Domra / Домра

The Domra is a Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian stringed instrument of the lute family. The specific origins, as with most folk instruments, are unknown. Traveling minstrels (skomorokhi) played them in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, until Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich banned folk instruments in 1648. The domra was rediscovered in the nineteenth century, when an old instrument was found in a barn. The model of domra seen today was developed in 1896 by Vasily Vasilievich Andreev (1861-1918) and other instrument masters who reconstructed the instrument.

The domra traditionally has three strings tuned in fourths, like the balalaika, but there are also four string domras tuned like a mandolin or violin that were developed in 1905. The three-string domra is the most common type seen in Russia, while the four-string domra is seen in Ukraine and Belarus. There are several sizes of domra, piccolo, prima (most common), mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass. The prima domra is often used to play the melody in folk ensembles.