Kemenche
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Kemenche (Kemanche, Kamancha, Kemençe) is a spiked fiddle. It is played on the knee with a horse-hair bow which is tightened with the hand while playing. John Vartan is pictured with a Kemenche from Eastern Armenia (Caucausus region). The body of this Kemenche is in the shape of a parabola and it has 4 strings. Armenians from the Black Sea (Sev Dzov) Trebizond region played another type of Kemenche (pictured below). This Kemenche is also known as a Black Sea, Karadeniz, Laz, or Pontos Kemenche. The shape of this Kemenche is similiar to the violin. It has 3 strings.
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