Washint Explained
| Washint |
| Background: | woodwind |
| Classification: | aerophone |
| Hornbostel Sachs: | 421.111.12 |
| Hornbostel Sachs Desc: | end blown flute |
| Range: | unknown, usually players take 20 to 30 washints with them for performing |
Washint (Amharic: ዋሽንት) is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, which is a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.[1]
Occurrence
Along with the Krar and the Masenqo, the Washint flute is one of the three most widespread traditional musical instruments in Ethiopia.
The washint is a favorite among the shepherds and cowherders.[2]
Construction and design
The washint can be constructed using bamboo, wood or other cane, and increasingly flutes of metal and plastic tubes can be seen.[3] Varieties exists in different lengths and relative fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the course of a performance to accommodate different song types.[4] It generally has four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a pentatonic scale.[5]
See also
- Ney, a flute of similar construction found in Middle Eastern Music
- Ney (Turkish), a Turkish flute of similar construction
- Kaval, a similar wind instrument found in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria
- Music of Ethiopia - historical overview of music tradition of Ethiopia
- Krar, five or six-stranded bowl-shaped lyre used in Ethiopia and Eritrea
- Masenqo, single-stranded bowed lute in Ethiopian-Eritrean tradition.
External links
Audio examples and pictures
Notes and References
- Book: Nidel, Richard . World Music: The Basics . registration . Routlidge Taylor & Francis Group, NY . 2005 .
- Book: May, Elizabeth . 1983 . Musics of many cultures : an introduction . Berkeley . University of California Press . 239 . 10960729 .
- Web site: Timkehet Teffera Mekonnen . 2020 . Shungul, Sorror, Washing, Woissa, Zumbara . www.academia.edu.
- Kimberlin . Cynthia Tse. 1974 . Ethiopian and Tribal Music . Ethnomusicology . 18. 1 . 178 . 10.2307/850080. 850080 .
- Sárosi . B.. 1967 . The Music of Ethiopian Peoples . Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae . 9 . 1/2. 14 . 10.2307/901579. 901579 .
