Krar
Krar is a plucked instrument with five or six strings that is common in Ethiopia and Eritrea and belongs to the lyres .
The strings made of gut, nylon or metal are attached to a resonance body covered with sheep or goat skin , guided over a bridge approximately in the middle of the ceiling and to a yoke (crossbar, amharic kenber ), which is connected to the two side arms ( miseso ) forms a trapezoid. There they are usually tuned on modern pegs . The sound box can be made of wood in a box shape. Krars with a bowl-shaped body consist of a clay pot, today also a round enamel bowl.
Traditionally, the krar is tuned in four different scales, the height of which is based on the singer's voice. Men and women accompany each other with the krar to all kinds of secular songs. The musician places the instrument sideways on his knee and plucks the pentatonic strings with the thumb and fingers of his left hand, while he holds the instrument with his right hand. In another, probably older, style of playing, the krar is struck rhythmically with a plectrum with the right hand. The fingers of the left hand dampen all strings that are not supposed to sound.
The krar is usually played to accompany love songs, battle chants, historical prize songs or ironic morality in Tej bets - restaurants in which Tej (honey wine) is served. In folk mythology, the krar is the devil-made counterpart to the “divine” beganna , which is seen in connection with the biblical “David’s harp”, Hebrew kinnor , which was actually a lyre. The name krar is reminiscent of the words makrer ("tension"), yakarara ("something tense") and kara ("cord").
Similar to an electric guitar or a violin , a modern krar can also be equipped with pickups and amplified electrically .
Similar lyres are known under the name tanbura in Sudan , Yemen , Oman and Egypt , where they are used in the music to accompany tsar healing rituals. The simsimiyya is widespread along the Red Sea, the litungu in western Kenya.
The krar is mostly played by men. Well-known and influential Krar virtuosos include two women, Mary Armede and Asnakech Worku (1935–2011).
literature
- Ashenafi Kebede : The Bowl-Lyre of Northeast Africa. Krar: The Devil's Instrument. In: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 21, No. 3, September 1977, pp. 379-395
- Timkehet Teffera: The Six-Stringed Bowl Lyre Krar of Ethiopia and its Function as a Melody Instrument. (Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar ) In: Gisa Jähnichen (Ed.): Studia Instrumentorum Musicae Popularis II. (New Series). Monsenstein and Vannerdat, Münster 2011, pp. 269–286
- Ulrich Wegner: African string instruments . (with music cassette). Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 1984, p. 100, ISBN 3-88609-117-1
Web links
- Ashenafi Kebede: The Krar. Tezeta, May 31, 2005