Zhaleyka - a musical instrument - history, photo, video. Zhaleyka (making a musical instrument) Privalov wind instruments zhaleyka pdf

On yesterday's my article " Magic duduk”came the first comment from Sergey: “Leonid, who told you what it is.More in my opinion looks like space pop.A “Armenian duduk” or as you call it “magic duduk”, cannot be compared with a simple Russian “pity”. And no one ever called her divine."Sorry" is just Russian folk instrument».

To call this music pop and compare it to another instrument… Well, sorry…

It seems to me that Sergei simply did not listen to her carefully. Instruments of a completely different sounding timbre and, accordingly, should cause a completely different perception.

I had no plans to write about the pity, but as a response to this comment, I decided to write.

Russian folk musical instrument Zhaleika

In various sources, it is called Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and even Lithuanian. It would be more correct to call it a generalizing name - an instrument of the Eastern Slavs.
The word is not found in ancient Russian manuscripts. For the first time, A. Tuchkov wrote about it in his notes at the end of the 18th century. Maybe earlier this instrument was called something else, for example, a shepherd's horn. The name is associated with "jelly" or "pity" - funeral rites, including the game on the pity.

Cut out a pity from willow or elderberry. A reed or goose feather tongue is inserted into the upper end, and a birch bark or cow horn bell is inserted into the lower end. 3-7 holes are made on the trunk itself. The range of the sound range depends on the number of holes. The timbre turns out to be piercing and nasal, sad and compassionate.

Now zhaleyka is found only in some ensembles Russian folk instruments.
And in order to finally form your opinion about the pity, listen to its sound. And to make it easier to compare and understand, at the end of the article I have given a few more duduk melodies. Listen and enjoy the playing of completely different sounding instruments.

Magic duduk(continuation)

A cone is fixed in the left chuck of the machine, and a rotating cone is fixed in the right headstock and an already drilled workpiece is between them. On the machine, we process the tube to an ideal state of ø 16 mm, first with a cutter, and then with sandpaper of different diameters. The diameter of the tube depends on the outer diameter of the ring!
We make sharpenings for the inner diameter of the ring and horn; the size should be (1/10-2/10) larger than the main size of the ring and horn (see photo 9). The tube should go into the horn very tight, then it will enter more freely. For some time, the tube, horn and cap must be stored separately. This is due to the fact that the material dries out, as it were.

Photo 9. Tubes with rings.

The ring is put on and the horn is not completely (tight). You don't have to get everything right at first.
In the first, the ring and horn will have to be removed during polishing, and in the second, over time, the tube will decrease in diameter in places where it fits the ring and horn.

Mouthpiece (beep)

This detail, which must be given most attention! From how the squeak will sound, so the pity will work.
An ebonite blank L = 60 mm ø = 12-15 mm is taken, inserted into the machine and processed to the desired size. With a 5 mm drill, we drill a hole in the center not to the end. With a file we make not a large plane 25 mm long and with a slope L ≈ 2.3 away from the horn, but with a file a groove for the tongue. All dimensions in mm (see photos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16).

Cane (tongue)

It is made by me from textolite, although it is possible to find other material. The blanks are cut with scissors and filed to the desired size, given that the reed is thinner at one end and a little thicker at the other, like a clarinet (see photos 17, 18, 19, 20).

cambric

As mentioned above, this is a hollow piece of wire insulation (mostly polyvinyl chloride) used by electricians and fishermen. The length and diameter depends on the specific application. You need two of them, one to fix the reed on the mouthpiece (beep) and the other to adjust the pitch (see photos 21, 22, 23, 24).

Ready squeaker (see photo 23), squeaker with a straw (see photo 24).

Cap

It can be made from various materials. From a garden hose, a sports hoop, simply from a metal tube or wood. I recommend from a sports plastic hoop. Pieces of hoop 50-60 mm long are cut. Slightly straighten them and process in the machine. The most important thing is that the cap fit snugly into the tube of the pit and be cleanly processed (see photos 25, 26, 27, 28).

