Editing Kantele

{{Short description|Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument}}
{{For|the Japanese TV station with the nickname "Kantele"|Kansai Telecasting Corporation}}
[[File:Five_string_kanteles.jpg|thumb|Two five string kanteles by Melodia Soitin (2014). The shape of the upper kantele is more traditional, while the shape for the kantele below is slightly modernised]]
A '''kantele''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈkɑntele|lang}})<ref name="Ling1997">{{cite book|first=Jan |last=Ling|title=A history of European folk music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ul_IUuB4WSMC&pg=PA7|access-date=29 May 2011|year=1997|publisher=University Rochester Press|isbn=978-1-878822-77-2|page=7}}</ref> or '''kannel''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈkɑnːel|lang}}) is a traditional [[Finns|Finnish]] and [[Karelians|Karelian]] [[plucked string instrument]] ([[chordophone]]) belonging to the south east [[Baltic region|Baltic]] [[box zither]] family known as the [[Baltic psaltery]] along with the Estonian [[kannel (music)|kannel]], the Latvian [[kokles]], the Lithuanian [[kanklės]], and the Russian [[gusli]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The kantele – not exclusively Finnish |first=Tove |last=Djupsjöbacka |date=May 24, 2016 |url=http://www.fmq.fi/2017/05/the-kantele-not-exclusively-finnish/|publisher=Finnish Music Quarterly |access-date=May 24, 2017}}</ref>
{{listen
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==Construction==

===Small kantele===
Modern instruments with 15 or fewer strings are generally more closely modeled on traditional shapes, and form a category of instrument known as '''small kantele''', in contrast to the concert kantele.

The oldest forms of kantele have five or six [[horsehair]] strings and a wooden body carved from one piece; more modern instruments have metal strings and a body made from several pieces. The traditional kantele has neither [[Bridge (instrument)|bridge]] nor [[Nut (string instrument)|nut]], the strings run directly from the tuning pegs to a metal bar (''varras'') set into wooden brackets (''ponsi''). Though not acoustically efficient, this construction is part of the distinctive sound of the instrument.<ref name="BroughtonEllingham1999">{{cite book|first1=Simon |last1=Broughton |first2=Mark |last2=Ellingham |first3=Richard |last3=Trillo |title=World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo|url-access=registration |access-date=17 June 2012|year=1999|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-85828-635-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo/page/93 93]}}</ref>

The most typical and traditional tuning of the five-string small kantele is [[just intonation]] arrived at via [[Just intonation#Five-limit tuning|five-limit tuning]], often in Dmajor or Dminor. This occurs if a kantele is played as a solo instrument or as a part of a folk music ensemble. The major triad is then formed by D<sup>1</sup>–F{{music|sharp}}<sup>1</sup>–A<sup>1</sup>.<ref>[http://etno.net/soitin/kantele Kantele]. Etno.net. Sibelius-Akatemia. Retrieved 2015-08-28. {{in lang|fi}}</ref> In modern variants of small kantele, there are often semitone levers for some strings. The most typical lever for a five-string kantele is a switch between F{{music|sharp}}<sup>1</sup> and F<sup>1</sup>, which allows most folk music to be played without retuning. Larger versions of the small kantele often have additional semitone levers, allowing a more varied selection of music to be played without retuning.

===Concert kantele===
[[File:Concert kantele.jpg|thumb|300px|Koistinen 38-stringed concert kantele]]
A modern '''concert kantele''' can have up to 40 strings. The playing positions of the concert kantele and the small kantele are reversed: for a small kantele, the longest, low-pitched strings are furthest away from the musician's body, while for a concert kantele, this side of the instrument is nearest, and the short, high-pitched strings are the furthest away. Concert versions have a switch mechanism (similar to semitone levers on a modern [[folk harp]]) for making sharps and flats, an innovation introduced by [[Paul Salminen]] in the 1920s.<ref name="Ramnarine2003">{{cite book|first=Tina K. |last=Ramnarine |title=Ilmatar's Inspirations: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Changing Soundscapes of Finnish Folk Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfeVkGE2hX8C&pg=PA147|access-date=13 June 2012|date=1 August 2003|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-70402-9|page=147}}</ref>

