KOKLE: latvia musical instrument

The kokle is a plucked musical instrument that belongs to the family of zither instruments. The musical instrument is analogous in construction and origin to the kankles of the Lithuanian, the gusli of the Russians, the kantele of the Finnish and the Estonian kannel.

The first noted information about the player of the musical instrument is from the 15^th century. The Baltic tribes fabricated the musical instrument based on the analogous zithers that were played by the Slavic people and Finnic people of the province. Legendarily, the strings of the musical instrument were believed to represent the sun.

The musical instrument has a hollow body that is trapezoidal, topped with a slim wooden soundboard. Some wooden tuning pegs ate attached into the wide tip of the instrument’s body, while the narrow tip of the instrument is a metal rod that secures the strings of the musical instrument. The strings of the musical instrument may be of gut, steel, brass, or plant fibre. Formally, there were six to nine strings on the instrument, but the strings later increased to ten.

The player of the musical instrument performs the musical instrument while sitting down at a table, strumming the strings with his right hand and muting the strings that are not needed with the left hand. The musical instrument is commonly tuned in a diatonic scale, with some lower strings of the instrument working as the drone that sounds continuously.

In the historical region of Kurzeme in Latvia, the musical instruments are carved with no wing, though complex carvings and decorations.

In the Catholic Largale region of Latvia, the musical instrument is constructed with wings that reinforces the sound of the instrument and is used a support to the arm.

The Augšzeme as well as Vidzeme regions of Latvia performed both versions of the kokle, and mixed varieties.

At the ending part of the 19^th century, the traditions of the musical instrument were influenced by the building of the western zithers. Therefore giving rise to the zither kokles that has larger, zither-kind cases, steel tuning pegs and maximized number of strings.