Kemençe

Kemençe (Black Sea Fiddle): featherweight three-stringed fiddle of similar class to the Byzantine Lyra - supported by thumb and palm of right hand.

Its name derives from the Persian Kamanche, which means merely small bow.

I saw it first time yesterday: I went to a concert dedicated to the music of Dimitrie Cantemir (I will come to this event very soon). A Kemençe was the main instrument there, and they played, among other works, some superb improvisations on this fiddle: Turkish ethno-jazz.

(video by Erham Bayram)

(Blogosphere)