Washint

{{short description|Wind instrument developed in Ethiopia}} {{Infobox instrument | name =Washint | names = | image = | image_capt = | background =woodwind | classification =aerophone | hornbostel_sachs =421.111.12 | hornbostel_sachs_desc =end blown flute | inventors = | developed = | range =unknown, usually players take 20 to 30 washints with them for performing | related = | musicians = | builders = | articles = }}

'''Washint''' (Amharic: ዋሽንት) is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the ''washint'' as well as the krar, which is a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.<ref>{{Cite book | author = Nidel, Richard | title = World Music: The Basics | url = https://archive.org/details/worldmusic00rich_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Routlidge Taylor & Francis Group, NY | year = 2005 }}</ref>

== Occurrence ==

Along with the ''Krar'' and the ''Masenqo'', the ''Washint'' flute is one of the three most widespread traditional musical instruments in Ethiopia.

The washint is a favorite among the shepherds and cowherders.<ref>{{cite book |last=May |first=Elizabeth |author-link= |date=1983 |title=Musics of many cultures : an introduction |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |page=239 |isbn=|oclc=10960729 }}</ref>

== Construction and design == The ''washint'' can be constructed using bamboo, wood or other cane, and increasingly flutes of metal and plastic tubes can be seen.<ref name="Timkehet_Teffera_2020">{{cite web |author=Timkehet Teffera Mekonnen |date=2020 |title=Shungul, Sorror, Washing, Woissa, Zumbara |url=https://www.academia.edu/44011103 |website=www.academia.edu}}</ref> Varieties exists in different lengths and relative fingerhole placement, and a performer might use several different flutes over the course of a performance to accommodate different song types.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kimberlin |first1=Cynthia Tse|year=1974 |title=Ethiopian and Tribal Music |journal=Ethnomusicology |volume= 18| issue = 1 |page=178 |doi= 10.2307/850080|jstor=850080 }}</ref> It generally has four finger-holes, which allows the player to create a pentatonic scale.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sárosi |first1=B.|year=1967 |title=The Music of Ethiopian Peoples |journal=Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume= 9 |issue=1/2|page=14 |doi= 10.2307/901579|jstor=901579 }}</ref>

==See also== * Ney, a flute of similar construction found in Middle Eastern Music * Ney (Turkish), a Turkish flute of similar construction * Kaval, a similar wind instrument found in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria * Music of Ethiopia - historical overview of music tradition of Ethiopia * Krar, five or six-stranded bowl-shaped lyre used in Ethiopia and Eritrea * Masenqo, single-stranded bowed lute in Ethiopian-Eritrean tradition.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links==

===Audio examples and pictures=== * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091219203105/http://www.ethiotube.net/video/7019/Ethiopian-Idol-2009--Episode-18--Yesuf-Mohammed--Washint Washint tune]}} played before entranced crowd (on EthioTube site part of YouTube) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQxK6tDfKvI&feature=fvw Boy mimicking Washint sound] (on YouTube) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HxRR_YlAak Washint played by non Ethiopian] (on YouTube) * [http://e2opia.com/e2opiacom/mainpage/music.html Ethiopian instruments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710161921/http://e2opia.com/e2opiacom/mainpage/music.html |date=2011-07-10 }} images on the sidebar

Category:End-blown flutes Category:Ethiopian musical instruments