Washint (
Amharic
Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
: ዋሽንት) is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the ''washint'' as well as the
krar
The ''krar'' (Geʽez: ክራር) is a five-or-six stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern ''krar'' may be Instrument amplifier, amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or el ...
, which is a six stringed lyre, and the
masenqo, a one string fiddle.
Occurrence
Along with the ''Krar'' and the ''Masenqo'', the ''Washint'' flute is one of the three most widespread traditional musical instruments in Ethiopia.
The washint is a favorite among the shepherds and cowherders.
Construction and design
The ''washint'' can be constructed using bamboo, wood or other cane, and increasingly flutes of metal and plastic tubes can be seen.
Varieties exists in different lengths and relative fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the course of a performance to accommodate different song types. It generally has four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to heptatonic scales, which have seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient ci ...
.
See also
*
Ney, a flute of similar construction found in Middle Eastern Music
*
Ney (Turkish), a Turkish flute of similar construction
*
Kaval
The kaval is a Diatonic and chromatic, chromatic end-blown flute, end-blown oblique flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and ...
, a similar wind instrument found in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria
*
Music of Ethiopia - historical overview of music tradition of Ethiopia
*
Krar
The ''krar'' (Geʽez: ክራር) is a five-or-six stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern ''krar'' may be Instrument amplifier, amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or el ...
, five or six-stranded bowl-shaped lyre used in Ethiopia and Eritrea
*
Masenqo, single-stranded bowed lute in Ethiopian-Eritrean tradition.
References
External links
Audio examples and pictures
* played before entranced crowd (on EthioTube site part of
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
)
Boy mimicking Washint sound(on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
)
Washint played by non Ethiopian(on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
)
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End-blown flutes
Ethiopian musical instruments
{{Flute-stub