Editing Kamancheh (section)

== Structure ==
The kamancheh has a long [[Neck (music)|neck]] including the [[fingerboard]], which the kamancheh maker shapes as a truncated inverse cone for easy bow movement in the down section, [[Tuning mechanisms for stringed instruments|pegbox]] in both sides of which four pegs are placed, and finial<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://saxonianfolkways.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/the-masters-of-kamanche/|title=The Masters of Kamanche|last1=Chandrakausika|first1=R.A.M.|date=2013-03-08|website=A World Heritage Of Native Music|access-date=2017-05-16}}</ref> Traditionally kamanchehs had three silk [[strings (music)|strings]], but modern instruments have four metal strings. 

Kamanchehs may have highly ornate inlays and elaborately [[Ivory carving|carved ivory]] [[tuning peg]]s. 

The body has a long upper neck and a lower bowl-shaped [[Sound board (music)|resonating chamber]] made from a [[gourd]] or wood, usually covered with a [[membrane]] made from the skin of a lamb, goat or sometimes a fish, on which the bridge is set.

From the bottom protrudes a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played, hence in English, the instrument is sometimes called the ''spiked fiddle''. 

It is played sitting down held like a [[cello]] though it is about the length of a [[viola|viol]]. The end-pin can rest on the knee or thigh while the player is seated in a chair.<ref name="abc">{{cite encyclopedia|title= Music Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia [3 Volumes]|editor1-last= Martin|editor1-first= Andrew R.|editor2-last= Mihalka|editor2-first= Matthew Ph.D.|year= 2020|publisher= [[ABC-CLIO]]|page=442|isbn= 9781610694995|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wvb2DwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

Kamancheh is usually tuned like an ordinary [[violin]] (G, D, A, E).

<gallery>
File:Group of Musicians,, XVIth or XVIIth century.jpg|Kamancha in an [[Armenian illuminated manuscripts|Armenian miniature]], XVI or XVII century.
File:Qajar Miniature (1800 - 1850) by unknown Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Film and Choreography - Art Palace.jpg|[[Qajar Iran]] miniature of a woman playing the kamancheh.
File:A court musician playing the kemanche, painting by Abul Qasim, Qajar Iran.jpg|A woman playing the kamancheh. Detail from a wall painting in which [[Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar]] is surrounded by musicians and dancers. Painted by Abuʾl-Qasim, dated 1816.<ref>[[Jonathan M. Bloom]], [[Sheila S. Blair]] (Ed.): ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture.'' Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, p. 8 </ref>
File:Kamancheh player, harem, Qajar Iran, ca 1820.jpg|Woman playing kamancheh, ca. 1820.
File:Sayat-Nova 1964.jpg|The Armenian ashugh [[Sayat-Nova]] playing a kamanacheh, ca. 1964.
File:Malik Mansurov Mugam Quartet (Azerbaijan) (2).jpg|Azerbaijani kamancheh player Malik Mansurov.
File:Kayhan Kalhor performance in Vahdat Hall - 2016 (7).jpg|[[Kayhan Kalhor]] performance in [[Vahdat Hall]], [[Tehran]], 2016.
File:Kamanche.jpg|Kamancheh player, [[Kermanshah]], Iran, 2008.
File:Kamancha in Yerevan.jpg|Kamancha player, [[Yerevan]].
</gallery>