) * Gudok (''russian: гудок'' '' uk, гудок'') *

Kemenche Kemenche ( tr, kemençe) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black S ...

Rabel (instrument) The rabel (or arrabel, robel, rovel) is a bowed stringed instrument from Spain, a rustic folk-fiddle descended from the medieval rebec, with both perhaps descended from the Arab rabab. The instrument generally has two or three strings of gut or ...

* Rabāb (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

الرباب) *

Rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...

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 regu ...

The lijerica () is a musical instrument from the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

n region of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

and Croatian parts of eastern

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...

. It is a pear-shaped, three-

stringed 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 st ...

which is played with a bow. It is played to accompany the traditional linđo dance from the region. The lijerica's name comes from the

lyra Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra ...

(Greek: λύρα), the bowed instrument of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

which it probably evolved from. While the lijerica is most often associated with traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

, it is still found in modern music from the region. One artist who is notable for his use of the instrument is

Mate Bulić Mate Bulić (; born 18 February 1957) is a Herzegovinian pop and folk singer, whose songs are influenced by his native Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1990s, he has been living and performing from Frankfurt, Germany, where h ...

Origins

The lijerica is closely related to the bowed musical instrument ''lyra'' (''lūrā'') of the

, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments and equivalent to the rabāb used in the Islamic Empires of that time. The Persian geographer

Ibn Khurradadhbih Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...

(d. 911) of the 9th century, in his lexicographical discussion of instruments, cited the

as a typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the ''urghun'' (organ), ''shilyani'' (probably a type of harp or lyre) and the ''salandj''. The

Byzantine lyra The Byzantine lyra or lira ( gr, λύρα) was a medieval bowed string musical instrument in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. In its popular form, the lyra was a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by ...

spread through Europe westward; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms ''

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

'' and ''lira'' interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. Over the centuries that followed, Europe continued to have two distinct types of bowed instruments: one, relatively square-shaped, held in the arms, became known as the

lira da braccio The lira da braccio (or ''lyra de bracio''Michael Praetorius. Syntagma Musicum Theatrum Instrumentorum seu Sciagraphia Wolfenbüttel 1620) was a European bowed string instrument of the Renaissance. It was used by Italian poet-musicians in court ...

(''arm viol'') family; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, was the lira da gamba (''leg viol'') group. During the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

the gambas, were important and elegant instruments; they eventually lost ground to the louder (and originally less aristocratic) ''lira da braccio'' family.stringed instrument. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569200/stringed-instrument (Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009)

References

External links

Lirica – tradicijsko glazbalo hrvatskoga Jadrana

Hercegovački etno okret Lijerica
{{in lang, hr Bowed instruments Croatian musical instruments Early musical instruments