![]() The instrument was spread in southern and western regions of Kievan Rus'. He uses his left hand to mute unnecessary strings and thus form chords, while strumming all the strings with his right hand. Shlemovidnye gusli (Helmet-shaped gusli Russian: Шлемовидные гусли) is a variety of Gusli held by the musician on his knees, so that the strings are horizontal, the resonator body under them. There were two main forms: helmet-shaped (Shlemovidnye gusli – Russian: Шлемовидные гусли) and wing-shaped (Krylovidnye gusli). Types įolk Gusli have from eleven to thirty-six gut or metal strings, tuned diatonically. Preserved instruments discovered by archaeologists in various digs have between five and nine strings with one example having twelve strings. The instruments were used by the wandering Skomorokh musicians and entertainers. The gusli are thought to have been the instrument used by the legendary Boyan (a singer of tales) described in the Lay of Igor's campaign. This corresponds to what the Arabic authors Al-Masudi and Ibn-Dasta mentioned in the 10th century. During the war at the end of the 6th century, the Greeks took Slavonic prisoners and found a musical instrument named the Gusli. The Greek historian Theophan also mentioned the gusli. The first documented gusli were recorded in 1170 in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Rus'. However, it is not exactly clear what instrument was meant by that word, because in Old Slavic or Old Russian "gusli" was used to refer to any stringed instrument. Vertkov states that the first mentions of the Gusli date back to 591 AD to a treatise by the Greek historian Theophylact Simocatta which describes the instrument being used by Slavs from the area of the later Kievan Rus' kingdom. ![]() The Gusli is one of the oldest musical instruments that have played an important role in the Russian music culture. History Boyan playing a gusli, by Nicholas Roerich The term was eventually associated with the trapezoidal Gusli- psaltyry (which may have originated in Byzantium). The root of the term comes from the word to make sound in the wind. In the times of Kievan Rus', the term Gusli is thought to simply refer to any generic stringed instrument. ![]() Word gusli the word comes from verb *gǫsti(make sound, howl, play music) with suffix *slь(from PIE *-trom). A stringed musical instrument called guslim is listed as one of the Me in ancient Sumer.Įtymology "Gusli musicians" by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1899 It is also related to such ancient instruments as Chinese gu zheng, which has a thousand-year history, and its Japanese relative koto. Furthermore, the kanun has been found in Arabic countries, and the autoharp, in the United States. It has its relatives in Europe and throughout the world: kantele in Finland, kannel in Estonia, kanklės in Lithuania, kokles in Latvia, Zither in Germany, citera in the Czech Republic, psalterium in France and so on. It may have a connection to the Byzantine form of the Greek kithara, which in turn derived from the ancient lyre, or might have been imported from Western and Central Europe during the Middle Ages, when the zither had immense popularity. Its roots lie in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Republic. Gusli (Russian: гусли, IPA: ) is the oldest East Slavic multi-string plucked instrument, belonging to the zither family, due to its strings being parallel to its resonance board. Russin traditional tuning: E3 A3 H3 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4
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