When making a cap from wood, its diameter should be less than the diameter of the tube. The cap must go into the tube very tight. After a while, warm up on a hot stove (you can use an iron), so as not to spoil and the edges are not burned. After that, the cap enters the tube more freely. If this is not done, then after a while the cap begins to slosh and stagger. It is necessary to fit all caps under the tube without a beep, since with a beep the diameter of the tube slightly expands.
The wooden cap and tube are impregnated with linseed or sunflower oil. Oil is poured into the bath and tubes and caps are placed there for a day, then dried for seven days. The pile is removed with a fine sandpaper and wiped inside with varnish, alcohol polish. Then, after drying, the pile is removed again. You can also wipe it with a cloth soaked in oil. This is done so that the pit is not exposed to moisture (see photo below).

Setting up a stinger

Tuning a zhaleyka, like any musical instrument, is very important. It requires a great experience of the master, knowledge of acoustics, ear for music. A number of locksmith tools are required for adjustment. Files, drills, reamers and of course it is desirable to have a sound frequency generator. I recommend setting up in this order.
. Check the operation of the squeaker without a tube. No matter how hard you blow it should work. The tongue should not quack and stick.
. Together with the pipe, fine-tune the horn (sol or other note). The smaller the horn, the higher the sound.
. Along the tube, we evenly draw a strip with a pencil. Then we mark the points of sound holes (see photo 29). Measurements are taken from the base of the pit without a horn and a beep.

Then drill the measured holes with a thin drill (2 mm). The beeper, after we put it in, should already work on all sound holes.
. Next comes the pre-tuning, starting with the lower sound.
. Smaller finger hole - lower sound. More finger hole - higher sound.
. Fine tuning is done by listening to the beats of the frequency of the sound of the zhaleyka and the generator or other musical instrument. When the beats disappear, the sound is tuned cleanly. If you have lost the moment in which direction the beat frequency between the sound of the pit and the generator decreases (that is, you don’t understand the playing holes to increase or decrease), then slightly move the cambric, thereby increasing the length of the reed:
1) if the beat frequency increases, then the playing holes for the fingers should be made larger, but first, tune the reed to the main pure tone of the pity;
2) if the beat frequency decreases, then make the playing holes for the fingers smaller (but how to do this?), you can insert plugs into the holes (of course, on glue) and re-drill and adjust. Or, by moving the cane, adjust this hole purely according to the generator. But then the main tone will not build, you can cut a thin ring from the same ebonite to fit the inner diameter, this will lower the main tone (of course, then fine-tune it). But other holes may not be built, so everything needs to be checked and adjusted. To prevent this from happening, you need to set up the instrument slowly and think with your head. If you do it for yourself, you can experiment, but I had a lot of orders for music schools, colleges, music academies, and if this happened, then I just threw out the blank.
. After setting up the next sound, be sure to check all the others.
. It is necessary to let the pity lie down after it has been tuned (at least for two, three days or more), this is necessary so that it dries out, while it will slightly change the system.
. Then check the tuning again and tweak some sounds.
. We increase the sound holes with the help of drills, needle files, reamers and at the end with cutters so that they are perfectly clean and even.

I don’t give exact sizes for each pity, they are always slightly different (even for pity of the same tone). Each master must find his own, adhering to those given in the work; this applies to all instrument parameters.
. If the sound holes were obtained much larger. Then I machined round corks from hardwood on the machine, or you can, for example, use ebonite. And I inserted them very tightly on the glue, but not deep, into the same holes. After drying, the blanks were processed with a file and drilled new holes for sound holes.

A few words about chromatic pity

Chromatism is adjusted in 1, 2, 4, 5 holes. In a pit of any tonality, one hole is drilled from the center of the sound holes to the left and right of the dash. Diameter 2 mm. It is also necessary to take into account the direction of these small holes and the direction of the finger grooves (see photo 30).

Photo 30. The horn is on the right side of the pit.

