The çifteli (çiftelia, qifteli or qyfteli , sq, "doubled" or "double stringed") is a plucked

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

, with only two strings, played mainly by the

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds it ...

people of northern and central Albania, Southern Montenegro, parts of North Macedonia and Kosovo. The çifteli is frequently used by Albanians in weddings and at concerts, as well as by many musicians, such as

Nikollë Nikprelaj Nikollë Nikprelaj (born 16 May 1960) is an Albanian singer from Tuzi, Montenegro. Nikolle began his professional career in his late teens. He is now the lead singer for the Albanian folk group "Besa Trieshit", which has won first place in Albania ...

. It is also used to accompany Albanian epics and ballads.

Construction

Çifteli vary in size, but are most often tuned to B₃ and E₃ (comparable to the top two strings of a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

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

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

, with the

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

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 any heptatonic 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 either two or three whole steps, ...

, with seven notes to the octave.

Etymology

The term ''çifteli'' is derived from

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

"çift" ("double, pair") and "tel" ("wire, string"), so it takes the name from the number of strings used. The meaning is the same in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

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