The shvi ( hy, շվի, "whistle", pronounced ''sh-vee'') is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

fipple flute with a labium mouth piece. Commonly made of wood (

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus '' Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are al ...

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...

, or

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

) or

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

and up to in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half. The ''tav shvi'' is made from apricot wood, it is up to long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound. The shvi is up to 12 inches in length and is made of reed, bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and one thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force (i.e., overblowing). The lower octave has a timbre similar to a recorder whereas the higher octave sounds similar to a piccolo or flute. 8-hole traditional flute. The shvi is played with the mouth. Typically, most Armenian

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of ...

zurna The zurna ( Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: ''зурна/зурла''; Serbian: зурла/z ...

players learn the shvi before moving on to either instrument.

Notes

References

*Ararat Petrossian - "Melody of Sunik", Aya Sofia Records, 1995. *Nor Dar - "Opus of the Lizard", Libra Music, 1997. *Tamar Eskenian *Various Artists - "Kalaschjan - Rural and Urban Traditional Music from Armenia", Weltmusic, 1992. *''Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin'' By Neil Edmunds

External links

Shvi information
at Tripod.com

at Geocities.com Armenian musical instruments Internal fipple flutes {{armenia-stub

See also

Notes

References

External links