The tarka (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

: tharqa) is an indigenous

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Usually made of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, it has 6 finger holes,

fipple The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flut ...

on mouth end and free hole on distant end. The tarka is a blockflute, like a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

, but is comparatively shorter and quite angular in shape, requires greater breath, and has a darker, more penetrating sound. The tarka has three variants: big, medium (tuned by fifth above) and small (tuned by

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

above). Usually all three kinds of tarka are used together in a big ensemble, all playing the same

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 ...

on three voices at fixed intervals and accompanied by

percussion instruments A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

(''

tinya The tinya (Quechua language, Quechua)Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) or kirki (Quechua) is a percussion instrument, a small handmade dr ...

'', ''wankar''). This traditional genre is called ''tarqueada''. The tarka is a unique flute of the Andes made by artisans from the western region of Bolivia and Peru Sierra region. Artisans create a delightful sounding instrument which is also a beautifully intricate piece of art rich in detail and (sometimes) color. Versions are also marketed from Bolivia and other South American regions. The flute is made of natural wood and features a whistle-type mouthpiece with a small air hole. The tarka sound and scale are different from any other Andean flute. It sounds very primitive, soft and mellow with a rasp in the low range. Artisans still build this instrument that their ancestors used in tribal ceremonies to mimic bird sounds.

See also