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Dombra

The dombra is a long-necked stringed instrument possessing a wooden resonating chamber, somewhat similar to a banjo or a lute, and is especially popular in the Central Asian nations. The dombra is the moat widespread Kazakh national musical instrument. The body of the instrument is a pear-shaped form, it has a very long neck divided by frets. There are two strings. One of the founders of Kazakh dombra music is Kurmangazy, whose musical composition “Adai” is still popular in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.

The history of this instrument stared centuries ago. There are many legends about the origin of the dombra. One of them says that in old times there lived tow brothers – giants in the Altai Mountains. The younger brother had a dombra. He liked to play it very much. While playing he forgot about everything. The elder brother was very ambitious and vain. Once he wanted to become famous and for this purpose decided to build a bridge over the stormy and cold river. So he began to gather stones and build the bridge. But the younger brother was playing all the time. One day passed another one and still another. The younger brother did not hasten to his elder brother’s help. He did nothing but only played his favorite instrument. Becoming angry the elder brother snatched the dombra out of his younger one’s hands and struck it against the rock. The magnificent instrument was broken, the melody died, but there was a print left on the stone. Many years passed. People found this print and began to make new instruments according to this example. After a long silence music was played again in the settlements.

A dombra can be seen in every yurt. It is considered as the most necessary and obligatory thing in the life of the Kazakhs. There are two types of dombra – western and eastern. The variations were caused by the two specific features and traditions of mastery performance. For playing fast, masterly musical pieces it is necessary to have the left hand moving and sliding freely along the neck. Therefore the neck of the western dombra is thin and elongated. A wide short neck is used in eastern dombras.

The size of the instruments and the shape of their bodies influence the volume of sound. The larger the size is, the louder the dombra sounds. The manner of playing this instrument with the right hand influences the range of sound as well. While performing “kokpe-qui” the sound is made by both strings with strong movements of the hand. But in “shertpe”the manner of performing is different, gentle pizzicato fingers’ run over the strings is used. Thus, there is a close connection between the type of the dombra and the performance of musical pieces. A dombra can be not only two-stringed but three-stringed as well. In the past three-stringed dombras could be seen in various regions of Kazakhstan, but in the present time they are very rare.