Exotic and Unusual Musical Instruments from Around the World

To many people in many parts of the world, music is an important part life and plays a central role in their cultural heritage. Greek philosophers defined music as tones arranged in time horizontally (melodies) and vertically (harmonies). However, John Cage - a 20th-century composer famous for his experiment with exotic musical instruments and non-traditional sound -made a name for himself with his unique approach to music theory: "There is no noise, only sound."

Though many of us may hear music where others hear noise, it cannot be denied that music plays an integral role in our everyday life. Music is the backdrop of many of our favorite films; most Saturday morning cartoons use classical composers like Bach and Beethoven to provide its storyline with highly effective dramatic elements.

In the West, some of the first instruments that might come to mind are the guitar, keyboard, drums…but explore a bit further, and one would easily be surprised about the breadth and scope of instruments used to produce music.

Here are a few exotic instruments from around the world that are growing in popularity. They are worth your consideration, due to each instrument's innovative structure and uniqueness of sound. And who knows, one day one of these instruments might show up at a local festival or concert hall:

· The Balalaika is a lute-like stringed folk instrument of Russian origin. The Balalaika has a three-sided body and a long neck. The three types of the Balalaika are the prima, sekunda, and the basses and contrabasses. Each type is played differently.

· The Sitar is the most popular instrument of Indian classical music. It has a long hallow neck made of wood and a gourd resonating chamber. It can have up to four main strings, three or four drone strings, and thirteen sympathetic (resonating) strings. The sitar has been used in Hindu classical music since the Middle Ages and became known to the West after Beatle George Harrison took sitar lessons from Pandit Ravi Shankar and incorporated the instrument into several songs in the 1950s.

· Dan Bau is possibly one of the most unique musical instruments in the world - it has only one string. But its one string status is not a limitation by any means. An experienced user can produce any note with a tonal range up to 3 octaves. The Dan Bau makes a harmonic sound, full of rich overtones and takes a great deal of precision to master. The instrument is integral to Vietnamese folk music but with the invention of magnetic pickup, the Dan Bau has exploded onto the contemporary Asian pop and rock scene.

Resource:

To order any one of the exotic instruments mentioned above, please visit http://www.ScaleInstruments.com and do a search in the Folk and World Instruments section of the website for the instrument that you desire. You will be glad you found out about us!