Lesson 5 – Holding the Kaval

New to the instrument? Start with The Bulgarian Kaval: what it is, how it sounds and how it is made.

How do we put our hands on the kaval?

The kaval has 8 finger holes in total. It has 4 additional holes on the bottom-most joint (ekleme) but they are not used for playing. They are also called “The Devil’s holes”. There’s an interesting legend about them and if you want to know why they are called that, check out this LINK.

Most of the kaval players play with their left hand above the right and the kaval directed to the right side of the body. This is not a rule, you don’t have to do it if it doesn’t feel natural to you, but if you choose to play the other way around you should reverse all the instructions in this lesson, because in this course I’ll explain everything with the left hand on top.

Left Hand

Start with the thumb of the left hand, which covers the only hole on the back of the instrument. Use the side finger pad of the thumb, so that you can keep the position comfortable and natural for the other fingers and the wrist. Then cover the three topmost finger holes on the front of the kaval with the index finger, the middle finger and the ring finger, respectively. The pinky doesn’t cover anything and it should be left to dangle loosely in the air.

Do not use the tips or the pads of your fingers to cover most of the holes. That’s a mistake most beginners make. Rather, cover the first hole on the front with the middle phalanx of the index finger. Then skip one hole and cover the third hole with the pad of the ring finger. And lastly, cover the second hole with the middle finger, basically wherever it falls. Usually that is right on the joint between the pad and the middle phalanx.

I’ll press my fingers to the kaval so that you can see a closeup of the prints on them.

Right hand

Again we start with the thumb, which is used to support and balance the kaval while playing. In order to provide that support it should be on the back of the kaval, right between the forth and the fifth hole. The fourth hole is covered with the middle phalanx of the index finger. Next is the pinky, which covers the bottom-most hole with it’s pad. For the remaining two holes – the fifth and the sixth – use the middle finger and ring finger, again – wherever they fall – most likely the second phalanges probably closer to the joints.

Again, I’ll press my fingers to the kaval, so that you can see a closeup of the prints on them.

Take a look at these illustrations. They summarize everything I said before.

That grip of the kaval may feel a bit strange in the beginning but once you get used to it, it becomes very natural. A very important thing is to have no tension in your hands, fingers or wrists when you hold the kaval. If you feel any discomfort you’re probably doing something wrong. If you feel only a bit of discomfort now, it will probably become more if you start playing often. So, make sure that you feel as relaxed as possible when you hold the kaval.

Exercise

• You already know how to make sound with no holes covered. Try closing the holes one by one, starting from the upper holes and going down the flute. You’ll see that the more holes you cover the harder it gets to maintain a good sound and maybe things will completely fall apart if you try to cover all of the holes at once. That’s probably because you have a leak in one or even more of the holes. A leak in one of the upper holes can completely destroy everything below them.
  
• Try to press your fingers a little harder to the kaval, so that you can detect where the leakage is. Then try to keep that position and relax your fingers. Your goal is to be able to cover all the holes with a minimum amount of pressure.