Domra

Not to be confused with Dombra.

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.

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
• Prima: e1 a1 d2
• Soprano: b e1 a1
• Alto: e a d1
• Tenor: B e a
• Bass: E A d
• Contrabass (minor): 1E 1A D
• Contrabass (major): 1A D G

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

See also: Lute § History and evolution of the lute

• Balalaika

External links

• The Andreyev State Russian Orchestra