The çifteli (also çiftelia, qifteli, Albanian for "doubled" or "double stringed") is a plucked

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

, with only two strings, played mainly by the

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

of northern and central Albania, southern

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and parts of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. The çifteli is frequently used by Albanians in weddings and at concerts, as well as by musicians such as Nikollë Nikprelaj. It is also used to accompany Albanian epics and ballads.

Construction

Çifteli vary in size, but are most often tuned to B₃ and E₄ (comparable to the top two strings of a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, which is classically tuned as "E₂ A₂ D₃ G₃ B₃ E₄"). Usually the lower string is played as a drone, with the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

played on the higher string. The çifteli is a fretted instrument, but unlike most, it is not fretted in a

chromatic scale The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce the ...

(one fret per semitone), but rather in a

diatonic scale In music theory a diatonic scale is a heptatonic scale, heptatonic (seven-note) scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by eith ...

, with seven notes to the octave. The çifteli is a

microtonal Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...

instrument, with makam Hüseyni being used on some çiftelis.

Etymology

The term ''çifteli'' is derived from Albanian "çift" ("double, pair") and "tel" ("wire, string"), so it takes the name from the number of strings used.

History

The çifteli originates from Albanian territories. It delivers a unique sound, melody and accompanies singing. The çifteli has an origin distinct from that of the instrument called "bağlama" (or "saz").

References

String instruments Albanian musical instruments {{Composite-instrument-stub

Construction

Etymology

History

See also

References