The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp, originating from, and used extensively in, West-African countries, such as Mali, Gambia, and Senegal.

Kora music being part of the oral tradition, its music was not written until the 20th century. The ethnomusicologists were the only ones to notate the instrument in the normal grand staff method using the G clef and the F clef.

Nowadays, kora scores are written on a single G clef, following the Keur Moussa notation system. This notation system was created for the kora in the late 1970s by Brother Dominique Catta, a monk of the Keur Moussa Monastery (Senegal). The seven low notes that should be written on the F clef are replaced by Arabic or Roman numerals and written on the G clef.¹.

Oscar van Dillen

Toumani Diabate

Jaliba Mamadou plays Mama Tamba

Jalikebba Kuyateh

Mamadou Diabate

Tiékor Kora with flute

One thousand sources

Above you can hear and see a performance of the kora composition “One Thousand Sources”, an excerpt of the score² of which, composed and handwritten by Jacques Burtin³, you find below.

Footnotes