Kobza - a musical instrument • history, photos, videos • EOMI.

With 4 (or more) paired strings. The kobza consists of a body and a neck; on the neck there are 8-10 frets, with the help of which the sounds of a chromatic scale can be obtained on each string. There were also instruments without frets. The predecessor of the kobza is a small lute-shaped instrument, probably of Turkic or Bulgar origin.

The name "kobza", "koboz", "kobuz", etc. can be traced back to 1250, both in Slavic and non-Slavic written sources. Therefore, the appearance of the instrument can be dated back to more ancient times. Semantic studies prove the existence of similar instruments in other countries: “kopuz” - Turkey, “kopus” - Croatia, “koboz” - Hungary, “cobza” - Romania, etc.

Thus, the location of the kobza’s homeland exclusively in the ancient territories of Ukraine will be unjustified, but, undoubtedly, in these lands the instrument acquired its final appearance.

Kobza should not be confused with the modern bandura, which belongs to the family and appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. Although, due to the confusion of the nomenclature, the name “bandura” was used to describe kobza until 1800. There are several theories of the origin of this name, based mostly on semantic research: “pandura” - Assyria, “bandora” - England, “bandurria” - Spain, “panduri” - Georgia, “pandzura” - Bulgaria, “pandura/tambura” " - Serbia.

It should be noted that the original name has little to do with the specific instrument. So the English bandora and the Ukrainian bandura, except for their names, have nothing in common. However, the namesake from England has common features with Ukrainian bandura. The Poles learned the name of the instrument from numerous Italian musicians at the beginning of the 16th century. These Italians (mostly Jewish immigrant musicians) were the ones who spread the term to England and east to Poland during the Renaissance.

Historical notes

A classic of Ukrainian literature, Taras Shevchenko immortalized in his work the image of a kobzar - a folk storyteller who accompanied his songs and thoughts by playing the kobza.

Ibn Dasta in the 10th century, speaking about Rus', notes the following: “They have various musical instruments, such as lutes-kobzas, as well as pipes almost two cubits long, while the kobza has eight strings. Their drink is made from honey..."

The kobza bandura eventually became the favorite instrument of the Ukrainian Cossacks and spread widely among the rural population of the lands of the Polish kings and Russian tsars, where it played the role of Western Europe. Unfortunately, the kobza, like the lute, gradually fell out of use after 1850 and was replaced by the modern bandura, and.

K. Hildebrandt, a member of the Swedish delegation to Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky, visiting Ukraine in 1656-1657, describes in detail his stay and the reception provided by the hetman. In an informal setting, the hetman played the lute.

The Dane Adam Olearius also mentions a certain type common among Ukrainians in the 17th century.

“In Polish dictionaries, the instrument bandura is described as a Cossack lute.” (O. Famitsyn).

The Ukrainian kobza is an integral attribute of the Cossack Mamai, a character in the Vertep puppet theater.

Around 1700, some Ukrainian kobza lutes acquired additional strings. Such instruments are preserved only in drawings. It is not known whether the improvement was a local invention or came from Europe, but what is certain is that these instruments were the immediate ancestor.

Ultimately, there were three types of instrument:

1. kobza with frets
2. kobza with frets and tufts
3. kobza without frets, but with finches.

It should be noted, however, that the absence of frets is controversial, since the frets were made from guts, tied to the fingerboard and could simply get lost over time.

Video: Kobza on video + sound

Thanks to these videos you can familiarize yourself with the tool, watch real game on it, listen to its sound, feel the specifics of the technique:

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To learn about the rich musical heritage of Ukraine, it is worth visiting the small museum of Ukrainian folk instruments, which is located in Lviv, and take an interest in the numerous exhibits of strings, percussion, noise and wind instruments. In most cases, for the production of tools at that time, as a rule, the most available materials were used: wood, animal skin, and later metal.

So, the most common folk musical instrument of Ukraine is the wind instrument: sopilki (also called pipes), flutes, spring whistles, pipes and calfs, which differ not only in appearance, but also in the number of holes. The wind instrument was made mainly from wood, less often from bark. Historians believe that the ancestor of all wind instruments was the ancient Greek cithara. The first wind folk instruments were mainly popular among shepherds. At the same time, in the western part of the country, trembitas and various horns were more popular.

Among the stringed plucked instruments, the following were popular: banduras, kobzas, gusli, basoli, torban, dulcimer, which were owned by poets and singers. The main difference between all plucked-bowed musical instruments is the shape and number of strings, which plays a major role in the sound and timbre of the sound. Today, most often the sound of folk instruments can only be heard in folk ensembles.

Percussion and noise instruments

An earlier Ukrainian instrument, which arose back in the days of Ancient Rus', is a variety of noise and percussion instruments. So, to reproduce a dry and sharp sound, they used such a folk musical instrument as rattles. Another noise instrument is the ruble, which was used to create a stream of dry sounds. The ruble is a ribbed board with teeth on which you need to play using a thick stick.

But the most famous percussion musical instrument is the tambourine. The peculiarity of the tambourine lies in its indefinite pitch. The tambourine is a thin rim made of wood, covered with leather on top. In addition, there are tambourines with bells hung on the sides, resulting in a brighter and richer sound.

Today, many folk instruments can only be seen in museums, but they are still prototypes of modern musical instruments, which already have a completely different appearance and sound.

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