Kazakh folk musical instruments

Every nation has its musical instruments. It conveys to us the history and culture of a given nation. The Kazakh are no exception - we have many folk musical instruments, but today we will talk about the main ones.

Dombra

The Kazakh people even have a proverb "A real Kazakh is not a Kazakh, a real Kazakh is a dombra." The history of this instrument goes back to the distant past. This is a two-stringed plucked instrument, the strings of which were previously made from small animal intestines, now from fishing line. The body of the dombra is made of natural wood. The melody of the instrument is so unique that people conveyed some significant news not with words, but with the help of dombra - the one to whom the message was transmitted understood everything without words. It is impossible to imagine a Kazakh feast without dombra, on toys the main dish is beshbarmak, which is necessarily brought under the performance of a kyuya (a traditional Kazakh play).

Kobyz

This is the oldest musical instrument, created from solid wood, the strings and bow were made of horsehair (kyl) until recently. The sound of the instrument resembles a human voice, which is why since ancient times kobyz has been wrapped in a magical note, it was called the instruments of shamans, including the famous Kazakh musician - Korkyt-ata. A feature of kyuis (songs) on this instrument is the repetition of the same notes. Nowadays, kobyz is used in Kazakh orchestras and ensembles.

Zhetygen

The Kazakh stringed musical instrument zhetygen in the classical version has 7 strings, while the modern one for expanding the range of sound - 15. Its shape resembles a gusli. According to legend, one old man lost 7 sons at once in a hungry winter and created zhetygen. The sound of each of the seven strings is different, as were the sons. In general, Kazakh string instruments convey a different timbre and sound, which characterizes the lyrical nature of the people.

Sybyzgy

Sybyzgy is the favourite wind instrument of the Kazakh people. Often, the instrument was made of wood and reed, in rare cases - of silver. Due to its practicality, sybyzgy was constantly in use among the people: the shepherds took it with them to the pastures to decorate their loneliness, in the evening's people gathered together and musicians also conveyed different stories with the help of this instrument, also, sybyzgy was an obligatory attribute of toys and holidays. The sound of the instrument was two-voiced: the voice extracted from the instrument and the voice of the performer himself. For this reason, although the creation of the instruments itself was simple, not everyone could play on it.

All Turkic peoples have different variations of this wind instrument, but for Kazakhs, sybyzgy is an integral attribute of all folk ensembles.

Sazsyrnay

Sazsyrnay is a Kazakh national instrument made of clay. In its shape, it resembles the eggs of different birds, has from one to three holes, for beauty, different patterns are applied over the instrument. A distinctive feature of sazsyrnaya is that children and adolescents played on it. The sound of the instrument is reminiscent of the sound of the wind and the sounds of animals, which attracted children. Sazsyrnay is a very ancient Kazakh instrument, it was found during the excavations of the city of Otrar. Only in the twentieth century was it possible to reproduce the forgotten sound of a wind instrument.