Do you want to buy jew’s harp from Mongolia? Then you are in right place.
Due to the nomadic nature of nomads, instruments had to be small enough to be easily portable. The Aman khuur, which means mouth instrument, is the general name for the mouth harp or the jew’s harp. The jew’s harp is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. It’s a small musical instrument which is held against the teeth or lips and is plucked with the fingers. It is played by changing the shape of one’s mouth and manipulating the sprung tongue of the instrument to change the pitch. It creates a unique “springy” sound. There are two types of khel khuur.
Iron khuur
The iron khuur, also known as the metal or iron jew harp, is a traditional or short song melody instrument. It was used among the shamans to cure the sick and to test a potential shaman and during the invocation of a spirit. The Mongolians play it in three different ways.
A normal rhythmic stroke with no difference in pitch is known as a direct stroke. Tongue strokes are created by rolling the tongue back and forth to produce various pitches. Spirit stroke imitates the trotting of an animal, and is used when the spirit is believed to have left the body of the shaman and to be returning home to its tent or to the mountains and rivers.
Bamboo Khuur
The bamboo khuur is the second kind of jew’s harp of Mongolians. It can also be made of bone, horn and wood. By the way, modern amaan khuur are made of wood. Traditionally they were made of bone, but now very rare. The method of playing is quite simple but different from the iron khuur.
You should hold the harp firmly with your left hand, and the arm of this hand should be horizontally against your face. The arm you use to pull the string should stay still, only work from your wrist. You should pull the string not directly forward, nor directly to left or right, but just a little to the front/right.
History
The earliest discovered musical instrument is a jew’s harp discovered in 1989 at the burial site of Morin Tolgoi of Altanbulag sub-province in Tuv province. It dates from the Hunnu era, which is roughly 2000 years old. It is made from carved bone and is 12.5 cm long, 1.4 cm wide and 2 mm thick. It has a tongue that is 9.7 cm long, 5 mm wide in the middle, and 2 mm wide at the end. It has a small hole in the bottom which is cut on two sides to curl the lip.
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