Kobyz

Overview

The kobyz (also written qobyz, kyl-kobyz) is a deeply rooted Turkic bowed string instrument of Central Asia, performed most prominently by the Kazakhs and by the Karakalpaks. It is built around a long carved wooden body with an open lower section, two horsehair strings (or in modern concert versions, four metal strings), and an underhand-held horsehair bow. Wikidata classifies it as a string instrument and as a necked bowl lute. DBpedia files it among bowed string instruments and lists a wider relative-set including the morin khuur, the Byzantine and Cretan lyra, the gadulka, the gusle, the gudok, the igil and the kemenche.

The instrument’s role is dual. The traditional kyl-kobyz (literally “horsehair kobyz”) is a shamanic and bardic instrument used by Kazakh baqsy (shamans) and zhyrau (epic singers) for ritual and storytelling. The modern prima kobyz, a 20th-century redesign with four metal strings, is used as a folk and concert instrument including in the Kazakh national orchestras.

Origin & History

Kazakh tradition associates the invention of the kobyz with Korkyt Ata, a semi-legendary 9th- or 10th-century Turkic figure who is credited as the first kobyz player and as the originator of the surviving repertoire of kobyz küy (instrumental pieces). Korkyt Ata is also a central figure in the Kitab-i Dede Korkut — the medieval Oghuz Turkic epic cycle preserved in the Topkapı manuscript — and his mausoleum on the banks of the Syr Darya near present-day Kyzylorda remains an active pilgrimage site for Kazakh musicians.

The instrument and its core repertoire of küy — programmatic instrumental pieces depicting natural phenomena, animals or emotional states — have been documented in Kazakh oral tradition continuously from the medieval period. Through the 18th and 19th centuries the instrument was carried by baqsy practitioners across the Kazakh steppe and the wider Central Asian region. The baqsy used the kobyz in healing ceremonies, where its slightly haunting tone was understood to call the spirits of the natural world.

Soviet-era cultural policy treated shamanic practice with hostility but preserved the kobyz as a folk concert instrument. The redesigned four-string prima kobyz was developed in the 1930s and 1940s for use in the new Kazakh State Orchestra of Folk Instruments. After Kazakh independence in 1991 there has been a deliberate revival of the older kyl-kobyz as a sacred and ritual instrument, with players such as Raushan Orazbayeva, Aigul Ulkenbayeva and the ensemble Hassak active in restoring the older traditions.

Construction & Materials

The traditional kyl-kobyz is hewn out of one piece of hardwood — usually Central Asian elm, juniper or birch — into a long ladle-like shape. The lower section forms an open hemispherical bowl partially covered with a piece of camel skin or horse skin stretched over the lower half; the upper section forms a long curved neck with two friction-fit wooden tuning pegs at the top. Two strings of twisted horsehair (around forty to sixty individual hairs each) are stretched between the pegs and a small wooden tail-piece at the bottom of the bowl. The bow is a curved wooden stick strung with horsehair held loose.

The modern prima kobyz uses four metal strings instead of two horsehair strings, a shorter neck and a fully covered soundbox face, allowing standardised concert tuning (G3, D4, A4, E5 — the same as a Western violin) and clean playing on the four-octave range needed for orchestral parts.

How It’s Played

The player sits with the kobyz held vertically on the lap, the open mouth of the bowl facing forward and the neck held against the left shoulder. The left hand stops the strings without a fingerboard — the strings are stopped against air rather than against wood, and the player presses the strings sideways with the fingernails rather than the fingertips, a technique unique to a small group of Central Asian bowed instruments. The right hand draws the bow across the strings underhand, with the bow hair tension adjusted in real time by the right-hand fingers.

The traditional küy repertoire includes pieces such as Aksak Kulan (The Lame Wild Ass), Korkyt Küy (Korkyt’s Tune), and Bes Maqam (Five Modes), each programmatically depicting natural or mythological scenes. Idiomatic technique includes the use of all four horsehair-string overtones, sliding pitches and a characteristic raspy tone produced by the rough horsehair strings. The modern prima kobyz uses standard violin-family bow technique with the metal strings and is correspondingly cleaner in tone.

