Kaval is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It is populary known as the
instrument of the shepherds. It is also called Guval and Kuval in different
regions. The belief that the shepherd leads his sheep flock with his kaval is a
wide spread belief among the people. The word kaval is probably a derivative
from the word "kav" which means lollow on the inside.
Its sound range is about 2.5 - 3 octaves. It isa widely used instrument in the
folk music groups of today and can be used as a solo instrument within an
ensemble. Kaval preserves its sound characteristic when played together with
other instruments.
As
kavals are not produced to any defined standards what can be said about its
dimensions has to be very general. Its length may vary between 30 cm and 80 cm
and its diameter is approximately 1.5 cm. It has 7 melody keys on the front and
one underneath. Besides these, there are also 4 other keys at the lower section
of the instrument called Şeytan Deliği and Hazreti Ali.
Kavals are
divided into two main types as Dilli Kaval and Dilsiz Kaval and are generally
made from the wood of the plum tree.
Kaval is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It is populary known as the
instrument of the shepherds. It is also called Guval and Kuval in different
regions. The belief that the shepherd leads his sheep flock with his kaval is a
wide spread belief among the people. The word kaval is probably a derivative
from the word "kav" which means lollow on the inside. 
As
kavals are not produced to any defined standards what can be said about its
dimensions has to be very general. Its length may vary between 30 cm and 80 cm
and its diameter is approximately 1.5 cm. It has 7 melody keys on the front and
one underneath. Besides these, there are also 4 other keys at the lower section
of the instrument called Şeytan Deliği and Hazreti Ali. 
Kaval
/ mp3 (673 KB)
Kaval
/ rm (126 KB)