The Practices and Narratives on Dombra Music Traditions of Kazakh People in the Altai Region, Northern Xinjiang

Abstract

Kazakhs are to be found primarily in three regions of northern Xinjiang: Altai, Ili, and Tacheng. I chose Altai as my research area because it is still at the end of an era, passing from nomadic to sedentary societies, and most of the places are still in transition. Compared with musicians engaged in artistic work, Altai has more ordinary musical activities. At the same time, the purpose of music is still related to the customs of a nomadic society, and cultural traditions are more well preserved. I chose to use dombra performance as a starting point because this representative instrument of the Kazakh people is used up to now in a variety of musical events. The dombra can be an overarching red thread that connects various playing methods and thus sees the unity of music and regional musical habits.