Balalaika

A typical balalaika
String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.321 (Composite chordophone)
Developed	Late 18th to early 19th centuries

The balalaika (Russian: балала́йка, pronounced [bəlɐˈlajkə]) is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.
The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass balalaika, and contrabass balalaika. All have three-sided bodies, spruce or fir tops, backs made of 3-9 wooden sections (usually maple), and typically strung with three strings.
The prima balalaika is played with the fingers, the secunda and alto either with the fingers or a plectrum, depending on the music being played, and the bass and contrabass (equipped with extension legs that rest on the floor) are played with leather plectrums.

Etymology

The earliest mention of the term balalaika dates back to an AD 1688 Russian document. The term "balabaika" was widely used in Ukrainian language documents^[specify] from 1717-1732. According to one theory^[specify], it is thought that the term was borrowed into Russian where, in literary language, it first appeared in a poem by V. Maikov "Elysei" in 1771.

Types

A contrabass Balalaika

The modern balalaika is found in the following sizes:

• piccolo (rare)
• prima
• secunda
• alto
• bass
• contrabass

The most common solo instrument is the prima, which is tuned E-E-A (the two lower strings being tuned to the same pitch). Sometimes the balalaika is tuned "guitar style" by folk musicians to G-B-D (mimicking the three highest strings of the Russian guitar), making it easier to play for Russian guitar players, although classically trained balalaika purists avoid this tuning. It can also be tuned to E-A-D, like its cousin, the domra, to make it easier for those trained on the domra to play the instrument, and still have a balalaika sound. The folk (pre-Andreev) tuning D-F#-A was very popular, making it easier to play certain riffs.
Factory-made six-string prima balalaikas with three sets of double courses are also common and popular, particularly in Ukraine. These instruments have three double courses similar to the stringing of the mandolin and often use a "guitar" tuning. Four string alto balalaikas are also encountered and are used in the orchestra of the Piatnistky Folk Choir.
The piccolo, prima, and secunda balalaikas were originally strung with gut with the thinnest melody string made of stainless steel. Today, nylon strings are usually used in place of gut.

Technique

An important part of balalaika technique is the use of the left thumb to fret notes on the lower string, particularly on the prima, where it is used to form chords. The side of the index finger of the right hand is used to sound notes on the prima, while a plectrum is used on the larger sizes. One can play the prima with a plectrum, but it is considered rather heterodox to do so.
Due to the large size of the contrabass's strings, it is not uncommon to see player using plectrums made from a leather shoe or boot heel. The bass and contrabass balalaika rest on the ground on a wooden or metal pin drilled into one of its corners.

History

The pre-Andreyev period

Early representations of the balalaika show it with anywhere from two to six strings, which resembles certain Central Asian instruments. Similarly, frets on earlier balalaikas were made of animal gut and tied to the neck so that they could be moved around by the player at will (as is the case with the modern saz, which allows for the microtonal playing distinctive to Turkish and Central Asian music).
The term first appeared in the Ukrainian documents in the 18th century in documents from 1717-1732. It is thought that the term was borrowed into Russian where it first appeared a poem by V. Maikov "Elysei" in 1771. In the 19th century the balalaika evolved into a triangular instrument with a neck substantially shorter than its Asian counterparts. It was popular as a village instrument for centuries, particularly with the skomorokhs, sort of free-lance musical jesters whose tunes ridiculed the Tsar, the Russian Orthodox Church, and Russian society in general.
A popular notion is that the three sides and the strings of the balalaika are supposed to represent the Holy Trinity.^{[citation needed]} This idea, while whimsical, is quite difficult to reconcile when one is confronted with the fact that at various times in Russian history, the playing of the balalaika was banned because of its use by the skomorokhi, who were generally highly irritating to both Church and State. Musical instruments are not allowed in Russian Orthodox liturgy. A likelier reason for the triangular shape is given by the writer and historian Nikolai Gogol in his unfinished novel Dead Souls. He states that a balalaika was made by peasants out of a pumpkin. If you quarter a pumpkin, you are left with a balalaika shape.^{[improper synthesis?]}

The Andreyev period

In the 1880s Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev, at that time a professional violinist in the music salons of St Petersburg, developed what became the standardized balalaika, with the assistance of violin maker V. Ivanov. The instrument began to be used in his concert performances. A few years later, St. Petersburg craftsman Paserbsky further refined the instruments by adding a fully chromatic set of frets and also a number of balalaikas in orchestral sizes with the tunings now found in modern instruments. Andreyev patented the design and arranged numerous traditional Russian folk melodies for the orchestra. He also composed a body of concert pieces for the instrument.

