Xinjiang Uyghur Musical Instruments

Uygur music is accompanied by a variety of instruments. The present Uygur music instruments are developed from ancient instruments from the Western Region and also from modern China and foreign instruments. The major instruments are stringed, wind and percussion instruments. Here we introduce five typical instruments, namely Dutar, Tämbür , Rawap , Khushtar , and Ghijäk .

 

Dutar

 

A long-necked plucked lute with two nylon (formerly silk) strings tuned a fifth or sometimes a fourth apart, with seventeen chromatic frets. Dutar is beautifully decorated, like all Uyghur lutes, with settings in horn or bone. It is used to accompany folksongs, and as a supporting instrument in the Muqam. Dutar can be found in almost every Uyghur home, and is the sole instrument which Uyghur women have traditionally played. It is played glissando, mainly on the upper string but with some heterophony from the thumb on the lower string.

 

Tämbür

 

The longest of the Uyghur lutes at around 150cm, Tämbür has five metal strings. The melody is played on the double right-hand strings, using a metal pick (nakhäla) on the index finger. Tämbür is sometimes used as principal instrument in the Muqam, folksongs, narrative songs and instrumental pieces.

 

Rawap

 

The shorter lute, plucked with a horn plectrum. Several different types are played by the Uyghur. The Kashgar Rawap , at around 90cm, has a small bowl-shaped body covered with skin and five metal strings, and is decorated with ornamental horns. The Shorter Herder’s Rawap , found in the Khotan region, measures around 70cm and is strung with two paired or three sheep-gut strings. Both of these types are played by the narrative singers. Dolan Rawap , the principal instrument in Dolan Muqam with one melodic and several sympathetic strings and pear-shaped body, ressembles the Afghan rubab more closely than the Kashgar Rawap . The Qumul Rawap is similar to Dolan version, and used in folksongs and the Qumul Muqam. The Kashgar Rawap has more recently become a professional virtuoso solo and orchestral instrument (Täkämmul Rawap) with six metal strings. An equivalent bass Rawap has also been added to professional orchestras.

 

Khushtar

 

A prominent instrument in the professional troupes, the Khushtar viol was developed in the 1960s, modeled in its shape on instruments depicted in Xinjiang’s early Buddhist cave murals. It is tuned and bowed like the professional Ghijäk , but its tone is lower and softer, since the whole instrument is made of wood. It is also found in soprano and tenor versions.

 

Ghijäk

 

A fiddle with a soundboard of stretched skin. The largest of the Uyghur Ghijäk is found amongst the Dolan, with one horse-hair melodic string and several metal sympathetic strings. The Qumul Ghijäk has two bowed strings tuned a fifth apart, and six to eight sympathetic strings. The earliest Chinese historical records relate that a bowed instrument strung with horse-hair was played in the Qumul region, but the contemporary instrument is probably a fairly recent hybrid between the Chinese Erhu fiddle and the Uyghur Ghijäk , testament to the Chinese cultural influence in this easternmost point of Xinjiang. The Ghijäk now played by professional musicians was adapted in the 1950s, today its four metal strings are tuned like the violin but its playing technique is closer to the Iranian spike fiddle, held on the knee, the bow is held loosely in the hand, palm upwards, and the strings are pressed against the bow by pivoting the instrument. This Ghijäk is also found in soprano and tenor versions.

by Xiao Xiao @ InteractChina.com

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