![]() Tibetan man playing a dranyen. | |
String instrument | |
---|---|
Other names | Dranyen, dramnyen |
Classification |
String instrument Plucked string instrument |
Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.321-6 (necked bowl lute, a chordophone with permanently attached resonator and neck, played with plectrum) |
Related instruments | |
The dramyin or dranyen (Tibetan: སྒྲ་སྙན་, Wylie: sgra-snyan; Dzongkha: dramnyen; Chinese: 扎木聂; pinyin: zhamunie)[1] is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute with six strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and Himalayan West Bengal. It is often used in religious festivals of Tibetan Buddhism (cf. tshechu). The instrument is played by strumming, fingerpicking or (most commonly) plucking.[2][3] The dramyen, chiwang (fiddle), and lingm (flute) comprise the basic instrumental inventory for traditional Bhutanese folk music.[1][4]