Zeze (instrument)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The zeze, izeze, tzetze, or dzendze (plural: mazeze)[1] is a bowed spike fiddle[2][3] of the Gogo people of the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania.[4] It has between one and 14 strings,[5][6] which are made of strands of steel wire from bicycle brake cables or plant fiber and bowed with an arched bow made of wood and baobab fiber,[7][8] and a resonating chamber made from a gourd[9] or a wooden tin covered on the playing end with goatskin or reptile skin.[10][11]
(Composite chordophone)
A man of the Gogo people playing a zeze in Tanzania | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Jejy voatavo, tzetze, dzendze |
| Classification | String instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | (Composite chordophone) |
Similar instruments include the jejy voatavo (also called lokanga voatavo or herrauou) of Madagascar and the dzendzé ya shitsuva of the Comoros, which are all plucked fretted tube zithers. These plucked instruments are similar to the ekatantri veena and kinnari veena of India, as well as to the bro played by ethnic minority groups in Vietnam's Central Highlands. It is also distantly related to the Indian alapini veena, the Thai phin pia and phin namtao, and the Khmer kse diev, which are all unfretted stick zithers.
