The shvi (Armenian: շվի, "whistle", pronounced sh-vee) is an Armenian fipple flute with a labium mouth piece.[2] Commonly made of wood (apricot, boxwood, or ebony) or bamboo and up to 12 inches (300 mm) in length, it typically has a range of an octave and a-half.[3] The tav shvi is made from apricot wood, it is up to 18 inches (460 mm) long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound.

Shvi
Woodwind instrument
Other namesTav shvi
Classification
Related instruments

The shvi is up to 12 inches in length and is made of reed, bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and one thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force (i.e., overblowing). The lower octave has a timbre similar to a recorder whereas the higher octave sounds similar to a piccolo or flute. 8-hole traditional flute. The shvi is played with the mouth. Typically, most Armenian duduk or zurna players learn the shvi before moving on to either instrument.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Volkan Gücer - Üflemeli Çalgılar". Volkangucer.com. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  2. ^ McCollum, Jonathan (2014). "Shvi." New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Second Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199743391.
  3. ^ "Description of Armenian shvi, photo, audio preview". Armenianinstruments.am. Retrieved 2014-03-04.

References

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  • Ararat Petrossian - "Melody of Sunik", Aya Sofia Records, 1995.
  • Nor Dar - "Opus of the Lizard", Libra Music, 1997.
  • Tamar Eskenian
  • Various Artists - "Kalaschjan - Rural and Urban Traditional Music from Armenia", Weltmusic, 1992.
  • Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin By Neil Edmunds
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