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Unique Uyghur Ghijek (violin) w/ Bow

Fantastic snakeskin viol

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adeh77 ( 159)
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Item number:400070552727
Item location:Kashgar, Xinjiang, China
Ships to:Worldwide
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Large Uyghur Ghijek (violin) with Bow

An Exclusive offer from The Camel's Back

 

An Uyghur Ghijek, a spiked fiddle. The Ghijek a special instrument unique to the Uyghur Nation. It is a "spiked fiddle", meaning it is meant to be played upright, rather than horizontally like a western fiddle. It has four strings and a short neck, making it similar to a modern violin. To play the Ghijek, place the head on your leg, the neck in your left hand, and hold the bow with your right. If you are familiar with playing a violin, playing the Ghijek should come easily.

Our Ghijek is carved from the wood of an apricot tree. Very thin wood covers the bowl, and real snakeskin is stretched inside the drum as a sound table. It is strung with high quality steel strings. Its scale length measures 46cm. The bowl has many holes, to make the sound more resonant, and it is adorned with colorful ornaments. It is made in a workshop by master craftsmen, in Kashgar, on China's westernmost border.

To hear the Ghijek is to hear the spring; flowers blooming, birds singing, the sun bathing the world in its light. It is no mistake that the Ghijek is the most popular bowed instrument in an Uyghur orchestra. It is also played alone, in solo recitals.

The strings of the Ghijek are meant to be tuned as follows:

 4 3 2 1
 g d a e

The instrument is easy to tune and easy to care for. It can make an excellent instruement for study, for entertainment, or for your colletion.

Some History

The Ghijek has a long and storied history, first appearing in a bow and arrow shape in early Uyghur Oral histories. Its print debut occured during the Song Dynasty (960-1279CE) in China, where it was described as having horsetail strings. The instrument seemed to develop in parallel with the more well known Persian Ghijek, yet the Uyghur Ghijek was unique because of its use of sympathetic strings. These Ghijeks typically had 2 bowed strings, and 10 sympathetic strings, as noted by Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911CE) scholars. Over time, the Ghijek standardized on the short neck form. In 1955, Uyghur masters standardized the Ghijek to 4 strings and aligned the tones with the western scale, giving us a modern instrument that maintains ties to its more than 1000 year-old tradition.

Above is a poster depicting the sacred music tradition called muqam.

About Us

The instruments spend about 2 months in our shop from start to finish. All of our stringed instruments are hand made by an experienced team of master craftspeople according to Uyghur traditional style. Each instrument is built to order and unique. We have been selling instruments worldwide for 18 years from our headquarters in Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China.

Our decorative wooden musical instruments are crafted with serious professionals in mind, but can also be enjoyed by collectors or any who enjoy traditional or rare musical instruments.

Each of our musical instruments is carefully packed into a custom built, sturdy wooden box to ensure its safe arrival at your home. Please allow 20 to 30 days for priority shipping. If you wish, we can also arrange express shipping.

We are eager to answer any questions you may have, please feel free to ask the seller. We are also equipped to handle bulk sales to interested retailers.

Be sure to visit our store, The Camel's Back, for more exciting treasures from Central Asia

Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal!
Pay me securely with any major credit card through PayPal!

© 2003-2009 The Camel's Back
Acknowledgements: Asian Music Circuit, Encyclopedia of the Turks vol. 6, Rachel Harris, Yasin Mukhpul.




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Item location: Kashgar, Xinjiang, China
Shipping to: Worldwide
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