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Concept
Rebec
Summary
The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced ˈriːbɛk or ˈrɛbɛk) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings.
Popular from the 13th to 16th centuries, the introduction of the rebec into Western Europe coincided with the Arabic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. There is, however, evidence of the existence of bowed instruments in the 9th century in Eastern Europe. The Persian geographer of the 9th century Ibn Khurradadhbih cited the bowed Byzantine lira (or lūrā) as a typical bowed instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the pear-shaped Arab rebab.
The rebec was adopted as a key instrument in Arab classical music and in Morocco it was used in the tradition of Arabo-Andalusian music, which had been kept alive by descendants of Muslims who left Spain as refugees following the Reconquista. The rebec also became a favorite instrument in the tea houses of the Ottoman Empire.
The rebec was first referred to by that name around the beginning of the 14th century, though a similar instrument, usually called a lira da braccio (arm lyre), had been played since around the 9th century. The name derives from the 15th century Middle French rebec, altered in an unexplained manner from the 13th century Old French ribabe, which in turn comes from the Arabic rebab. An early form of the rebec is also referred to as the rubeba in a 13th century Moravian treatise on music. Medieval sources refer to the instrument by several other names, including kit and the generic term fiddle.
A distinguishing feature of the rebec is that the bowl (or body) of the instrument is carved from a solid piece of wood. This distinguishes it from the later period vielles and gambas known in the Renaissance.
The number of strings on the rebec varies from 1 to 5, although three is the most common number. Early forms of the instrument commonly had 2. The strings are often tuned in fifths, although this tuning is not universal.
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