Art of Music
( 2005-09-13 )

The ghij?k now played by professional musicians was adapted in the 1950s, and today its four metal strings are tuned like the violin but its playing technique is closer to the Iranian spike fiddle. It is held on the knee with the bow held loosely in the hand, palm upwards, and the strings are pressed against the bow by pivoting the instrument. This ghij?k is also found in soprano and tenor versions.

Khushtar

-- Now a prominent instrument in the professional troupes, the khushtar viol was developed in the 1960s. It modeled its shape on instruments depicted in Xinjiang's early Buddhist cave murals. It is tuned and bowed like the professional ghij?k, but its tone is lower and softer, since the whole instrument is made of wood. It is also found in soprano and tenor versions.

3. Plucked stringed instruments

Dutar

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

T?mbür

-- The longest of the Uygur lutes at around 150 centimeters, the t?mbür has five metal strings tuned so-so-do-so-so. The melody is played on the double right-hand strings, using a metal pick (nakh?la) on the index finger. The t?mbür is sometimes used as principal instrument in the Muqam, as well as for folksongs, narrative songs, and instrumental pieces.