham}}</ref>