Instrumental Uyghur Music ( Ghijek )

Ghijek is a special instrument unique to the Uyghur nation. It is a "spiked fiddle", meaning it is meant to be played upright, rather than horizontally like a western fiddle. It has four strings and a short neck, making it similar to a modern violin. To play the Ghijek, place the head on your leg, the neck in your left hand, and hold the bow with your right hand. If you are familiar with playing a violin, playing the Ghijek should come easily. Ghijek has a long and storied history, first appearing in a bow and arrow shape in early Uyghur Oral histories. Its print debut occured in 10th century, where it was described as having horsetail strings. The handle of the ancient Ghijek is made of the wood of willow tree and its head (the pot )is made of round carved wood of date tree. At that time, the skin of horse or donkey was used on its head surface. Now the new kind of Ghijek is made of the wood of walnut, mulberry, apricot and phoenix trees. Snake skin is used. Many holes are made on the front and back of the round cover to make full use of the echo sound. It is about seventy centimeters long.The ears that used for rolling up the strings are beautifully made and decorated with magnificent fretwork. It is no mistake that the Ghijek is the most popular bowed instrument in an Uyghur orchestra. It is also played alone, in solo recitals. The earliest Ghijek had two or three strings while in 1955, Uyghur masters standardized the Ghijek to 4 strings and aligned the tones with the western scale, giving us a modern instrument that maintains ties to its more than 1000 year-old tradition.