Biography
The guitar arrived in South Africa during the sixteenth century, yet Zulu singers soon integrated the instrument so naturally that it enriched their vocal traditions instead of undermining them. Starting in the 1950s, John Bhengu introduced a decisive change by replacing strumming with fingerpicking, an approach he executed at a virtuoso level and that came to be called "ukupika." When Bhengu later adopted the electric guitar, he achieved equally widespread acclaim.