Each small hole is tuned separately in semitones. I also advise you to check each sound hole at intervals of fifths and fourths. For example, in zhaleyka SOL when setting the fundamental tone, check how the interval of fifth (sol - re) and quart (sol - do) sounds.
And even before setting up the tool, you need to make small indentations for the fingers with a semicircular file. This can be seen in photo 30. If done later, it will affect the system of the pitty!

I offer my drawings of the main working regrets

Internal ø 7, external ø 16
Tube L = 150, Pishchik L = 40 mm

Internal ø 8, external ø 16
Tube L = 180 - 190, Pishchik L = 45 mm

Tube L = 190 - 200, Pishchik L = 45 mm

The first hole is made on the side for the right hand of the little finger 35 millimeters from the base of the pit.
The second in the center for the middle finger is 80 mm from the base of the stinger.

Internal ø 8, external ø 16
Tube L = 260, Pishchik L = 50 mm

The first hole is made on the side for the right hand of the little finger 55 mm from the base of the pit
The second in the center for the middle finger is 8 mm from the base of the stinger.

Tube L = 300, Pishchik L = 55 mm

1, 3, 5 holes are on the right side of the pit, and 2, 4, 6 on the left side.

Internal ø 7, external ø 16
Tube L = 11.5, Pishchik L = 40 mm

Polishing

It is carried out, like with other musical instruments, using a certain technology. Much has been written about this in educational literature and there is information on the Internet. A few words on how I do it.
. If the pit is made of mahogany, then it is better to first cover it with sunflower oil and dry it in the bright sun. You need to do this several times.
. Then covered with polish - dried.
. Rubbed with pumice - dried.
. This can be repeated several times.
. Necessarily zhaleyka is wiped from the inside with polish using a long thin stick with a swab.
. A hardwood pit (maple, apple, beech) is polished in this order (very briefly).
. Lacquer NTs - dry (the longer the better).
. Treat with fine sandpaper.
. Polish - dry (do this one, two, three).
. Treat with a pumice stone as fine as dust with a swab slightly moistened with polish - dry.
. With pumice once - twice - to dry.
. Polish on a swab a drop of oil and polish - dry.
. Repeat many times, then wipe with a dry woolen cloth.

Varnish made from medical alcohol and shellac, you can add other resins, but this is up to you. Polishing should be done with swabs, which you need to make yourself from a stretched white rag (make a square) and add woolen threads, also white.
Instead of threads, you can use cotton wool.
Before polishing, the zhaleyka must be carefully sanded!
The polishing process is considered complex and responsible, so I recommend that you first study the relevant educational literature or information on the Internet.

Additional material (20.02.2017)

1) I’ll say it again and I can repeat it many times that for the good work of the zhaleyka, the main point in the manufacture of a musical instrument is the tuning of the squeaker.
First you need to configure it separately from the pity itself.
The frequency of the sound should correspond approximately to the tonality of the pity.
The sound should not be booming, noisy, tight (hard to reproduce). No matter how hard you blow, the beeper should sound and work easily. But it must be borne in mind that a pity cannot sound very loud and very quiet. With strong blowing, the reed (tongue) simply sticks, and with weak blowing, it does not oscillate.
The sound of the squeaker should resemble the sound of a whistle made from an acacia pod. We all remember when, in childhood, we plucked an acacia pod, broke it in half, removed the seeds, and made a whistle.
Further, the adjustment of the squeaker and the pity itself is already assembled. On the playing tube, according to the markings for each tone of the pit, we drill holes Ǿ 2 -2.5 mm.
And when we insert the squeaker into the tube from one end, and the horn from the other, it should immediately work through all the sound holes easily and without stuttering. Especially when they are all open. It is necessary to blow with the same force through all the holes, and very often the squeaker of the pity stops working at the top sounds. It seems to shut up (sorry for such terminology) in this case, you need to rub it with a fine sandpaper from the side of the mouthpiece and reed. But then adjust the pity to the main tone.

See photo

After that, we proceed to setting up the pity itself, with what tools I have already written to do this. I just want to add that for tuning you can use a homemade sound generator tuned by temperament.
Or tuner KORG CA40WD (chromatic).

2) I want to offer one method of drilling sound holes that I have been using lately. I drill them not at a right angle, but I make a slope towards the horn of 110-120 °. What does it give? The air that passes through the squeaker and moves through the tube passes more easily and smoothly into the sound holes of the pit. Well, as if improving the answer of the sound of pity.

See photo

Photos at different stages of production

Old Russian folk - a wooden, reed or cattail tube with a bell made of horn or birch bark.

Zhaleika is also known as zhalomeyka.

Origin, history of pity

The word "zhaleyka" is not found in any ancient Russian written monument. The first mention of the zhaleyka is in the notes of A. Tuchkov dating back to the end of the 18th century. There is reason to believe that the zhaleyka was present before that in the form of another instrument.

In a number of regions, zhaleyka, like Vladimirsky, is called the "shepherd's horn". As a result, when a written source speaks of a "shepherd's horn", we cannot know exactly what instrument it is.

The origin of the word "poor" has not been established. Some researchers associate it with "jelly" or "pity" - a funeral rite, which in some areas includes playing the pity.

To study the question of the time when the tradition of playing for zhaleyki arose among Russians, an instrument called “ squeakers“, widespread in the southern Russian regions.

Once zhaleyka was widespread in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Now it can be seen, perhaps, only in orchestras of Russian folk instruments.

The device and types of zhaleyka

There are two varieties of zhaleika - single and double (double-barreled).

Single zhaleyka It is a small tube made of willow or elderberry, 10 to 20 cm long, at the upper end of which is inserted a beeper with a single tongue of reed or goose feather, and at the lower end there is a bell made of cow horn or birch bark. The tongue is sometimes incised on the tube itself. There are from 3 to 7 playing holes on the barrel, so you can change the pitch of the sound.

Scale sorry diatonic. Range depends on the number of slots. Timbre piercing and nasal, sad and compassionate.

The zhaleyka was used as a shepherd's instrument; tunes of various genres were played on it alone, in a duet, or in an ensemble.

Double (double-barrelled) zhaleyka consists of two tubes of equal length with playing holes, folded side by side and inserted into one common socket. The number of playing holes for paired pitfalls is different, as a rule, there are more of them on a melodic pipe than on a second one.

They play on both pipes simultaneously, extracting sound either from both at once, or from each pipe separately in turn. Paired zhaleyki are used for one-voice and two-voice game. Single zhaleyki are distributed mainly in the northern regions of Russia, and paired - in the south.

In the Tver province, shepherds made zhaleyki from willow, according to the local nonsense, because zhaleyki began to be called there. The entire body consisted of wood, which is why the sound of it turned out to be softer.

In 1900, V.V. Andreev introduced an improved zhaleyka, called by him, into his orchestra. With its appearance, this pity is similar to folk, it has a double tongue type. In addition to the usual playing holes, it has additional ones with valves that allow you to get a chromatic scale.

Video: Zhaleyka on video + sound

Thanks to these videos, you can get acquainted with the instrument, watch the real game on it, listen to its sound, feel the specifics of the technique:

Sale of tools: where to buy/order?

The encyclopedia does not yet contain information on where to buy or order this instrument. You can change it!

Zhaleika is a wind reed musical instrument, which is considered, along with the chalumeau and the Hungarian tarogato, a harbinger of the modern clarinet. This unpretentious and easy to manufacture tool has many varieties. The tunes of the most diverse genre nature are played on the zhaleyka alone, in a duet, as well as in an ensemble with other instruments and singing. This musical instrument got its name due to its "compassionate, sometimes ... crying" sound. In some areas, two more names have been assigned to the zhaleyka - a horn and a squeaker. Such names determined, most likely, the design and material from which the craftsmen made this instrument.

Often a pity is made from a wooden pipe with several holes, into which a goose feather-peeper is inserted on one side, and the other side is pushed into a bull horn (hence the name “horn”). Pishchik can also be made not only from goose feather, but also from reed, walnut, hazel. Some craftsmen have adapted to make a beeper out of wood, as the reed one quickly gets wet, breaks the tuning and does not sound at all. The pipe itself can be made from willow, elderberry, maple, reed (sometimes even from tin). The five finger holes on the pipe are called "voices" and are numbered from bottom to top. During the game, all holes are never open. If you close it in turn, then a scale system is formed: do, re, mi, fa, salt, etc. The length, size and diameter of the horn into which the second end of the pipe is inserted affects the pitch, strength and timbre of the sound. The horn is usually taken bovine, as it is ribbed in a cow. It is polished, boiled for a long time, a hole is drilled, and then it is adapted to the pipe, sometimes glued, sometimes not.

In the villages of the Alekseevsky and Krasnogvardeisky districts of the Belgorod region, the double zhaleyka, or pischik, was especially common. The squeaker differs from a simple pity in that it has two pipes, which are inserted again into a bull's horn, well cleaned, so that the walls become thin and glow.

The bell of the horn should be bent more. This affects the strength of the sound. From the stories of folk instrumentalists of the Belgorod region E.M. Saprykin (born in 1905, the village of Afanasievka, Alekseevsky district) and M.V. Sychev (born in 1910, the village of Streletskoye, Krasnogvardeisky district), we can conclude that the manufacture of tools is a delicate and scrupulous business. It requires the creator not only to strictly follow the technology, but also to love music in general. The method of making a squeaker is as follows: tongues are cut on the trunks of peeled reeds; both pipes are fastened together and united by one bell from a bull's horn. Tool barrels are named according to the number of holes there, that is, “tee”, “gear”.

The instrument is tuned so that one beeper continues the scale of another. In general, the squeakers do not have a standard scale. The structure of the instrument depends on local traditions, repertoire and on the individual characteristics of the performer. Most of the repertoire of the pityers is made up of dance tunes.

From the materials of folklore expeditions to the Alekseevsky and Krasnogvardeisky districts of the Belgorod region, it became known that at the end of the last century there were few masters of playing the unique traditional musical instrument that was widespread here earlier - the double zhaleyka. The most famous among folklorists-researchers were two of them. This is Fedor Grigoryevich Voronkov (born 1914), who lived in the village of Kazatskoye, Krasnogvardeisky district. The names of his tunes have been preserved since the 19th century: “General”, “Steppe”, “Let me go”, “Petrakova”, “Crushed”. Also known is the leader of the folklore ensemble "Userd" in the village of Nizhnyaya Pokrovka, Krasnogvardeisky district, Viktor Ivanovich Nechaev (born in 1965). He plays the zhaleyka and owns the tradition of making it. He also spoke about the design of the modern zhaleyka.

However, not only folk musicians play and make pity. Professional musicians began to do this with enthusiasm. Here is the story of V.I. Nechaev about the design and features of the modern zhaleyka:

Nowadays, metal or ebonite tubes are often used, in the body of which there can be from three to seven holes for changing the pitch. The zhaleyka with seven holes in the tube has a full diatonic scale within an octave. It is tuned, as a rule, to a major key with a lowered 7th degree, which is typical for the Russian folk musical tradition. Depending on the size of the zhaleyka, there can be different tunings, which is important in ensemble and orchestral playing. Folk wind instruments do not have exact standards, therefore each of them has certain individual qualities (design, tuning, range, timbre).

The most important structural part of the zhaleyka is the mouthpiece with the reed. In order for the instrument to have a well-defined tuning, the mouthpiece with a reed (reed) must, by itself, without a resonator, emit the main tone of this tuning - for example: “D” in D major. On old zhaleyka, the craftsmen cut the tongue (beep) directly on the main tube or on a separate small tube that was inserted into the channel of the main tube. At the same time, the performer had to close the free end of the squeaker tube with his tongue.

In our time, the design of the mouthpiece has been somewhat improved. Its free end is made deaf, a rectangular narrow cut is made along the mouthpiece to its deaf end, which opens the internal cavity. Above the cut, a tongue (beep) is installed, which is attached at the base of the cut with a ring of PVC tube. Such a mount not only makes it possible to securely fasten the tongue to the mouthpiece, but also, which is very important, to change the instrument's pitch, within a quart, by moving the ring in one direction or another. A small tube-cap is put on top of the main tube of the zhaleyka, which protects the tongue from accidental damage, and at the same time, thanks to it, the technical possibilities of execution are expanded. The size and location of the holes on the main tube of the instrument does not have exact dimensions. In popular practice, the distance between the holes is approximately equal to the thickness of the finger (i.e. about 25 mm). The size of the holes (their diameter) is determined when setting up the tool empirically. The larger the hole, the higher the sound. In addition, the diameter of the main tube bore also affects the size of the holes and the distance between them.

Sound extraction on a zhaleyka requires some effort. The greater this effort, the higher its system can rise (within ¼-½ tone), and vice versa. In addition, intermediate chromatic sounds can be played on this instrument by incompletely closing the holes. In principle, it is possible to manufacture instruments in any tuning. The range of the zhaleyka usually covers an octave, but can be wider by another fourth. In addition, an experienced performer can expand the range by pressing the base of the tongue with his upper teeth and thereby extract 2-3 additional sounds of the scale. Professor of the Moscow Conservatory A.V. Rudneva notes that in the Kursk villages, a zhaleyka with a small bell made of a cow horn is called a “horn”, and a zhaleyka with a large bull horn and a lower order is called a “buzzer”.

Zhaleika has an octave diatonic scale in the system "la-", "mi-", "fa-", G-major. Other tonalities are also used. Decreasing the tuning down at the same time increases the size of the blade and, at the same time, the distance between the finger holes (scale), and vice versa, which creates additional difficulties when playing.

In notes, zhaleyka is written in the treble clef, in the first octave. Zhaleika is a primitive instrument. Its endless improvement would eventually lead to the creation of a clarinet, and then its main amazing originality would be lost.

Zhaleika consists of a tube with six holes on top and one (for the thumb of the left hand) at the bottom, a specially processed cow horn, a squeaker with a cane and a mouthpiece. All these five elements “work” in unity, so the thoughtless replacement of one component with another, even if in appearance the same - is unlikely to bring the desired result.

Zhaleyka is held with both hands in front of him at chest level, almost horizontally. The ring, middle and index fingers of the right hand cover the three holes closest to the horn. The thumb of the right hand supports the tube at the bottom. It is necessary to strictly ensure that the thumb of the left hand covers the seventh, lower hole. Otherwise, the column of air inside the tube breaks, and the pity makes one uncontrollable sound. It is very important to develop a sense of the necessary force of air blowing. When extracting higher sounds, more breathing is required and vice versa. When sound is produced, the metal mouthpiece is not removed from the zhaleyka. It is best to get used to zhaleyka with the extraction of middle notes, and not extreme notes. In this case, the right feeling of the force of air blowing comes. On a pity, playing the piano is impossible. Excessive sound power is unacceptable. Controlling by ear, it is necessary to determine this limit for yourself. In the case of a clear overestimation of the force of air blowing, the pit will “stick”. It should be remembered that the top two notes do not have fine tuning and, in part, depend on the skill of the performer. Each sound corresponds to a certain number of open and closed holes. Each note has its own fingering. No "amateur activity" in this case is unacceptable. If the performer has experience playing the flute, recorder, etc., then getting to know the zhaleyka will not be more difficult for him. The predominant method of playing the zhaleyka is "legato", in which sounds of different pitches are performed in one breath, with the help of clear and smooth fingering. Sounds good and "staccato". In this case, the tongue, touching the mouthpiece, cuts off the air supply after each note.

