Dombra - WikiHQ

The dombra, also known as the dombyra (Kazakh: домбыра, dombyra; Persian: دمبوره, dambūra), is a long-necked, plucked lute used in the traditional music of the Kazakhs, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Nogais, Bashkirs and Tatars, and the principal national instrument of Kazakhstan. Together with the bowed fiddle qyl-qobyz, it is one of the two most widely recognised symbols of Kazakh musical culture.

Etymology and names

The instrument's name is most commonly transliterated as dombra in English, although the Kazakh form dombyra (домбыра) is also widely used in ethnomusicological writing.

Construction

The standard Kazakh dombra has a pear-shaped or elongated triangular soundbox, a long thin neck and two strings.

Two principal right-hand techniques are distinguished. Tökpe (literally "pouring") is the strumming technique associated with the western Kazakh tradition, in which both strings are sounded together with rapid alternating downward and upward strokes of the fingers. Shertpe ("flicking") is the plucking technique associated with the eastern and central traditions, in which the strings are sounded individually with the fingertips and nails for a more lyrical, less percussive sound.

The küy tradition

The dombra's core repertoire is the küy (also spelled kui), a short solo instrumental composition, typically of two to four minutes, that combines through-composed and improvised elements. Each küy is associated with a story, legend or emotional state that the performer is expected to introduce verbally to the audience before playing.

Regional variants

The Afghan dambura, played principally by Hazara musicians in the central highlands of Afghanistan and by Tajik musicians in Badakhshan, is fretless and carved from a single block of mulberry or apricot wood, with two nylon or gut strings tuned typically to a fourth.

Modern usage and cultural significance

The dombra is widely treated as a national emblem of Kazakhstan; the poet and composer Abay Qunanbaiuly is conventionally portrayed holding a dombra, and the instrument appears in state ceremony and on currency, postage and other official iconography.

An electrified version of the instrument, the electrodombra, was developed in the early 2010s and is played by the Kazakh folk-rock band Ulytau, who have brought the instrument to international rock and metal audiences. Recent decades have also seen a youth-driven revival, organised in part through the social-media-coordinated Dombyra Party flash-mob movement.

Gallery

File:Dawood Sarkhosh Hazara.jpg|Dawood Sarkhosh, a Hazara Dombra player.

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References

External links

Kui on dombra

Kazakh national Kui - Nauai, author Dina Nurpeisova
Kazakh national Kui - Adai

How to play the dombra

Learning dombyra on YouTube