Gardon (musical instrument)
The gardon , in Hungarian ütőgardon , in German also drum bass violin, percussion cello , is a traditional Hungarian rhythm instrument of the Szekler from Csík (Ciuc) and the Tschango from Gyimes (Ghimeş). In the case of smaller instruments, its body is carved out of a piece of wood in the shape of a shell and covered with a wooden cover. Larger instruments, the shape of which is reminiscent of a violoncello , are glued together in the form of a box from the back, top and sides. The body, the attached short neck with pegbox and the four strings stretched over it make the Gardon a neck lute according to the design . The covering is made with gut strings, three are tuned in D, the fourth an octave higher in D.
The gardon is neither bowed with a bow like the violoncello, nor are the strings shortened.Instead, three of the strings are struck with a wooden mallet in the right hand and pressed against the fingerboard; the octave string is plucked vigorously with the left hand. The gardon is usually only played by women who usually wear it at an angle in front of their bodies. In Gyimes the instrument, which is used exclusively rhythmically, is used together with one or two violins to accompany folk dances.
The only other European stringed instrument whose strings are also struck with a stick is the box zither tambourin de Béarn, played in France .
literature
- Bálint Sárosi: The folk musical instruments of Hungary . ( Ernst Emsheimer , Erich Stockmann (Hrsg.): Handbook of European Folk Music Instruments. Series 1, Volume 1) Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1967, p. 61f
Web links
- Zerkula Janos: Gyimes Fiddle. Youtube video
- Duduj Rozália (2011, Ciuc Zone, Romania): Authentic Sekler and Gypsy Music. Youtube video
- gardon, ütőgardon , in: Magyar Néprajzi Lexicon (Hungarian)