Music of Central Asia
Encyclopedia
Central Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian culture
s. Central Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale
.
The music of Central Asia
is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lute
s, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddle
s made of horsehair; flute
s, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jaw harps, mostly metal. Percussion instrument
s include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony
is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles.
or horse-head fiddle survive today.
The spike fiddle is widespread in the Gobi areas of central Mongolia and among Eastern Mongols, the Khuuchir and Dorvon Chikhtei Khuur being a two and four stringed spiked fiddle respectively. The resonator can be cylindrical or polygonal and made of either wood or metal. The face is covered with sheep or snakeskin with the belly or back left open to act as the sound hole. The strings are either gut or metal and are pulled towards the shaft (spike) by a loop of string and metal ring midway between the tuning pegs and the body. A horse-hair bow is threaded between the strings which are tuned a fifth apart. The Darhats of Hövsgöl province, north-west Mongolia, call it hyalgasan huur, and by predominantly female ensemble-performers. The 12th-century Yüan-Shih describes the two-string fiddle, xiqin, bowed with a piece of bamboo between the strings, used by Mongols. During the Manchu dynasty, a similar two-string instrument bowed with a horsehair bow threaded between the strings was used in Mongolian music.
The khuuchir is tuned in the interval of a fifth and is small or middle sized, has a small, cylindrical, square or cup-like resonator made of bamboo, wood or copper, covered with snake skin, through which is passed a wooden spike. The neck is inserted in the body of the instrument.A bridge, standing on the skin table, supports two gut or steel strings, which pass up the rounded, fretless neck to two posterior pegs and down to the bottom, where they are attached to the spike protruding from the body. A small metal ring, attached to a loop of string tied to the neck, pulls the strings towards it and can be adjusted to alter the pitch of the open strings, usually tuned to a 5th. The thick, bass string is situated to the left of the thin, high string in frontal aspect. The bow's horsetail hair is inseparably interlaced with the strings.
Other similar instruments have two courses of two silk strings, the first and the third tonic, the second and fourth at the upper fifth. On four-string types, the bow hair is divided into two strands, one fixed between the first and second strings, the other between the third and fourth. Chikhtei means "ear" in Mongolian so the name of the instrument there also translates as “four eared” instrument.
The Buryat huchir is mostly made of wood rather than metal. Buryats use silk or metal strings, tuned in fifths; in the case of the four-string instrument. The huchir is related to the Mongolian huuchir.
The musician rests the body of the instrument on the left upper thigh, close to the belly, with the table directed diagonally across the body and the neck leaning away. The thumb of the left hand rests upright along the neck of the instrument. Horsehairs of the arched, bamboo bow are divided into two sections so that one section passes over the bass string and the other over the top string. The bow is held underhand with a loose wrist. The index finger rests on the wood, and the bow hairs pass between middle and ring finger to both regulate the tension of the hairs and direct them. To sound the thick string one has to pull one section of bow hairs with the ring finger, and to sound the thin string, to push the other section. Strings are touched lightly on top by the fingertips. In modern ensemble orchestras, there are small-, medium- and large-sized huchir.
established a music initiative with the goal of assisting to preserve Central Asia's musical heritage. Known as the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia
(AKMICA), the programme works with tradition-bearers throughout Central Asia to ensure that their traditions are passed down to a new generation of artists and audiences, inside and outside the region. AKMICA has also produced and sponsored music tours and festivals, is engaged in documentation and dissemination, and collaborates with the Silk Road Project
.
Asian culture
Asian Culture may refer to:*Culture of Asia*Asian Culture , the official journal of the Singapore Society of Asian Studies...
s. Central Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
.
The music of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region. Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
s made of horsehair; flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and jaw harps, mostly metal. Percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums. Instrumental polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles.
The origin of the bowed string
Use of the bowed string is thought to originate with nomads who mainly used the snake-skin, covered horsetail-bowed lute. In Mongolia instruments like the Morin khuurMorin khuur
The morin khuur is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. The morin khuur is one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity identified...
or horse-head fiddle survive today.
The spike fiddle is widespread in the Gobi areas of central Mongolia and among Eastern Mongols, the Khuuchir and Dorvon Chikhtei Khuur being a two and four stringed spiked fiddle respectively. The resonator can be cylindrical or polygonal and made of either wood or metal. The face is covered with sheep or snakeskin with the belly or back left open to act as the sound hole. The strings are either gut or metal and are pulled towards the shaft (spike) by a loop of string and metal ring midway between the tuning pegs and the body. A horse-hair bow is threaded between the strings which are tuned a fifth apart. The Darhats of Hövsgöl province, north-west Mongolia, call it hyalgasan huur, and by predominantly female ensemble-performers. The 12th-century Yüan-Shih describes the two-string fiddle, xiqin, bowed with a piece of bamboo between the strings, used by Mongols. During the Manchu dynasty, a similar two-string instrument bowed with a horsehair bow threaded between the strings was used in Mongolian music.
