Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia

Krygyzstans (Kirghiz)

Woods, velvet, metal, gold fabric thread, nylon,
Mid 20th century
Length: 34.5 in, Width: 8.1 in, Depth: 2.25 in
Chordophones – Lutes

The komuz (qomuz) is an ancient fretless long neck lute used in Central Asian music and related to the Azeri gopuz and Turkish kopuz.  The body of this komuz from Kyrgyzstan, is pear-shaped with a flat back and carved from apricot wood with a pine wood sound board.  A very small sound hole in the center above the bridge can be found in the sound board.  There are three T-shaped pegs on the left side of the pegbox, which is located at the end of a taper hollowed out wooden neck.  Both the neck and the pegbox are covered by pine wood, but the pegbox is open in the back. The three nylon strings run through holes in the pegbox to the wooden pegs, then over a small bridge and down over the loose wooden bridge on the sound board.  They are attached to a metal plate that is fixed to the edge of the body.

The komuz is the only three-string long-neck lute of Central Asia.  It is considered a national symbol of the Kirghiz and is played as a solo instrument or used to accompany singing.  This komuz has a beautiful black zipper velvet case with gold thread embroidery.