Jouhikko
Encyclopedia
The jouhikko is a traditional, 2 or 3 stringed bowed
lyre
, from Finland
and Karelia
. Its strings are traditionally of horsehair. The playing of this instrument died out in the early 20th century but has been revived and there are now a number of musicians playing it.
. In English, the usual modern designation is 'bowed lyre' though the earlier preferred term 'bowed harp' is also met with. There are many different names for the instrument and for its close relatives in neighbouring regions.
18th century writers in Latin mention instruments that seem to be a jouhikko, but the first illustration comes from c. 1830 CE. Folk music collectors in the late 19th and early 20th century visited players in Finland and Karelia, and collected instruments, noted tunes, made field recordings and took photographs.
or the sarangi
which also lack fingerboards. To touch the melody string the hand is inserted through a hole in the flat wooden board that makes up the top third of the instrument.
On a 3-string instrument tuned g-d-a, the first note of the scale is played on the g string, which cannot be fingered as it lies on the far side of the drone and out of reach of the hand hole. The second note is the a string played open. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth notes of the scale are played with the backs of the four fingers, stopping the a string. Whilst it is possible to play higher notes by moving the hand further up the string all the traditional melodies are within a compass of six notes, the first six notes of either a major or minor scale.
technique, the hand hole is often made larger so that the hand can be inserted between the first and second strings, stopping the first with the insides of the fingers and the second with the outside
The most prominent recent use of the jouhikko is the Finnish folk band Jouhiorkesteri, whose member Rauno Nieminen is considered to be the modern master of the instrument. Other bands using jouhikko include Finnish folk metal
band Korpiklaani
and Estonian folk metal band Raud-Ants
.
Kvitrafn (Einar Selvik) of the Norwegian
traditional/folk band Wardruna
uses his own made Jouhikko on there 2009 album Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga.
n talharpa
and hiiu kannel have a wider hand hole and can play a wider range and shifting drones. The Welsh crwth
is the most developed of this family to survive, with six strings, a fingerboard, and a complex playing style. Extinct or obscure variants include the Shetland gue
and the English crowd. Other instruments are perhaps less closely related, including the bowed zithers such as the Finnish harppu, Icelandic fiðla
, and the North American Inuit tautirut
.
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
, from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
. Its strings are traditionally of horsehair. The playing of this instrument died out in the early 20th century but has been revived and there are now a number of musicians playing it.
Name
The Jouhikko is also called jouhikannel or jouhikantele, meaning a bowed kanteleKantele
A kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...
. In English, the usual modern designation is 'bowed lyre' though the earlier preferred term 'bowed harp' is also met with. There are many different names for the instrument and for its close relatives in neighbouring regions.
History
The early history of the jouhikko is obscure, not least because of the many related instruments from neighbouring regions. Perhaps the earliest definite depiction of this kind of instrument is the stone carving from Trondheim Cathedral, Norway, dating from the second quarter of the 14th century.18th century writers in Latin mention instruments that seem to be a jouhikko, but the first illustration comes from c. 1830 CE. Folk music collectors in the late 19th and early 20th century visited players in Finland and Karelia, and collected instruments, noted tunes, made field recordings and took photographs.
Repertory
The jouhikko repertory was mostly collected in the field by A. O. Väisänen from 1913 to 1961. The jouhikko was used for playing dance music, and the collected tunes are very short, and were largely improvised.. The scale of the jouhikko is only 6 notes, with a constantly sounding drone.Tuning
In a three-string jouhikko, the middle string, or in a 2 string instrument, the lower or left hand string, is the drone string. Absolute pitch is not fixed, but in Nieminen's charts this is given the note d. The upper or right hand string, passing over the finger-hole, is fingered to give a scale, and this scale typically runs upwards from the note a 4th above the drone, or in Nieminen's charts, g a b c d e. The third or left hand string can be tuned down to a lower drone, or up to provide one of the melody notes.Playing technique
The strings are stopped by touching them with the back of the fingers (the knuckles or nails), as there is no fingerboard to press the strings against. This fingering method is rather similar to the igilIgil
An igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate...
or the sarangi
Sarangi
The Sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition...
which also lack fingerboards. To touch the melody string the hand is inserted through a hole in the flat wooden board that makes up the top third of the instrument.
On a 3-string instrument tuned g-d-a, the first note of the scale is played on the g string, which cannot be fingered as it lies on the far side of the drone and out of reach of the hand hole. The second note is the a string played open. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth notes of the scale are played with the backs of the four fingers, stopping the a string. Whilst it is possible to play higher notes by moving the hand further up the string all the traditional melodies are within a compass of six notes, the first six notes of either a major or minor scale.
Modern revival
Modern instruments are made with carbon fibre, nylon, gut or even metal viola strings instead of the traditional horsehair. Following Estonian talharpaTalharpa
The talharpa is a four-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe. It was formerly widespread in Scandinavia, but is today played mainly in Estonia, particularly among that nation's Swedish community...
technique, the hand hole is often made larger so that the hand can be inserted between the first and second strings, stopping the first with the insides of the fingers and the second with the outside
The most prominent recent use of the jouhikko is the Finnish folk band Jouhiorkesteri, whose member Rauno Nieminen is considered to be the modern master of the instrument. Other bands using jouhikko include Finnish folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band Korpiklaani
Korpiklaani
Korpiklaani is a folk metal band from Finland who were formerly known as Shaman.-Biography:While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani started with folk music before turning metal...
and Estonian folk metal band Raud-Ants
Raud-Ants
Raud-Ants is an Estonian folk metal band from Viljandi that was formed in 2002. Raud-Ants combines Estonian folk music with Heavy metal. The band was raised in Tartu and Tallinn....
.
Kvitrafn (Einar Selvik) of the Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
traditional/folk band Wardruna
Wardruna
Wardruna is a musical project based on Nordic spiritualism and the runes of the Elder Futhark . It was started by Einar "Kvitrafn" Selvik in 2003, along with Gaahl and Lindy Fay Hella....
uses his own made Jouhikko on there 2009 album Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga.
Related instruments
The jouhikko is a member of a family of bowed lyre type instruments that stretches from Russia in the east, through Scandinavia, to the British Isles. Most of these regions have only very sketchy evidence about their extinct bowed lyre traditions. The four-stringed EstoniaEstonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n talharpa
Talharpa
The talharpa is a four-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe. It was formerly widespread in Scandinavia, but is today played mainly in Estonia, particularly among that nation's Swedish community...
and hiiu kannel have a wider hand hole and can play a wider range and shifting drones. The Welsh crwth
Crwth
The crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, once widely-played in Europe.-Origin of the name:...
is the most developed of this family to survive, with six strings, a fingerboard, and a complex playing style. Extinct or obscure variants include the Shetland gue
Gue
The gue is an extinct type of two-stringed bowed lyre or zither from the Shetland Isles. Now extinct, the instrument was alive as recently as 1809, and was described in the writings of Sir Arthur Edmondstone....
and the English crowd. Other instruments are perhaps less closely related, including the bowed zithers such as the Finnish harppu, Icelandic fiðla
Fiðla
The fiðla is a traditional Icelandic musical instrument, consisting of a box zither with two bowed strings. The strings pass over a bridge near the playing end of the instrument, and are tuned at the other end by two tuning pegs.-Similar instruments:...
, and the North American Inuit tautirut
Tautirut
The tautirut is a bowed zither native to the Inuit culture of Canada.The Canadian anthropologist Ernest William Hawkes described the tautirut in 1916:...
.