The balalaika (, ) is a Russian folk stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.

The prima balalaika is played with the fingers, the secunda and alto either with the fingers or a plectrum, depending on the music being played, and the bass and contrabass ( equipped with extension legs that rest on the floor ) are played with leather plectrums.

The modern balalaika is found in the following sizes:

Sometimes the balalaika is tuned " guitar style " by folk musicians to G-B-D ( mimicking the three highest strings of the Russian guitar ), whereby it is easier to play for Russian guitar players, although classically trained balalaika purists avoid this tuning.

An important part of balalaika technique is the use of the left thumb to fret notes on the lower string, particularly on the prima, where it is used to form chords.

The bass balalaika and contrabass balalaika rest on the ground, on a wooden or metal pin that is drilled into one of its corners.

A popular notion is that the three sides and the strings of the balalaika represent the Holy Trinity.

This idea, while whimsical, is quite difficult to fathom when one is confronted with the fact that at various times in Russian history, the playing of the balalaika was banned because of its use by the skomorokhi, who were generally highly irritating to both church and state.

The concept of the balalaika orchestra was adopted wholeheartedly by the Soviet government as something distinctively proletarian ( that is, from the working classes ) and was also deemed progressive.

The rock band from Pasadena, Ozma plays a balalaika on the song " Flight Of Yuri Gagarin "; it is derived from their partially Russian themed album Double Donkey Disc.

Being similar to the Russian balalaika, the difference lies in the casing: the pondur is rather long, is made of one solid block of wood and has a soft, rustling voice.

Wolownik is largely credited with reviving interest in the cabaret-style balalaika ensemble in the United States and reconnecting the balalaika and domra with their peasant roots.

It is played with a plectrum, and is often used to play the lead melody in Russian balalaika ensembles.

He also co-founded two more balalaika ensembles, The Balalaika Russe and The Gypsy Balalaikas, the members of both of which were from the Philadelphia area.

Gretchaninov wrote five symphonies, the first premiered by Rimsky-Korsakov ; four string quartets, the first two of which won important prizes, two piano trios, sonatas for violin, cello, clarinet, piano and balalaika, several operas, song cycle Les Fleurs du Mal, op.

The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass balalaika, and contrabass balalaika.

The earliest mention of the term balalaika dates back to an AD 1688 Russian document.

It can also be tuned to E-A-D, like its cousin, the domra, to make it easier for those trained on the domra to play the instrument, and still have a balalaika sound.

Early representations of the balalaika show it with anywhere from two to six strings, which resembles certain Central Asian instruments.

In the nineteenth century, the balalaika evolved into a triangular instrument with a neck that was substantially shorter than that of its Asian counterparts.

He states that a balalaika was made by peasants out of a pumpkin.

If you quarter a pumpkin, you are left with a balalaika shape.

In the 1880s, Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev, who was then a professional violinist in the music salons of St Petersburg, developed what became the standardized balalaika, with the assistance of violin maker V. Ivanov.

The balalaika orchestra in its full form — balalaikas, domras, gusli, bayan, kugiklas, Vladimir Shepherd's Horns, garmoshkas and several types of percussion instruments — has a distinctive sound: strangely familiar to the ear, yet decidedly not entirely Western European.

Ian Anderson plays balalaika on two songs from the 1969 Jethro Tull album Stand Up: " Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square " and " Fat Man ".

British singer Kate Bush featured the balalaika, played by her brother Paddy Bush in two of her Top-40 singles, " Babooshka " and " Running Up That Hill ".

This is simple enough, but several more points of interest may be mentioned as relevant.

Some government scientists say privately that the figure probably is closer to 80 megatons, and that the full 50-megaton bomb that Khrushchev mentioned may still be detonated.

Although a similar situs for tangible property is mentioned in the statute, this is cancelled out by the provision that definite kinds of property `` and all other tangible property '' situated or being in any town is taxable where the property is situated.

As mentioned, the primary allocation objective to be followed in the allocation of stations on clear channels is the provision of widespread service, free from destructive interference.

Foliage is the outstanding photo subject in many of the Southern locales mentioned above and some specific tips on how and where to shoot it are in order.

This whole development is certain to be of interest to the readers, for the idea has so often been mentioned, somewhat wistfully.

There is another means which should show the direction and relative value of the stresses in viscoelastic fluids that is not mentioned as such in the literature, and that is the shape of the suspended drops of low viscosity fluids in shear fields.

If this is the case, one would expect that not only the various procedures just mentioned which alter the hypothalamic balance would influence emotional state and behavior but that emotion itself would act likewise.

A random address Af that lies within the X-region of memory mentioned earlier is computed from the i-th dictionary form.

but if George has just been mentioned prominently ( and the trip to be made has been under discussion ), what is said is probably I'll go with him, and dominant stress is probably on the preposition with.

In some ( the Ewe type mentioned above ) interaction of tone and intonation is restricted to the ends of intonation spans.

) These general facts are mentioned to make clear that the total situation in the two families is similar enough to warrant comparison.

The action was a result of a court order, the citation for which ( and for other court action mentioned in this paper ) is taken from the Summary Report for this Conference.

Pope Pius 12, declared in 1951 that it is possible to be exempt from the normal obligation of parenthood for a long time and even for the whole duration of married life, if there are serious reasons, such as those often mentioned in the so-called medical, eugenic, economic and social `` indications ''.

In the above mentioned report of the Notre Dame Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the basic outlook of the new breed of lay faculty emerges very clearly in the very statement of the problem as the members see it: `` Even with the best of intentions he ( the President of the university ) is loath to delegate such authority and responsibility to a group the membership of which, considered ( as it must be by him ) in individual terms, is inhomogeneous, mortal and of extremely varying temperament, interests and capabilities.

Mrs. Reavey's work is written for the stage -- it is mentioned for an off-Broadway production in the fall -- and, in addition, employs an avant-garde structure that particularly needs to be seen if comprehension is to be encouraged.