The Gusli is More Than 1000 Years Old, but You Need Only 15 Minutes to Learn it from Scratch!

It’s not necessary to be a musician for performing music putting into a trance. Everything you need is a gusli – one of the most ancient Slavic musical instruments which is intuitive to anyone.

Scope of Delivery:

9-string wing-shaped gusli

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

Specs:

Body: alder

Soundboard: spruce

Pegs: metal

 

Body dimensions:

Length: 710 mm

Width: 192 mm

Thickness: 70 mm

Weight: 1.15 kg

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

 

Tuning:

G3/A3 : C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 A#4 C5 (C major)

C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 A#4 C5 D5 (C major)

 

String Diameter:

G3/A3 – 0.50 mm

C4 – 0.45 mm

D4 – 0.40 mm

E4 – 0.40 mm

F4 – 0.40 mm

G4 – 0.35 mm

A4 – 0.35 mm

A#4 – 0.30 mm

C5 – 0.30 mm

 

Required Length of Replacement Strings (cm):

G3/A3 – 70 cm

C4 – 65 cm

D4 – 61 cm

E4 – 58 cm

F4 – 56 cm

G4 – 52 cm

A4 – 50 cm

A#4 – 48 cm

C5 – 46 cm

You can find replacement strings here.

 

Tips & Tricks

To play music on a gusli you don’t need to understand musical literacy or have skills of playing other musical instruments! You only need the gusli itself, a tuning key and a tuner.

How to Tune?

For tuning you will need the instrument itself, a tuning key and a tuner. A tuner is a device for tuning musical instruments. It can either be purchased separately at a music store or you can download an app. We use CarlTune app, which is available both on  Google Play and App Store.

The gusli is tuned as follows: we start with the second string from the bottom (the second longest one). We will come back to the first string a bit later. It is tuned to the note C. Turn on the tuner, pluck the string and check if the tuner arrow is on the note C. If the arrow does not reach the note, i.e. sounds lower, it means that the string needs to be tightened, so we take the tuning key and smoothly turn the first string peg clockwise. As you turn the peg, the sound will get higher and the arrow will get closer to the desired note.

As the arrow hits the note and lights up blue, it means that the string is tuned. Accordingly, if the string is overtuned, i.e. sounds higher than the desired note, the peg should be turned counterclockwise to loosen the string tension and lower the sound. Pay attention to the figure next to the note: the figure is the number of the octave we need. The number next to the C note should be 4.

The process of tuning the remaining strings is similar to the process of tuning the C string. The third string is tuned to the note of D (4), the fourth to the note of E (4), the fifth to F (4), the sixth to G (4), the seventh to A (4), the eighth to A# (4), the ninth to C (5).

Let’s go back to the first string. There are two ways of tuning: A (3) or G (3). By tuning the string to A, we will get a minor tuning (the gusli will sound “sad”); if we tune the string to the note of G, we will get a major tuning (the instrument will sound “cheerful” respectively).

How to Hold?

Traditionally, Slavic wing-shaped gusli is held vertically, i.e. the lower, long part of the body is located on the lap, and the back deck is leaned against the belly.

You can play the gusli both sitting, putting the instrument on your lap, and standing, hanging the gusli on a special strap.

How to Play?

There are several ways to play the gusli. The main ones are strumming, plucking, and hooking.

For an accompaniment (for example, to songs), we use the strumming technique: we hit all the strings with the index finger of our right hand downwards and with the thumb upwards, whereas with the left hand fingers we mute particular strings. The fingers of the left hand are put either between the strings (traditional position), or on the strings.

Example:

Plucking technique is playing particular strings. With the left hand we mute certain strings, and with the index finger and thumb of the right hand we hit the open ones: downwards with the index finger, upwards with the thumb.

Example:

Hooking is a cross between strumming and plucking. The right hand index finger hits all the strings, and the fingers of the left hand “hook” particular strings, what creates the feeling that several instruments play at once.

Example:

Historical Information

One of the musical instruments that have reached us from depth of centuries in their original form and haven’t lost their magic and mystery is the Slavic traditional gusli.

It’s hard to define the time when the first instrument was made. The first mention of it is dated back to the end of the 6th century – we can find it in the work “History” by the Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta, which describes the meeting of Emperor Maurice and three Slavs who fled to Thrace. According to the source, the Slavs “bore on them nothing of iron or war machinery. They only carried kitharas and nothing else.” The historian relied on similar appearance of the gusli and the kithara, a Greek stringed instrument.

However, it’s only a mention. When did the gusli appear?

It is unlikely that we will ever get an answer to this question. The fact is that the gusli has many “relatives” all over the world: for example, the Greek lyre, the earliest mention of which dates back to 500 B.C.; or the harp, the oldest depictions of which date back to 2400 B.C.! There are many other relatives of the gusli: the German zither, the Finnish kantele, the Lithuanian kankles, the Latvian kokle, the Estonian kannel, the Armenian kanon, the Korean kayagym, etc.

And the history of each instrument goes deep into antiquity!

For many centuries the gusli was one of the symbols of the Slavic folk music tradition. This instrument was used to sing ditties, accompaniments to dances, various joking or festive songs, as well as lyrical compositions and lullabies. No celebration was without guslies.

But, unfortunately, starting from the 17th century, traditional guslies began to get gradually forgotten. Due to the unfriendly attitude of the supreme authorities of that time towards the gusli and many other Slavic traditional instruments, as well as the appearance of more perfect musical instruments, the gusli tradition began to disappear. Many 19th century researchers spoke of the ultimate loss of it.

Fortunately, at the end of the 20th century (1980-1990s), thanks to the work of folklorists, ethnographers and musicologists, it was possible to record and process more than 1000 melodies played on the gusli from 150 performers. They were bearers of folk instrumental tradition from the Pskov, Novgorod, Tver and Vologda regions. In addition, it was possible to recreate copies of some instruments on the basis of samples found during expeditions. This meant that the gusli tradition continued to live, though not as actively and abundantly as before.

The fate of the gusli changed dramatically when, in 2012, entrepreneur Sergey Gorchakov founded the largest gusli production facility in the entire world. Thanks to his love for Slavic culture and Slavic musical instruments, the gusli gained a second wind, and today they are known worldwide! Today our store cooperates closely with Sergey.

The instrument presented on this page is the author’s vision of the gusli used in the north-west of Russia.