Bandura
Region: Ukraine · Family: Zither · Date: 17th century CE · Strings: 55+
Overview
The bandura is a zither instrument from the Ukraine. It has a dozen long bass strings and several dozen strings melody strings. It is held in one’s la while playing, with the left arm reaching over the neck to read the strings from the top. It’s said that a bandurist spends half their time tuning – and the other half playing a badly-tuned bandura.
History
The bandura is the national instrument of Ukraine. Banduras are traditionally played by bards called kobzars, who would sing along to their playing. Kobzari and their banduras were outlawed in 1876 by Tsar Alexander III. For the next 40 years, anyone caught playing a bandura was arrested and their instrument was destroyed. The entire class of kobzari was effectively destroyed, but later rebuilt by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture. The political nature of the ban is probably why it is now thought of as Ukraine’s national instrument.
The modern bandura like the one shown here is relatively new. The bandura was traditionally fretted and played more like a harp guitar. It was not until the mid-18th century that the frets disappeared and it became a zither.
Construction
Each melody string on the bandura has its own bridge, and the strings are laid out like a piano. The “black keys” have a higher bridge at the top, so plucking the strings along the top of the instrument plays only “black keys,” while the “white keys” start higher at the bottom and get lower as they get to the top. Playing the strings near the bottom of the instrument means you will only hit “white keys.” Plucking the strings in the middle lets you hit all the notes.
Want to try it out yourself?
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