Bashkir musical instruments: list with photos and names, classification

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

National Bashkir musical instruments are part of the culture and history of the people. Like other ancient instruments, they reflect the characteristics, temperament and mentality of the Bashkirs, the conditions for their formation as an ethnic group. Any attentive and thinking listener while listening to folk music seems to reveal for himself the soul of the people with all the most intimate and deepest secrets. So it is with Bashkir folk music. Variety, rich sound, unusual melody pattern - all this is created by Bashkir musical instruments.

Bashkir musical culture

Each ancient musical culture has its origins in ancient rituals. Bashkir folk music is no exception. Singing was accompanied by pagan and mystical sacraments, holidays and solemn events, household and everyday rituals, such as hunting, harvesting and much more, including military campaigns. There is little in this history of the Bashkir musical culture.different from the history of any other nation.

Another thing is that Bashkir musical instruments, like national vocal performance techniques, are quite unique and original. Tales of folk legends and parables have always been accompanied by polyphonic singing and the melody of ancient instruments.

Music has firmly entered the culture of the Bashkir people, giving it a special character and beauty. That elusive and characteristic national shade, by which one can unmistakably determine - this is the sound of a traditional Bashkir musical instrument.

There are quite a few similar and somewhat similar sounding instruments in other ethnic cultures. But traditional musical instruments have a certain elusive distinctive voice, as if coming from the depths of history. That is why we distinguish, say, the Chinese erhu from the Indian sitar. After all, by national instruments one can judge the voice of the soul of a person belonging to a certain ethnic group.

Bashkir folk musical instruments

Although modern Bashkirs are a people that has developed and emerged as an ethnic group relatively recently, its musical culture has many features. The sound of folk instruments has a specific musical pattern and voice that distinguishes the musical instruments of the Bashkir people from other ethnic groups that settled in the Urals and the Volga region since ancient times.

This is due to the fact that the Bashkirs have always preferred melodic musical instruments that allow you to performbranched rich melody in a wide range. The sound of the Bashkir national melody, once heard, is already difficult to confuse with anything. Although the list of Bashkir musical instruments includes about fifty varieties, it is worth stopping at the most characteristic and ancient ones.

Kubyz

One of the most ancient Bashkir musical instruments is kubyz. Despite its long history, the instrument remains very popular today. Kubyz in appearance and sound is very similar to the jew's harp. It also belongs to the reed-plucked types of instruments. This means that the sound is created using a metal tongue that makes the performer vibrate.

With the help of special pinching movements with fingers, a unique sound of kubyz is born. Much depends on the skill of the performer. The instrument acquires all the fullness and richness of the sound thanks to special breathing techniques and the work of the articulatory apparatus.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Kubyz was very popular among the female population of Bashkiria. It is compact, its sound is delicate and quiet. In addition, with a long practice of playing music, women easily mastered the technique in which hands were not required at all to play the kubyz. And what could be better for a woman than to be able to combine business with pleasure.

The deep velvety sound of this instrument has truly magical properties: it calms the nervous system, plunges you into a state of pleasant relaxation. It is even believed that small children from thesesounds can quickly calm down and fall asleep. Even cows give more milk when they listen to kubyz. Which, by the way, many Altai housewives use to their advantage.

Kurai

No less ancient and eminent Bashkir musical instrument kurai. Researchers are inclined to state that this wind instrument goes back to the depths of the Stone Age with its history. No wonder the Bashkirs are so proud of him. The image of kurai adorns the coat of arms of the republic, and its sound can be heard even in the national anthem of Bashkiria.

Kurai is a distant and ancient relative of the flute. Since ancient times, it has been made from the stem of a reed-type plant, which grows precisely in the Urals. Therefore, despite the fact that there are many similar wind instruments in different cultures, kurai has its own special voice, easily distinguishable from others.

Kurai sounds best in open space - its sound acquires a special depth and can be heard over very long distances. That is why the instrument has always been popular with the Bashkir people, who lived by cattle breeding and hunting. Kurai is the most frequent guest at any national holidays today. It can be played both solo and as part of an ensemble.

On the origin and types of kurai

Many folk Bashkir epics talk about the origin of kurai. The most popular parable tells the story of how the main character, walking in the river valley, was attracted by beautiful melodic sounds. When the young man began to look for the source of the melody, it turned out that these were stemsplants sing in the wind. Then he cut this stem and made the first kurai out of it.

The classification of musical instruments of the Bashkirs has a dozen of its types. The most common classic kurai has 5 holes: 4 main holes and 1 thumb hole on the back of the instrument. When getting to know the instrument, music educators often use the method of successively cutting holes. First, the student masters the simplest sound extraction techniques. Then the first and third holes are cut. As skill grows, the second and fourth are added to them. Well, the fifth from the back remains for the very “dessert”.

Kurai is often classified according to the material from which the tool is made. So, there is a copper kurai, which resembles a tube like a brass flute and has seven holes. There is even a silver kurai, partially or completely made of silver. It is popular as an expensive souvenir and is often decorated with intricate designs. Agach kurai is made from maple, hazel or viburnum wood.

The history of this instrument and its ubiquity is confirmed by the fact that, for example, straw kurai has existed for more than one hundred years. It is simply made from cereal stalks. The length of such a Bashkir musical instrument could not be a reference. A longer stem was chosen - an average of 160-180 mm, and several holes were made for the game. For simple melodies after the end of the working day in the field, this was quite enough.

Or one morea similar kind of instrument, which can hardly be called musical in the absolute sense, is sor-kurai. Similarly, it was made from a suitable stem of any steppe grass. It was used mainly when hunting or on campaigns to give signals.