==Playing==
[[File:A man playing the Kantele in front of a broadcast van, 1930s.jpg|thumb|A man plays a kantele with his fingers in 1930s Finland]]
The kantele has a distinctive bell-like sound. The Finnish kantele generally has a [[diatonic]] tuning, though small kanteles with between 5 and 15 strings are often tuned to a [[gapped mode]], missing a seventh and with the lowest pitched strings tuned to a fourth below the tonic, as a drone. Players hold the kantele in their laps or on a small table. There are two main playing techniques, either plucking the strings with the fingers or strumming unstopped [[strings (music)|strings]] (sometimes with a [[matchstick]]).<ref name="BroughtonEllingham1999"/> Small kanteles and concert kanteles have different, though related, repertoires.

==Music==
[[File:Kanteleensoittaja.jpg|thumb|left|260px|"The Kantele Player" by [[Pekka Halonen]], 1892]]
There have been strong developments for the kantele in Finland since the mid-20th century, beginning with the efforts of modern players such as [[Martti Pokela]] in the 1950s and 1960s. Education for playing the instrument starts in schools and music institutes up to conservatories and the [[Sibelius Academy]], the only music university in Finland and the site of significant doctoral research into traditional, western classical and electronic music. A Finnish [[luthier]]y, [[Koistinen Kantele]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koistinenkantele.com|title=Etusivu|website=Koistinen Kantele}}</ref> has also developed an electric kantele, employing [[Pickup (music technology)|pickup]]s similar to those on [[electric guitar]]s, which has gained popularity amongst Finnish [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] musicians such as [[Amorphis]]. American harpist Sylvan Grey has recorded two albums of Kantele music featuring her own compositions.

==Legendary history==
[[File:Helsinki-Folk-singer-statue-1750.JPG|thumb|Robert Stigell's 1888 sculpture at Vanha Ylioppilastalo (Old Student House) in Helsinki depicts [[Väinämöinen]] with the first kantele, made of a giant [[pike (fish)|pike]]'s jawbone, as told in the ''[[Kalevala]]'' national epic.]]
In Finland's national epic, ''[[Kalevala]]'', the mage [[Väinämöinen]] makes the first kantele from the jawbone of a giant [[pike (fish)|pike]] and a few hairs from [[Hiisi]]'s stallion ({{audio|Vaka vanha Vainamoinen.ogg|sung excerpt|help=no}}, [[:File:Vaka vanha Vainamoinen.ogg#Lyrics|excerpt lyrics]]). The music it makes draws all the forest creatures near to wonder at its beauty.

Later, after grieving at the loss of his kantele, Väinämöinen makes another one from [[birch]], strung with the hair of a willing maiden, and its magic proves equally profound. It is the gift the eternal mage leaves behind when he departs Kaleva at the advent of Christianity.<ref name="Kalevala: The Land of Heroes">{{cite book|title=Kalevala: The Land of Heroes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIUxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA152|access-date=13 June 2012|year=1915|publisher=Dent|pages=152–}}</ref>

[[File:Ilomantsi.vaakuna.svg|thumb|Three kanteles in the coat of arms of [[Ilomantsi]]]]

==See also==
*''[[Kanteletar]]''
*[[Psaltery]] 
*[[Qanun (instrument)|Qanun]], plucked string instrument similar to the kantele, originating from ancient [[Assyria]] and still widely played in Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Caucasus, Turkey, and Ukraine. 
*[[:Category:Kantele players]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Rahkonen, Carl: [http://www.people.iup.edu/rahkonen/kantele/diss/Title.htm ''The Kantele Traditions of Finland''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923063436/http://www.people.iup.edu/rahkonen/kantele/diss/Title.htm |date=2015-09-23 }} PhD ethnomusicology thesis. Indiana University Bloomington, 1989.

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Kantele}}
* [http://kantele.net/ Kantele.net] {{in lang|fi}}

{{Baltic psaltery}}
{{Kalevala}}
{{Zithers}}
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[[Category:Baltic psaltery]]
[[Category:Finnish musical instruments]]
[[Category:National symbols of Finland]]
[[Category:Sámi musical instruments]]