Domra

Domra

String instrument
Classification	Plucked string instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.321 (Composite chordophone)
Playing range
Related instruments
Balalaika, Mandolin

The domra (Russian: домра) is a long-necked Russian string instrument of the lute family with a round body and three or four metal strings.

History

In 1896, a student of Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev found a broken instrument in a stable in rural Russia. It was thought that this instrument may have been an example of a domra, although no illustrations or examples of the traditional domra were known to exist in Russian chronicles. A three-stringed version of this instrument was later redesigned in 1896, patented, and introduced into the orchestra of Russian folk instruments.^[1]

The three-stringed domra uses a tuning in 4ths.

Later, a four-stringed version was developed employing a violin tuning by Moscow instrument maker, Liubimov, in 1905.

In recent times, scholars have come to the conclusion that the term "domra" actually described a percussive instrument popular in Russia, and that the discovered instrument was either a variant of the balalaika or a mandolin.

Today, it is the three-stringed domra that is used almost exclusively in Russia. It is played with a plectrum, and is often used to play the lead melody in Russian balalaika ensembles.

Orchestral instruments

The basic domra is tuned as follows:

• Three strings: EAD tuning
• Four strings: GDAE tuning (like the mandolin or the violin)

Instruments are made in various sizes including piccolo, prima, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass.

• Piccolo: b1 e2 a2^[2]
• Prima: e1 a1 d2^[3]
• Soprano: b e1 a1^[4]
• Alto: e a d1^[5]
• Tenor: B e a^[6]
• Bass: E A d^[7]
• Contrabass (minor): 1E 1A D^[8]
• Contrabass (major): 1A D G^[9]

Performers

Tamara Volskaya is considered to be one of the leading contemporary performers on the domra. She is a Merited Artist of Russia, a Laureate of the USSR competition, and a Professor at the Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Other prominent domrists include:

• Tatjana Ossipova
• Michail Sawtschenko
• Viktor Kalinsky
• Victor Solomin

See also

• Balalaika

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Domra.

• The Andreyev State Russian Orchestra

Russian musical instruments
Percussion	Buben Spoons Washboard Treshchotka
String	Balalaika Domra Gudok Gusli Kolyosnaya lira Russian guitar
Wind	Bayan (accordion) Garmon Svirel Vladimirskiy rozhok Volynka Zhaleika