History of the RABEL (musical instrument)

In every day of everyday life we ​​use a great variety of objects, artifacts that someone has invented with interiority and of which we take advantage of their characteristics. Some of them will be more recent while others have come into our hands as we know them after many years of evolution.

It is the same case of musical instruments, since art is a discipline as old as human creativity. In this lesson from a TEACHER you will learn the history of the rabel, a musical instrument ancient that has given rise to some of the instruments we use today.

Index

1. What is the rabel, musical instrument
2. Brief history of the rabel (instrument)
3. The rabel today

The rabel is categorized as a rubbed string instrument and is the predecessor of instruments that we know today as the violin, viola and cello. Like these instruments, the rabel has several taut ropes by pegs along the instrument, 1 to 5 of different tunings that are rubbed with the help of a bow to produce sound. In terms of manufacture, the rabel is made of wood and the strings are made of some metallic material.

The rabel can vary in size, shape and number of strings depending on the time and place of manufacture. The tuning also depends on these factors. To hold it, it is supported on the shoulder, chest, side, on the thigh of one leg or between the two legs, depending on whether you want to play standing or sitting and on cultural tradition. To touch it, one hand is in charge of holding the bow to rub it against the strings, while the other presses them against the fretless neck of the instrument to change notes.

Today variations of the rabel are still used, predominantly in genera de folk music. Other names for the rabel are rebec, rebab, rebeca, rabeba, rubeba, arrabel, bandurria, rabel purriego or rabel campurriano, depending on the geographical area.

Image: A walk through the mountains of Toledo

There is some discussion about the origin and date of the first rabel, since this instrument is considered a product of the evolution of popular tradition and culture. Some people consider that the primitive prototypes of the rabel are so old that they could even exist during the 10th century, but the variations in the instrument make it difficult to name them precisely as rabel. Another instrument linked to this origin is the Byzantine lyre, but eventually it would become another instrument called a fidula that has more strings and a lower tessitura.

Despite these opinions, we can say that officially the rabel was introduced in the area of ​​the Iberian Peninsula by the arabs during its conquest, as an instrument called "Rebab" and that later this spread and popularized during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (between the years 1300 and 1600). We know that the rabel is that old thanks to engravings, paintings and illustrations dating from those dates, showing several of its versions.

The rabel was used both in the realm of the nobility and in the popular. In the case of the nobility by the troubadours, who composed and performed poetry and romances with themes of love and war. On the other hand, on the popular side the minstrels they used the rabel touring different villages and cities, traveling and entertaining the people to earn a living. It is thanks to this use that the Rabel is sometimes defined as a “pastoral” instrument, accompanying the voice in couplets and forming part of the oral tradition.

The rabel eventually made its way to America and was used during colonial times as an accompaniment for singing and dancing. For example, in Panama, it was used for the Mejorana dance and forms such as Cumbia and Punto.

The rabel began to fall into disuse due to its replacement by the violinThis happened in Europe during the 16th century and in America during the first years of the 20th century, after the importation of violins.

Today the rabel is preserved as traditional instrument in the areas of Cantabria, Palencia, Asturias and León, Portugal, Ávila, Cáceres, Zamora, Burgos, La Rioja and Toledo, for the interpretation and singing of folk music such as the songs called "jotas", romances and dances binaries. Versions of the rabel are also found in America today, especially in Panama and southern Chile.

Know the trajectory that objects have taken to reach us as we know them Nowadays it is a curious and new way of seeing them, appreciating their history and knowing their reasons for to be. Now that you know more about the history of the rabel as a musical instrument, we recommend that you look for videos or audios so that you have a more complete approach about this instrument.

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