Kabosy

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title: "Kabosy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["malagasy-musical-instruments", "guitar-family-instruments"] description: "Wooden guitar instrument played in Madagascar" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabosy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Wooden guitar instrument played in Madagascar ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Malagasy-boy-playing-mandoliny.jpg" caption="Kabosy."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Kabosy2.jpg" caption="A guitar-shaped Kabosy."] ::

Main article: Music of Madagascar

The kabosy is a box-shaped wooden guitar commonly played in music of Madagascar. It has four to six strings and is commonly thought to be a direct descendant of the Arabic oud through the gambus played in Malay-populated areas of Southeast Asia. The kabosy has staggered frets, many of which do not even cross the entire fretboard, and is generally tuned to an open chord.

A kabosy-like instrument with standard frets is known as a mandalina or mandoliny.

Kabosys are frequently handmade from scavenged materials, and their form varies greatly depending on the builder and materials available. Kabosys may be strung with nylon (often used fishing line) or steel (often from scrap wire or cable).

References

References

1. Hilarian, Larry Francis. (May 2005). "The Structure and Development of the Gambus (Malay-Lutes)". The Galpin Society Journal.
2. "The Stringed Instrument Database: Index".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::