Quena
The quena (from Quechua qina,kena, kjena) is a beveled wind instrument, similar to a flute. It is one of the oldest instruments in the American continent, widely used in Peru, the quena spread through the Andes Mountains during the Inca Empire.
Its origin can be traced back to the pre-Inca Andean cultures. A group of quenas that are among the oldest in America were found in the archaeological remains in the citadel of the Caral civilization that is 5,000 years old, but the oldest quena was found in the area of Chilca-Peru, relatively close to Caral although with an antiquity of a thousand years older than this, that is to say an antiquity of 6,000 years, which is probably the oldest quena in America. The team led by the Argentine archaeologist Carlos Aschero found eight quenas in 1973, seven of them made of bamboo cane and one of bone, in the Inca Cueva site (Jujuy), dated to about 4,000 years before the present.
The first documentary record of the word quena appeared in the vocabulary of the Aymara language of the missionary Ludovico Bertonio in 1612.
Currently it is one of the most popular instruments in Andean music folk ensembles, its use also extending to fusion music, world music, new age music, etc.
Cultural Heritage of the Nation in Peru
In 2008, the aerophone known as Quena was declared a Cultural Heritage of the Nation of Peru, for being the autochthonous wind instrument of greatest importance in traditional Peruvian music due to its antiquity, its diffusion, the richness of its variants and the peculiarity of its sound. The norm indicates in its considering part that quenas with different numbers of holes have been found in Lambayeque and Huánuco, and their use extended to Puno, Nasca, Huancavelica, Cajamarca, Ayacucho and Apurímac, among other areas of the country.
This title was granted by National Directorial Resolution RDN 1103/INC-2008 in August 2008, in recognition of the expression of cultural and social identity with pre-Hispanic roots, it constitutes a traditional instrument of great originality. With the publication of the Resolution the Ministry of Culture of Peru resolves in its article 1:
“Declares the Cultural Heritage of the Nation to the Quena as the most important autochthonous wind instrument in the traditional Peruvian music due to its antiquity, its diffusion, the richness of its variants and the peculiarity of its sound. ”
Characteristics, acoustics and evolution
According to the Hornbostel-Sach classification, quenas are included among the aerophones without an insufflation channel with an open longitudinal resonator tube. The code assigned according to the above characteristics is 421.111.12.
Sound is regulated through seven fingering holes, six on the front and one on the back, for the thumb. Although there are quenas with four and up to eight holes. The quena has an embouchure (notch or notch) that fits the performer's lip to produce sound. Currently, the professional quena is usually tuned in G M (diatonic scale with tonic in G), measures around 35 cm long, and can vary its diameter and size of the holes, adjusting to the instrumentalist's fingers and the acoustic requirements of the player. the tuning.
The sound obtained is more serious, if the length of the resonator tube is greater. The large quenas measure between 50 and 80 cm in length and are tuned in lower scales. The quenachos and the mamaquenas are included in this last classification. On the other hand, smaller types of quenas such as quenillas, are tuned to higher scales. The pinkullo or pinkillo, although it is usually considered a quena, is not technically one since it is a recorder.
The modern quena underwent changes in its structure to adapt to music in European musical scales, both diatonic and chromatic. In the past, its five holes were suitable for playing pentatonic melodies, characteristic of Inca music. Later, in the process of imitating European aerophones, they increased the holes to six, seven, or even eight.
Construction and materials
Quenas are traditionally made of cane, cut at its internode. Normally the quenas have an open end where the embouchure (notch or notch) is carved, and a terminal end (or distal hole) formed by a bamboo knot, drilled with a hole with a smaller diameter than the rest of the tube. Some builders, however, do not practice this technique, and cut the bamboo tube so that the distal hole is the same diameter as the rest of the tube. In principle, green or dry bamboo canes of American origin were used (tokhoro, genera Aulonemia or Rhipidocladum), but the introduction of Asian bamboos to the American continent led to their being used as well. these new materials. The different species of bamboo have different characteristics regarding the geometry of the internodes (more or less conical or cylindrical) and their internal texture, which results in different types of quenas.
There is a great variety of American quenas from different regions, each one with its particularity and details. Currently, in Argentina there are several quena luthiers who are in charge of looking for new alternatives, experimenting with materials such as bamboo combined with very hard woods to the bevel area, which is beneficial for those musicians looking for a more precise cut of the air jet and a bevel that allows playing with the tonal aspect of the instrument. This type of Quena with combined materials exists thanks to the process of embedding specific woods on the material that makes up the tube of the instrument. Depending on the bevel that each quena has, it will be different and will adapt to the search of each musician.
Some woods that are used to improve the quality of the bevel and the body are Ebony, Jarilla, Palo violeta, Itín, Palo santo, Guayubira, Pine, Estróbilos, Cocobolo.
The new quena manufacturing techniques include processes such as sealing, lacquering and polishing, in addition, there is currently more information regarding the quality of the wood that is exposed to the parking process, which directly influences the sound, quality and instrument duration.
Currently, quenas with mobile tuning are also manufactured, that is, with a head that can be separated from the body allowing the tuning of the instrument to be raised or lowered according to the player's needs, this is possible thanks to the combination of wood with metal.
Kena fingering techniques
.svg){kind=small}
The ways of placing the hands vary: although the right hand is mostly down, it is also seen playing with the left hand down. Likewise, the most common way of typing is using three fingers of each hand for the front holes (3-3-1, means three fingers of one hand, three fingers of another, and the thumb), but the use of four fingers on the right hand (or lower hand), two on the left, and the thumb (4-2-1). In some cases, for the use of this last form, not all the frontal holes are aligned, the hole corresponding to the little finger being deviated for reasons of comfort.
Two basic fingerings are used: straight, in which the notes of the major scale are obtained by progressively uncovering the holes, and crossed, in which some notes (for example, high C and G) are obtained with one fingering. fork or fork (covering the subsequent hole). The main technical difficulty in mastering the instrument lies in partially plugging the holes to achieve specific semitones and vibratos. For this purpose there are also some fork fingerings.
The following is a graphic notation for the fingering of this instrument
○ open hole
● plugged hole
The holes of this aerophone instrument correspond, according to Pantoja, from bottom to top, with the following musical notes:
- Lower aperture: LA
- Previous first hole: WITHOUT SON
- Second previous hole: SI
- Third previous hole: DO
- Previous fourth hole: RE
- Fifth previous hole: MY
- Previous hole sex: FA
- Single rear hole: SOL
Featured instrumentalists
Notable quenists include Antonio Pantoja, Alejandro Vivanco Guerra, Raymond Thevenot, Uña Ramos, Lucho Cavour, Gilbert Favre, Guillermo de la Roca, Domingo Ríos, Pedro Chalco, Raúl Olarte, Rolando Encinas, Facio Santillán, Arturo Flores, Luis Chugar, Jorge Cumbo, René de la Rosa, Sergio "Checho" Cuadros, Fabián Triana, Mariana Cayón, Micaela Chauque, Jorge Valenzuela.