The xalam is a traditional stringed instrument from West Africa. It has between 1 and 5 strings. The xalam is often played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, northern Nigeria, northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Western Sahara. The xalam and its similar versions are called by many names in other languages, such as bappe, diassare, hoddu (Pulaar), koliko (Gurunsi), kologo (Frafra), komsa, kontigi, gurmi, garaya (Hausa), koni, konting (Mandinka), molo (Songhay/Zarma), ndere, ngoni (Bambara), and tidinit (Hassaniyya and Berber).

In Wolof, a person who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat. This word is made from the verb "xalam," which means "to play the xalam," and the suffix "-kat," which means "one who does something." In Mande, this term is ngonifola or konting fola. In Hausa, it is called mai gurmi or mai kontigi.

Construction and tuning

The xalam is a simple string instrument called a lute. It has one to five strings. The wooden body (soundbox) of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle. The strings are usually made of two or three tightly wound strands of low-gauge nylon fishing line. These strings are attached to the instrument's wooden neck using long, narrow leather strips and to its wooden bridge using cotton strings. Moving these strips allows the instrument's tuning to be adjusted. The xalam typically has two main melody strings that are played with the left hand, like the strings of a guitar or banjo. It also has two to three additional strings that are fixed in pitch. Most xalam players build their own instruments, though they often ask woodworkers (lawbe) to carve the body, neck, and bridge.

In most Wolof-speaking areas of Senegal, the xalam has three main tunings. All tunings involve tuning the two main strings a perfect fourth apart. In the first tuning (ci suuf or low), the main strings are tuned to 1 and 4 (1 being the first note of a major scale). Three supplementary strings are tuned an octave higher to 1´, 2´, and 3´. In the second tuning (ci kow or high), the same string intervals are used, but the fundamental note is placed a minor second above the higher melody string. This means the open main strings now play the role of 3 and 6, while the supplementary strings act as 3´ and 4#, with the highest supplementary string often ignored. In the third tuning (ardin), the fundamental note is a minor third above the lowest main string, and the main strings are tuned to 6 and 2. The supplementary strings are tuned to 5 and 1´. The third supplementary string is either ignored or tuned to 6 or 2´. When playing in an ensemble, the ardin xalam's main strings are tuned a minor third below the ci suuf xalam, and the ci kow xalam is tuned a major third above the ci suuf xalam. This ensures the fundamental notes of each xalam match. (For example, if the ci suuf xalam's lowest note were C, the ardin's lowest note would be A, and the ci kow xalam's lowest note would be E.)

Players

The xalam is often played by male griots, who are musicians born into this role. It is usually played by one or two people to go along with songs that praise people and tell stories about history. In some areas, it is part of a bigger group that includes other instruments like kora, drums, and calabashes. Traditionally, it is played at weddings and ceremonies where babies are named. Now, it is often used with amplifiers in folklore groups, mbalax music groups, and ndaga shows.