Traditional Musical Instruments of Siberia

Playing a Khomus or Jaw Harp

In Siberia, shamanism and music combined thousands of years ago. A Khakassian legend says that each of the indigenous peoples once received a gift from the spirits – a musical instrument, along with the talent to master it and preserve the traditional manner of performance through the ages. The Altaians got the jaw harp or khomus, the Yakutians got another kind of jaw harp called vargan, the Khakassians got the chatkhan (a stringed instrument), and other related peoples took the other instruments. Every musical instrument has a unique energy, spirit and sound. Sound is regarded as one of the most effective ways of establishing connections with the spirit realm, since it travels through space, permeates visual and physical barriers and conveys information from the unseen world. Hence, sound is, by definition, a means of "relationship" as well as a "transformation" of energy. Sound-producing instruments facilitate interaction and relationship among all parts of the living world. Read more.