Big balalaika-korrabas - Russian folk musical instrument

Every country and every nation has its own folk musical instruments. In Russia it's a harmonica and a balalaika. To date, there are five kinds of balalaika: prima, second, alto, bass and balalaika-double bass. The last of the above - the largest of its kind and performs a very important role in the orchestra - performs the bass part.

What is a balalaika

Balalaika is a Russian folk triangular three-stringed plucked musical instrument. Traditionally, the balalaika is played by striking all three strings with fingers. However, after at the end of the nineteenth century it evolved from a folk to a concert instrument, the styles of the game appeared on it in a variety of ways.

Dimensions of the balalaika range from sixty centimeters to more than one and a half meters. The number of frets for different types of instruments of this type is different. So the smallest balalaika - the prima totals from nineteen to twenty-four frets (depending on the particular model). This is due to the fact that she is the only balalaika who is a solo instrument. But the biggest balalaika usually has sixteen or seventeen frets.

As a rule, metal strings are put on a balalaika, although in some cases nylon is used. In the old days, only one string of this whole instrument was metal, the other two were made from animal veins.

The development of this instrument is connected with the name of the famous Russian musician and composer Vasily Andreev, who drew attention to folk musical instruments, finalized them and created the first orchestra of them. In addition, for his orchestra he himself wrote a musical program. Also, it was Andreyev who made serious adjustments to the appearance of the instrument. So with his light hand, balalaikas began to be made from a combination of several species of trees - most often spruce and beech.

Features of a balalaika-double bass

Of the entire "family" of balalaikas, the contrabass is not only the largest but also the most powerful musical instrument in its sound. Also a great balalaika has the lowest tone. In fact, in the orchestra she performs the role of a bass (not to be confused with a balalaika-bass).

As a rule, a musical instrument of a large balalaika reaches 1.6-1.7 meters in length. It has sixteen on its neck, more often seventeen frets. In all other respects, the contrabass balalaika does not differ in anything from the other instruments of its group.

It is believed that a large balalaika created by analogy with the domra double-bass, that's why these instruments even the musical system is almost the same.

How to play on this cumbersome musical instrument

Most types of balalaikas are held in their hands while playing them. But to keep such a machinel like a balalaika double-bass, it will not work. Therefore, in order to be able to play on it, the angle of the instrument is placed on a special iron spire. This device not only serves as a support, but also helps to lengthen the sound and add to it bulkiness.

This instrument is most often played by a plector (a giant, in comparison with the usual, a skin mediator - 0.6 x 0.6 cm). However, in some cases, to extract more soft sounds from the instrument, they can play with their thumb.

In comparison with the balalaika-bass, it's much harder to play on this one. Not only because of the size, but also because of the very thick strings. After all, to get the right sound, during the game they need to be well pressed in the frets.

Features of sound

The three strings of the balalaika-double bass (in the open position) differ from the others in the form of E-major, A-major and D-major. Such a system among musical instruments has a domra-double bass, it allows to expand the range of the instrument's sound - from a note of the My Control to the Salt of a small octave. In other words, the full range of the big balalaika is two octaves and three semitones.

An interesting fact for the convenience of reading notes: in the score for a balalaika-double bass they are written an octave higher than they sound in reality.

The principles of the game on this musical instrument

The giant size of the balalaika allows the performer to play on it either standing or sitting. Soloing, the performer, as a rule, plays standing, but in the orchestra he always sits.

Another important detail is that when playing a big balalaika the performer should not touch clothing or a body with a musical instrument. This is important because in this case the sound of the instrument resonates better and turns out purer and louder.

Today, seeing a man carrying a tool called a balalaika-double bass, it's hard to keep from smiling. After all, despite the "solid" age, many are not used to this musical instrument. Meanwhile, the whole world is already beginning to show remarkable interest in this folk Russian instrument, because of its unusual deep sound, through which it is possible to transmit the sound of rain, the storm of the sea and much more.