Music: Lutung (A Zither)

This articles was published few months back. Yesterday, I was arranging my store and found my lutung. It was untouch since my mother left. Next weekend, my uncle from Long Loreh, Kalimantan Timur will visiting us. Looking so forward to meet up with him and hope he will play some music. Promise will capture some video and publish on here.

The Lutung is a plucked instrument. It has six strings on a pentatonic scale. The size of the instrument depends on the preference of the user. We have two at home, one my mom uses while the other one is for my use. The Lutung is made of lightweight boards and its strings used to be of steel wire but lately size 2 guitar strings are more commonly used. This instrument is played when cultural dances are performed. It can also be played as a form of self-entertainment when one feels lonely or sad. The scales of the Lutung vary according to the songs played. Tuning is done by shifting the position of the frets or supports for the strings. This determines their notes.

Unfortunately only a few ladies can play this instrument at home. However my Mum is an expert on the Lutung. I am trying very hard to inherit this talent from her that is why I keep one with me here in Kuala Lumpur. For me, tuning the Lutung is quite complex but I am slowly getting better at it. I hope one day I will be able to perform in public just like my Mum.