Meaning
A traditional Jamaican musical bow — a length of bamboo with a single string raised on it, played with a small stick or slider while the mouth or a gourd shapes the tone. An old African-derived folk instrument, the benta gives a thin, buzzing, resonant sound and belongs to the same rural music-making world as the rhumba box and the drums. It is rarely seen now, kept alive mainly in folk and heritage performance.
Examples
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Di ole man play tune pon di benta.
The old man played tunes on the benta.
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A benta mek from bamboo an one string.
A benta is made from bamboo and one string.
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Yuh hardly see benta play nowadays.
You hardly see the benta played nowadays.
Origin
From an African source; a single-string bamboo musical bow. See [[rhumba-box]], [[akete-drum]].
How it’s used
A traditional single-string bamboo musical bow; African-derived folk instrument. See [[rhumba-box]], [[akete-drum]].