Kamancheh

The word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (kæman, bow, and -cheh, diminutive).[5] The Turkish word kemençe is borrowed from Persian, with the pronunciation adapted to Turkish phonology. It also denotes a bowed string instrument, but the Turkish version differs significantly in structure and sound from the Persian kamancheh. There is also an instrument called kabak kemane literally "pumpkin-shaped bow instrument" used in Turkish music which is only slightly different from the Iranian kamancheh.[6]

The kamanche has a long neck including fingerboard which kamancheh maker shapes it as a truncated inverse cone for easy bow moving in down section, peg box in both side of which four pegs are placed, and finial[7] Traditionally kamanchehs had three silk strings, but modern instruments have four metal strings. Kamanchehs may have highly ornate inlays and elaborate carved ivory tuning pegs. The body has a long upper neck and a lower bowl-shaped resonating chamber made from a gourd or wood, usually covered with a membrane made from the skin of a lamb, goat or sometimes a fish, on which the bridge is set. From the bottom protrudes a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played, hence in English the instrument is sometimes called the spiked fiddle. It is played sitting down held like a cello though it is about the length of a viol. The end-pin can rest on the knee or thigh while the player is seated in a chair.

Kamancheh is usually tuned like an ordinary violin (G, D, A, E).

• Habil Aliyev
• Mehdi Bagheri
• Ali-Asghar Bahari
• Mark Eliyahu
• Kayhan Kalhor
• Ardeshir Kamkar
• Sayat-Nova

• List of bowed stringed instruments
• Music of Iran
• Byzantine lira
• Haegeum
• Rebab
• Silk Road Ensemble

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kamancheh.

• Nay-Nava: The Encyclopedia of Persian Music Instruments
• Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1869
• Kamanche, Iran, ca. 1880