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Comments on What is this bowed, fretted, lyre-shaped instrument?

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What is this bowed, fretted, lyre-shaped instrument?

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I came across this video and would like to know more about the instrument the woman is playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF9mtpw365c

(Starting at 0:16.)

The instrument is shaped sort of like a lyre, is being played with a bow, and it looks like she is "fretting" individual strings between her fingers.

What is the instrument called? Is this the way it is usually played, or is this performer doing something unusual? Does that fretting technique have a name?

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posted over 2 years ago
2y ago
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Monica Cellio‭ staff
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It's certainly an unusual instrument. An interview says that Maria Franz plays the "ravanhata," more ... (1 comment)
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Til Norðheims!

Just to clarify: if you're asking about the fretted instrument, that one's a mandolin. If you're asking about the unfretted instrument, then continue on!

It's a tagelharpa. A better example and without the yowling.

It's basically a sound box with a frame. You tune your strings, two of which will be drones and one for the melody. No frets and no fingerboard, you just use your fingers!

The technique seems to be similar to that used for the morin khuur.

posted over 2 years ago
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elemtilas‭
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thank you! (2 comments)
thank you!
Monica Cellio‭ wrote over 2 years ago
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Thank you! Yes, I meant the one being played with a bow, not the mandolin. It looks like she's pinching the melody string between her fingers, which, like a fret, would shorten the pitch-producing part of the string. That's what I meant by "fretting between her fingers"; clearly there are no actual frets there.

elemtilas‭ wrote over 2 years ago
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(:

She's actually just pressing on the string! That action shortens the string (obviously) which changes the pitch, and she also varies the pressure to bend the note and make vibrato.

If you watch the morin khuur closely, you can see that he often presses the string with his middle finger while having his index finger on the instrument's neck. His fingernail acts as a fret.