230902 - African Krar music instrument - Ethiopia.

African Ethiopian Krar music instrument from Ethiopia.
Height: 59 cm.
Hand carved from wood & Leather.
Krar (G-eez: ክራር) is a five-or-six stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern Krar may be amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or violin. The Krar, along with Masenqo and the Washint, is one of the most widespread musical instruments in Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Today, the krar which used to be the plaything of the Ethiopian and Eritrean, has become one of the most popular Ethiopian stringed instruments. The krar is and was always used to accompany and perform secular song, love songs, and (vulgar) poetry. The instrument is often played by Poet-musicians called the Azmari or Wata.