page_title: Jew's harp
section_title: Kyrgyz music
hierarchical_section_title: Jew's harp / Use / Kyrgyz music
caption_attribution_description: English: Demir xomus (metal xomus, or Jew's Harp) from Tuva Photo by Johanna Kovitz, Boston, MA. May 2007.
context_page_description: The Jew's harp, also known as the jaw harp, mouth harp, gewgaw, guimbard, khomus, trump, Ozark harp, Galician harp, or murchunga is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame.
  Jew's harps may be categorized as idioglot or heteroglot, by the shape of the frame, by the number of tines, and whether the tines are plucked, joint-tapped, or string-pulled.
context_section_description: The temir komuz is made of iron usually with a length of 100–200 mm and with a width of approximately 2–7 mm. The range of the instrument varies with the size of the instrument, but generally hovers around an octave span. The Kyrgyz people are exceptionally proficient on the temir komuz instrument and it is quite popular among children, although some adults continue to play the instrument. There is a National Artist of Kyrgyz Republic who performs on the instrument, temir komuz. One time twenty Kirgiz girls played in a temir komuz ensemble on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Temir komuz pieces were notated by Zataevich in two or three parts. Apparently an octave drone is possible, or even an ostinato alternating the fifth step of a scale with an octave.
caption: Demir-khomus from Tuva
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