Planks and tins - the sound of the young blues

By Richard Black
World Today science reporter

The finished product - signed by it's makers, the Black family

Around the world, a great number of traditional instruments are in danger of disappearing - from the guqin in China to the English dulcimer.

In many cases the instruments are complex and difficult to both learn and make.

But when the American Blues was young, many musicians either couldn't afford or couldn't find a guitar or piano to play their music and instead, they had to make do with whatever they could find or make themselves.

One of these traditional instruments is known as the Diddley Bow - which can be made in the back garden with little more than a few household essentials.

The basics are a plank of wood, about 50cm long, and a mandolin string, although any kind of string can be used - anything that makes a twang.

Two screws are used to attach the ends of the plank to the string.

To raise the string from the wood, something needs to go underneath at both ends.

Sardines and a screwdriver form the diddley bow's bridges

My toolbox provided a screwdriver with a grooved handle, while a quick rummage in the kitchen cupboards by my children came up with a tin of sardines - perfect because it is metal.

It also fits in with the good old diddley bow tradition of using anything that might be to hand.

By moving the screwdriver and sardine tin - which now function as bridges - the pitch of the diddley bow can be altered.

But to get more that one note of the diddley bow, something needs to be run along the string while the instrument is being played - a slide or bottleneck.

In this case, it is cold, around 15 centimetres long, and says beer on the label.

Running the can over the string completes the diddley bow - a piece of deep south America simply - and quickly - recreated in a London back garden.

You can win the BBC's diddley bow! Simply fill in the form above on the right and tell us what your favourite instrument is and why. The winner will be announced on BBC World Service's The World Today programme.