Gadulka

The gadulka is an essential part of Bulgarian traditional music, usually played for dancing.

It normally has three main strings (sometimes four or five, as introduced by Mincho Minchev) and up to sixteen sympathetic strings, an innovation of the legendary Mincho Nedyalkov. Only the main melody strings are touched by the player, and they are never pressed down onto the neck. The gadulka is held upright, and the bow is drawn horizontally across the strings. In the Dobrudzha region there is a smaller version without sympathetic strings.

The gadulka is related to the Russian gudok. It may also descend from the Byzantine lyra of the 9th century AD.