Rebab

Rebab (Arabic: ربابة, rabāba, variously spelled rebap, rubob, rebeb, rababa, rabeba, robab, rubab, rebob, etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe. The instrument is typically bowed, but is sometimes plucked. It is one of the earliest known bowed instruments, named no later than the 8th century, and is the parent of many bowed and stringed instruments.

There are chiefly three main types:

A long-necked bowed variety that often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground (see first image to the right); thus this is called a spike fiddle in certain areas. Some of the instruments developing from this variant have vestigial spikes.

A short-necked double-chested or "boat-shaped" variant; plucked versions like the Maghreb rebab and the kabuli rebab (sometimes referred to as the robab or rubab) also exist.

Besides the spike fiddle variant, a variant with a pear-shaped body, quite similar to the Byzantine lyra and the Cretan lyra, also exists. This latter variant travelled to western Europe in the 11th century, and became the rebec. This rabāb is the ancestor of many European bowed instruments, including the rebec and the lyra, though not of bowed instruments in the lyre family such as the crwth, jouhikko, talharpa and gue.

This article will only concentrate on the spike-fiddle Rebab, which usually consists of a small, usually rounded body, the front of which is covered in a membrane such as parchment or sheepskin and has a long neck attached. It has a long thin neck with a pegbox at the end, and has one, two or three strings. It also lacks a fingerboard. The instrument is held upright, either resting on the lap or on the floor. The bow is usually more curved than that of the violin.

The Rebab, though valued for its voice-like tone, has a very limited range (a little over an octave), and was gradually replaced throughout much of the Arab world by the violin and kemenche. The Iraqi version of the instrument (jawza or joza) has four strings.

The Rebab is used in a wide variety of musical ensembles and genres, corresponding with its wide distribution, and is built and played somewhat differently in different areas. Following the principle of construction in Iran, Ahvaz, the rebab is a large instrument with a range similar to the viola da gamba, whereas versions of the instrument further west tend to be smaller and higher-pitched. The body varies from being ornately carved, as in Java, to simpler models such as the 2-string Egyptian "fiddle of the Nile." They may have a body made of half a coconut shell, while the more sophisticated versions have a metal soundbox, and the front may be half-covered with beaten copper, and half with cowskin. an endpin is similar to the cello.