Memories of Gusle and Ganga in Cape Breton's Croatian Community

Many of the second and third generation Cape Breton Croatians remembered their parents' and grandparents' LP records. Some of the recording that were frequently being mentioned, included two traditional music idioms, gusle and ganga, both characteristic for Herzegovina and the Dinaric part of South-eastern Europe. Gusle is a one or two-string bowed instrument held in the lap and played by a single player/singer. Gusle music refers not just to the playing of the instrument, but also to the singing, since gusle is commonly used for accompaniment of a singer-storyteller and the melody played on the instrument is only a slightly ornamented version of the melody performed by the voice. Ganga, on the other hand, refers to a vocal music genre that uses a specific voice-shaking technique and is performed by a group of singers. Please see the following videos for some samples of these two musical styles: