are various types of kannel (zither), bowed

harp, fiddle and psalmodikon. In the early 20th

century also guitars and mandolins were spread.

Põispill, a primitive stringed instrument has been

used as a joke at festivities.

Kannel is the oldest known instrument in Estonia. It is

believed to have been around for about two thousand

years. Such an instrument is common to cultures of the

Baltic Finns, the Balts and the northwestern Russians.

Kannel falls into four types:

small kannel

modern kannel

harmony kannel

chromatic kannel

Bowed harp reached Estonia probably through the Swedes who settled in

the islands and coastal areas of Estonia in the 13th and 14th centuries. This

instrument is rectangular or has a fiddle-like body, with a rectangular frame

on top that hold 3 to 4 strings made of horsehair or sheep intestines. The

instrument is placed on or between the knees and played with an arrow-

shaped bow. The tuning is similar to fiddle.

Hiiu kannel has been revived and it is

taught at traditional music instruction

camps, at various schools and in college.

Violin reached Estonian towns in the 17th century. In the 18th century fiddle music spread also among peasants. In the 19th century fiddle began to replace bagpipe playing, because it was more suitable to accompany the more recent dances (quadrille, polka, schottische, gallop, polka mazurka, waltz, etc.). Violins were sometimes bought in town, but usually in earlier times fiddles were made at home.

It was not an easy instrument to master and needed continuous practice. The general level was kept up by school and choir singing, as in the 19th and early 20th centuries singing was mainly taught with the help of violin. Schoolteachers got instruction also in violin playing. Folk fiddle players usually made their own instruments, and applied a popular performance style with improvisation and the use of open strings.

The spread of fiddle music developed also playing in groups: two fiddles, fiddle and kannel, etc. Musicians could also sing by resting their instrument on the chest (instead of the more recent position under the chin).

Today fiddle is one of the most popular instruments in traditional music. Traditional fiddle music is taught at traditional music instruction camps, at various schools and in college.

This is a relatively new instrument, dating from 1829

in Sweden, constructed on the basis of monochord and hummel. It

has the shape of an overturned small trough, there is only one string

with fingerboard and note marks underneath, and it is played with a

bow. The instrument spread widely in Lutheran regions to

accompany spiritual music, including also Estonian peasants. It was

easy to make and was used to teach and accompany choral singing

at home, and in smaller schools and church congregations who

could not afford other instruments. Because of its primitive

design, the instrument is mistakenly often considered rather ancient.

Bumbass (bladder-and-string) is a primitive stringed

instrument that was used at wedding festivities as a

joke. This is a single string instrument made of a stick

(sometimes bow) with a cord or sheep intestine

attached to it as the string. At the lower end under the

string is placed an air-filled bladder with a bridge on it.

It was used to provide rhythm to a music group.

Guitar (kitarr) and

mandolin (mandoliin)

spread among the folk in the early 20th century. They

became popular first with spiritual, but also with

sentimental secular music making. Their peak fell on

the 1920s and 30s. Guitar continues to be popular also

today.

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