Frula
Serbian musical instrument
title: "Frula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fipple-flutes", "croatian-musical-instruments", "serbian-musical-instruments", "music-of-croatia", "music-of-serbia"] description: "Serbian musical instrument" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Serbian musical instrument ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox instrument"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Frula |
| image | Етнологија - фрула.jpg |
| caption | A frula, in the collections of the Toplice National Museum, Prokuplje, Serbia. |
| related | see list |
| :: |
|name=Frula |image=Етнологија - фрула.jpg |caption=A frula, in the collections of the Toplice National Museum, Prokuplje, Serbia. |names= |classification=
The frula (, фрула), also known as svirala (свирала) or jedinka, is a musical instrument which resembles a medium sized flute, traditionally played in rural Southeast Europe, primarily South Slavic countries. It is an end-blown aerophone with six holes, typically made of wood. The frula is a traditional instrument of South Slavic shepherds, who would play while tending their flocks.
For a list of similar instruments, see the section below.
Names
In Croatia, it is also commonly known as "jedinka". Other local names in Croatia include žveglica, šaltva, kavela, ćurlik. In English, the instrument has also simply been called the "Serbian flute".
Overview
The frula is a small wooden flute with six holes. In rural Southeast Europe, the frula was played by shepherds while tending their flocks. It is a traditional instrument of Serbia, one of several aerophones used for leisure time, rituals, or accompanying the kolo (circle dance), along with long flutes (duduk, cevara), the double flute (dvojnice), and the bag-pipe (gajde).
Legacy
There are many events dedicated to the frula, such as the Prva pastirska frula in Jagnjilo, Dani Save Jeremića in Ražanj, sabori frulaša in Lelić and Prislonica, takmičenja frulaša in Iđoš, and Frula fest in Kruševac.
A popular Serbian folk song is Ej čija frula ("O, whose frula"), recorded by, among others, Braća Bajić, Radiša Urošević and Cune Gojković.
;Other similar flutes
- shvi, Armenia
- sopilka, Ukraine
- lamzdeliai, Lithuania
- floghera, Greece
- furulya, Hungary
- fujarka, Poland
- kaval, Turkey
- balaban or duduk, double-reed, Armenia and Azerbaijan
References
References
- (1981). "Rad kongresa".
- (1951). "Danica". Hrvatsko književno društvo sv. Ćirila i Metoda..
- (1922). "Scribner's Magazine". [[Charles Scribner%27s Sons]].
- Charles Austin Beard. (1930). "Toward Civilization". Longmans, Green and Company.
- Christopher Deliso. (2009). "Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro". Greenwood Press.
- (2002). "Serbia: life and customs". ULUPUDS.
- Don Michael Randel. (2003). "The Harvard Dictionary of Music". Harvard University Press.
- "Edukativna radionica za zaštitu frulaške prakse AJ, ČIJA FRULA PO UNESKU SVIRA".
- (1996). "NIN: nedeljne informativne novine". Politika.
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