The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (, , , ) is an Iranian

bowed string instrument Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow (music), bow rubbing the string (music), strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous spe ...

used in Persian, Azerbaijani,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. The kamancheh is related to the

rebab ''Rebab'' (, ''rabāba'', variously spelled ''rebap'', ''rubob'', ''rebeb'', ''rababa'', ''rabeba'', ''robab'', ''rubab'', ''rebob'', etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via Islamic trading rout ...

which is the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and the bowed

Byzantine lyra The Byzantine lyra or lira () was a medieval bowed string musical instrument in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. In its popular form, the lyra was a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by stopping ...

. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow. In 2017, the art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha was included into the

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergove ...

of Azerbaijan and Iran.

Name and etymology

The word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (''kæman'', bow, and ''-cheh'', diminutive). The Turkish word kemençe is borrowed from Persian, with the pronunciation adapted to Turkish

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

. It also denotes a bowed string instrument, but the Turkish version differs significantly in structure and

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

from the Persian kamancheh. There is also an instrument called ''kabak kemane'' literally "pumpkin-shaped bow instrument" used in Turkish music which is only slightly different from the Iranian kamancheh.

Structure

The kamancheh has a long

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

including the

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

, which the kamancheh maker shapes as a truncated inverse cone for easy bow movement in the down section, pegbox in both sides of which four pegs are placed, and finial Traditionally kamanchehs had three silk strings, but modern instruments have four metal strings. Kamanchehs may have highly ornate inlays and elaborately carved ivory

tuning peg A variety of methods are used to tune different stringed instruments. Most change the pitch produced when the string is played by adjusting the tension of the strings. A tuning peg in a pegbox is perhaps the most common system. A peg has ...

s. The body has a long upper neck and a lower bowl-shaped resonating chamber made from a

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

or wood, usually covered with a

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...

made from the skin of a lamb, goat or sometimes a fish, on which the bridge is set. From the bottom protrudes a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played, hence in English, the instrument is sometimes called the ''spiked fiddle''. It is played sitting down held like a

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

though it is about the length of a

viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

. The end-pin can rest on the knee or thigh while the player is seated in a chair. Kamancheh is usually tuned like an ordinary

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

(G, D, A, E). File:Group of Musicians,, XVIth or XVIIth century.jpg, Kamancha in an Armenian miniature, XVI or XVII century. File:Qajar Miniature (1800 - 1850) by unknown Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Film and Choreography - Art Palace.jpg,

Qajar Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

miniature of a woman playing the kamancheh. File:A court musician playing the kemanche, painting by Abul Qasim, Qajar Iran.jpg, A woman playing the kamancheh. Detail from a wall painting in which Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is surrounded by musicians and dancers. Painted by Abuʾl-Qasim, dated 1816. Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila S. Blair (Ed.): ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture.'' Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, p. 8 File:Kamancheh player, harem, Qajar Iran, ca 1820.jpg, Woman playing kamancheh, ca. 1820. File:Sayat-Nova 1964.jpg, The Armenian ashugh Sayat-Nova playing a kamanacheh, ca. 1964. File:Malik Mansurov Mugam Quartet (Azerbaijan) (2).jpg, Azerbaijani kamancheh player Malik Mansurov. File:Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall - 2016 (7).jpg, Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, 2016. File:Kamanche.jpg, Kamancheh player,

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

, Iran, 2008. File:Kamancha in Yerevan.jpg, Kamancha player,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Notable kamancheh players

* Habil Aliyev * Mehdi Bagheri * Ali-Asghar Bahari * Mark Eliyahu * Kayhan Kalhor * Ardeshir Kamkar
Kourosh Babaei
* Sayat-Nova * Mostafa Taleb *Yaara Beeri
Mehrnam Rastegari

References

External links

''Nay-Nava'': The Encyclopedia of Persian Music Instruments

Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1869

Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1880
{{Authority control Armenian musical instruments Azerbaijani musical instruments Kurdish musical instruments Persian musical instruments Spike lutes Drumhead lutes Bowed instruments String instruments Iranian inventions Intangible Cultural Heritage of Iran

Name and etymology

Structure

Notable kamancheh players

See also

References

Further reading

External links