The lavta is a plucked string music instrument from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Description

The Lavta has a small body made of many ribs made using carvel bending technique. Its appearance is somewhat like a small (Turkish)

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

- the strings are made from gut like an

but it has only 7 strings in 4 courses and is tuned E AA dd gg (like the

), or sometimes A dd aa d'd' (in intervals of 5ths like

laouto The laouto ( el, λαούτο, pl. laouta ) is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family, found in Greece and Cyprus, and similar in appearance to the oud. It has four double-strings. It is played in most respects like the oud (plucked ...

- as well as 4ths); it is also sometimes tuned to Turkish Bolahenk tuning C G D A, which is the same as G D A E in concert pitch. The adjustable frets are made from tied bits of gut on the fingerboard, at the microtonal intervals of the

makam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam spec ...

system. This is more closely related to instruments like

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the '' New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a compli ...

than to the fretless

and the 12-frets of the octave

. The bridge usually has mustache-shaped ends. The fingerboard is flush with the soundboard, is often unvarnished, and has a carved and inlaid rosette. Some lavta have a pegbox like the

(angling down), others more like 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 ...

(or like a bouzouki or a Greek

). The tuning pegs are shaped like those of the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, 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 la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

) in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

, is an instrument that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly among the

and Armenian communities of Istanbul, but also the Turkish community, it was one of the many instruments played by noted Turk

Tanburi Cemil Bey Tanburi Cemil Bey (1873, Istanbul – July 28, 1916, Istanbul) was an Ottoman tanbur, Turkish tambur, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the ''taksim'' (improvisation on a makam/maqam) ...

. It was gradually replaced by the

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.

Sources

*http://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/middle_east.htm {{Authority control Greek music Persian music Turkish music Armenian musical instruments Turkish musical instruments Turkish inventions Instruments of Ottoman classical music Instruments of Turkish makam music Plucked string instruments

Description

History

See also

Sources