Today the balalaika and domra have found a small but comfortable niche across the United States, but in Russia, most observers say, Andreyev's beloved balalaika music is being swept away - by Western pop. The balalaika is strummed with the right hand to create sounds ranging from a delicate tinkling to a strong, earthy string sound. In the same year, Russias first self-taught balalaika game was published. High-quality vein strings were selected, with which the instrument sounded softly. This is the same well-known design with a triangular body and a spike mechanism. Like the violin family, balalaikas come in a range of sizes and pitch, from the piccolo (highest) to the contrabass (lowest). In 1887, the master Franz Paserbsky made the first chromatic balalaika according to Andreevs drawings. The player's left thumb wraps around the instrument's neck so that it, along with the fingers, depresses the strings. Today most balalaikas have three strings (two of which are often tuned to the same note), chromatically arranged metal frets, and a purer tone. The tunings varied at the player's whim.Īfter he first heard a peasant strumming a balalaika in the Russian countryside, Andreyev took up the instrument, mastered it and standardized it. Thought to be descended from the domra (DOME-ra), a round-bodied stringed instrument favored by wandering minstrels in the Middle Ages, the balalaika was for centuries a primitive, homemade instrument with up to five strings and twine wrapped around the neck to mark the frets. The back of its triangular body is flat the belly is slightly arched. The balalaika (ba-la-LY-ka) is a long-necked stringed instrument held like a guitar. Petersburg, Kiev, Moscow - or, for that matter, in Washington, Los Angeles, Maine, Arizona or central Illinois. Without the tireless work of the nobleman, amateur violinist and balalaika evangelist Vasili Vasilievich Andreyev (1868-1918), there would probably be no Russian folk orchestras in St. The balalaika is made in various sizes, and several may be combined to make a band or orchestra. Usually there are three strings, which are generally plucked with a pick. Andreyev? They owed at least one line on "The White Album" to that Russian musician: "Let me hear those balalaikas ringing out," from "Back in the USSR." balalaika balalaika (bllk), Russian stringed musical instrument, with a triangular body and a long fretted neck fretted instrument. Did the Beatles ever get around to thanking V.V.
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