String — bowed spike fiddle
Kamancheh
Also known as: Kamancha · Kamanche
Region: Kurdish, Persian, Azerbaijani; central to Iranian Kurdish folk
About the Kamancheh
A small spiked fiddle played upright on the knee, with four strings and a vocal-like timbre. The kamancheh is the second pillar of Kurdish classical-folk ensembles alongside the oud, and is uniquely capable of expressing the quarter-tone inflections of Kurdish maqam music.
Where it's used
Lyrical accompaniment, solo taqasim, lament passages, classical-folk ensembles
How to learn
KurdNote has the Kurdish-language tutorial book "Learning Kamancheh" (فێربوونی کەمانچە).
Deeper reading
Read the full Kamancheh article →
