Çifteli

The çifteli (çiftelia, qifteli or qyfteli , Albanian: "doubled" or "double stringed") is a plucked string instrument, with only two strings, played mainly by the Gheg people of northern and central Albania, Southern Montenegro, and Kosovo.[1]

Çiftelia.

The çifteli is frequently used by Albanians in weddings and at concerts, as well as by many musicians, such as Nikollë Nikprelaj. It is also used to accompany Albanian epics and ballads.[2]

Construction

Çifteli vary in size, but are most often tuned to B3 and E3 (comparable to the top two strings of a guitar, which is classically tuned as "E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4"). Usually the lower string is played as a drone, with the melody played on the higher string.[3] The çifteli is a fretted instrument, but unlike most, it is not fretted in a chromatic scale (one fret per semitone), but rather in a diatonic scale, with seven notes to the octave.

Etymology

The term çifteli comes from Albanian: çift ("double"); and tel. This word is derived from Turkish "çift" ("double, pair") and "tel" ("wire, string"), so it takes the name from the number of the strings, the meaning is the same in Albanian language. [1][4]

History

The çifteli in its modern form is the continuation of an old Albanian instrument. The çifteli delivers a unique sound, melody and accompanied singing. [5] The çifteli is thought to have an origin distinct from that of the bağlama, saz, tambouras and šargija instruments.

See also
  • Tzouras
  • Dutar, a Central Asian instrument, whose name means "two strings" in Persian
  • Baglama
  • Šargija, a baglama-like Balkan instrument
  • Tanbur

References
  1. Koço, Eno (2004). Albanian Urban Lyric Song in the 1930s. Europea: Ethnomusicologies and Modernities. 2. Scarecrow Press. p. 265. ISBN 9780810848900.
  2. Sherer, Stan; Senechal, Marjorie (1997). Long Life to Your Children!: A Portrait of High Albania. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 19.
  3. Broughton, Simon; Ellingham, Mark; Trillo, Richard (1999). World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 2. ISBN 9781858286358.
  4. Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 83. ISBN 9780810873803.
  5. Buchanan, Donna (2007). Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumene: Music, Image, and Regional Political Discourse. London: Scarecrow Press. pp. 194–224. ISBN 9780810860216.



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