Tambouras
String | |
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Classification | Plucked |
Related instruments | |
The tambouras (Greek: ταμπουράς [tabuˈras]) is a Greek traditional string instrument of Byzantine origin.[1] It has existed since at least the 10th century, when it was known in Assyria and Egypt. At that time, it might have between two and six strings, but Arabs adopted it, and called it a Tanbur. The characteristic long neck bears two strings, tuned five notes apart.[2]
It's also similar to the Turkish tambur and they both have a same origin.[3]
Tanbur, a Persian word, according to some scholars taken from Sumerian ‘Pan Tur, meaning "Little bow".
History
Origins
It is considered that the tambouras' ancestor is the ancient Greek pandouris, also known as
Και αφότου αποδείπνησεν, εμπαίνει εις το κουβούκλιν
και επήρεν το θαμπούριν του και αποκατάστησέν το.
When he had finished his meal, he entered his chamber
and picked up his tamboura [thambourin] and tuned it.
— Digenis Akritis, Escorial version, vv. 826–827, ed. and transl. Elizabeth Jeffreys
Name
The name resembles that of the Indian tanpura, but the Greek tambouras is a completely different instrument. Since modern Greek words do not have a standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet, the word may be found written in many ways: tampouras, tambouras, tabouras, taburas etc. Even the final -s may be dropped at the transliteration, since it marks the masculine nominative in Greek. Variations of the word are to be found in Greece: tsambouras, tambouri.
The word ταμπουράς comes from Turkish
Type
The tambouras is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family,
Gallery
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Display of Greek tamboura[tambur).
See also
References
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7546-6630-1
- ^ a b "Traditional Stringed Instruments of Greece". Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ^ "The Stringed Instrument Database: Index". stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Combined Search". greek-language.gr. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "tamboura: definition of tamboura in Oxford dictionary (American English)". 2013-12-16. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-6322-7, retrieved 2010-03-16
Sources
- Anogeianakis, Foivos. Ellinika Laika Mousika Organa. Athens: Melissa, 1991 (2nd Edition).
- Grapsas, Nikos. Tambouras. Methodos Didaskalias. Athens: Nikolaidis, 2007.
- Jeffreys, Elizabeth. Digenis Akritis. The Grottaferrata and Escorial Versions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.