Washint (Amharic: ዋሽንት) is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, which is a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.[1]
| Woodwind instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | aerophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 421.111.12 (end blown flute) |
| Playing range | |
| unknown, usually players take 20 to 30 washints with them for performing | |
Occurrence edit
Along with the Krar and the Masenqo, the Washint flute is one of the three most widespread traditional musical instruments in Ethiopia.
The washint is a favorite among the shepherds and cowherders.[2]
Construction and design edit
The washint can be constructed using bamboo, wood or other cane, and increasingly flutes of metal and plastic tubes can be seen.[3] Varieties exists in different lengths and relative fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the course of a performance to accommodate different song types.[4] It generally has four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a pentatonic scale.[5]
See also edit
- Ney, a flute of similar construction found in Middle Eastern Music
- Ney (Turkish), a Turkish flute of similar construction
- Kaval, a similar wind instrument found in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria
- Music of Ethiopia - historical overview of music tradition of Ethiopia
- Krar, five or six-stranded bowl-shaped lyre used in Ethiopia and Eritrea
- Masenqo, single-stranded bowed lute in Ethiopian-Eritrean tradition.
References edit
- ^ Nidel, Richard (2005). World Music: The Basics. Routlidge Taylor & Francis Group, NY.
- ^ May, Elizabeth (1983). Musics of many cultures : an introduction. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 239. OCLC 10960729.
- ^ Timkehet Teffera Mekonnen (2020). "Shungul, Sorror, Washing, Woissa, Zumbara". www.academia.edu.
- ^ Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse (1974). "Ethiopian and Tribal Music". Ethnomusicology. 18 (1): 178. doi:10.2307/850080. JSTOR 850080.
- ^ Sárosi, B. (1967). "The Music of Ethiopian Peoples". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 9 (1/2): 14. doi:10.2307/901579. JSTOR 901579.
External links edit
Audio examples and pictures edit
- Washint tune played before entranced crowd (on EthioTube site part of YouTube)
- Boy mimicking Washint sound (on YouTube)
- Washint played by non Ethiopian (on YouTube)
- Ethiopian instruments images on the sidebar
 | This Ethiopia-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article relating to flutes is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |