Kobyz

Kobyz

A kobyz in the Abai museum in Semey, Kazakhstan
String instrument
Other names	Qobyz, qyl-qobyz, kylkobyz
Classification	String instrument played with a bow
Related instruments
Rebab, Violin

The kobyz, also written qobyz, is a traditional string instrument from Central Asia. It is played with a bow. The instrument is especially important in the music of the Kazakh and Karakalpak peoples. Related forms are also known among Kyrgyz, Tatar and Bashkir communities.^[1]

The traditional Kazakh form is often called the qyl-qobyz. The word qyl refers to the horsehair used for its strings. It usually has two strings and no frets. A study published in the Yearbook for Traditional Music describes the qyl-qobyz as an important two-stringed lute in Kazakh musical culture.^[2]

A traditional kobyz is normally cut from one piece of wood. The upper part of its sound box is open. The lower part is covered with animal skin. Older examples were often made from birch or walnut wood. Their two strings were made from many pieces of horsehair woven together.^[3]

The musician holds the instrument upright, often between the knees or against one knee. The strings do not lie against a fingerboard in the same way as the strings of a violin. The player touches the strings and changes the pressure of the bow to make different notes, ornaments and harmonics. The bow is also traditionally made with horsehair.^[3]

Some older instruments had small metal objects, horns, feathers or a mirror attached to them. These objects had a symbolic meaning. Metal pieces could also make a sound when the player moved the instrument.^[3]

In older Kazakh culture, the kobyz was closely connected with healers known as baksy. They used music during ceremonies. Traditional beliefs said that the sound could communicate with spirits or help a sick person. Modern researchers study these beliefs as part of the history of the instrument.^[3]

A well-known Kazakh story connects the first kobyz with Korkyt Ata. In the story, Korkyt wanted to escape death. He made a kobyz and played it beside the Syr Darya river. Death could not reach him while the music continued. This is a traditional story and does not give a historical date for the invention of the kobyz.^[3]

Kobyz music was passed from teachers to students by listening and copying. Many pieces were not written down. Because of this, the same piece may be played in different ways by different musicians.

An important kind of kobyz music is called küi. A küi is a short instrumental piece that may tell a story, show a feeling or describe something in nature. Some pieces use musical sounds that suggest birds, horses or other animals.^[1]

The kobyz was also used by singers and storytellers. A player could use it between spoken parts of a story, play the same tune as the singer, or hold a musical sound under the voice. This practice is still found among some Karakalpak zhyrau, who perform long stories and epics.^[1]

Researcher Megan Rancier has described the qyl-qobyz as a kind of cultural archive. Its shape, stories, music and ways of playing carry information about Kazakh history and identity.^[4]

During the 1930s, musicians and instrument makers changed the kobyz so that it could be used in large folk orchestras in the Soviet Union. A concert version was made with four metal strings. It had a wider musical range and could play music written in a style closer to the violin.^[5]

The older two-stringed form became less common during part of the Soviet period. Utegalieva writes that interest in the traditional qyl-qobyz began to grow again during the 1960s and 1970s.^[2] Today, musicians use both traditional and modern forms of the instrument.

In Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in Uzbekistan, the kobyz is connected with zhyrau storytellers. The instrument is made from local wood, such as mulberry or apricot wood. It has two horsehair strings and a body partly covered with leather.^[6]

In 2025, UNESCO added the Karakalpak art of making and playing the kobyz to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. UNESCO said that the tradition was threatened by lower interest among young people, fewer training opportunities and weaker transfer of knowledge between generations.^[6]

A UNESCO-supported project ran from 2023 to 2025. It recorded the work of kobyz makers and zhyrau performers and organized workshops for younger people. The project also made recordings for education and public awareness.^[7]

• String instrument
• Bow (music)
• Rebab
• Violin
• Music of Central Asia
• Intangible cultural heritage

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kobyz.

• Art of crafting and playing Kobyz at UNESCO
• The Music of Central Asia companion website