The khuuchir is tuned in the interval of a fifth and is small or middle sized, has a small, cylindrical, square or cup-like resonator made of bamboo, wood or copper, covered with snake skin, through which is passed a wooden spike. The neck is inserted in the body of the instrument.A bridge, standing on the skin table, supports two gut or steel strings, which pass up the rounded, fretless neck to two posterior pegs and down to the bottom, where they are attached to the spike protruding from the body. A small metal ring, attached to a loop of string tied to the neck, pulls the strings towards it and can be adjusted to alter the pitch of the open strings, usually tuned to a 5th. The thick, bass string is situated to the left of the thin, high string in frontal aspect. The bow's horsetail hair is inseparably interlaced with the strings.
Other similar instruments have two courses of two silk strings, the first and the third tonic, the second and fourth at the upper fifth. On four-string types, the bow hair is divided into two strands, one fixed between the first and second strings, the other between the third and fourth. Chikhtei means "ear" in Mongolian so the name of the instrument there also translates as “four eared” instrument.
The Buryat huchir is mostly made of wood rather than metal. Buryats use silk or metal strings, tuned in fifths; in the case of the four-string instrument. The huchir is related to the Mongolian huuchir.
The musician rests the body of the instrument on the left upper thigh, close to the belly, with the table directed diagonally across the body and the neck leaning away. The thumb of the left hand rests upright along the neck of the instrument. Horsehairs of the arched, bamboo bow are divided into two sections so that one section passes over the bass string and the other over the top string. The bow is held underhand with a loose wrist. The index finger rests on the wood, and the bow hairs pass between middle and ring finger to both regulate the tension of the hairs and direct them. To sound the thick string one has to pull one section of bow hairs with the ring finger, and to sound the thin string, to push the other section. Strings are touched lightly on top by the fingertips. In modern ensemble orchestras, there are small-, medium- and large-sized huchir.
Instruments
- ChoorChoorThe choor is a type of end-blown flute of varying lengths, with 3-5 holes made with reed or wood. Common among Inner Asian pastoralists, this instrument is also known as tsuur , chuur , Sybyzgy and kurai ....
, a type of end-blown fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
of varying lengths, with 4-5 holes made with reed or wood. Common among Inner AsiaInner AsiaInner Asia has a range of meanings among different researchers and in different countries. Denis Sinor defined Inner Asia broadly as the homelands of the Altaic peoples and the Uralic peoples .German makes a distinction between "Zentralasien", meaning Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, and...
n pastoralists, this instrumehent is also known as tsuur (Mongolian), chuur (Tuvan) and sybyzghy (Kazakh).
- Chopo choor, an ocarinaOcarinaThe ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
made of clay with 3-6 holes, popular with children in KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
.
- Dayra, a frame drumFrame drumA frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. Usually the single drumhead is made of rawhide or man-made materials. Shells are traditionally constructed of bent wood scarf jointed together; plywood and man-made materials are also used. Some frame drums have mechanical...
with jingles played by men and women among sedentary populations in Central AsiaCentral AsiaCentral Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
- DombraDombraThe dombura is a long-necked lute popular in Central Asian nations...
, aclass of two-stringed, long-necked lutes, the best known of which is a fretFretA fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
ted lute that is considered KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
's national instrument. It is mostly used to play solo instrumental pieces known as kui. The dombra also provides accompaniment to KazakhKazakhsThe Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
jyrau (bards) and singers of bel canto (lyrical song).
- DutarDutarThe dutar is a traditional long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran, Central Asia and South Asia...
, a variety of two-stringed long-necked fretFretA fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
ted luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s among UzbeksUzbeksThe Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, UyghursUyghur peopleThe Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
, Tajiks, TurkmensTurkmen peopleThe Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, KarakalpaksKarakalpaksThe Karakalpaks are a Turkic speaking people. They mainly live in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and in the delta of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. The name "Karakalpak" comes from two words: "qara" meaning black, and "qalpaq" meaning hat...
.
- Garmon, a small accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
among khalfa (female wedding entertainers) in the Khorezm region of northwestern UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
.
- GhijakGhaychakThe Ghaychak or Ghijak is a round-bodied musical instrument with 3 or 4 metal strings and a short fretless neck. It is used by Iranians, Afghans, Uzbeks, Uyghurs, Tajiks, Turkmens and Qaraqalpaks....
