tambura
The balkan tambura, balkan tamburası or tambura is a stringed instrument that is played as a folk instrument in Thrace and Balkans namely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina region), Montenegro and Turkey. It has doubled steel strings and is played with a plectrum, similar to mandolin and bağlama.
Also recorded as Balkan tamburası · Bulgarian tambura · dranka · boulgarya
tambura
Arent · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Tambura
- Field
- necked box lute
- Region
- Bulgaria · Macedonia
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The balkan tambura, balkan tamburası or tambura is a stringed instrument that is played as a folk instrument in Thrace and Balkans namely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia (especially in Vojvodina region), Montenegro and Turkey. It has doubled steel strings and is played with a plectrum, similar to mandolin and bağlama.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 300166753 · wikidata · Q508805
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Tambura • Names — Balkan Tamburası • Background — string • Classification — Plucked string instrument • Hornbostel Sachs — 321.322 • Developed — Balkans, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Turkey
The Bulgarian tambura
The Bulgarian tambura
The Bulgarian tambura has 8 steel strings in 4 doubled courses. All the courses are tuned in unison, with no octaves. It is tuned D3 D3, G3 G3, B3 B3, E4 E4. It has a floating bridge and a metal tailpiece. The instrument body is often carved from a single block of wood.
The Macedonian tambura
The Macedonian tambura
The Macedonian tambura has 4 steel strings in 2 doubled courses. It is tuned A A, D D (or another pitch but at the same relative intervals of a fourth) when playing melodies based on A tonic upon A drone. It also may be tuned G G, D D (o r another pitch but at the same relative intervals of a fifth) when playing melodies based on G tonic upon G drone. Sometimes octave strings are used on the lower course. It has a floating bridge and a metal tailpiece. The instrument body is more often made from staves like a lute.
Form
Form
Both varieties of tambura have a long, narrow neck with 18 to 24 frets. The frets are nowadays always arranged in the normal Western 12 note scale, although in the past the Farkas system was also used. The Bulgarian tambura's body is rather shallow and flat, whereas the Macedonian tambura has a much more rounded, bowl-like body.
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Bulgaria and Macedonia
Country
tambura is associated with Bulgaria and Macedonia.
Country
Playing technique
It is played with a plectrum, playing short tones which are plucked from the top down, while playing long tones with fast tremolo. For solo playing or to accompany a singer, they are played in the traditional manner, which is to play a melody on the highest course whilst using the other course or courses as a drone. The more modern way, which is more used in orchestras or other groups, is to play single line melodies using all courses.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 300166753, Tambura preludes.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q508805: tambura
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 300166753, Tambura preludes.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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