When mastering the zhaleyka, you may encounter such a problem: condensate and saliva naturally accompany the playing of this instrument and interfere with sound extraction. For trumpeters and other musicians, this problem is solved by the presence of a special valve, with which excess moisture is removed. There is no such device on the blade, so after a long game you need to carefully remove the aluminum mouthpiece and dry the ebonite squeaker and reed with a piece of newsprint. This should be done if the abundance of moisture clearly interferes with the game. Without this need, there is no need to disturb the cane once again. At the same time, one must vigilantly ensure that no crumbs of wet paper remain under the cane. Otherwise, the system of pity will be broken.

The sound is produced by a technique that can be conditionally called "dry spitting". With continued practice, the drying method will be used less and less and, over time, this will no longer be necessary. The mouthpiece, squeaker and reed must be kept especially clean. In addition to purely hygienic requirements, you need to know that a crumb of tobacco, for example, or a piece of thread, etc. caught in a cane, they can nullify all the work. Therefore, it would be good to wrap each zhaleyka in a separate plastic bag when moving. Folded together, they perfectly cushion when transported in a balalaika case along with a balalaika.

Setting up a zhaleika is a very delicate process. The cane is attached with two or three plastic rings, with two rings holding the cane, and the third is used for tuning. Moving the tuning ring a fraction of a millimeter away from the horn raises the pitch and vice versa.

The reed should only be replaced if it breaks, although it can last for years under normal use. Changing a cane is a rather tricky process. It is impossible to make two exactly the same canes, so the new cane will be different from the old one and will need to be “customized”. It is necessary to start this operation in a good mood, considering that success cannot be achieved in one minute. Having strengthened the new reed with cambric rings, it is necessary to carefully tune it. A good result is also given by moving the cane along the slot of the ebonite beep. In this case, the rings do not move, only the cane moves.

If the sound turns out to be “flimsy” and the reed sticks on the “tops”, it is necessary to free the reed from the rings and carefully cut its working end with a sharp knife by a fraction of a millimeter. This thickens the vibrating part of the reed and thickens the sound. In the event that the sound turns out to be clearly rough, it is necessary to remove the reed, press it tightly against a piece of glass (a mirror, for example) and scrape the working part of it with a razor blade, bringing it to nothing. Thus, the vibrating part of the reed becomes thinner. Clarinetists can give good advice on making a plastic reed for a pity.

When did the regret appear? Where did the word "poor" come from?

Why is the zhaleyka considered a Russian folk instrument?

The history of the creation of the tool "pity" (accessible to children).

Description of the musical instrument "pity".

Zhaleika refers to simple musical instruments. Learning to play the zhaleyka is available to everyone, you just need to make some efforts to master the technique of sound production on the instrument.

Sound production on a zhaleyka requires a stronger air pressure than, for example, on a recorder, where the principle of sound production is completely different. In order to understand the necessary air pressure for the harmonious sound of the zhaleyka, one should play notes on the instrument from the bottom up with the button accordion or piano on the “legato” (connected), then two notes on the “legato”. After you have achieved a clear, harmonious sound, you need to play intervals, starting from the bottom note from a second onwards (example: Do-Re, Do-Mi, Do-Fa, etc.). Then you can combine intervals from top to bottom. Also, start the exercise on "legato", then you can move on to "non-legato" and "staccato" (jerky).

Below is the application. The scheme will help you understand the correct position of the hands and fingers when playing the instrument using the example of the C Major pitty.

Please familiarize yourself with the layout of the notes on the instrument using the example of the zhaleyka in C Major. We draw your attention to the fact that the holes must be closed tightly.

It is advisable not to remove the cap from the zhaleyka unless absolutely necessary, so as not to bend the reed and not to disturb the instrument's order. If it is necessary to adjust the instrument, the upper ring (which is located on the beep of the instrument and holds the reed), depending on whether the blade is high or low, must be moved up (if it is low) or down (if it is high) gently by a fraction of a millimeter.