, a round-bodied spike fiddle with 3 or 4 metal strings and a short fretless neck used by UyghursUyghur peopleThe Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
, UzbeksUzbeksThe Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Tajiks, TurkmensTurkmen peopleThe Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
and KarakalpaksKarakalpaksThe Karakalpaks are a Turkic speaking people. They mainly live in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and in the delta of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. The name "Karakalpak" comes from two words: "qara" meaning black, and "qalpaq" meaning hat...
.
- Jaw Harp, called by a variety of names, jaw harps are traditionally used by pastoralists throughout Inner AsiaInner AsiaInner Asia has a range of meanings among different researchers and in different countries. Denis Sinor defined Inner Asia broadly as the homelands of the Altaic peoples and the Uralic peoples .German makes a distinction between "Zentralasien", meaning Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, and...
. They are typically made out of wood or metal.
- KomuzKomuzThe komuz or qomuz , Azeri Gopuz, Turkish Kopuz, is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments and the lute....
, a three-stringed, fretless long-neck lute typically made from apricot wood, nut wood or juniper. It is the principal folk instrument of the Kyrgyz. Playing techniques include plucking, strumming, and striking the strings with the fingernails, together with the use of stylised hand and arm gestures to add narrative to the performance.
- Kyl kyyak, the KyrgyzKyrgyz languageKyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
name for an upright bowedBow (music)In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
with two horse hair strings. In KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
it is known as qylqobyzKobyzThe Kobyz or kyl-kobyz is an ancient Kazakh string instrument. It has two strings made of horsehair. The resonating cavity is usually covered with goat leather....
. The deck is usually made from camel or cow hide, and the body is carved from a single piece of wood, typically apricot. The instrument had a strong connection to both shamanismShamanismShamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
and the recitation of oral poetry.
- Rubab, a fretless lute with sympathetic stringSympathetic stringSympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments...
s played among sedentary populations in Central Asia.
- Rawap, an UyghurUyghur peopleThe Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
long-necked luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
similar to the rubab, but without sympathetic strings.
- SatoSatois the most common Japanese surname, often romanized as Sato, Satoh, or Satou. It is pronounced as "". It may refer to:-Various:* Sato , a beverage from Thailand...
, a bowedBow (music)In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
tanburTanburThe term tanbūr can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur is applied to a variety of distinct and related...
, or long-necked luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, now rare, played by performers of Tajik-UzbekUzbeksThe Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
classical music.
- SybyzgySybyzgyThe sybyzgy is a Kyrgyz sideblown flute traditionally played by shepherds and horse herders, made from apricot wood or the wood of mountain bushes. The sybyzgy has its own repertory of solo pieces, known as kuu, which are distinguished by their lyrical content....
, a Kyrgyz sideblown fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
traditionally played by shepherdShepherdA shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
s and horse herders, made from apricot wood or the wood of mountain bushes. The sybyzgy has its own repertory of solo pieces, known as kuu, which are distinguished by their lyrical content.
- TanburTanburThe term tanbūr can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur is applied to a variety of distinct and related...
, a long-necked plucked luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
with raised fretFretA fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
s used in UzbekUzbeksThe Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Tajik and UyghurUyghur peopleThe Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
classical music traditions. An AfghanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
i variant has sympathetic stringSympathetic stringSympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments...
s.
- TarTar (lute)The tār is a long-necked, waisted Iranian instrument. It has been adopted by other cultures and Azerbaijan. The word tar itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish...
, a double-chested, skin-topped, plucked lute with multiple sympathetic stringSympathetic stringSympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments...
s used in urban music from the CaucasusCaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(the Iranian version does have sympathetic strings). The tar is also popular in TajikistanTajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
and UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
.
Preservation of Asian musical heritage
In 2000 the Aga Khan Trust for CultureAga Khan Trust for Culture
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network . It focuses on the revitalization of communities in the Muslim world—physical, social, cultural, and economic...
established a music initiative with the goal of assisting to preserve Central Asia's musical heritage. Known as the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia
Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia
The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia was established in 2000 by His Highness the Aga Khan with the aim of assisting in the preservation of Central Asia's musical heritage by ensuring its transmission to a new generation of artists and audiences, both inside the region and beyond its borders...
(AKMICA), the programme works with tradition-bearers throughout Central Asia to ensure that their traditions are passed down to a new generation of artists and audiences, inside and outside the region. AKMICA has also produced and sponsored music tours and festivals, is engaged in documentation and dissemination, and collaborates with the Silk Road Project
Silk Road Project
Silk Road Project, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and flow of ideas among different cultures along the Silk Road. The...
.