The lavta is a
plucked string music instrument from
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
.
Description
The Politiko Laouto has a small body made of many ribs made using
carvel bending technique. Its appearance is somewhat like a small (Turkish)
oud - the strings are made from gut like an
oud but it has only 7 strings in 4 courses and is tuned D AA dd aa, it is also sometimes tuned to Turkish Bolahenk tuning C G D A.
The adjustable frets are made from tied bits of gut on the fingerboard, at the microtonal intervals of the
makam system. This is more closely related to instruments like
tanbur than to the fretless
oud and the 12-frets of the octave
laouto.
The bridge usually has peacock-shaped ends. The fingerboard is flush with the soundboard, is often unvarnished, and has a carved and inlaid rosette. The politiko laouto have a pegbox like the
oud (angling down), The tuning pegs are shaped like those of the
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 ...
, with 3 on the right side and 4 on the left side of the open tuning head.
History
Known as a lavuta (
լավութա) in Armenian, also occasionally called Politiko Laouto (Lute from
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
) in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, is an instrument that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly among the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and Armenian communities of Istanbul, but also the Turkish community, it was one of the many instruments played by noted Turk
Tanburi Cemil Bey. It was gradually replaced by the
oud and survived until this day. From the 1980s there has been a revival of interest in this instrument, and now It is possibile to find the lavta again both in Turkey and in Greece.
Right hand technique is similar to an oud, with a long thin plectrum.
See also
*
Laouto
*
Rud
*
Shahrud
*
Kobza
Sources
*http://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/middle_east.htm
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Music of Greece
Persian music
Music of Turkey
Armenian musical instruments
Turkish musical instruments
Turkish inventions
Instruments of Ottoman classical music
Instruments of Turkish makam music
Plucked string instruments