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Thešargija (Serbo-Croatian:šargija,шаргија;Albanian:sharki or sharkia),anglicized asshargia, is aplucked,fretted long neckedlute used in thefolk music of variousBalkan countries, includingBosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Albania,Kosovo andNorth Macedonia.[1] The instrument is part of a larger family of instruments which includes theBalkantambura and thesaz (ortambura saz),tamburica,[2] and thetambouras.
The instrument was studied by musicologists in the 20th century. Their studies have been characterized as speculative and nationalistic.[2]
More recently, an American researcher, Richard March, concluded that the tambura arrived in the Balkans with Turkish people in the 1500s. It was adopted by people living in the Balkans, including "urban Muslim Slavs" and "Bosnia Christians." It also arrived in Croatia with laborers.[2]
Today thešargija is played byAlbanians,Bosniaks,Serbs andCroats. Thesharki is used by theGheg Albanians in northern Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and parts of Montenegro and North Macedonia.[citation needed]
The Instrument accompanies singing and dancing.[1]
Its original four strings have been increased to six or even seven. These are grouped to createcourses of strings; the instrument has 3 or 4 courses.[1] In the past,frets were moveable, although generally not moved once the instrument was set up.[1] Modern instruments may be inlaid with non-moveable metal frets.
The pattern that the frets are set up to play depends on the tonal system used by the musical tradition a musician participate in.[1] The instrument's body can be made from separate staves, or carved from one piece of wood.
Thešargija usually accompanies theviolin, and has a jangling quality, similar to the Turkishsaz. Musician's play with "complex polyphonic techniques".[1]
Thesharki is a similar to or related to the two-stringÇifteli orqiftelia, but with more strings.
