Latgale Kokle 11 Strings — When Each String Sounds Like a History

Scope of Delivery:

11-string Latgale kokle

Soft suitcase

Tuning key

Spare strings set

Hooks for attaching a strap

 

3 years warranty

Shipping included (within Europe / For delivery to third countries excl. Shipping; please contact by e-mail)

 

Technical Part

Material:

Body: alder

Soundboard: spruce

Other details: redwood

Tuning pegs: maple

 

Dimensions:

Length: 790 mm

Width: 200 mm

Weight: 1.2 kg

(Size, color, wood structure, and weight may vary slightly, as the instruments are handmade)

 

Tuning:

A3 B3 C#4 D4 E4 F#4 G4 A4 B4 C#5 D5 – A major (↓7)

 

String diameters:

A3 — 0.50 mm

B3 — 0.50 mm

C#4 — 0.45 mm

D4 — 0.45 mm

E4 — 0.45 mm

F#4 — 0.40 mm

G4 — 0.35 mm

A4 — 0.35 mm

B4 — 0.30 mm

C#5 — 0.30 mm

D5 — 0.30 mm

You can find replacement strings here.

 

Tips & Tricks

To play music on the kokle, you don’t need to read music or have experience playing other instruments! All you need is the instrument itself, a tuning key, and a tuner.

How to Tune?

To tune the kokle, you will need the instrument itself, a tuning key, and a tuner. A tuner is a device for tuning musical instruments. You can either buy one separately at a music store or download an app on your phone. We use the CarlTune app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.

The instrument is tuned as follows: the first string is tuned to the note A. Turn on the tuner, pluck the string, and see if the tuner’s arrow points to the note A. If the arrow doesn’t reach it — i.e., the pitch is too low — the string needs to be tightened. To do this, take the tuning key and gently turn the tuning peg of the first string clockwise. As you turn the peg, the pitch will rise, and the arrow will move closer to the correct indication.

When the arrow lands on the note and turns blue, it means the string is in tune. If the string is over-tightened — i.e., the pitch is higher than the desired note — turn the peg counterclockwise to loosen the string and lower the pitch. Pay attention to the number next to the note name: the number indicates the correct octave. Next to note A, there should be the number 3.

Tuning the remaining strings follows the same process as tuning the A string. The second string is tuned to note B3, the third to C#4, the fourth to D4, the fifth to E4, the sixth to F#4, the seventh to G4, the eighth to A4, the ninth to B4, the tenth to C#5, and the eleventh to D5.

How to Hold?

Traditionally, the kokle is placed on a table or on the lap; for playing while standing, the instrument is hung from a strap around the neck.

How to Play?

There are two methods: plucking and strumming.

• Plucking: different strings are plucked with the fingers of both hands.

• Strumming: the right hand strikes the strings with a plectrum, while the left hand mutes the unwanted strings.

Nowadays, both playing methods are used simultaneously. The lowest string is not muted, as it functions as a drone.

 

Historical Background

The kokle (or “kokles” in its older form) is a traditional Latvian plucked string instrument and one of the most important symbols of Latvian culture.

Traditionally, the instrument had between 5 and 11 strings, while later versions of it can have 50 strings or more.

Like most ancient musical instruments, the history of the kokle is full of contrasts, with difficult and favorable periods.

For example, until the end of the 19th century, the kokle was considered exclusively a male instrument. “From ancient times, this instrument was found in almost every peasant home. In the evening, after all the work, the peasant would come in, take the instrument, put it on the table, and just by touching the strings, he would feel joy,” says Valdis Muktupāvels, a Latvian ethnomusicologist, musician, and composer.

However, towards the end of the 19th century, the instrument gradually began to fall out of use — the only remaining centers of kokle tradition in Latvia were the regions of Kurzeme and Latgale. Over time, both centers developed their own instrument-making techniques and playing styles: Kurzeme kokles are adorned with carvings and ornaments, have no wing, fewer strings, and are typically played by plucking and fingerpicking; Latgale kokles are minimalist, have a wing, are heavier, and are traditionally played by strumming. In the 1950s, experts managed to record bearers of the kokle playing tradition in some districts of Latgale, which clearly revealed the differences in the playing styles of Latgale and Kurzeme musicians.

Beginning in the 1980s, a revival of the traditional instrument took place, and ensembles of traditional kokle began to appear, consisting mostly of women. A huge role in restoring the kokle tradition was played by Jānis Porītis, a native of Kurzeme and a tradition bearer, who passed on knowledge of how to make and play the instrument to ethnographers and folklorists.

In the 1940s, thanks to Sergei Mikhailovich Krasnoperov, a fundamentally new instrument came into being — the concert kokle (a modernized version of the traditional instrument). This type of the instrument made it possible to play in orchestras and ensembles and to perform classical music.

Interestingly, in Latvian culture, the kokle is sometimes called “Dieva kokles” — “divine kokle” or “Zelta kokles” — “golden kokle.” In 1613, the instrument was first mentioned in writing in the annals of the Riga Jesuit College. In this document, the instrument appears in a record under the name “dieva kokle,” because in the popular imagination, the music of the kokle was linked to the divine and the forces of nature. It is thought that this is why Ernst Glück, in his Latvian translation of the Bible, translated the instrument mentioned in the Holy Scriptures as “Kinnor” (described in the Bible as an instrument for praising God) as “kokle.”