Balalaika orchestra

A souvenir balalaika

The end result of Andreyev's labours was the establishment of an orchestral folk tradition in Tsarist Russia, which later grew into a movement within the Soviet Union. The balalaika orchestra in its full form—balalaikas, domras, gusli, bayan, kugiklas, Vladimir Shepherd's Horns, garmoshkas and several types of percussion instruments -- has a distinctive sound: strangely familiar to the ear, yet decidedly not entirely Western European.
With the establishment of the Soviet system and the entrenchment of a Proletarian cultural direction - the culture of the working classes, which included that of village labourers was actively supported by the Soviet establishment. The concept of the balalaika orchestra was adopted wholeheartedly by the Soviet government as something distinctively proletarian (that is, from the working classes) and was also deemed progressive. Significant amounts of energy and time were devoted to support and foster formal study of the balalaika, from which highly skilled ensemble groups such as the Osipov State Balalaika Orchestra emerged. Balalaika virtuosi such as Boris Feoktistov and Pavel Necheporenko became stars both inside and outside the Soviet Union. The movement was so powerful that even the renowned Red Army Choir which initially used a normal symphonic orchestra, changed its instrumentation replacing violins, violas and violoncellos with orchestral balalaikas and domras.

Use of the name

The Yiddish folk song Tumbalalaika mentions the instrument.
In 1989 Kramer Guitars released an "Electric Balalaika": the Kramer Gorky Park. This was just before the fall of the Berlin wall and the Soviet Union. It was actually just an electric guitar with a triangular shape that was based on the original instrument.
The "Wind of Change (song)" by the Scorpions uses the instrument in its lyrics.
The MiG-21 is nicknamed Balalaika because of the shape of its wings.
The Beatles' 1968 track "Back in the U.S.S.R" references the instrument in its final verse ('Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out/Come and keep your comrade warm').
Kusumi Koharu performed a song and dance titled "Balalaika" which has also been flawlessly mirrored in the Hatsune Miku phenomenon.
One of the unofficial slogans of the Jewish Defense League was 'Bombs for balalaikas'^{[citation needed]} In response to a terror attack by the JDL, Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko composed a poem with the same title.
Firewater's album Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire 7th track is named "Balalaika" but does not appear to contain one.
In the 2006 anime Black Lagoon, the nickname of the local Russian mob boss is "Balalaika."
The rock band from Pasadena, Ozma plays a Balalaika on the song Flight Of Yuri Gagarin, off of their partially Russian themed album, "Double Donkey Disc." The album has a mirrored picture of a donkey playing the Balalaika on the front cover.
Bob Clampett's 1943 cartoon Book Revue features Daffy Duck dressed as Danny Kaye singing in a Russian accent. He remembers his "native willage", with people "...sitting on their balalaikas playing their samovars", a misuse of both words.

The balalaika outside of Russia

Interest in Russian folk instruments has grown outside of Russia. Orchestras of Russian folk instruments exist in many countries of western Europe, Scandinavia, USA, Canada, Australia and Japan. Some of the groups include ethnic Russians, however in recent times the growth in interest in the Balalaika by non-ethnic Russians has been considerable.
Interests in the balalaika first started after Andreyev's tour of North America in the early 20th century. A number of Andreyev's students also toured the west in 1909-12. In 1957 the Scandinavian Balalaika Association was formed. In 1977 a similar organization was formed in the USA.
Oleg Bernov of the Russian-American rock band the Red Elvises plays a red electrified contrabass balalaika during the band's North American tours.
Australian band, VulgarGrad, fronted by actor Jacek Koman, which plays songs of the Russian criminal underground, uses a contrabass balalaika.
Norwegian all-girl pop band Katzenjammer uses two contrabass balalaikas, both of which have cat faces painted on the front. They are named Børge and Akerø.
Ian Anderson plays balalaika on two songs from the 1969 Jethro Tull album Stand Up: "Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square" and "Fat Man".
Balalaikas of all sizes are prominently displayed in the official video for Basement Jaxx's 2006 single "Take Me Back To Yor Place".
The balalaika is mentioned in both The Beatles' song "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the Scorpions' song "Wind of Change".

References

1. ^ "The Washington Balalaika Society". www.balalaika.org.
2. ^ Balalaika - article by Dmitry Belinskiy from the newspaper Krymskaya Pravda. Balalaika music, video
3. ^ The Stringed Instrument Database
4. ^ Lyrics to 'Back in the U.S.S.R' by The Beatles Krymskaya Pravda. Balalaika music, video

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