Guslar
typical Gusle.
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| String instrument | |
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| Classification | Bowed string instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.321-71 (Bowl lyre sounded by a bow) |
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The gusle (Serbian Cyrillic: гусле, Bulgarian: гусла, Albanian: lahuta) is a single-stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of the Southeastern Europe.
The instrument is always accompanied by singing; musical folklore, specifically epic poetry. The gusle player holds the instrument vertically between his knees, with the left hand fingers on the strings. The strings are never pressed to the neck, giving a harmonic and unique sound.
There is no consensus about the origin of the instrument. 6th-century Byzantine Greek historian Theophylact Simocatta (fl. c. 630) wrote about "small lyres" brought by the Slavs who settled the Balkans; some researchers believe that this might have been the gusle. Others, such as F. Sachs, believe that the gusle has an Oriental origin, brought to Europe in the 10th century via the Islamic cultural wave. Arab travellers report evidence that the Slavs used the gusle in the 10th century.Teodosije the Hilandarian (1246–1328) wrote that Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228) often entertained the Serbian nobility with musicians with drums and "gusle". Reliable written records about the gusle appear only in the 15th century. 16th-century travel memoirs mention the instrument in Bosnia and Serbia. In the 19th- and 20th century the instrument is mentioned in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and also among Albanians.
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