Kannel history

The kannel is a traditional folk music instrument of Estonia, with a history of at least several thousand years. Kannels are string instruments, that are plucked or strummed The very earliest kannels were small with 5-6 strings and were made of a single piece of wood, with a soundboard attached to the top. The strings ran across this soundboard attached to a "vars" (rod) at one end, and to wooden tuning pegs at the other end. Considered the sacred instrument of Estonia, kannels remained unchanged for a long time. Neighbouring countries had variants of the same instruments called kantele by the Finns, Koklė, by the Latvians, and Kankles by the Lithuanians. Each country claims the kannel as our invention, later adapted by our neighbours.

Earliest chronicles do not differentiate between the Baltic or Finn Ugric peoples when recording kannels. The earliest archeological kannel pieces, dated 10th to 14th century, have been recovered from boggy ground in Novogorad, a cosmopolitan trading centre of the time, which had a large Finno-Ugrian population. An unusual kannel use is recorded in 1579 court documents in Tallinn in which the complainant (presumably german) charges that a non-german (presumably estonian) butcher hit him on the head with a kannel. The kannel was taken as evidence. During the 18th century, kannels and bagpipes were banned from town weddings as "farmers' instruments", and people were encouraged to hire the brass bands favoured by the German overlords.

Estonian mythology records that after the creator finished making the world, he sent "vanamuine", an old man, in a long robe down to earth with a kannel, to teach music to all the creatures on earth. The trees only heard the rustling of his robes as he flew down to earth and that is the only sound they make. The insects stopped paying attention while he was still tuning the kannel, so they make squeaks and scratching noises. Birds learned a few notes each. Fish swam to the surface, but because their ears were underwater, they only saw Vanamuine's mouth move. To this day, fish only move their mouths, without making a sound. Only people listened and learned to both sing and to play.

The limited range of the kannel (one note per string) suited our indigenous music Variation was accomplished by subtle improvisations on a theme Harmony was limited to one or two notes played along with the melody. There were two basic playing techniques. In one, all the notes were plucked, while the other technique required muting some strings with the left hand and strumming with the right. Most players used a combination of techniques.

Tunes were short and often chant like. The music was contemplative and retained some shamanistic elements from pre-Christian times. Kannels were considered to have protective powers and there are records of kannels being carried around a house for protection from evil, for generations after the original kannel player had died. The Christian church considered the kannel to be God's instrument, which allowed it to be played during mourning. Kannels are still played near sick people because of their healing powers. Some new age practitioners play the kannel on top of ailing body parts.

In the early days of the 19th century, kannels began to change. Kannels with twelve strings or more, became common to accommodate new musical ideas from the west. Dance tunes such as waltses and polkas became popular. By the mid 19th century, kannel playing also changed. Harmony and melody were no longer so closely intertwined. Both right and left hands developed distinct tasks - one to play melody, the other to play harmony.

By the early 20th century, the structure of the kannel reflected this distinction. Chords were grouped on a kannel, much like buttons on an accordian, where each button plays one chord. The rahva kannel (folk kannel) developed, with 24 melody strings (just over 3 octaves) and 3 sets (6 strings each) of chords. Such is the kannel that Alfred Kuus plays. It is interesting to note that Kuus plays melody with his left hand - the hand that in the older muting technique gained dexterity by "covering" or muting more than one string at a time. He strums the chords with his left hand, much like his predecessors did on their smaller instruments. This shows a closer connection to tradition, than the playing of many "modern" musicians, who use the right hand for melody, like a pianist. Alfred Kuus also maintains the tradition of having the shortest strings closest to him, just as our forefathers did throughout the ages.

Tiit Kao