Lijerica
Lijerica , also lirica , is a painted bowl-neck lute that is only played in the south of the southern Croatian coastal region of Dalmatia in the vicinity of Dubrovnik .
The pear-shaped body, which merges into a short neck, is carved out of a block of wood and covered with a thin, flat wooden cover. The shape is related to the Cretan lyra , the name is derived from the lyra , an ancient lyre . The string instrument has three relatively thin melody strings, which - as with the Bulgarian gadulka - are far from the neck . This makes it impossible to press the strings down onto the neck. Instead, the strings are gripped sideways with the fingernails. In contrast to the otherwise similar gadulka missing in lijerica the sympathetic strings .
Most of the time, only the highest string is tapped to form the melody, while the other two strings are used as drone strings . The middle string is tuned a fifth lower than the highest, the right string a big second lower than the highest. The lijerica is a very quiet instrument. It is bowed with a small horsehair bow and is generally much more agile to play than the somewhat cumbersome gadulka , which is why it is particularly suitable for very fast pieces. You play the lijerica sitting down on your lap.
literature
- Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. Macmillan Press, London 1984, p. 528