Cultural Significance

The kobyz holds a central place in Kazakh cultural identity. It is widely considered the ancestral national instrument and is depicted on Kazakh postage stamps, banknotes and national emblems. The Korkyt Ata mausoleum and museum complex near Kyzylorda receives many thousands of visitors annually and is the focal point of an annual kobyz festival.

The instrument is also a key element of the wider Turkic cultural revival across Central Asia and into Türkiye since the 1990s. International festivals of Turkic music in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Azerbaijan regularly feature the kobyz alongside the morin khuur, the igil, the kemenche and other related bowed instruments. UNESCO has not yet inscribed the kobyz tradition specifically, but the related epic tradition of the Kazakhs’ tradition of küy on the dombra was inscribed in 2014.

Notable Examples & Recordings

• Raushan Orazbayeva, Korkyt Küy — definitive modern recordings of the traditional repertoire on the kyl-kobyz.
• Aigul Ulkenbayeva, contemporary kobyz with chamber and crossover groups.
• Hassak, Kazakh Music — group recording featuring traditional kobyz alongside dombra and qyl-qobyz.
• Kazakh State Orchestra of Folk Instruments, prima kobyz concertos and section work.
• Edil Husainov, recordings of the traditional shamanic repertoire in modern concert framing.

Related Instruments

• Morin khuur – the Mongolian horse-head bowed lute; the closest living relative.
• Igil – the Tuvan bowed lute.
• Byzaanchy – the Tuvan four-string fiddle.
• Kemenche – the Anatolian and Pontic bowed lute family.
• Kamancheh – the Iranian spike fiddle, an unrelated but parallel Central Asian–Iranian bowed instrument.

Where to Hear It

The Kazakh State Academic Folk Orchestra of Kurmangazy (Almaty), the Astana Opera and the Korkyt Ata State University Concert Hall in Kyzylorda regularly programme kobyz performances. The annual Korkyt Ata festival in Kyzylorda is the principal kobyz event. International Turkic music festivals in Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Azerbaijan, and world-music programming at venues such as the Aga Khan Music Initiative concerts, regularly feature kobyz players. Recordings appear on Kazakh national label Kazakhfilm, the Smithsonian Folkways catalogue, the Aga Khan Music Initiative releases on Smithsonian and Network labels, and on Wergo.

• Wikipedia: Kobyz
• Wikidata: Kobyz (Q1778051)
• DBpedia: Kobyz
• Wikimedia Commons: Kobyz

Learning Resources

The Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty is the principal teaching institution. The Korkyt Ata State University in Kyzylorda has a specialised kobyz programme. Outside Kazakhstan the Aga Khan Music Initiative supports kobyz teachers and provides materials for the wider Central Asian student community. Method materials in Kazakh and Russian are extensive; English-language materials are rare. A serviceable student kobyz starts at around 200 USD; concert-grade instruments by recognised Almaty makers run from 800 to 3,000 USD.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the kobyz?
A deeply rooted Turkic bowed string instrument from Kazakhstan, traditionally strung with two horsehair strings and built around a long ladle-shaped wooden body. Historically a shaman’s and an epic singer’s instrument; today played by folk and concert performers as well.

Who was Korkyt Ata?
The semi-legendary 9th- or 10th-century Turkic shaman, poet and musician credited with inventing the kobyz and originating the surviving traditional repertoire. His mausoleum near Kyzylorda is a major pilgrimage site for kobyz players.

What is the difference between the kyl-kobyz and the prima kobyz?
The kyl-kobyz is the traditional two-horsehair-string ritual instrument; the prima kobyz is the 1930s–1940s redesign with four metal strings and a violin-equivalent tuning, used in the modern Kazakh folk-concert orchestra.

How is the kobyz related to the morin khuur?
Both belong to the wider Turkic-Mongol family of bowed lutes of the steppe. The two instruments share construction principles and underhand bow technique but have evolved separately under Kazakh and Mongol cultural conditions.

Is the kobyz a shamanic instrument?
Traditionally yes — the baqsy (Kazakh shamans) used the kyl-kobyz in healing ceremonies, and its association with spirits of the natural world is preserved in the surviving programmatic repertoire. Modern players have revived these older sacred uses alongside the secular concert tradition.