It should be noted that the classic kurai has a length of 600 to 800 mm. Another type of kurai, Kazan, has a similar length, with the only difference being that it is made of metal tubes. But the Nogai is a little shorter, up to 700 mm, and has only two playing holes. This instrument is considered feminine.

Dumbyra

Such instruments are widespread among peoples with Turkic roots: Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kirghiz and, of course, the Bashkirs. Most of all, the dumbyra resembles the Kazakh dombra, but unlike the one mentioned above, it has fewer strings - only three, and also has a shortened neck.

Dumbyra has played an important historical role in the fate of many generations of Bashkirs, so it can rightfully be considered a musical instrument of the Bashkir people. The fact is that most of all, it just so happened, this instrument was in honor of wandering storytellers, the so-called sesens. They performed at the bazaars, walked around the courtyards and, playing the three strings of the dombyra, told parables and sang songs.

As often happens, such storytellers were the voice of the people and expressed those thoughts and ideas that worried the masses of the population at that moment. So, in the 18th century, they were severely persecuted by the imperial authorities for promoting ideasliberation and independence of the Bashkir people. Together with the sesens, the national dumbyra also went down in history. Now this tool is difficult to find in everyday life. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was replaced by the mass-produced mandolin.

It is gratifying that thanks to the research and efforts of musicians and masters of the older generation, the dombyra is experiencing a rebirth today. Based on the written sources of ancient masters, these enthusiasts recreate the old look of the national instrument and continue to popularize it.

Zurna

Another Bashkir musical instrument whose name is similar to the name of a spice or national dress. In fact, this is a wind instrument, in many respects similar to the duduk or balaban. Zurna is widespread not only in Bashkiria, but also in the Caucasus, the Middle East and the Balkans. However, everywhere the tool has its own specifics and its own manufacturing secrets. In Bashkiria, it is customary to call it a sornay.

Sornai is traditionally made from the horns of animals, mainly cattle, therefore it has a relatively short length - no more than 400 mm. There is a zurna of a mouthpiece and reed type. They differ in the presence of a beeper and the number of holes. It is known that the zurna of the mouthpiece type was widely used not only for playing music, but also for signaling during hunting and wars. The reed analogue was especially loved by civilians - shepherds and cattle breeders.

Dungur

Dungur or dongor is a percussion instrument. Although it is believed that in Bashkir music rhythmicand percussive sounds most often faded into the background, giving way to melodic primacy. However, Dungur was most often used to set the rhythm.

From ancient times, the Bashkirs used all sorts of household items as percussion instruments: buckets, shields or trays. Like it or not, but the rhythm of the melody, especially the festive cheerful one, plays an important role. From one of these household appliances, the Dungur was born at one time. It was made from wood scraps, bent into a ring and covered with leather.

Bashkir folk musical instruments traditionally prefer sonority and melody. After all, Dungur is perhaps the only one of them belonging to the class of membranophones. However, one should not forget about the important role of all kinds of pagan rites, invariably accompanied by rhythmic sounds with increasing tempo. Presumably, Dungur was used for shamanic rituals in this area.

Voice technology

You can't limit the culture of music-making only to the musical instruments of Bashkiria. After all, this people knows how and loves to use the possibilities of the human voice in music. During the performance of traditional melodies, masters of various voice techniques are able to weave their voice into the pattern of the melody so skillfully that the distracted listener is literally hypnotized, not immediately realizing that this alien sound is created by a human voice.

One of the most common singing techniques in Bashkiria is called uzlyau. And it wasn't fairwould, speaking about the musical culture of this people, bypass this topic. Knotting is a technique of solo throat singing, usually performed in a range below the working one. Although there are varieties of high singing in this technique.

Traditionally, it is the extraction of unusually low deep sounds by the throat that accompanies national melodies, in particular, playing the kurai, if we talk about the musical culture of Bashkiria. The skill of throat singing has been passed down from generation to generation among the indigenous people since ancient times. Each master had his own secrets akin to magical rites. In general, there is a lot of magic in this sound production technique. It is no coincidence that knot singing invariably accompanied the magical rituals of shamans.

Tools popular in Bashkiria

In addition to Bashkir musical instruments, photos of which invariably accompany any article about the musical culture of this republic, other original instruments are valued and popular here. In fairness, it should be noted that the culture of using foreign instruments is very young compared to playing authentic instruments. So, around the end of the 19th century, the Bashkirs learned and fell in love with the Russian accordion. Although the nature and structure of the music performed on the accordion is quite far from the traditional Bashkir ethnic music-making, its appearance in the ranks of popular musical instruments has made a real revolution.

The accordion was traditionally played with simple perky tunes designed to entertain the audience and cheer up. A variety of harmonicas common in other regions of Russia is the button accordion. He also came to Bashkiria relatively late, already in the twentieth century. And despite the fact that the local school of playing this instrument and the accordion is relatively young, it is already famous throughout the country and even beyond its borders.

Both stringed and bowed instruments have become widespread in Bashkiria. However, most of all - mandolin and violin. These instruments often make excellent ensembles with traditional Bashkir instruments such as kurai or kubyz. The mandolin is most often used for repertoire of historical content. While the violin often replaces the kubyz of the bow class, the so-called kyl-kubyl, and accompanies in ensembles with a mystical melodic repertoire.

After getting acquainted with the rich history and enviable variety of Bashkir musical instruments, we come to realize the close connection of the musical culture of the people with its history, character and conditions for the formation of national characteristics. Bashkir ethnic music is melodic, but at the same time difficult to perform and listen to. For a full and deep acquaintance with it, one must be open to ancient knowledge and be wise enough to accept it.