National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

The king instrument of the Kazakhstan steppes in Central Asia, the dombra is a fretted, long-necked lute with two strings. The kui (melody or state) is a musical piece that lasts between one and five minutes, because its theme is considered perfect and requires no development. The Karatau school in southern Kazakhstan has developed the shertpe style, a fairly free style that integrates improvisation and favours the expression of inner feelings, as well as the description of a soft, majestic nature. All the interpreters featured here are great dombra masters. -- Courtesy Calabash Music