Kamancha

Kamancha also known as Kamanche and Kamancheh is a kind of bowed string musical instrument which belongs to Persia. In fact, it is related to Rebab, which the ancestor of this instrument and also the lira of the well-known empire, Byzantine, which is called as the ancestor of European family of violin. Its strings are played with the help of changeable-tension bow. The meaning of the terminology ‘Kamancha’ is ‘tiny bow’ in the Persian language. This instrument is often used in the classical music of various countries like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran, with a little variation in the dimension of this wonderful instrument. In the state of Kashmir, Kamancha is called as Saaz-i-Kashmir.

Design

According to the tradition, Kamancha consists of three peculiar silk strings, but the latest ones consist of four metal ones. This instrument consists of powerful ornate inlays and also carved tuning pegs made of ivory. The structure of this instrument consists of tall upper neck and lower resonating chamber of bowl shape, which is composed of wood or gourd and remains, covered with a thick membrane composed from the skin of fish, goat and lamb.  From its lower side, a spike emerges to give support to this instrument during the time it is played. Therefore, in English language it is known as spiked fiddle.

Playing Positions

Kamancha is played by sitting down often gripped like a cello. It is quite similar to Viola. The end pin of this instrument lies on the thigh or knee while sitting in a comfortable chair.

Notable Players

Ali-Asghar Bahari

Ostad Ali Asghar Bahari, who was born on in 1905 and died on June 10th 1995, was a great musician and player of Kamancha. This great personality was born in the country Tehran and later he initiated his lessons of music under the guidance of Mohammad Tagi Khan, his grandfather, who was also a noted player of Kamancha.Soon after three years, he was sent to his dear uncles by his father for mastering more standard techniques. This person had three uncles. All uncles were brothers of his mother. Their names are Hassan, Reza and Akbar. All his uncles were conspicuous players of Kamancha. His first grand success was with Orchestra of Ebrahim Khan Mansouri at the tender age of 18 years. The credit goes to him for starting his own school in Mashhad. Later he shifted to Tehran and became an instructor of Kamancha in Honarestan under the able guidance of Ruhollah Khaleghi. He is also known to have played with most conspicuous musicians of Iran such as Abolhasan Saba, Ahmad Ebadi, and Hossein Tehrani. He also worked as the professor of music in the University of Tehran for some years. He travelled to Untied States, England, Italy, Germany, Belgium and France. He had his natural demise in Tehran. This great personality is judged the best player of Kamancha in the entire world.

Ardeshir Kamkar

This great musician is a Kurdish musician and belongs to Iran. This musician started his training of music under the guidance of his father. He migrated to Tehran in the year of 1980 and then carried out his studies based on cultural arrangements under the influence of Reza Lotfi and his sibling, Pashang. He always took keen interest in the exploration of capabilities and range pertaining to Kamancha. For this, he has written numerous books.

Kayhan Kalhor

This personality was born on November 24th 1963 and is known as popular player of Kamancha. He hails from Kurdish family. He is a great composer and master of traditional Kurdish and music of Persia.

This persona has vast range of musical influences to his credit. He is known to use many musical instruments and crosses traditional borders with his effortless work. He is also a great player of Persian violin. His playing throws light on traditional music structures to the affluent folk modes and also melodies of the culture of Iran.

This great musician has made works for the conspicuous vocalists Shahram Nazeri and Reza Shajarian. The credit also goes to him for composing and performing with Shujaat Husain, the Indian sitar player and Swapan Chaudhuri, tabla player of India.

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